Good morning, loved ones. Sorry, there's no tie today because this is what I look like when I shovel snow. I usually don't put a tie on when I shovel snow, so you get me after shoveling snow this morning. So please if you would open your Bibles to to Romans chapter 1 we're gonna continue as we go through this it's going to be a It's going to be a fun fun journey so just as a as a highlight once we get to verse 18 through chapter 3 verse Right around 23 It's it's gonna be bad news most Sundays so just gonna prep you for that. I'll try to bring in the good news with it, but it's it's gonna be a rough rough go for a couple of weeks, but that's okay because We are God's children and we are His beloved so let's go ahead and pray and then we'll get started Father, thank you again for this time that we can come and open your word, Lord, that we can know that it's your word, Father, that it is inerrant, it is... breathed out by you, Father. Thank you that you have given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness within it. So now, Father, I just pray that you would help me as we go through this letter that you so inspired Paul to write. Father, we would be encouraged by it, that we would be challenged by it. Father, I ask that you would Also, just be with those who aren't here today, Father. Be with those who are ill, Father, give them peace. comfort Heal them father for those who did not brave the snow Lord keep them safe at home. Perhaps they're on the video encourage them to with this Lord for Travel mercies Lord as we know dick is Going to be traveling to see Lynn. We pray for him Lord for his safe travels And for Laurie Lord, we lift her up and we just ask that you would give the doctor's wisdom and give her in chat comfort. I Father, we know you can do all these things, and you can do much more than we even can imagine or we can ask. And we ask that you would just put yourself on glorious and marvelous display in our lives every day. We do ask this in your name. Amen. So when you plant a garden or you plant trees, fruit trees, you expect them to have fruit on them. or we expect the garden to flourish as we water it, right? So for example, a couple years ago, we have a big peach tree. I don't know, too many of you haven't been to my house. But we have a peach tree outside in our front yard, and it had a ton of peaches on it. We had to actually trim it out or thin it out a few times, take a few hundred peaches off of it. And the peaches looked really, really good until you bit into them and they weren't good at all. They were mealy, they were dry, they weren't those. I call those the Pharisee peaches. Because that's what the Pharisees were like. The Pharisees were those who looked good on the outside, but on the inside, they weren't sweet. Jesus says that they were dead bones. They were decaying. There was no sweetness inside of them. How about you, brothers and sisters? Is there a sweetness inside of you? You see, the Pharisees didn't have the sweetness because they didn't have the gospel. We have the gospel. We have the sweetness of the gospel. It's a sweet aroma that we have. And today what I just want us to look at is this sweetness of the gospel that the apostle had in his life. And we see this in his service. As he writes to the Romans, he says this, that the sweetness that we will see today is the Apostle's thankfulness, his service, his encouragement, his desire to see fruit, his eagerness to preach the gospel. This is Paul's desire in heart when he gets to see them. This is what he wants to do. He actually prays for this moment to come and see them, right? In Romans 1.10 he says, always in my prayers asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. He's wanted to see them before and before, but he hasn't succeeded. And now he's praying to God that God somehow, someway will make a way that he can go and see them. And we see his heart revealed in these next verses. So look with me at Romans 1, 8 through 15. This is what the letter says. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all. because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness as to how, without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, earnestly asking if perhaps now at last, by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be strengthened. That is, to be mutually encouraged while among you by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers. that often I have planned to come to you and have been prevented so far, so that I may have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. In this way, for my part, I am eager to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome. So the first thing is a gospel fruit. Gospel fruit in our life produces thankfulness. Romans 1.8 says, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ. This was common in Paul's letters. We see it in Ephesians 1.16, he writes, and I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering in my prayers. Philippians 1.3, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. And in Colossians 1 3, we always thank God for the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you. This is common within his letters. And so what is the reason? that Paul is thankful for the Romans. Look back at the verse. He says, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. Now on that day, Rome was the center of the world. What was happening in Rome happened in Rome. Kind of like Vegas, right? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What was happening in Rome didn't stay in Rome, it went out. And the faith of the believers is what was going out. Now, there's churches in our time, right? There's churches nowadays that they're known for their size is what they're known for. They're known for their size. They're known for their pastor, right? We have celebrity pastors. They're known for their wealth. They're known for their programs. And they're known for their music. But what do you want to be known for? Notice that Paul in this verse eight, what does he say that they are known for? For their faith. That's what they're known for. John MacArthur says it this way. It was a fellowship of genuinely redeemed saints through whom the Lord Jesus Christ manifested his life and power so that their character was known everywhere. Not the size of the church, not who their pastor was, not their wealth or programs or music, but their character is what was exemplary. And it was known throughout all of Rome. What a commendation to be seeking. What do you guys want Faith Bible Church to be known for? I say we go for this one. I say we go for our character. I say we go for our Faith. Angela, I'm gonna move up to this one here. Going off. I keep pulling it out. Can you guys hear me still? Great. I just won't move around too much today. So that is the thankfulness. What are you thankful for? He's thankful for their So what about you? Are you thankful those who are here at Faith Bible? Do you pray for those who are here at Faith Bible? Do you tell them that you're Are you thankful for them? Are you thankful for other believers in your life? Those who don't go here, but those who are part of your life? Are you thankful for what they do for you? Are you thankful for their faith, that you see the outward working of their faith, and do you tell them these things? This is what Paul was thankful to God for. It was a heart that was filled with the love of the gospel. and that produces thankfulness. Secondly, gospel fruit produces service. Again, in Romans 1, 9, and 10, it says, for God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you, always in my prayers, asking that somehow, by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you. So this serve in my spirit, what Paul is saying here is that he was all in. He was all in to serve. He was all in for God. It was a service out of the depths of his heart because of what God had done for him. He realized the preciousness of the gospel. He was devoted. He had a pure, heartfelt ministry. God was evident in his prayers, in his prayer for others. But we see that Paul was serving in his preaching of the gospel. Now these verses won't come up, but just listen to them. In Romans 15, 20, it says, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. And in 1 Corinthians 1, 17, he says this, for Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. And in 1 Corinthians 1.23, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, folly to the Gentiles. So Paul, in his service to these other churches, his service was to preach the good news, to preach the gospel that he loved. Secondly, we see in his service was a worship-filled life. His service was to God. He challenges us. He appeals to us in Romans 12, one and two, and he says this, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. It's our reasonable worship to present our bodies to God as a sacrifice. How do we do this? Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Paul also served in his prayers. We see his prayers all the way through the New Testament. Most letters have what Paul prays for. In 2 Timothy 1.3, it says, I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. Ephesians 6.18, praying at all times in the spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplications for all the saints. This is within our spiritual battles, What's the word I'm looking for? Armor. Thank you, Dick. Part of our spiritual armor is our praying. 1 Thessalonians 5.17, he pretty much says, pray without ceasing. or to always continue to be in conversation with God. 2 Thessalonians 1, 11, and 12. To this end, we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ. Although in this we don't see a specific prayer. We know that Paul specifically prayed that God would make a way for him to get there. But we can assume or we can have an idea that these might be some of the things that Paul prayed for the Romans. To be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Christ to be at home in their heart. Filled with God's love. made perfect in his truth and likeness, abound in love, approve what is excellent, be filled with the fruit of righteousness, filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Our service is an act of worship, and our worship is an act of service. Third, we see gospel fruit produces loving encouragement. In Romans 1, 11, and 12, he writes, for I long to see you. I desire to see you. This was a longing that Paul had. That's why he was asking God, somehow, some way, I want to go there. I want to be with them. I want to encourage them, that I may impart some spiritual gift to strengthen you. that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. He was willing to be spent for other believers. That's what Paul wanted to do. He wanted to impart spiritual gifts to them. He wanted to be mutually encouraged by them. He wanted to be spent for them. In 2 Corinthians 12, 15, he writes this, I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? Brothers and sisters, should this be us also? Should we emulate Paul because Paul imitates Christ? Wasn't Christ spent for us? This is what He has done on the cross for us. This is what the gospel should produce in us. When the gospel takes root, and we understand the depths of the gospel, and we see what it's doing in our hearts, it should produce this encouragement to be spent for others. Paul was not in this for himself. He didn't go to other churches thinking, what can I get out of this for me? He went to the other churches saying, what can I give to you? This was what his motive was, to impart spiritual gifts. He wanted to strengthen them. He wanted to confirm them. He wanted to be sure they were established. In 1 Thessalonians, he writes to them in 3.2, and we sent Timothy, our brother, and God's co-worker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you in your faith. The same word, establish, means to strengthen. 2 Thessalonians 3.3, but the Lord is faithful. He will establish you, or he will strengthen you and guard you against the evil one. 1 Peter 5.10, And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. This is what Paul wanted to do to the Roman believers. Is this our motive when we show up for Sunday morning? Or even our motive when we're at work? Or even our motive if we go to Bible studies during the week? To be an encouragement to others? to help establish them, to strengthen other believers. This should be the minister, right? This Martin and Dick and I, this should be our goal is to admonish you, to establish the sheep, to strengthen you every Sunday. But there's a mutual encouragement that Paul wanted, right? He says in verse 12, that is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Paul was humble. He wasn't arrogant. He wasn't superior. He didn't see his apostleship as a lording over people or being tyrannical. No, he was humble. He was saying, I'm going to come and I'm going to encourage you, but you want to know what? I want to be encouraged too by you. Right? Hey, look, elders, pastors, teachers, we all need encouragement too. Yeah, we are to give you encouragement and encourage you in your walk to pursue Christ. But you wanna know what? We need that encouragement back too. The same exact encouragement we need. John Calvin writes it this way. Note how modestly he expresses what he feels by not refusing to seek strengthening from inexperienced beginners. That's what Calvin is writing is that Paul, Paul is not sitting there saying, you can't minister to me because you're not where I'm at. He's humble. He's modest. He wants to be strengthened and he can be strengthened by inexperienced beginners. Listen how he continues. John Calvin says, he means what he says too. For there is none so void of gifts in the church of Christ who cannot in some measure contribute to our spiritual progress. Ill will and pride, however, prevent our deriving such benefits from one another. I love that last part, ill will and pride. They prevent us from encouraging each other or being encouraged by each other. We know from experience, and I hope you know from experience, that when someone is first converted, when you've been around someone who's first converted, man, they're on fire. They can't get enough of the Word. They're in the Word all the time. They're going to five, six, seven, 10 Bible studies a week. They just take it in and they take it in. Think about when you were first converted. Go back to that time when God lit that fire in you and you couldn't get enough of his word. Isn't that refreshing when someone comes into your life that's like that? That has a zeal for God, that has a passion for God, that all they can talk about is Christ? Man, that is encouraging. But we also have to understand that that person who's on fire, That person can be encouraged by the Christian that is more mature in their faith, is a little bit wiser. So we need each other to be encouraged and that's what Paul is saying. He wanted to be mutually encouraged by their faith also. Number four, gospel fruit produces more fruit. It's real simple. Romans 1.13, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far I've been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. What he's talking about here is he wants to be able to preach the gospel. He wants to see the new converts. He wants to see the fruit of Christ growing his church. This is what we want, this is what we all should desire, is to see more people come into the kingdom, to see Jesus saving more people. But what we have to do is we have to go out and we have to preach the gospel to those who we come in contact with. John 15-16 says it this way, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give to you. Now, fruit is used in different ways when we read the Bible. Here's one way. It's Christian attitude. And we looked at that in Galatians. This Christian attitude of the fruit of the Spirit. is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." That is fruit in our lives of an attitude that we have the fruit of the Spirit. Secondly, fruit is described in the Bible as action. We have action. This is fruit being produced in us. Romans 6.22 says this, But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end is eternal life. That is your holiness, brothers and sisters. This is us pursuing holiness. It's our sanctification being worked out. That is the fruit that we seek. Maybe go back again to the first time that the Lord saved you. Here's fruit. Are you more sensitive to sin now than you were then? If you're more sensitive now, that's fruit in your life. That's the Holy Spirit working in your life. Are you more loving now than you were then? Do you love people that don't love you? This is fruit. This is the action that takes place. It's working your salvation out with fear and trembling. This is fruit that comes from it. Hebrews 13, 15 says this, through whom then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of the lips that acknowledge his name. How has your speech changed? Do you talk differently, or are you still the same? Ephesians tells us not to let any unwholesome word proceed from our mouths. Did you have a dirty mouth, and now you don't have a dirty mouth? Do you have dirty thoughts, and now you don't have dirty thoughts? This is growth, this is what he's talking about. The fruit of our lips, right? Jesus says that we can honor him with our lips, but our hearts can be far from him. Does that describe you today? Did you sing these songs with your lips, but yet your heart is far, far from Him? That's not what Paul's talking about. The lips of worship, the lips of service, the lips of action of a fruit that we speak of Jesus highly and gloriously, and we speak of His church in the same manner And also we have the fruit of increased converts. There's nothing more rewarding as a teacher to see those who are teaching start to mature and to see fruit in their lives. I'm sure, Dick, over the years that you have taught and you've seen people grow, and that's good because you see Christ working in their lives. It's also seeing Christ using you. How about you, brothers and sisters? Do you see people that you come in contact with growing, that are coming to you and they're, hey, how do I grow more? Did you read this or did you read that? We all have this want to see this increase, to see Christ bring one from death to life, to see that new convert grow closer to Christ. This is what Jesus says. Jesus says this, the harvest is plentiful. But the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly that the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." This is you and I. The harvest is plentiful. He has sent us out. This is fruit. This is being gripped by the gospel. When we go out and proclaim Christ, that is fruit. The fifth, gospel fruit produces a eagerness to proclaim the gospel. Look at Romans 1, 14 and 15. Paul was under obligation. He was a debtor. To do what? To preach the gospel. He was to preach the gospel to Greeks and barbarians, to those who were wise and those who were foolish. He was to preach the gospel to the sophisticated and the unsophisticated, to the smart and the not so smart. There was no partiality with Paul. He was under obligation to do this. He was a debtor to do this. When he felt like it and when he didn't feel like it, That's the charge for preachers and teachers to preach the word of God in season and out of season. We are to preach Christ when we feel like it and when we don't feel like it. We are under obligation. 1 Corinthians 9, 16 and 17, Paul writes this, for if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. Oh wow, there we go. You don't want to boast, you don't want to be arrogant, you don't want to be superior, preach the gospel to yourself. Because the gospel tells you exactly who you are. You are a sinner saved by grace. Simple. That's who we are. It keeps us humble. When I want to and when I don't want to. If I want to preach it, there's a reward. And if I don't want to preach it, I'm still entrusted with the stewardship to do what? To preach it, under obligation, a debtor, to proclaim the gospel. He was obligated to carry the name of Jesus. This is how he saw his ministry. In Acts 9.15, he says this, Jesus sums it up with everyone, right? To the Gentiles, to the Israels, and to kings. We have a command, brothers and sisters. We have a charge given to us to take the gospel, to the unbelieving world. We have a command to bring the gospel to the believing world. We have a command to bring the gospel to royalty, to kings. Paul brought it in Acts when we read of Paul's last life to the Caesars. We know that he had fruit within Caesar's household because of Philippians where he says, in all the saints in Caesar's household greet you. He proclaimed it, even in prison, he proclaimed the gospel. So to close, brothers and sisters, I hope we have done a few things this morning, besides get here out of the snow and stay warm. One, I hope we've been encouraged by the gospel. This is why the apostle did what he did. And I hope that you're encouraged today, that those of you who trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who have the gospel in you, who understand what Christ has done, I pray that you're encouraged to look at your life, to see if your life aligns with what the apostle says with service to one another. Secondly, that we all would strive to be a faithful church body. That would be my desire. After studying this, my desire would be for Faith Bible not to be known for its band, its loud music. No, I don't want to be known for that. I wouldn't want Faith Bible to be known for a campus. or the size of buildings. No, I want us to be known for what Paul says, faithful believers, that our character is exemplary among others. That is what's going to draw people to Christ, is when they see Christ in you. Third, that in our prayers for each other, that they would not only be for the physical or the temporal, on the emotional, but they would also involve the spiritual. I pray in your prayer life as you pray for one another, as you pray for us leaders, that you use the scriptures, that you pray that we would be strengthened, that we pray that our love would increase, that you pray that we would abound in love for one another, on top of praying for the other ones. And finally, fourth, that we would have a renewed desire of flame rekindled, an eagerness to proclaim the amazing gospel of grace. We sing it, right? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Brothers and sisters, have you lost the amazingness of grace? Have you lost how amazing the gospel is? Have you lost your first love as Christ talks about in the letter to Ephesus in Revelation? Oh, brothers and sisters, if we've lost our first love, if we've lost this desire to proclaim the gospel, repent and turn from it. Let the Holy Spirit rekindle that fire that even after a believer of 40 years, your heart burns to preach the gospel of Christ. This is what the apostle did. And next week, we will see the very power of the gospel that Paul talks about. Let's pray. Father, thank you again for our time. Lord, work in our hearts. Encourage us. Draw us ever so close to you, Lord. Show us how amazing Christ truly is. Open your word to our hearts, Lord, that we may see the wonders of it, that we may see Christ more clearly, that we would see him as the angels in Isaiah's psalm, high and lifted up in his throne, that his brilliance would captivate us, that his excellency would cause us to adore him more. Father, do a work in us. Help us to be better. Strengthen us, Father, to encourage each other. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us. Thank you for Christ. Lord, rekindle the fire in our hearts. that we would proclaim Christ in your name. Amen. Now, just as a caveat, I want to put this in here. I have nothing against the size of a church. I have nothing against the size of a building. I have nothing against the music that any other church plays. I don't want you to think I'm against that, because I'm not. I would just love for people to say, hey, Faith Bible Church, what a faithful group of people, and you see it in their lives. Stand as we sing our last song.