Romans 1 B Longing

2nd message in series on Romans.

ROMANS 1B
PAUL’S EARNEST DESIRES AND LONGING FOR ROME ROMANS 1:8-15
Introduction:  
Briefly recap the intro and the salutation of Paul in the letter to the Romans.
I want to look at the verses between the salutation and our text this morning.
They relay more of Paul’s feelings toward them and his  longing to be with them.
We are going to look at the rest of the chapter on Weds at God’s wrath against the wickedness of mankind.

I.    Paul’s expression of thanks

A.    Paul is thanking God for them.
That is pretty much Paul’s norm for him to move from his salutation to giving thanks to God.
Paul emphasizes that this is the first thing he is doing.
He is thanking God for all of them.
Note that he is thanking my God through Jesus Christ.
This speaks of how personal Paul’s relationship with God is.
It sounds like they are having the same type of personal relationship with Him.

B.    He is thanking God for the report that he is hearing about them.
The report that he is hearing is a very good, a very exciting report.
He is hearing about their faith.
Their faith is not just being heard of by a few here and there.
Their faith is being heard about my many all over the world.
That is powerful that their faith is resounding all over the world.

II.    Paul’s prayers

A.    He remembers them constantly in his prayers.
God is my witness as to how constantly I remember you in my prayers.
I remember you in my prayers at all times.
Why is Paul using an oath relating to how much he is praying for them?
I want you to know how much I am praying for you.
I want you to know how interested I am in you.

B.    He prays that it would be soon God’s will for him to visit Rome.
An emphasis of his prayer is that he may soon be able to go to Rome and visit them.
I want it to be God’s will to open the path for me to get there soon.
However Paul wants nothing else but the will of God.
He can not dictate nor control the will of God.
But he can pray.

III.    Paul’s longing

A.    He longed to see them in person.
There are many avenues of communication.
The avenues are growing every day.
The best the ideal form of communication is face to face.
Paul wanted to see the believers in Rome face to face.
He had a key purpose to want to see them face to face.
He wanted to impart a spiritual gift on them to make them strong.
Paul does not want to congratulate them or pat them on the back.
He wants to help them advance.
Why do we do what we do here?
Because we want God to pat us on the back.
We do what we do here because we want to see the kingdom advanced,  souls saved, and believers strengthened to be all that God wants them to be.
He proposed that they advance by a gift from the Spirit.
The Spirit of God can do wonders in our heart and lives.
Oh how we need to be open to the Spirit.
He wanted them, he and those in Rome to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
He didn’t want this growing in strength to be just for those in Rome.
He wanted to become stronger in the faith, the Spirit, and the walk with God as they.
Iron sharpens iron.
We can help each other grow and stay strong along the way.

B.    He planned many times to get to Rome.
Things have come up in Paul’s way every time he has planned to go to Rome.
But I want o get there and gather in the harvest.
Paul has had a successful harvest in many other places.

IV.    Paul’s obligation

A.    He expresses his sense of obligation to preach the gospel.
To the Greeks and  non Greeks.
To the wise and the foolish.

B.    This obligation makes me so eager to be there in Rome with you.

C.    “ I am not ashamed of the gospel….

Conclusion:  
We need to pray for the will of God in our lives.
We need to long to be where God wants us to be.
We too need to understand that we are obligated to be a messenger of the gospel.
I want us to follow Paul’s example of prayer and close our service with a prayer time tonight.