Romans 1.8-15
Christ the Lord is risen today (vs 3 & chorus)
OT:
Pastor Andrew Loginow
Deuteronomy 5.6-21
NT:
Pastor Zachary McGuire
Matthew 6.5-15
Song:
How firm a foundation
Historical Reading:
Pastor Bobby Owens
Apostles’ Creed
Song:
Nothing but the blood
Confession & Pardon:
Dr. Brett Eckel
Song:
Christ the sure & steady anchor
Sermon:
Dr. Alex Loginow
Romans 1.8-15
Introduction
A couple weeks ago my dad and I took a trip to California. One of the things I wanted to do with him out there was a studio tour so we went to Warner Bros. Literally while we’re in line to get on the tram I got a text from Jerry Chen who was like, “Hey bro, I heard you’re in Cali. I’m at LAX getting ready to fly home.” Super bummed we missed each other because Jerry’s a good time anywhere; Jerry in California would’ve been hype. But I was texting with Jerry while we were at Warner.
The best part of the Warner tour, or any studio tour, is the backlot and the sound stages. We stood in the spot where Toby McGuire and Kirsten Dunst shot the iconic Spiderman kiss; where Paul Ruebens passed out with the snake from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure; we drove down the road from Jurassic Park when the T Rex is chasing Jeff Goldblum in the jeep right next to the pond where Kermit sang “The Rainbow Connection” in the 1979 Muppet Movie. This wasn’t at Warner, it was at Universal, but we literally stood in the town square from Back to the Future, also used in To Kill A Mockingbird and Gremlins. The backlot is littered with facades – buildings, structures, houses that look real, but are hollow and empty. From the front, or on camera, it looks real, but they’re not brick and mortar, they’re plywood, and they’re empty. They’re perfect for tricking the camera and they can be dressed to look like anything, but they don’t have the integrity or security of a real building.
The world we live in is full of faith facades – worldviews, beliefs, philosophies, ideas that look real, but they’re hallowed and empty. The world will tell you that living for money, or power, or status, or education, or sex, or anything else is satisfying, fulfilling, but it’s hollow and empty. False religions, naturalism, astrology, politics or any other worldview promises stability and security, but they’re all facades. People are trying to find joy, meaning, fulfillment, security, hope in so many different ways; how can we know what’s real; what’s not a façade? The only ultimately sound answer is Scripture, the Word of God. The one true and living God who created all things and sustains all things has revealed Himself and His plan of redemption in the Bible and our passage in Romans 1.8-15 teaches us about the only substantial structure in a world of facades.
We move from Paul’s greeting to the Roman church last week (vss. 1-7) to the occasion of the epistle this week. Paul wants to visit the church in Rome but has been providentially hindered, as we read in verse 13. While this letter in general and this pericope in particular is specific – it was written by a specific man, the apostle Paul, to a specific group of people, the church at Rome – it is also timeless. Because it is inspired Scripture, we do not read the text merely in a grammatical-historical way; we are not simply interested in the intent of the human author. The Holy Spirit carried Paul along; God breathed into this letter giving us timeless truth so that we might be sanctified, set apart, made holy.
Reputation of Faith
The first timeless truth revealed in this pericope is that the gospel creates a reputation of faith. All of Romans is about the gospel. We will see next week that Romans 1.16-17 is the thesis statement for the book of Romans, but Paul has already clued us in. In Paul’s greeting last week he begins by saying he was set apart as an apostle for the gospel of God (Rom 1.1). And it wasn’t just for the apostles, but us, the nations, received God’s grace to bring about obedience through the good news of Jesus.
And part of the obedience of faith created by the gospel is a reputation of faith. In verse 8 the apostle thanks God that the faith of the Romans is proclaimed in the entire world. News had spread that the gospel had travelled all the way from Jerusalem on Easter morning to the ends of the earth – there is a church in Rome! Paul thanked God for that because if the gospel was in Rome, if there was a church in Rome, that meant there was nowhere on earth the gospel couldn’t go.
And the same is true today. Just like the whole world was talking about how the gospel had invaded Rome in Paul’s day, even in our day, when the gospel invades hearts, homes, communities, the world notices. There was a sentiment in America for a long time that religion is private and the polite thing to do was not discuss religion. There could be no idea more unbiblical. The gospel creates a reputation of faith.
It begins when you’re baptized, publically identifying with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It continues every week when you come to the Lord’s Supper to remember and proclaim the death of Jesus as you eat Jesus’ body and drink His blood. Faith in Jesus is proclaimed as husbands and wives are faithful to each other until death and as we catechize our children, raising them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Faith in Jesus is proclaimed when the church gathers around the Word and the sacraments every Sunday in celebration and worship of the resurrection of Christ. Our reputation of faith is on display when we evangelize the lost and disciple one another.
This is a good point for each of us to reflect – is our faith proclaimed in the world? What is the reputation of Christ Community Church? What is your reputation? Are we known for our faith in Jesus? Lord, please give us a reputation of faith for your glory.
Praying without Ceasing
The next timeless truth we see in verses 9-10 is that the gospel produces a life of prayer. Paul has been praying non-stop that it be God’s will that he get to visit the brothers in Rome. Here we not only get interesting insight into the occasion of this letter and Paul’s desire to go to Rome, but because this is Holy Scripture, we know it is timeless and applies to us too. Prayer in general and specifically praying for each other is a great discipline and gift of this life. In 1 Thessalonians 5.17 Paul commands the church at Thessalonica to pray without ceasing.
In His Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus taught us how to pray and the Lord’s Prayer is probably the most frequently recited words on earth for the last 2,000 years. The gospel produces a life of prayer because the gospel humbles us. As God’s grace is revealed to us in the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are humbled. We are humbled because our salvation has nothing to do with us and everything to do with God’s sovereign grace. It is from that posture of humility that we pray.
We pray because God is sovereign over everything – from the vastness of the universe, to the geopolitical events on the global stage, to the mundane circumstances of our lives, down to every atom in existence, Jesus is Lord of all. When we pray, we’re acknowledging that; we’re acknowledging God for who He is. Prayer also trains our hearts to be humbled and trust God. God uses the prayers of the saints to shape His people and change the world.
When we pray for our lost neighbor, God creates a love in our hearts for those neighbors and He may save them through His gospel. When we confess our sins God creates holiness and sensitivity to sin and He forgives our sin. When we thank God for His good gifts He creates more gratitude and humility in us and He rejoices to bless us. Prayer is God’s gift to us; one of His means of grace.
So why wouldn’t we pray without ceasing? Why would we deprive ourselves of an audience with the sovereign of creation who is simultaneously our Father in heaven? The only answer is our sin, our pride. We don’t pray when we think, “we got this,” either consciously or subconsciously. But guys, we don’t got this. God does. Lord, please give us hearts that pray without ceasing.
Encouraging Each Other’s Faith
Beginning in verse 13 Scripture reveals a third timeless truth – the gospel fosters mutual encouragement. Paul longs to see the brothers in Rome so that he can impart some spiritual gift to strengthen them – that is that both Paul and the church may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. Even though Paul has been providentially hindered from visiting this church he has been asking God without ceasing that he might make this trip for the encouragement of the congregation and for Paul’s own encouragement. Our fellowship in the gospel is mutually encouraging.
Sometimes we miss the power behind Scripture’s teaching because we neuter Scripture’s words. Fellowship is one such word. In many churches the word fellowship elicits sipping coffee at Bible study and polite small talk. While both Bible study and coffee are God’s gifts, (amen?) fellowship is much more rugged than that. Fellowship is the idea of a group of sailors all rowing in the same direction. There is a purpose and a strain and a joy to fellowship when regardless of our backgrounds and preferences, we’re all rowing in the same direction, all working toward the same goal.
And what fellowship does, what living and working toward the same goal (which by the way is the glory of God and the good of others through the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus), what this does is it fosters mutual encouragement. When we gather around the Word and sacraments, when we sing together, pray together, confess our faith through the creed together, confess our sins together, we’re mutually encouraging each other to keep following Christ. When we gather in small groups or hang out one-on-one, when couples get together, when families get together, when we spend time with one another the Spirit encourages us. Sometimes it’s around Bible study, sometimes it’s just to hang out but the benefit is the same – mutual encouragement.
And shame on us if we think encouragement isn’t important or even necessary. We need encouragement because we’re sinners and sin thrives in isolation. We need encouragement because the evil one is prowling like a lion and when you’re isolated he will attack you with pride, guilt, shame, loneliness. We need encouragement because the world is broken and in rebellion to God and when we’re isolated it gets easier and easier to capitulate to the world unless we’re encouraged to keep following Jesus by others who are following Jesus. Lord, please give us a culture of mutual encouragement at Christ Community Church.
Preaching the Gospel
The final timeless truth revealed in this pericope is the timeless truth of all timeless truths; it’s the truth that ties all others together and that is the preaching of the gospel. In verse 15 Paul says that he is so eager to come to Rome because he is eager to preach the gospel to them. Notice that Paul isn’t writing to a lost group of people, he’s writing to a church. He’s writing to believers and he’s eager to preach the gospel to them. That’s because the gospel isn’t merely for the lost to be saved, though thanks be to God the gospel does save the lost!
But the gospel is also for us. We don’t just need the gospel to become Christians; we need the gospel every day of our lives. The gospel is the air we breathe. The late Dr. Tim Keller said, “the gospel is not the ABCs of the Christian life, it is the A-Z.” The gospel is not the door into the house of Christianity; the gospel is the house.
The word gospel means, “good news.” It is the good news that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5.8). We have all sinned against our holy creator; we break God’s law in thought, word, and deed and so we’re guilty and deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell. But thanks be to God that in His sovereign grace He sent His Son conceived by the Spirit and born of the virgin to live without sin and to die in the place of God’s elect, the church. On the cross Jesus paid the penalty for sin bearing the wrath of God for the sins of the church and then Jesus submitted himself to the curse of death.
Jesus laid His life down and then He also took it up again on the 3rd day when He resurrected from the dead, reversing the curse of Satan, sin, and death. He then ascended to heaven where He sits in session at the right hand of God ruling the church and the world. He will come again one day to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. And our response must be to repent and believe.
We respond to this good news with faith. We receive this knowledge of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and then we assent to it. We confess it and not deny it. And then we transfer our trust to Jesus Christ alone. And when God gives us the gift of faith He simultaneously gives us the gift of repentance. We repent when we confess our sin, acknowledging that we are guilty of breaking God’s Law and then we turn from our sin to Jesus. Faith and repentance is first given to us at the point of regeneration, the point of conversion, but they are also life-long disciplines in sanctification.
Conclusion
This is the gospel that Paul longed to preach to the church in Rome and this is the gospel we preach today at Christ Community Church. This is the gospel that unbelievers need to receive for the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life. This is the gospel believers need so that we can follow Jesus and be made more like Jesus every day. And this gospel is the only stable structure for human flourishing in a world full of facades.