#3 9-24-06 AM – HCBC
Paul and the Romans:
The Heart of God’s Servant 1:8-13
In Romans 1:1, we saw Paul’s declaration that he was a servant of Jesus Christ!
Every person who has come to trust Jesus Christ as Lord-Savior has become His servant.
If we could consider this truth before we say a word,
what sin would never be spoken!
If we could consider this truth before we ever take a step or make a decision,
what sin might be avoided?
If we could always keep in our mind that we are His servants,
Our thoughts, our words, our deeds would be increasingly more pleasing to Him!
In verses 1-7 Paul addressed himself to the gospel.
Now, in verses 8-13, Paul addresses himself to the Christians at Rome.
As he does so, he bares his heart to them and to us!
In these few verses Paul gives us a glimpse of the heart of God’s messenger!
Oh, that you and I could say that this describes our heart!
Thankful: He thanks God for them v. 8
Some two years before he wrote Romans, in Paul’s first letter to the church at
Corinth, even though he was about to rebuke the believers, he wrote: “I
always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.”
(1:4)
Later, from his imprisonment in Rome, he wrote to the church at Ephesus, “I have
not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (1:16)
In an earlier letter, to the Christians at Thessalonica, Paul wrote: “And we also
thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which
you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually
is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. (1 Thess 2:13)
To the same church he wrote: “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers,
and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love
every one of you has for each other is increasing. (2 Thess 1:3)
In what is considered to be Paul’s final canonical writing, Paul wrote to his dear
son in the faith: “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear
conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
(2 Tim 1:3)
God’s servant is a thankful!
Are you known as a person who is always giving thanks to God:
For what He has done in your life;
For whom He has brought into your life;
For His blessings;
For His promises;
For His faithfulness?
Luke 17:11-19
God’s servant is thankful!
Thankful
Prayerful: He prays for them v. 9-10a
God’s servant is prayerful!
Paul tells the Christians at Rome that, with God as his witness, he prays for them
constantly.
I don’t believe this is a flippant, light hearted comment!
I’m praying for you!
I always pray for you!
I believe that Paul spent much time praying for these believers.
Paul prayed for the Christians at Ephesus!
Eph 1:16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
Eph 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know
the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Eph 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his
Spirit in your inner being,
Paul prayed for the Christians at Philippi!
Php 1:4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
Php 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and
depth of insight,
Paul prayed for the Christians at Colossae!
Col 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
Col 1:9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you
and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom
and understanding.
Paul prayed for the Christians at Thessalonica!
1 Thess 1:2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
1 Thess 3:10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what
is lacking in your faith.
2 Thess 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy
of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and
every act prompted by your faith.
Paul prayed for Timothy!
2 Tim 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night
and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
Paul prayed for Philemon!
Phil 1:4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,
Phil 1:6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full
understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.
As an example from the O. T. Samuel spoke to God’s people in what might be
called his retirement speech after Saul was made king. Samuel said: “…far
be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you…”
(1 Sam 12:23)
With God as your witness, can you say that you are a prayerful person?
Do you make time to pray?
Paul didn’t live 20 minutes from Wal-Mart or Best Buy!
Paul didn’t spend time online with Google, Instant Messenger or My-Space!
Paul didn’t have a cell phone or an I-pod!
All of these things are fine, but God’s servant is prayerful!
Thankful
Prayerful
Submissive: He seeks God’s will for them v. 10b
As Paul expresses his desire to visit the Christians at Rome, he does so in the context of
God’s will.
He has a desire to come, but submits his desire to the will of God!
Submissiveness means that the servant of God yearns to do the will of God!
To submit means to go along with, willingly! Without grumbling or complaining!
What is God’s will?
1. Be transformed
Rom 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his
good, pleasing and perfect will.
2. Be sanctified
1 Th 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;
3. Be thankful
1 Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
4. Be doing good
1 Pet 2:15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish
men.
5. Be willing to suffer
1 Pet 3:17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
To be submissive to the will of God is to cooperate with what God is doing in and
through us.
Are you seeking what God desires to do in your life?
Are you willing to seek and submit to God’s will when you recognize it?
The servant of God is submissive!
Thankful
Prayerful
Submissive
Concerned: He longs to see them v. 11
Paul begins and ends his letter by expressing his concern for the Christians at Rome.
Here in the beginning he says: “I long to see you!”
He has a desire to give them something spiritually!
He wants to be with them!
He wants to strengthen their faith!
At the end of the letter, in 15:23-33, he shares his heart again.
God’s servant has a concern for the needs of God’s people!
Concern is what God expressed toward Israel in bondage in Egypt,
Ex 2:25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Exo 3:7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have
heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about
their suffering.
Concern is what God expressed toward the lost people of Nineveh,
Jonah 4:11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who
cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be
concerned about that great city?"
Concern is what Jesus expressed toward people,
Matt 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were
harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Concern is what Paul expressed toward those to whom he ministered,
2 Cor 11:28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the
churches.
Concern is what Christians should express toward one another,
1 Cor 12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have
equal concern for each other.
Is our church recognized as a church that has a sincere concern for people.
Are you a person who expresses concern for people by the way you use the time, the
talent, and the treasure that God has made you a steward of?
Thankful
Prayerful
Submissive
Concerned
Humble: He seeks to be encouraged by them v. 12
The Example of Christ:
John 13:5 “…he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet,
drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Php 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
The Example of Paul:
Rom 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of
yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Paul knew that the servant of the Lord is humble and that he can learn from his
readers and be encouraged by them as surely as he can impart some spiritual
encouragement to them.
God’s servant is Humble!
Thankful
Prayerful
Submissive
Concerned
Humble
Fruitful: He seeks to have an impact on them v. 13
Paul again expresses his desire to be with the believers in Rome;
And in fact had been prevented from being with them up until the time of his
writing the letter.
Here in verse 13, he gives the reason for his desire to be there in Rome and
that reason is to be fruitful!
He says: “…in order that I might have a harvest among you.”
Paul refers to the harvest that God had brought about through him already among
the other Gentiles.
He had a harvest in Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Collosae, and Thessalonica
among other places!
Jesus explains how the fruitfulness of His servants works in John 15.
If we are to have a harvest at all, it will be as a result of our abiding in Him.
Apart from Him we can do nothing.
Abiding in Him is how His servants develop:
Thankfulness
Prayerfulness
Submissiveness
Concern
Humility
Fruitfulness!