Am I the stuff that a good church is made of?
That's the question. The second question I think every Christian should ask themselves. What New Testament church would I come from? What New Testament church would I fit in with? What I identify with? What I like? What I boast about belonging to? Am I always a drain on my church?
Or at least sometimes maybe I generate pain? Sometimes life puts us in a spot where we are draining more than we are generating, and that's okay. But if that's all we've got, that's a concern. to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the Book of Romans Chapter 1 as he begins his message, eager, prepared, and available. of throughout the whole world.
Eager, prepared, and available. That's the title of this consideration, and I hope that comes out from the study. We go right to verse 1. First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Well, coming from a man like Paul, there's quite an observation, a substantial remark. Imagine if you lived in the days of Paul, and he wrote a letter to the church that you attended, and the pastor read that from Paul to you. This was the case earlier with another church, the church in Thessalonica.
That church, quite a remarkable beginning. Thessalonians, First Thessalonians Chapter 1, and you became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit. Those folks got saved while they were being persecuted, and it did not take their joy from them.
They continued to serve, and he continues there in First Thessalonians 1. So that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe, for from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith towards God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. What a remarkable, I mean, who are these Christians? Are they still here today? Do we have churches and Christians like this? Of course we do.
But we've got some rotten apples in the barrel also. And I guess, what are we supposed to do with such information that the Bible exposes us to? What are we supposed to think when we come across these stories about the first Christians? Well, we're supposed to say, where am I in the picture? I think this is a question each Christian should search out before the Lord. What am I supposed to do with these things? What is my role?
Why are you exposing me to this information? I came to church to, you know, for whatever reasons, hopefully the right reasons, and I hear this, what am I supposed to do with it? This raises a second question. This question might sting some, might annoy others, but I believe it offers progress to all. What is the stuff a bad church is made of?
It can only be one thing. Churches are made of people. Bad churches are made of people. Good churches are made of the people. What makes a good church are the people. People of the New Testament are the church. When we get to the book of Revelation, Jesus takes up what we call two chapters talking about the people in seven different churches. Am I the stuff that a good church is made of?
That's the second question I think every Christian should ask themselves. What New Testament church would I come from? What New Testament church would I fit in with? What I identify with?
What I like? What I boast about belonging to? Am I always a drain on my church? Or at least sometimes maybe I generate blessings.
Sometimes life puts us in a spot where we are draining more than we are generating, and that's okay, but if that's all we've got, that's a concern. But what church? Am I comfortable saying, oh, I go to the church at Laodicea. Well, that church made Christ sick. Well, I go to the church at Ephesus. They stopped loving the Lord.
They're doing a lot of stuff. They just weren't loving him. And then Corinth, the loony bin of churches, and we have a lot of those around. People are just driven by how they feel, never mind what the Scripture's teaching them. Or can I identify with Thessalonica or the church in Rome, Philippi, Philadelphia? There were good churches, but there were others that needed work, and that calls for me to say, who am I in this picture? Do I have the right stuff? The instant answer is, yes, you do. Will you draw from it? What will you do with it?
Well, I'm going to bury mine. Or are you going to work it out? If you choose to work it out, you're going to take a lot of hits, but Christ says, I'll make it worth it. And by faith, you will serve knowing that it's true. All Christians, all of us, run the risk of being so carnal and so un-Christ-like that we fail to gain any victories.
Usually it's carnality, self-centeredness, instead of Christ-centeredness. Now, you older Christians, I mean you that are older than me, which is not getting harder and harder to do, I've noticed. I know, you older Christians that love the Lord, you better understand, you are a blessing. Whether you grab a broom or mop or work in the kismet, just being in formation, you are a blessing because you are a testimony that you are still standing, that it can be done.
That you can still love the Lord Jesus after all life has put you through, you're still here. I'll add to that, you older Christians, when you're not here, if you regularly attend and you miss a day, I notice, your pastor notices. So don't at all sell what Christ does through your life by just being in formation. Again, because you are still standing and you will continue to stand until Christ calls you home. And may you younger Christians ask yourself, will I be still standing in formation when I get to my 70s and my 80s? Will I still be a follower of Jesus Christ? Because it does count.
You've got something to shoot for. I look at the young Christians and I say, boy, I'm glad I'm not young. Anyway, let's talk about the church at Corinth because there's so many lessons. Why did God have two letters to that church?
There's so much information, such a benefit through their struggles, agonizing Paul. In Corinth, it was not their faith that stood out the most, it was their sloppiness. We're talking about the church at Rome and Paul says, hey, let me tell you what stands out about you. You're reaching the world with a testimony to Christ.
He said that about Thessalonica. He certainly could have said that about others, but to Corinth, let me read to you 1 Corinthians 5. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles.
You're doing stuff that unbelievers don't do and you're walking around boasting about it as though this is grace. Disobedience under the cloak of love is still disobedience and is not a genuine love and they weren't dealing with it. They did eventually, but because Paul said something, had he not spoke up, they would have been worse than the church at Laodicea.
The church at Corinth did largely recover. Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. For you are still carnal for where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? Christ asked this question, what do you do more than others? And that's what Paul is saying, you're acting like unbelievers, you're acting like mere men, you're supposed to be more than this. You're capable, you have the right stuff.
What are you going to do with it? Well, again, if this motivates you, stirs you to get into action or continue with some zeal, a pep in your step, be ready for the disappointments, the setbacks, the depression. Depression that you will stomp out by just doing your duty. Depression cannot stand a servant that does their job and tries to do it well.
I am speaking from experience and observation. A Christian will love a good church unless they fall for the critic, and they're out there. The critic that sows the weeds in the Lord's work, in the Lord's field. They have no right, but they do this.
And interesting enough, critics don't like being criticized, which makes it fun to criticize them. But you can't find them easily, because they do not wear a placard. Don't let that be you. Don't be the one that sits in the church and sours everybody.
And don't be offended when you're told, if you are sour and you want to sour anybody, why don't you just stay home? Don't be offended by that. What you should do is say, you know what, I'm going to fix this. By the Lord's help, I will fix it. And I will generate blessings instead of just draining them. I said, we've got to say this in God's house, but it must be said.
This church in Rome noticed outside of Rome that they were Jesus lovers. Matthew Henry, who long centuries been dead, wrote so much, so much commentary, too much to read. It's actually very boring. But every now and then, he comes up with these home runs.
And not only that, I was happy to hear that J. Vernon McGee thought he was boring, too. But he had to admit, Matthew Henry was still a devout man of God, no question, as far as we know, as far as we could see. But he says this about this church in Rome, who this letter is addressed to. The church at Rome was then a flourishing church. But since that time, how it is the gold become dim. The epistle to the Romans is now an epistle against the Romans. It's quite scathing, is it not? The things that made you once great, a great blessing has now made you a great curse.
The place, not the things, the place, what they've done with it. Two thousand years later, the church in Rome is no longer there. There is no church in Rome, not according to the scriptures.
This isn't an unfounded insult, or not meant to be an insult, it's a fact. The difference between Roman Catholicism and Christianity is one has the scripture as their authority and the other does not. That's the big difference right there. And you can't just sprinkle a little Bible on it like it's partially on a plate.
It's got to be the main course. It is the star. Verse nine, still speaking to these Christians in Rome. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Well a constant witness or lesson from scripture is that man exists as a living being in a body. And he is in possession of a soul.
So this tricada or this inferior trinity of man. The saved Christian has a soul, has a body, and the spirit is alive in Christ. The unsaved have a soul, they have a body, but the spirit is dead.
And it means everything. The soul is that part of you that deals with other people. The spirit is that part of you that deals with God, interacts with God.
And the body of course is the vehicle. And so when he says for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit, that part of me that interacts with God. The word serve there in the Greek is not the usual ones we come across like slave or employee. This one is religious service. So what he's saying is for God is my witness whom I serve in ministry.
And not that he didn't serve all around, but that's just a choice of words that he chose from the Greek language. Paul prayed for them because the Holy Spirit helped him not to lose sight of them. And it's critical for praying. I mean if you have to work to remember somebody to pray for, you're probably not being led to pray for that person.
There are probably other fish to fry. So usually speaking from scripture and anecdotally, when I pray for someone it's because God's put them on my heart. I can't tell you how many times he has validated that in a very real, very strong way. So you know I will sing with understanding and I will pray with understanding. We are not supposed to be walking around confused about what our faith is. Confusion does not strengthen anyone.
It is not an asset, it is a liability. Well, coming back to this, verse 10 now, making requests, If by some means, now at last, I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. Paul was praying to God to get him to Rome. It would take almost four or five years before God finalizes that prayer. Some of you may have been praying for something in ministry, in the service of the king. We have prayers for ourselves, you know, whatever they may be. But then we have prayers in the work of the Lord. Especially if you have been entrusted or if you're serving. Lord, may we have more helpers, may we have better helpers.
Whatever the case may be in various churches. But that's how many years it took. Look, there are complexities that are beyond our understanding. Why did it take so long? Why this?
Why that? Those things are often beyond us. So we accept them by faith. The whole 11th chapter of Hebrews is telling you, when you can't get any more out of your understanding, you default to what you do understand and that is the character of God. And what his will is and you do that.
Whether you like it or you don't like it. Now motivational speakers can get up and tell things like that to their audience. You're just going to plow through and whatever they do. Well how come God can't do that? Why can't God send us into harm's way? Generals can do that. We applaud the troops that go as heroes. Why can't God do that to his servants? He does do that to his servants.
How will they respond? No one knew it would take a near death experience for this man and misery along with it. For this man and those band of Christians with him to get to Rome. But they did get there.
And they remained not only eager, but they were prepared. Well what good is it if you want to do something but you're not qualified? And some Christians think that just because they're believers they're qualified.
Well that's not true. Paul told Timothy, study to show yourself approved. A worker who does not need to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of God because there's a wrong way to do it. Profound lessons for all of us.
They're right there on the surface many of these. You don't always have to dig for the profound things from scripture. And so they were eager and they were prepared. I'll get a little bit ahead of myself. If you're eager to serve and you are capable, prepared to serving but you're not available then what good is it? Well you know we got Parcheesi night tonight and I just can't get down to that church. Well then your availability cancels out everything else.
Something to think about. Now sometimes you just can't be available. That's where God has you.
And the pastors will tell you that. Sometimes you may be going through something in life and you need to sit for a while. Because this is where God has you and it's not time for you to serve. You are eager, you are prepared.
But your life has got you just in this space and until that season has passed that's where you need to be. Sometimes it may be an illness. Sometimes it can be something else. Anyway in verse 10 he says, by some means now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. Lord willing. He adds that. Not enough Paul.
This is what he's saying. It's not enough that I want to come to you. What does God want? Well he gets there and we've covered this. The five S's of Paul's journey to Rome. The storm, the swords, the shipwreck, the snake bite and the shackles.
All of that. How many of us would say, you know what, God's not leading me to Rome. He's leading me to some resort where I don't have to face these things. And that's all Acts chapter 20 to 28 is all about him getting to Rome. It starts out going to Jerusalem and then that backfired.
Well at least on the surface it did. But the next verse here in Romans chapter 1 tells us why hell did not want Paul in the largest city of western civilization. It was hell that got involved trying to keep him from Rome during that four year span. From the time they got this letter to the time he gets there.
Four or five years give or take. Verse 11, for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established. Well hell wasn't going to stand for that. Tough. He got there. And hell had to suffer it. And people got saved. But what would have, what kind of stuff am I made of would I have gotten there? After all it took, the length of time, and time is like gravity when you want something it just pushes you down.
It's too much gravity. Paul knew he had to physically get in front of the congregations. He had to be physically at those churches, interacting with the people, not hiding from them. This may also explain some of why he just couldn't sit in one place for any length of time. I mean after a couple of years at the top he was ready to move to another church. And I don't think he's just a restless soul.
I think he just was preoccupied with getting what, getting done what needed to be done. And if he's sitting in Antioch and the church is blessed there and he gets word that well there are some Christians in Triaz and they're not doing so well. Well Paul's going to say book me a ticket.
And that's where he's going to be. He says that I may impart some spiritual gift, the very thing hell did not want coming from a man like this. What does this mean that I may impart some spiritual gift? He wanted to strengthen the saved. These Christians, the people in Rome that he is writing to are saved people. This is not an evangelical letter as perhaps Luke's gospel and the book of Acts. Oh Theophilus, the things that Jesus began to do and to teach. You could say well that's evangelicalism in that. And this is a big point about this letter and I don't want you to lose sight of this. It's not all about lost souls. Because if you just have saved souls who aren't strengthened then what use are they going to be to lost souls in time? They're going, their faith will erode and become weird.
It won't be what it's supposed to be. Romans chapter 15, he writes in the 29th verse, but I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That kind of writing comes from the heart.
That's not a, you know, an academic statement. This is what's coming out of the man. We started off this letter with understanding Phoebe, you're going to Rome, let me send a letter with you. And then he just, the damn bursts and all this Christianity comes flowing out of a life that was dedicated to God. They needed more than salvation. They needed pastoring.
And there have been a lot of churches that have put some effort into keeping pastors out of that church. Because they, oh it's the people thing. It's sort of the spirit of Dathan against Moses and Aaron. It's just, where does this stuff come from? It's carnality. So coming back to this, when he talks about some spiritual gift, he's not talking about the gifts of the spirit.
I want to come there and pray and you learn how to speak tongues or something like that. He's not saying that. What he is saying is, he wants to give them the gift of reinforcement and the gift of improvement. You could say those are gifts coming from, if someone can come into a church and breathe life into that church through encouragement and reinforcement of scriptural teaching, yeah that's a gift, what would you call it?
What else could it be? Certainly isn't a curse. The believer is to keep the windmill oiled. But it is the Holy Spirit that turns the windmill.
And this is the role of the Christians, to keep all the parts working so when the Holy Spirit moves, there are results. So that you may be established, he says. Now I'm going to get back to save souls in this letter in a minute, but just looking at this verse 11.
So that you may be established. This letter, written to believers. When he gets to Rome, he writes what we have, we have four letters that he wrote from Rome, from jail in Rome. One of them is Colossians. And to the Colossians, while now in Rome, wanting to come to Rome four years earlier to impart some blessing, now he's there when he writes Colossians.
And this is what he says. He tells them to be rooted and built up in Christ and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. He's going to say more to this church while he's still in chains, but that's where he starts out. He wanted to do this to the Roman believers, believers in Rome, and he's doing it to everybody else too. But for over 2,000 years since this letter has been in publication, many have come to Christ through this letter. Through the letter that was written to believers, unbelievers have become believers. A pastor doesn't have to stand in a pulpit and preach evangelical sermons every Sunday.
He can systematically go through the scriptures and people will get saved. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reverence Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.
We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it, head over to crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross Reference Radio, so make a note of it, crossreferenceradio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick, we'll be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross Reference Radio.
