Introduction: Two weeks ago we studied the identity of the author. He is Paul who used to be Saul. He is Christ's slave, an Apostle, and set apart to preach the Gospel.

Then a week ago we looked at Paul's Gospel: The Gospel OF GOD, the Gospel promised in the Old Testament, the Gospel centered on Jesus, the Gospel which is guaranteed by the resurrection, the Gospel of Grace, that comes to God's people with an "efficacious call."

Today we are going to look at Paul again, and learn from him about what it means to have the right attitude in our Christian work. In these verses Paul is revealing his heart and motivations to the Romans. They have not met him. He wants to come to visit. They are asking themselves, "What kind of a fellow is this? Do we really want Paul to come to see us and minister to us?" Paul wants to open up and win them over before he shows up.

What does Paul tell us about his motivations and attitudes? At least seven things:

I. Paul was thankful for the conversion of the Romans (vs 8).

Contrast Paul with the Old Testament Jonah. Jonah was an angry missionary. Jonah was not happy about the conversions of the Ninevites (Jonah 4:1-4)!

• 1 ¶ But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
• 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
• 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
• 4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?"

Paul was DELIGHTED at the salvation of the Romans. Have we learned to have an attitude of happiness and thanksgiving about the conversion of people to Jesus Christ? If the angels in Heaven rejoice, why don't we? Why are so many Christians unconcerned about world missions? Why do so few churches have annual missions conferences? Why do our missionaries tell me that other churches don't send them email, and Christmas gifts, and support them as Wayside does? Are American Christians more like Jonah, or are they more like Paul? What's the problem?

II. Paul was happy to serve God with his whole heart (vs 9, 15).

Of course, this was easier for Paul than it would be for many of us. ZEAL was a built-in part of Paul's natural human character. He was never the sort of person to do anything "by halves." As Saul, he was completely dedicated to eradicating Christianity. Now as a Christian, and as the Apostle to the Gentiles, he was 100% for Christ.

Jesus likes us to be 100%. Remember his words to the Church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-16...

• 14 ¶ "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
• 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
• 16 So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

III. Paul prayed for the Gentiles constantly (vs 10).

Paul often gave accounts of his prayers for the churches, so we know what this praying was like.

• 11 ¶ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
• 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  (2 Thess 1:11-12)

• 14 ¶ For this reason I kneel before the Father,
• 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
• 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
• 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
• 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
• 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God.
  (Eph 3:14-19)

Do we pray for each other? Do we pray like Paul, for the spiritual growth of our brothers and sisters in the Church?

IV. Paul wanted to bring spiritual gifts to the Romans to make them strong (vs 11).

There are all kinds of spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible, and even later on in Romans 12:3-8.

• 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
• 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
• 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
• 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
• 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
• 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

But quite often spiritual gifts, especially gifts of knowledge and revelation, were given to the churches through the laying on of the hands of the Apostles. For example, Acts 8:14-20...

• 14 ¶ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
• 15 When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,
• 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.
• 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
• 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money
• 19 and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."
• 20 Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!

or Acts 19:1-6...

• 1 ¶ While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples
• 2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
• 3 So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John’s baptism," they replied.
• 4 Paul said, "John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
• 5 On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.
• 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

We still have the gifts of the Spirit in the Church today, but not through the laying on of the hands of the Apostles. There are no more Apostles. They were God's gift to the early New Testament Church. We have something now, better than having Apostles, that the early Church did not have: we have the New Testament. The early church needed gifts of revelation: tongues, prophesies, words of knowledge, etc. We no longer need those, and they are not given any longer; because we have the written Word of God, which is much better than those gifts.

V. Paul strongly desired mutual encouragement (vs 12).

Paul wanted to encourage the believers in Rome. He also wanted the Roman believers to encourage him. The word "encourage" in Greek is the word: sumparakleitheinai. It is a combination word. "Sum" means "together." "Para" means "along side of." "Kaleo" means "to call." So all wrapped up in this one word: We are in this mess together. We are working along side each other. We are calling out to each other to keep up our work, our energy, our success in our work. Maybe the best example is a professional or very good university basketball team. There are five men out on the court. They are on the move. They are working the ball. Simultaneously they are developing their plan. They are talking to each other. They hear the shouts of the coach from the bench. They encourage each other, and work together, to make a basket.

In the church we need to constantly keep up the communication. It needs to be GOOD conversation. It needs to be uplifting. It needs to be that which builds up. It needs to be constructive. It needs to be both help for those who are injured, AND directions about accomplishing our goal of reaching the world with the Gospel. We are a mutual help society. We are also a team-work to accomplish a goal society. We are also a worshipping society.

VI. Paul was "selfish" in one regard: he wanted to take part in the harvest of more Gentiles for the Lord. (Romans 1:13)

Paul was an evangelist, a soul-winner. He delighted in seeing non-Christians become Christians. This is frowned on in American culture. We are supposed to believe that all religions are equally good. It is "bad form" and not polite to try to get a person to leave his religion (or his lack of religion) to become a Christian.

But getting people to change religions is not really what evangelism is all about. We are not trying to get a person to adopt the Christian religion. We are trying to tell people about Jesus Christ, and we are inviting them to receive Him as God in the flesh, and to believe in Him, and become His disciples. Let the religion take care of religion. Christianity is FIRST AND FOREMOST a relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. Don't worry about all the other things that go along with the religion of Christianity. What do you think of JESUS? It all hinges on that question.

VII. Paul saw himself as a person bearing OBLIGATIONS (Romans 1:14).

Romans 1:14 in the NIV says "I am bound" both to Greeks and non-Greeks. Other versions say "I am obligated." The Greek word is: opheileteis, which literally means "I am in debt." It's the same word that is used in the Bible to say "I am in debt to pay my taxes." The old saying: there are two things in life that are absolutely certain: death and taxes. Paul says: "I MUST preach the Gospel to everyone: cultured or barbarian, wise or foolish." This is my OBLIGATION. This is a debt that I MUST PAY!

ILLUSTRATE: sense of obligation is very strong in some. Abraham Lincoln, long before he became President of the USA, was called "Honest Abe."

Benjamin Thomas, acclaimed to be the most authoritative Lincoln biographer of mid-Twentieth Century, attributes the origin of the "Honest Abe" nickname to Lincoln's experiences in New Salem in the 1830s, several years before Lincoln practiced law on the Eighth Circuit:

"People [in the New Salem area] recollected his honesty and kindness. In making change for a woman, while working in Offutt's store, he took out six and a quarter cents too much and at closing time, discovering his error, walked six miles to return the money.

On another occasion, after weighing out some tea, he found a four-ounce weight on the scales, and again walked several miles to correct his mistake. Such acts as these won him the nickname "Honest Abe" (Benjamin Thomas, Lincoln's New Salem, p. 145).

Whatever you may think of Lincoln as President of the USA, we must at least acknowledge that as a young man he was a great example of honesty and integrity. He had a sense of obligation, and acted on it, even if it was difficult for himself.

Paul had this sense of obligation to Christ, and to mankind. He was willing to suffer imprisonment, scourgings, scorn, loss of material possessions, and even loss of life, to spread the Gospel.

SUMMARY: Now the Romans could see Paul's heart and motivations. They would not be fearful of receiving his future visit.

• 1. Paul was thankful for their conversion
• 2. Paul was a person who served God with his whole heart.
• 3. Paul prayed for them constantly, that God would bless them.
• 4. Paul wanted to bring them spiritual gifts, to make them a stronger church.
• 5. Paul wanted to be encouraged by them, as well as encourage them.
• 6. Paul wanted to see even more Romans come to faith in Jesus Christ.
• 7. Paul was a man with a deep sense of obligation.

CONCLUSION: Lessons and applications for you and me...

• 1. It is important that we love God with more than our heads: we must love Him 100% with our HEARTS.
• 2. We ought to want to see a great harvest around the world, and we should want to take part in it.
• 3. We need to realize that we stand and fall together. We live in a "global economy." The nations of the world stand and fall together. We have seen that in the news this past year. The same is true for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need Christians of other nations to bless us, even as they need us to bless them. We need to work together to bless each other, and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.