WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:11.599 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, redistribution, or any other 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.280 use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:33.100 Today's scripture reading is from Paul's letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 6 to 15, 00:00:33.260 --> 00:00:34.359 as printed in the liturgy. 00:00:35.880 --> 00:00:38.340 A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:44.900 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:51.460 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people, grace and peace to you 00:00:51.460 --> 00:00:54.120 from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:01:00.399 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is being reported 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:01.579 all over the world. 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:08.359 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:10.980 I remember you in my prayers at all times. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:16.599 And I pray that now at last, by God's will, the way may be open for me to come to you. 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:22.159 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong. 00:01:22.679 --> 00:01:27.419 That is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:32.519 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:37.979 to you, but have been prevented from doing so until now, in order that I might have a harvest 00:01:37.979 --> 00:01:41.379 among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:47.500 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.079 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 00:01:53.579 --> 00:01:54.959 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:56.699 Thanks be to God. 00:01:58.379 --> 00:01:59.899 Good morning, Christ Church. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:05.379 We are attempting to do something for the first time in our church, which is to preach 00:02:05.379 --> 00:02:07.060 this epistle to the Romans. 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:13.020 Last week, we got to know the author of this letter, a guy named Paul, who described himself 00:02:13.020 --> 00:02:16.099 as both a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ. 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:23.360 It's that apostolic, that unique apostolic authority of the New Testament, which is the 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:28.300 reason the church must continually go back to it for our truth and for our life. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:34.860 We also got to know the subject of this letter that Paul calls the gospel of God, or the gospel 00:02:34.860 --> 00:02:36.580 regarding God's Son. 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:43.300 And we talked about this gospel as a brilliant diamond, shining in six facets that Paul's 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:44.699 going to unpack through this whole letter. 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.599 But the one subject of the letter is the gospel of God. 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:54.680 And now today, we get to know these recipients of this letter, these Christians who are in 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:54.939 Rome. 00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:58.699 Now, how in the world did this church in Rome get started in the first place? 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:01.379 It was 30 AD. 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:05.280 Jesus rose from the dead. 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:11.560 Fifty days later, Jews had come to the city of Jerusalem from Rome. 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:13.959 They were there with Jews from all over the world. 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:17.939 And in that moment, the Holy Spirit was poured out. 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:21.159 And they heard the first Christian sermon. 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:25.039 They heard the gospel preached by the apostle Peter. 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:30.879 And they took that news back home with them to Rome and began to spread that news in the 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:31.599 capital city. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:38.900 Fast forward, probably in the year 42 AD, the apostle Peter went to Rome himself. 00:03:38.900 --> 00:03:44.599 And he shared with that great, large Jewish community there that God had sent Israel's 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.900 Messiah and that Jesus had risen from the dead. 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:51.200 And he was now the world's true Lord. 00:03:51.480 --> 00:03:55.640 And Peter would unpack for them everything that we have in the gospel of Mark, which is 00:03:55.640 --> 00:04:00.939 really Peter's own testimony of the life of Jesus to these Christians in Rome. 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:04.520 So Paul, he didn't plant this church in Rome. 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:09.180 But even though he's never been to this city, he knows many of the people in this church. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:10.280 He loves them very much. 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:15.120 He's planning to visit them on his way to a mission in Spain. 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:16.040 And so here's Paul. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:19.000 He's riding in the city of Corinth in Greece. 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:21.740 It's 57 AD. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:27.860 And in three years' time, Paul is going to eventually arrive in Rome. 00:04:27.860 --> 00:04:33.900 Not as he planned, as a free preacher of the gospel, but rather as a chained prisoner of 00:04:33.900 --> 00:04:34.360 the state. 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:38.900 Paul will get there in 60 AD under a sentence of treason. 00:04:39.819 --> 00:04:46.340 And eventually, Paul will be beheaded by the emperor Nero in 65 AD, followed very shortly 00:04:46.340 --> 00:04:50.020 afterwards by Peter's own martyrdom in this very city. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.379 So why is Paul writing to this company of Christian people in this great city of Rome? 00:04:55.379 --> 00:05:01.000 Why does he write to them his fullest letter, his longest explanation of the gospel? 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:04.259 Well, Paul's strategic, right? 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:07.319 He knows that this is the metropolis of the empire. 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:10.319 This is the center of the Gentile world. 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:17.319 And if these people can come to a clear understanding and a clear conviction about the gospel, it will 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:18.259 change the whole world. 00:05:18.259 --> 00:05:24.500 That if Paul can come and get the center right, then all the circumference will eventually 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:26.139 come right as well. 00:05:26.259 --> 00:05:34.120 And so what we're holding in our hands today is what Samuel Taylor Coleridge, great expert 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:40.139 in literary history, called the profoundest piece of writing in existence. 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:46.459 And I hope we're going to explore it, at least the first half of it, Romans 1 through 8, over 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:47.579 the coming weeks and months. 00:05:47.659 --> 00:05:51.099 And we're slowly working our way through the introduction of this letter. 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:54.979 And it's very tempting, isn't it, to just speed right past this introduction. 00:05:55.159 --> 00:05:56.759 Let's get to the body of the letter. 00:05:57.459 --> 00:06:00.639 Let's just do away with all these non-essential appetizers. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.060 We're ready for the entree. 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:07.040 But that's not the right approach because Paul has some really important things to say to 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:07.199 us. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:08.399 He never wastes any words. 00:06:09.339 --> 00:06:11.060 And this is essential material for us. 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:21.079 And I think God's word for us today is this, that God's people need constant prayer for gospel 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:21.620 strengthening. 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:29.360 This is what we hear in the Apostle Paul, that God's people need constant prayer for gospel 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:30.100 strengthening. 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:34.620 And I want to show you a little bit about what Paul says about God's people. 00:06:36.080 --> 00:06:40.620 Here's Paul, this former enemy of Jesus who now calls himself a slave of Jesus. 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:46.760 Paul, a former persecutor of the church who is now an apostle and pastor of the church. 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:51.220 We see in Paul himself the power of the gospel to change people. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:57.500 And so he's writing to these Christians in Rome because he wants them to know who they really 00:06:57.500 --> 00:06:58.980 are in the gospel. 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:06.140 And he wants them to realize this great power that's come into their lives and how they are 00:07:06.140 --> 00:07:08.800 seen in God's eyes as Christians. 00:07:08.960 --> 00:07:14.480 And so he says, you know, very much like me, you too are new creatures. 00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:15.439 You're new people. 00:07:16.200 --> 00:07:18.220 You have a new life, a whole new nature. 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:26.720 And that's why he says in verse 6, this is for all of you Gentiles who are called to belong 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.280 to Jesus Christ. 00:07:29.400 --> 00:07:34.240 I encourage you at some point to go and read the final chapter of this letter, Romans 16. 00:07:34.960 --> 00:07:38.860 And there you'll find a list of names of all the people that he's writing to in this church. 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:42.800 It's really kind of a list of all the different community groups at Christ Church Rome. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:48.460 And you'll find there that these are real, everyday, ordinary men and women just like 00:07:48.460 --> 00:07:48.800 us. 00:07:48.840 --> 00:07:50.660 And Paul says, you're called. 00:07:51.819 --> 00:07:56.580 You've been drawn by God the Father to belong to Jesus Christ. 00:07:56.699 --> 00:07:57.520 You've been joined. 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:00.920 You've been united to Jesus and to his people. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:02.340 And that's what a Christian is. 00:08:02.339 --> 00:08:06.799 A Christian is someone who God has called you by name. 00:08:06.939 --> 00:08:14.019 And because God has called you, he's put you into a very close relationship of belonging 00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:17.139 with his son and with his people. 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:23.979 Jesus would describe this union with himself as like a vine that's connected up and giving 00:08:23.979 --> 00:08:26.000 life to all these different branches. 00:08:26.739 --> 00:08:32.019 The Apostle Paul's favorite description of this union is being in Jesus Christ. 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:38.340 And how is it that these Romans, how is it that we might find ourselves in this position 00:08:38.340 --> 00:08:41.040 of being united to Christ, belonging to Christ? 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:43.320 How do we come to share in that status? 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:48.200 Is it because of a brilliant decision that we decided to make? 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:53.139 Is it because of great works that we have done? 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:58.960 No, the scriptures are very clear that we did not choose him, he chose us. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:03.259 That we did not call him, but he called us. 00:09:05.060 --> 00:09:09.420 And what this means for us today is that you are not merely your resume. 00:09:10.620 --> 00:09:13.240 That you're not merely your CV. 00:09:13.480 --> 00:09:18.860 You're not merely your family relationships or whatever other ways you might describe yourself. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:26.080 At a much deeper and more profound and important level, you all belong to Jesus Christ. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.120 You are united to Christ. 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:32.060 Christ Church, do you know that that's who you are? 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:35.980 Paul will go on and he says in verse 7, 00:09:36.560 --> 00:09:39.680 To all those who are in Rome who are loved by God, 00:09:40.740 --> 00:09:44.040 you're not only called by the Father to belong to Christ, 00:09:44.160 --> 00:09:47.840 but your basic identity is that you are loved by the living God. 00:09:48.900 --> 00:09:53.980 Here are all these little community groups of Christians in this great imperial city of Rome. 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:59.200 This city that's full of rival ideologies, rival systems of living. 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:01.820 And these Christians, they're meeting in one another's houses. 00:10:02.060 --> 00:10:04.420 They're meeting in the home of Priscilla and Aquila. 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:07.200 The home of Andronicus and Junia. 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.860 And they're living this entirely different counter-cultural life together. 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:14.840 Ready to be thrown into prison like Paul. 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:18.480 Ready to face death for the sake of Jesus Christ. 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:20.720 And why is that? 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.920 It's because of the love of God. 00:10:24.040 --> 00:10:27.700 It's not because they themselves are such amazing people. 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.060 It's that they become the beloved of God. 00:10:31.940 --> 00:10:34.779 And that's what makes them what they are. 00:10:35.779 --> 00:10:40.960 And friends, like them, the eternal God has set his love upon you. 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:47.620 You are the objects of his special love, of his saving love. 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:53.000 The same God who, at the baptism of Jesus and the transfiguration of Jesus, 00:10:53.180 --> 00:10:54.340 said to Jesus himself, 00:10:55.480 --> 00:10:59.259 This is my son whom I love and with him I'm well pleased. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:04.139 That truth about Jesus is now the truth about you if you're in Christ. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:06.100 This is the one whom I love. 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:12.740 Jesus prayed this way on the night before he went to his cross. 00:11:13.019 --> 00:11:14.000 This is John 17. 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:14.360 He said, 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:17.019 Father, you have loved them. 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:19.580 Meaning all those who will come to believe in me. 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:22.700 Father, you have loved them even as you have loved me. 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:29.779 And I have made you known to them in order that the love that you have for me may be in them. 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:37.079 So friends, you're not only called, you not only belong, you're not only beloved, but you're also a holy people. 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:43.199 To all of you in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people, 00:11:43.339 --> 00:11:45.939 or some translations say called to be his saints. 00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:51.439 Now I want to be very clear that it's not like there are a few Christian people who are saints 00:11:51.439 --> 00:11:53.519 and the rest of us Christians are just plain sinners. 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:54.459 Right? 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:56.259 It doesn't work like that. 00:11:56.259 --> 00:12:03.679 It's not like there are a few unusual, exceptional people who've lived excellent lives of faith, hope, and love. 00:12:03.740 --> 00:12:08.679 And the church recognizes this and canonizes these people and calls them saints so-and-so. 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:08.960 Right? 00:12:09.379 --> 00:12:10.179 Venerates them. 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:14.720 Highly exalts them as Saint Claire, for example. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.639 Now does anyone else here in this room have that word saint in your name? 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:21.399 Anyone? 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:21.500 Anyone? 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:28.299 It's a bit of a trick question because the Apostle Paul says, well, actually you do. 00:12:29.480 --> 00:12:31.740 Actually every single Christian is a saint. 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:37.519 In fact, you cannot be a Christian without being a saint or a holy one of God. 00:12:37.620 --> 00:12:41.299 What in the world does this mean to be a saint, to be holy people? 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:43.259 It means that we're set apart. 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:48.559 It means that we've been separated from everything that separates us from God. 00:12:49.299 --> 00:12:51.980 And that we have been separated to God. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:53.460 Separated to praise Him. 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:55.000 Serve Him. 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:56.240 Give ourselves to Him. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.419 Pour out our lives for His glory. 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:03.100 Friends, you've been set apart by God and for God. 00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:07.120 And I know in here we have many new Christians. 00:13:07.420 --> 00:13:12.360 Christians who are just starting out trying to develop new life-giving habits. 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:16.220 Trying for the first time to fight against sin in your life. 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.620 And you're finding it really, really hard. 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:20.100 It's hard. 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:23.700 But what you need to know is that you're holy. 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:26.300 That you have a new life. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:27.480 That you have a new nature. 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:31.680 You've been put into an entirely different position in this world. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.620 You've been called out of the kingdom of darkness. 00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:39.259 And into the kingdom of the Son that God loves. 00:13:39.339 --> 00:13:40.679 Into the kingdom of light. 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:45.899 And that Jesus has come to you and He's put His own holiness on you. 00:13:46.079 --> 00:13:47.479 Like a royal robe. 00:13:47.579 --> 00:13:48.739 And He's set you apart. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:51.219 So that you can walk in His way. 00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:52.539 And trust His truth. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.559 And live His life. 00:13:55.199 --> 00:13:57.399 So when you're fighting hard against sin. 00:13:57.439 --> 00:13:59.199 And it's fighting hard back against you. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:01.240 Remember that you're called. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:02.959 And you belong. 00:14:03.659 --> 00:14:04.599 And you're loved. 00:14:05.479 --> 00:14:06.500 And you're holy. 00:14:07.579 --> 00:14:11.659 And now you must become what God has declared you to be. 00:14:12.339 --> 00:14:14.799 Now you must become who you really are. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:20.379 Now you've got to take this objective truth about what God says about you. 00:14:20.459 --> 00:14:23.579 And you've got to make it subjective in your life. 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:28.340 And that's what Paul is saying to these Christians here in this little Christian church. 00:14:28.400 --> 00:14:30.780 In the midst of this great city of Rome. 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:32.460 In the heart of the empire. 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:37.139 This city that worships and serves created things rather than the creator. 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:41.820 This city that is suppressing the plain truth about God. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:47.800 This city that knows God and yet refuses to glorify God or to thank God. 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:57.319 Paul says your mission is to show the city of man what it means to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. 00:14:57.319 --> 00:14:58.879 Of the city of God. 00:14:59.659 --> 00:15:01.339 You're people called of God. 00:15:02.079 --> 00:15:03.779 You belong in Jesus Christ. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:05.379 You're loved by God. 00:15:05.439 --> 00:15:07.319 You're separated to and for God. 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.300 And what do these Romans need? 00:15:10.260 --> 00:15:18.000 What is it that we need to above all else being able to live out this radical countercultural identity? 00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:19.540 Paul tells us. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:20.440 He says in verse 7. 00:15:20.620 --> 00:15:25.600 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:30.140 Now some of us just gloss over that like a throwaway line. 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:33.320 It's just this friendly simple little greeting and salutation. 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:48.700 But grace is this great announcement of the undeserved kindness and the unmerited favor of God the Father to do for us in his son and by his spirit what none of us could do for ourselves. 00:15:49.420 --> 00:15:57.200 And give us all that's needed for us to be able to say I'm called, I belong, I'm beloved, and I'm holy. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:02.700 God's grace gives us all these blessings and all these benefits. 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:05.620 And what is the result of God's grace? 00:16:05.780 --> 00:16:09.600 What does this experience of the grace of God lead to? 00:16:09.900 --> 00:16:10.940 It leads to peace. 00:16:13.060 --> 00:16:17.940 The grace of God is designed to bring us to and to give us this peace. 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:20.379 God's grace is the fountainhead. 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:26.600 God's grace is the river that's leading us out into this vast ocean of God's peace. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:30.240 And peace is the opposite of restlessness. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:35.539 Peace is the opposite of strife and uncertainty and unhappiness. 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:42.259 And to be at peace with God means that we are no longer at enmity against God. 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:44.919 We're no longer fighting against God. 00:16:45.059 --> 00:16:48.179 We're no longer wishing there was no God. 00:16:48.179 --> 00:16:58.239 No, the grace of God has come to us and it's reconciled us to a loving relationship with God so that we're at peace with him. 00:16:59.379 --> 00:17:03.779 And being at peace with God, we can now be at peace even within our very selves. 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:09.599 And being at peace with God and with ourselves, we can now live in peace with one another. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:15.859 Friends, do you realize all that you are and all that you have? 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:17.639 You're the people of God who are called. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:18.980 You belong. 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:19.599 You're beloved. 00:17:19.719 --> 00:17:20.199 You're holy. 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:20.919 You're graced. 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:21.759 You have peace. 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:24.839 What more could you possibly need? 00:17:25.299 --> 00:17:31.799 What more could you possibly want that God has not already abundantly provided for you? 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:35.919 Isn't it great to be the people of God? 00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:39.779 Is it great? 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.200 Some of you are not yet saints. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.059 You're, you know, it's great to be the people of God. 00:17:49.299 --> 00:17:54.259 And yet Paul's point here is that God's people, we need constant prayer. 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:56.519 We need constant prayer. 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:02.400 Paul says to them in verses 8 through 11, I've been longing for years to come to see you 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.299 and not a day passes by where I don't pray for you, I constantly pray for you. 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:14.079 In verse 8 he says, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:16.259 And I want to dive into that prayer in just a minute. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.859 But first I want to zoom out and talk about Paul's prayer life. 00:18:19.859 --> 00:18:24.680 Because Paul has been praying these Jewish style prayers his whole life long. 00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:28.960 Paul would think about the prayer of Abraham in Genesis 18. 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:31.799 Will not the judge of all the earth do right? 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:39.160 Jacob's great prayer in Genesis 32, Lord I'm not going to let you go unless you bless me. 00:18:40.840 --> 00:18:44.759 Moses' great prayer in Exodus 33, Lord show us your glory. 00:18:45.799 --> 00:18:50.660 He would think about and he would pray like all Jews three times a day, morning, noon, and evening. 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:53.060 Shema Israel, Deuteronomy 6. 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:57.160 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:01.000 The Lord alone, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:19:01.060 --> 00:19:05.519 That was the beginning of every Jewish prayer that led them straight into what? 00:19:06.080 --> 00:19:07.480 The 150 Psalms. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:10.460 This great prayer book of the Bible. 00:19:11.600 --> 00:19:16.920 And friends, we would do well to learn these great biblical prayers and pray them just as Paul prayed them. 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:23.320 And I believe that Paul was praying his noontime prayers when he was on that road to Damascus. 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:34.039 And we're told that it was precisely at noon when Paul was meditating on this one Lord that he had worshipped and served his whole life. 00:19:34.080 --> 00:19:36.240 The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:19:36.320 --> 00:19:40.200 And boom, all of a sudden he had an encounter with the resurrected Christ. 00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:46.960 He came face to face with the risen and living Christ and it shattered all of Paul's dreams. 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:51.039 And yet at the same time, it fulfilled all of Paul's dreams. 00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:56.340 And from that moment on, Paul would never, ever pray the same. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:00.880 And that's why he says, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:10.260 From now on, he'll invoke the one God through the name of Jesus because prayer has been radically transformed by the resurrected Christ. 00:20:11.300 --> 00:20:13.440 Paul says it this way in Romans 8. 00:20:14.580 --> 00:20:14.940 He says, 00:20:15.120 --> 00:20:22.720 The spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship and by him we cry, Abba, Father. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:26.240 He says in Galatians 4, he says, 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:33.759 God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:41.759 What Paul is saying is that when the spirit of God's resurrected son, Jesus, comes into you, 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:49.980 you now share in the sonship of Jesus so that you pray like Jesus and with Jesus, Abba, Father. 00:20:49.980 --> 00:20:50.099 Father. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:57.599 So to be a Christian is to let Jesus' prayers just happen in you. 00:20:58.559 --> 00:21:02.220 Father, our Father, hallowed be your name. 00:21:02.420 --> 00:21:08.640 And this is what Paul began to do in his hot, cramped workshop as he was tent making. 00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:10.220 He was constantly praying. 00:21:10.900 --> 00:21:14.460 When he was traveling on the sea and on the roads, he was constantly praying. 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:19.240 The spirit of the son poured out in him, crying out, Abba, Father. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:26.700 And Paul, of course, as a Jew, he had these set times to pray and we would do well to do the same, morning, noon, and evening. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:30.319 And yet he says, I also pray in verse 10, at all times. 00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:38.599 Whenever the thought occurs to me to pray, whenever the spirit of Jesus is calling out in me, Abba, Father, that is when I pray. 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:43.819 And when he would pray, he would express loyalty to Jesus and to his kingdom. 00:21:44.639 --> 00:21:49.000 He would call out, Lord Jesus, send down your presence and your power. 00:21:49.919 --> 00:21:51.959 Oh, Lord Jesus, I need your protection. 00:21:52.159 --> 00:21:53.699 I need your guidance. 00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.500 Lord Jesus, I need your encouragement. 00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:58.619 Jesus, I need your hope. 00:21:58.619 --> 00:22:10.639 When Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7 about all of his battles outside and his fears inside, don't you believe that Paul was praying, Lord, help me with these battles. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.599 Help me with these fears. 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:27.219 It's so easy to follow the outward course of Paul's life and just to forget this inward course of his life, this most important source of all of Paul's power, which is prayer. 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:35.559 The life of Paul, the letters of Paul, that's just the tip of the iceberg that we see above the waterline. 00:22:35.660 --> 00:22:37.480 But what's underneath all of that? 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.059 What is undergirding and empowering all of that? 00:22:41.100 --> 00:22:43.559 It's this Jesus-focused prayer. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:54.380 When he says, when he writes, I'm working hard and I'm strenuously contending, I think that includes his praying for the people of God. 00:22:54.380 --> 00:22:58.660 I love what N.T. Wright said in his biography of Paul. 00:22:58.780 --> 00:23:23.420 He said, unless we step to one side from Paul's relentless journeyings and imagine him praying like this, praying as he and his friends break bread in Jesus' name, praying as he waits for the next ship, for the turn of the tide, the right weather to sail, praying for sick friends and for newly founded little churches, praying as he makes his way toward what may be a wonderful reunion with old friends. 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:27.320 Or an awkward confrontation with old enemies. 00:23:27.320 --> 00:23:39.160 Unless we build this kind of praying life into the very heart of our picture of this extraordinary, energetic, bold, and yet vulnerable man, we will not understand him at all. 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:45.360 And not only will we not understand Paul, but we won't understand ourselves. 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:53.880 We won't understand our calling as Christians and our mission as a church to be a house of prayer for all the nations. 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:58.259 To be devoted as the apostles devoted themselves to what? 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:00.840 To prayer and the ministry of the word. 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:01.980 Always prayer first. 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:02.980 Always prayer first. 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:03.980 Always prayer first. 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:11.400 My wife pointed out this great quote to me the other day from John Owen, who was a 17th century English theologian. 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:15.299 And he said, 00:24:15.420 --> 00:24:21.200 A minister may fill his pews, fill his communion role, fill the mouths of the public, 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:28.400 but what that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:32.580 That he is and no more. 00:24:34.100 --> 00:24:36.519 And that's why Paul will write to them in Romans 12. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:36.860 He'll say, 00:24:37.080 --> 00:24:39.980 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and what? 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:41.900 Faithful in prayer. 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:46.019 And what is Paul praying for these churches? 00:24:46.280 --> 00:24:51.580 Well, I'd encourage you to learn how to pray for the church through Paul. 00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:56.659 But he says simply here, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:04.159 And Paul's the sort of guy who sings hymns in prison at midnight, so it's not surprising that his prayers are full of thanks. 00:25:04.419 --> 00:25:12.720 In Colossians, he writes that he really wishes that every church would develop and enrich this practice of just simply giving thanks to God. 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:14.299 Whatever else you do, just say, 00:25:14.659 --> 00:25:15.240 Thank you, God. 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:22.079 And so he's thanking God, not thanking the Romans, not thanking them all for being great people and joining the church, 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:25.380 but he's thanking God for making them Christians. 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:28.359 God, thank you for planting this church in Rome. 00:25:28.420 --> 00:25:30.519 And what specifically is he thanking God for? 00:25:30.579 --> 00:25:30.859 He says, 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:39.180 I thank you, God, through Jesus Christ for all of these people because their faith is being reported all over the world. 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:50.039 That is, the members of the church in these different countries and Christian people scattered throughout the Roman Empire are hearing that in the imperial city, 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:56.279 God is at work to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ and to build his church. 00:25:56.380 --> 00:25:59.620 And that is incredible that they're hearing this news because there's no TV. 00:26:00.660 --> 00:26:01.799 There are no newspapers. 00:26:02.019 --> 00:26:04.039 There's no World Wide Web. 00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:04.900 There's no phones. 00:26:05.019 --> 00:26:06.779 There's no ad agencies. 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:12.859 But Paul's point is that the work of the Holy Spirit does not need to be advertised. 00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:19.420 It simply advertises itself in the faith and in the lives of God's people. 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:27.839 That when the Holy Spirit is poured out and revival breaks out in one single heart or one little group, 00:26:27.899 --> 00:26:32.619 no matter what the size, the news will begin to spread and curiosity will awaken 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:37.500 and people will begin to say, what is happening here and how can I get in on this? 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:44.779 And what Paul is saying is that when the Holy Spirit enters in and does a mighty work in the church as he's doing in Rome, 00:26:45.259 --> 00:26:47.319 God will spread the news. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.219 And that's the question for us. 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:53.979 Is the Holy Spirit so powerfully at work here at Christ Church? 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:58.380 That our faith is being spoken of. 00:26:59.460 --> 00:27:08.360 That our lives are advertising provocatively, persuasively, the life of Jesus Christ. 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:13.160 Paul says, thank you, God, that that's happening in this great church in Rome. 00:27:14.200 --> 00:27:19.900 And then he goes on and says, God's people, we need constant prayer for something very specific. 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:23.500 He says, we need constant prayer for gospel strengthening. 00:27:24.820 --> 00:27:25.940 And I'll end with this. 00:27:27.100 --> 00:27:31.280 Paul's not only thanking God for the extraordinary work that he's already been doing, 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:36.180 but he wonderfully intercedes for others about the work that God has yet to do. 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:39.220 And what does he pray? 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:42.200 What does he pray for the church? 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:47.720 He says, I pray that God would open the door so that I can come to Rome 00:27:47.720 --> 00:27:51.579 in order that something particular and special would happen in God's church. 00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:55.839 Paul wants to go to Rome not to see the sights of this capital city, 00:27:55.940 --> 00:27:57.000 not to meet with the emperor. 00:27:58.140 --> 00:28:01.700 Paul's not going to Rome for the pizza and the wine and the gelato. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:05.799 He's not going so he can ride a Vespa and gaze at the Sistine Chapel. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.079 Why is Paul going to Rome? 00:28:08.180 --> 00:28:08.940 Why does he want to go? 00:28:09.019 --> 00:28:11.500 Because he wants to see these Christian people, 00:28:11.500 --> 00:28:14.880 and he wants to see this Christian church made strong. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:22.460 I'm longing to see you so that I can impart to you some spiritual gift in verse 11 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:25.020 to make you, what, strong. 00:28:26.260 --> 00:28:28.500 He wants them to be aware that they need something. 00:28:28.600 --> 00:28:29.400 And what do they need? 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:30.820 They need to be strengthened. 00:28:31.880 --> 00:28:33.120 They need to be established. 00:28:33.340 --> 00:28:37.020 They need to be built up and made more complete in Christ. 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.340 Yes, you become Christians, thank God. 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:45.000 Yes, your faith is being reported, thank God, but conversion is not the end. 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:45.879 It's just the beginning. 00:28:47.099 --> 00:28:52.139 If you come to Jesus and you become a Christian and that's the end of the story, 00:28:52.220 --> 00:28:55.079 then none of these epistles needed to be written at all. 00:28:56.639 --> 00:29:00.240 These epistles exist because becoming a Christian is just the beginning. 00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:05.139 Paul says elsewhere that when we start out, we're just little infants. 00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:06.879 We're babies in Jesus Christ. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:13.380 We need to be fed milk, but eventually we've got to be weaned so that we can eat meat, he says. 00:29:14.340 --> 00:29:18.740 And we've got to learn to, we've got to be trained in how to walk like Jesus 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:25.920 and talk like Jesus and pray like Jesus and become mature like Jesus. 00:29:26.040 --> 00:29:29.940 We've got to learn to deal with all the hard things in the Christian life. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.800 We've got to learn how to deal with the world and the flesh and the devil. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:39.319 We've got to learn how to deal with all the false teaching that's constantly barraging the church. 00:29:40.579 --> 00:29:44.019 Paul says, yes, we must evangelize, but we've got to be very careful 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:48.220 that all of the converts we evangelize are strengthened. 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:52.339 Because what will happen if we're not strengthened? 00:29:53.379 --> 00:29:57.480 What will happen if we're not rooted and grounded, as Paul says in Ephesians? 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:01.880 We're simply going to walk in a way that's not worthy of our calling. 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:08.380 We are going to have our Christian testimony spoiled. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.059 And the name of Jesus is going to come into disrepute 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:14.880 because of the things that we're thinking and the things we're saying 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:16.720 and the things that we are doing. 00:30:16.819 --> 00:30:22.740 So the best advertising for any church is simply strong Christians. 00:30:22.740 --> 00:30:27.359 The greatest testimony to the truth of the gospel of Jesus 00:30:27.359 --> 00:30:30.620 is found in Christian people who are walking in the way, 00:30:31.700 --> 00:30:33.839 trusting the truth, and living the life. 00:30:35.220 --> 00:30:38.839 When Paul says, I'm longing to come so that I can have a harvest among you, 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:42.380 in verse 13, is that harvest simply conversions? 00:30:42.579 --> 00:30:47.720 Or is that harvest these converts being built up and established and strengthened 00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:50.200 and manifesting the graces of the Christian life 00:30:50.200 --> 00:30:53.900 and growing the fruit of the Spirit in their life? 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:55.579 It's probably both. 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:00.400 Paul is praying that he might come and strengthen them 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:04.440 and establish them in their minds and their hearts and their wills. 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:07.120 And how will Paul strengthen them? 00:31:08.120 --> 00:31:11.860 What spiritual gift will he impart to them to make them strong? 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:16.720 How does he intend to encourage them by his faith, as he says in verse 12? 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:18.160 Verse 12, what's his content? 00:31:18.380 --> 00:31:19.720 What's his curriculum? 00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:25.120 He says in verse 9, it's the preaching of the gospel of God's Son. 00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:26.839 That's it. 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:27.620 That's the content. 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:31.759 You don't believe the gospel and become converted 00:31:31.759 --> 00:31:34.319 and then move on to bigger and better content. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:35.480 There's nothing bigger and better. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:38.960 It's just the gospel of God's Son, 00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:42.420 the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, Ephesians 3, 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:45.680 the whole counsel of God, Acts 20. 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:51.740 I proclaim Jesus Christ in order that I might present you fully mature in him. 00:31:51.840 --> 00:31:54.759 Colossians 1, it's the same thing everywhere. 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:58.380 We need, if we want to be strengthened, 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:03.160 we need to go further up and further in to the gospel, 00:32:04.420 --> 00:32:08.320 to believe the gospel in all of its depth and height and length and breadth, 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:12.319 to press the gospel into every square inch of our lives. 00:32:12.399 --> 00:32:16.039 And having done that, press it into every square inch of God's creation. 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:19.419 And that's why Paul says in verse 15, 00:32:19.420 --> 00:32:25.400 that I'm so eager to come and preach the gospel to you who are in Rome, 00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:29.940 to impart to you this great spiritual gift of the gospel, 00:32:30.600 --> 00:32:33.880 of which this letter is one very long explanation, 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:36.960 in order that I might make you strong. 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:41.700 It's these deep doctrines of the gospel that will stabilize you 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:44.640 and establish you and ground you and root you. 00:32:44.700 --> 00:32:48.160 It's these deep doctrines of the gospel that will make you dependable, 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:52.059 reliable, sturdy, and strong Christians. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.819 And I just have to ask as we close, 00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:56.399 is that what you're praying for? 00:32:58.639 --> 00:33:01.419 Is that what we pray when we look around this room 00:33:01.419 --> 00:33:02.720 and we pray for each other? 00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:03.639 Is that what we're praying? 00:33:03.720 --> 00:33:05.960 God, strengthen us in the gospel. 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.619 God, make him stronger in the gospel. 00:33:09.619 --> 00:33:14.000 God, make our kids strengthened in the gospel. 00:33:15.419 --> 00:33:17.379 This is exactly what Jesus, again, 00:33:17.460 --> 00:33:20.119 he prays this for us on the night before his cross. 00:33:21.019 --> 00:33:22.859 In John 17, he says simply, 00:33:22.859 --> 00:33:26.279 Father, sanctify them by the truth. 00:33:27.599 --> 00:33:29.919 Your word is truth. 00:33:31.479 --> 00:33:32.959 May it be so among us. 00:33:33.059 --> 00:33:34.679 In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:33:35.479 --> 00:33:35.699 Amen.