Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
ROMANS
Sermon 2
Desire for Fellowship
Romans 1:8-12
It has now been nearly 57 years since this writer became a truly born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. During that time, there have been not a few things that he has not understood or has not obeyed. And, there have been a few of his brothers and sisters in the Lord with whom he has had serious disagreements. But there have been at least two things that can be sincerely said with which he has never had a problem. One is, he has never wanted to be unsaved, to go back to the life he lived before the Lord saved him. The other is, he has never had the desire to break off regular fellowship with other believers.
Therefore, he finds it difficult to understand how it is some people can profess to be Christians and still find pleasure in living lives that are no different than those who make no profession of Christ; and how it is that other professing Christians can go for months, even years, without regular fellowship and worship with other believers. The Bible says that those who are the friends of the world are the enemies of God; that those who refuse to keep His commandments do not love God; that those who love the world do not have the love of the Father in them. So, those who profess to be Christians and find pleasure in sin are not really Christians at all. And many of those who do not have regular fellowship and worship with other believers may very well be in that same category.
The Bible is clear about the importance of fellowship among believers. It demonstrates love for one another. It provides encouragement for living in this wicked world. It shows the world what it means to be in the family of God. What the Lord thinks about it is shown in 1 Corinthians 11 where it is written that some of the believers in the church at Corinth were sick and some had died because they failed to properly consider one another at the Lord's table.
The Apostle Paul would certainly not be among those today who believe they can get along in their Christian life without fellowship with the brethren. He was about to write some very heavy and very important doctrinal truths to the church at Rome. Some of the things he was going to write were very sharp condemnations of specific sins, and the fact all men were guilty of sin before God. Before he wrote those things, he wanted the believers in the church to know how very strongly he felt about them as brothers and sisters in Christ. As we continue our study in Romans 1, we will see very clearly just how strongly he felt about it, as well as some other reasons why it is important.
Most of the churches of the first century were made up of people from all walks of life, and from many nations and races. Rich and poor, slave and free, Gentiles and Jews were brought into the kingdom of God through the preaching of the Gospel. They freely mingled together, worshiping and serving the Lord. Since Rome was the capitol of the Empire, we have no trouble imagining that the church there was such a cosmopolitan mixture.
We know they were a people of faith. Paul says their faith was being spoken of throughout the world. That's really all he needed to know about them. It didn't matter that he didn't know them personally, or that they were of different nationalities, races, and ethnic groups. They were his brothers and sisters in Christ, having been saved by grace through faith in Jesus just as he had been. And, because they were related in Christ, he wanted to see them. His desire to see them was so great that he prayed constantly it would be the will of God for him to go there just for that purpose. That in itself tells us just how strongly Paul felt about those who also loved the Lord Jesus. Probably, he had never before been to Rome. And I suppose that, when he finally did go there, if it had been under different circumstances than as a prisoner, he might have taken some time to see the various sights of the city. But, that was not what motivated him to want to make the trip.
Now, the writer is not suggesting sightseeing is wrong. But what can be seen in Paul's desire is something which would bless everyone of God's people; and that is, when trips of any kind are taken, whether for business or for vacations, the plans should include fellowship in a local church with God's people, especially on the Lord's Day, and even at a midweek prayer meeting. However, it is not likely that will be done if there is no habit of doing it when at home is not practiced. God wills for His children to use the gifts He has given them in the service of His people. The primary way of doing that is for His children to make themselves available to His people by being regular and faithful participants in a local church where they live.
It may not be thought likely much service would be accomplished in the body of Christ in another local church while on a trip. But, one never knows how it is God will use his or her spiritual gift until the gift is put in a place for it to be used. One thing is certain though and that is the blessing of encouragement to the local church for having like-minded believers in its presence.
There is another very important thing about Paul's desire to see the believers at Rome. He did not just want to meet them. He wanted to share with them the blessings of God. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus, he had been given special gifts and powers for building up the church, both in spirit and in number. He used those gifts and powers everywhere he went. He was anxious to use them for the benefit of the church at Rome as well. He was a good example of doing what Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:8. “Freely you have received, Freely give.”
No believers today are apostles, and most of us are not missionaries, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. But, every born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has been given at least one spiritual gift to share with other believers in the building up of the body of Christ. It is as Paul later writes in Romans 12:4-8, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teaches, on teaching; Or he that exhorts, on exhortation: he that gives, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” And it is as the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:10-11, “As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God gives: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Serving the church at Rome with the gifts God had given him was not the only thing Paul expected to do when he went there. He also expected to receive something from them, especially encouragement. He had been called by God and appointed to the awesome responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentile world. He had given himself to that task at great peril of his life, and with not a little physical hardship and suffering. At the same time, he had a great burden for his own people, the Jews. Though he had been what we would call very successful in leading people to the Lord and establishing churches far and wide in Asia and Greece, great multitudes of Gentiles, and nearly all the Jews had rejected both him and his message. Even many of the believers had turned on him. If anyone needed to be encouraged, Paul was the one. A trip to Rome to fellowship with believers, whom he says in chapter 15 were spiritually mature, would hopefully provide that much needed encouragement.
There appears to be nothing believers need more in these days than to be encouraged in the faith. Nothing is more encouraging than to personally know, see, and meet with those who share what the Apostle Peter calls a “like precious faith.” It is hard enough to overcome the discouragements, disappointments, and temptations of this world when one is regular in attendance at Bible study, worship, and prayer with his brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not wrong to believe it is impossible to overcome them without it.
Scripture is very clear, both by the example set in the early church and by specific direction, that believers prosper by meeting together. In the second chapter of Acts, beginning at verse 41, the Bible describes what those who were converted on the Day of Pentecost did in these words. “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”
Some 30 years later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Hebrew Christians, some of whom may have been converted on the Day of Pentecost, this direction written in Hebrews 10:23-25. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” That direction is especially good and applicable for believers today, for the wickedness all around us declares it cannot be long before the Lord Jesus returns to judge this wicked world. Truly born again believers want to be found obeying Him when He comes. Obedience cannot be full, perhaps not even partial, if one fails to encourage and be encouraged in the fellowship of his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The key to the deep longing that Paul had for fellowship with the believers at Rome is found in the fact he served God in his spirit in the gospel of His Son. It was not just an outward show with him. He truly loved God's people from his heart because he truly loved the Lord from his heart. There was no show of the flesh with Paul.
No doubt, a show of the flesh is why even some truly saved people forsake the fellowship. Though they have been partakers of the grace of God, yet they have not learned to serve Him in the Spirit. Fleshly service, besides being unacceptable to God, after awhile becomes boring and unsatisfying in the life of the believer. Only when a believer learns to serve God and other believers from his heart will the desire for fellowship be unbreakable.
If you, dear reader, are not a believer, of course you have no desire to be with those who truly trust the Lord. In fact, the farther away from them you can be, the better you like it. That's natural. But be reminded that without Christ in your heart, you have no hope of heaven and no real meaning to live this life. But, if you recognize you are a sinner, there is hope for you because it is written in 1 Timothy 1:15 “that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” I urge you to repent of your sin and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Lord and Savior NOW.