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." Let's pray. Our Father God, thank You for the precious, sacred, written Word. Thank You, Father God, for how You have profoundly preserved the Scriptures. Lord, we are not here this morning to decide whether it's true or not or whether we like it or not. God, we are here with a desire to hear what You said and what You say and what goes. And I pray, Father, that we would be a people excited, wanting to bow to what we see to be true from Your Word. And so, Lord, my prayer this morning, would You be gracious to us and enable us to understand what Your Word is saying? Father, we would have a heart that's ready to obey what we see, but Lord, even our dependency lies upon You for what it means. So may Your precious Spirit show us the truth of this passage. Father, I pray that I would be a help and not a hindrance in that. We love You, Lord. And therefore, what You say matters to us greatly. Speak to the body, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. If I were to hand you a piece of paper on your way in this morning and I were to say, hey, there's going to be a brief examination in the middle of the sermon. And in that examination, I'm going to ask you to write down three of the top characteristics of the Apostle Paul. It'd be interesting to look at the three characteristics that each individual put down. Now, that may say more about you than it does about the Apostle Paul, what caught your eye. But nonetheless, it'd be interesting. So everybody hands a piece of paper in and then all of us elders sit down and we just start going over, oh, okay, okay, okay. And I'm sure there'd be so much that goes across where we say, oh, yeah, we see these different characteristics. We see his strength. We see his profound leadership. We see his intellect. We see His being sustained and just a bit of a powerhouse in that He does not become discouraged but just keeps moving forward. We saw that before His conversion and we see that after His conversion. Before His conversion, we saw a man of great leadership and strength and intellect. He was going far in Judaism. He comes to Christ. The Lord doesn't cancel out what He had built. He then uses those characteristics for His glory. But there's a characteristic about the Apostle Paul I think at times is often missed, or at least neglected, or at least it doesn't get the bright, shiny light of our search of Scripture. I am convinced the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest, most loving leaders, spiritually speaking, in history. We usually don't speak of the apostle's tenderheartedness. We don't usually hear so much about how his affection, his deep-seated, passionate affection for people. Well, the Scripture has a ton to say about that. And that's what's so fascinating is that, and maybe it's just because our minds or our study, it kind of lends itself towards he's the missionary, right? Rough, tough, he takes a beating and keeps on looking, right? He just keeps going forward, nothing stops him. And yet numerous passages where we see tears, where we see him speak of having tears. where he seeks to communicate his deep-seated affection for the body of Christ, his love for the Lord, his passion for his own people. Can I remind you in Romans 9, he makes the statement that he would give up his own salvation if that meant salvation for his brethren? But at the beginning of just about every single Pauline letter except Galatians, he makes reference of his gratitude to God for these saints. He's a man of a big heart, a man with a deep-seated affection for the body of Jesus Christ. He's a guy that could stare down rulers, the way he speaks to Felix, King Agrippa, these different kings, and unflinchingly bears testimony, go, wow, now that's a man's man. but he's also one that speaks about his tenderheartedness, makes reference to the apostolic ministry as a mother caring for her child. And in this passage this morning, beloved, I think it's important, no, I know it's important that we see this chunk before we go through the rest of this book, and here's why. Romans is a very theologically rich, intellectually stimulating, God-centered powerhouse of a book. It is one of the greatest books of books, one of the greatest letters of letters, and it is one of the, if not the greatest explanation of the gospel in Scripture. But the foundation it sits on. is a guy who loves the church with all of his heart. See, he's not detaching theology from love. He's not detaching truth from being kind. He's not detaching having a good theological understanding from having passion in his heart and affection towards Christians. We're the ones that do that far too regularly. We say, well, is he kind of an egghead or does he have a pastor's heart? Paul says what? Yep, he's a student. He's a student whose heart bleeds for God's people. I don't believe that you pick between the two, beloved, between dusty theology and passionate, hot love for people. They go together. One flows from the other, I would argue. And so, as the apostle is about to, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, unfold so much incredible theological understanding, that comes from a man who can look these people in the eye and say, I would lay my life down for you right now. I love you. I care for you. How are you doing? The marks of a true minister are there clearly in this guy. So first off, look at verse 8, gratitude for God's grace in the lives of the Christians in Rome. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world." Notice he begins with first, of first importance or the first thing he wants to say. Now, it's interesting, he doesn't say second anywhere in the rest of the chapter. Preachers will do that sometimes, right? You start with point A and then you go to point...you forget and you just keep moving along. But of first, what does he want? First and foremost, I want to thank God. Notice, I want to thank God through Jesus Christ. There are particular theologians and Bible teachers and pastors and any believer who cannot say something without having some theological aspect come with it to teach, because he doesn't have to say, I thank God through Jesus Christ. He doesn't have to say that. He could say, I thank God, and they get it. He already spoke about this in the first verses. but he can't help it, and he's teaching them the way he's showing his love for them, but he's also theologically instructing them. You can't thank God apart from Christ. Now, here's a tough part. People can say, why can verbalize thanks to God without being a Christian? Sure, go ahead. I'm saying God is the one who says, you come to me through the Son, not some preacher Romans 5 verses 1 and 2 tells us that we have access to the Father through the Son. And here Paul says, I thank God through the Lord Jesus. There is no other name under heaven by which people can be saved. There is no access to the Father but through the Son. I know it's super popular and always has been and always will be until the Lord's return to say there's many ways to God. Well, ask God about it. There's one way, and that's through the Lord Jesus. This is a part of Paul's letters except Galatians, as I said before. If you look at Romans and 1 and 2 Corinthians and Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians, you'll hear him at some point in the letter say, I thank God for, and then speaks about something about them, even in 1 Corinthians, which is quite an interesting letter to begin with his gratitude for those saints. with so much discipline chalked in that book. I argue, I believe with all my heart that the book of Galatians, the reason it doesn't do that is because of the incredible fallacy and error that they are starting to follow in the book of Galatians. He rushes to a critique and he rushes to a correction. But in this letter to Romans, Paul begins by expressing gratitude to the Lord for his people. Notice that he does not thank the Romans for them. Notice that he doesn't thank the Romans for their wonderful reputation. He doesn't say, I am so thankful to you for what you're doing. That would be flattery, and it wouldn't be true. The Apostle Paul says, any good in me comes from him. This is why Jesus, talking to the rich young ruler, said, why do you call me good? Nobody's good but God. And so, no, you don't thank the Romans for grace active in the life of the Romans. You don't thank the Romans for the reputation that's spreading. That's God's doing. So Paul rightly says, I thank God that your reputation is spread throughout the world, that they're hearing about your faith. God is the author and perfecter of faith. All good is from Him. Now, look at 8, you guys. It says, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Now, your faith is not in reference to like the faith where we say, oh, they hold to the faith. This is specifically speaking about the way in which they're living their lives in faith has been proclaimed throughout the world. Obviously, the word world here does not mean every single human being on the planet at that time. The word world is used in a number of ways in Scripture. Remember, we're told in 1 John, don't love the world. Same author back in John 3.16, for God so loved. And you go, two different Greek words. Nope, same Greek word. Same Greek word used differently based on the context in which it sits in. We gotta be very, very careful, you guys, as we study the scripture and we see a context that speaks. Remember, Jesus himself in John 17 says, I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you've given me. You go, why aren't you praying for them? You said you love them. You have to wrestle with that. You have to wrestle with that. All of us have to wrestle with that. And so, in this passage, I believe what he's communicating here is the known world. In other words, Paul, as he's been traveling amongst Jews, amongst Gentiles, all over the place, everywhere he's been going, he has heard about the faith of these Roman believers. Now, this would make some real clear sense, I think, because Rome was this massive city, a metropolis that affected so many other places. So, to some extent, all the eyes are on Rome. Well, then that reputation of what's going on among these believers, which is a wonderful reputation, is now being spread throughout the known world. And so, it wouldn't be that far-fetched for the Apostle Paul to be traveling and somebody go, I heard what's going on in Rome. And as we know from this letter, he has not been there. But nonetheless, everywhere the guy goes, it sounds like he's hearing about the reputation of this people, the genuineness, the purity, the unmixedness of their faith. The point is that their reputation has been spread so far and so wide. What a cool thing to be known for. unbelieving people you bump into over at Chester's and they say, oh, I heard you're part of PCBC. I hear that church is really known for...what do you think's in that blank? Another question, what would you like to be in that blank? I hear about the genuineness of their faith. That's what Paul's hearing about the Roman believers. The particular faith of these Christians, the purity and strength of the Romans' faith is being heralded everywhere. They were known for being exemplary in the genuineness of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul says, I thank the Lord for what He's doing in you. And not only that, but the fact that He's spreading it everywhere. People are hearing about your witness. That's a wonderful place to start. As opposed to in the book of Galatians, if you remember, he begins by saying, I am astonished that you're so quickly deserting Him who called you. That's the beginning of that letter. So in contrast to Galatians where Paul says, oh, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you that you would follow this false teaching? In Romans, he says, I hear about the genuineness of your faith everywhere I go. What an awesome place to start. What a cool reputation to have. And I'll say, no wonder later in this passage, the apostle is going to express his desire, his deep desire to go see them. Of course he does. Of course he does. 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, God, the one true and living God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." And Paul says, this God is the one that I serve in my spirit. Another translation of that that might be a little clearer as far as what he's getting at is, whom I serve from my heart. I serve Him on the basis of something in, not external. I serve Him from my spirit, in my spirit, from my heart. This is not a pressured thing. Now think about this, what are some motives, some poor motives somebody can serve in ministry? Prestige, a desire to be seen as something, to stand in front of people, wear your suit and your tie and have a place of prestige in a community? Peer pressure, you go, peer pressure, what are you talking about? Perhaps a pastor or a parent saying, our little Danny is going to be a preacher someday. Did you ask him? And you feel some of that peer pressure of, you know it's the right thing to do, so go do it, serve the Lord. We make such a mistake, beloved, when we give so much pomp and circumstance to full-time ministry and neglect the welder, the solid Christian welder. or the solid Christian banker, or the solid Christian lawyer, if that…yeah. And yet, we say, that one's serving the Lord. Well, I understand the whole concept of full-time ministry, I get that, but we miss it, we miss it, we make a mistake there. How profoundly you, who may not be serving in full-time ministry, are in full-time ministry and you serve a different kind of vocation. You are wholeheartedly giving your life to Him. But peer pressure is real. Seen that. Felt some of it. Another poor motive, money. Serving in ministry for money. Now, at first people may say, well, I thought that, you know, who would do that? Who could do that? Turn on your TV this afternoon and you will find out. And I'm not just picking on them. It's the reality. I'm stating fact. It does not take long to see that they're in it for riches, wealth, money. That was an argument made against the apostle Paul in the book of 2 Corinthians that what he was doing was for his own financial gain. So prestige, peer pressure, money, another one, fear. You go into ministry because you're scared. I want to serve God. I want to serve God. Otherwise, He might be upset with me. Now, you got a misunderstanding of the gospel going on there. But nonetheless, I want to devote my whole life. Lord, get me out of this place and I'll devote my whole life to You." Just scared. Or you're fearful of how somebody would come after you and chew you down if you do not choose to go into this kind of service. That's kind of a peer pressure fear mix. Laziness sure looks easy. And all I can say is, I dare you, it's not easy. But nonetheless, there are some folks who may see it that way. I've actually heard people over the years say, it looks like an easier way to make a living, you don't have to do much, and you just talk once a week for about half an hour, keep the church happy, keep the funds going well, and you can do whatever you want. That individual should never set foot in a pulpit. Lastly, the appearance of holiness in external forms only because of how it's connected to your vocation. That man is so close to God. Do you really know that? He stands in front of you and opens a book and says stuff that he studied that, but do Or is it possible for any kind of spiritual leader to hide in the vocation so he has the appearance of holiness where he's so far from the Lord? All these motives are potentials. And rather, the apostle says, I serve in my spirit, from my heart. It's on the inside. See, there's no external pressure making me do this. I would argue, beloved, if there was, he would have quit so early in the game. But he just keeps going and going and going and going, threatened and beaten and mocked and maligned by professing Christians, by the false teachers, by the Romans, just so much negative aspect to his ministry. The apostle's motivation wasn't driven by anything external. None of his enemies could come close to touching his motivation. Now, I want to repeat that. Hear that, guys. No enemy could go and reach his motivation. They couldn't threaten his family. They couldn't threaten his money. They couldn't threaten his prestige. They couldn't get near it because it was inside of him. It was a deep-seated, committed devotion to the Lord. This is the same thing with Jesus. They were jealous of Him and they're tearing Him down and, we'll come at Him this way, come at Him that way, and they just keep losing. Why? Because they're expecting Him to have a bad motive. And all that persecution just keeps chopping away and chopping away and becoming more and more revelatory to the watching world. Because the watching world goes, they've gone after Paul on all aspects of this guy's life, and he keeps preaching. He keeps being faithful. He's got no money. His body's trashed. They lie about him. Even some people of his own church, they're leaving. They're running away. And he just keeps going. What fuel does this man have in his soul? He says, I serve the Lord in my spirit. And no doubt, beloved, I don't give Paul all the credit by any stretch because the Spirit of God indwells the man, sustains the man, empowers the man. But the watching world, they just don't get that aspect. I can't help but think of soldiers at one point going, what do I have to do to make him scared? How do you intimidate this guy? We beat him and he sings. We put him in prison and he just shares a gospel with us. I'm so sick of hearing about Jesus from that guy. You think of some of those conversations as guards exchange, right? Okay, you get him and you walk away. Remember at the end of Galatians where he says, even people of Caesar's household greet you. Even some of the household of Caesar coming to Christ, what are we going to do with them? It's because, beloved, in his heart of hearts, in the depths of his soul, in his spirit, his motive was the glory and honor of God. Paul's highest goal for existing was that the Lord be glorified. particularly in the evangelistic campaign or the spreading of the gospel, and nobody could take that away from him. So much so, he actually goes so far as to say, to live is Jesus Christ, and when I die, that's gain. Could an enemy get at your motive? Could an enemy get at why you do what you do as a believer in service to the Lord? I'm asking these questions to me, okay, all week, and then I bring them to you, but these are questions that are worthy of asking. 501c3 taken away, PCBC no longer exists the way it exists. The world is hammering hard against the church of Jesus Christ. Does your motive move through that fire or does it melt and burn away? May God have mercy. May He have mercy on us and sustain us. His fuel was a deep-seated, spirit-wrought commitment to Jesus. His fervor and commitment was produced by God in the inner man." See, that's the interesting part, right? It wasn't external. It wasn't outside of Paul that kept him going. It was on the inner man. But they can't do anything to that. They can beat up his body, but the inner man is still strong. Matter of fact, persecution strengthens the Christian. You know what damages the church the most? When we get everything we want. We crumble under that kind of lazy apathy. Paul's service was in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, this is particularly in the heralding of the message, okay? But it's also in the obedience to the message for himself, as well as serving in light of the message. So, when he says, I serve in the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is particularly a preaching gift. But remember, in order to get to that preaching opportunity, he's going to get beat up, he's going to travel, he's going to live in a very difficult set of circumstances. That's service for the gospel. When they tore his shirt and then started to put a whip to his back, that's service to the gospel. His witness is serving the truth of the gospel to whoever wants to hear about it and see That motive is a deep-seated spirit rot sustaining. 9 says, "'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.'" Now, here, we're transitioning here. But let me make this statement, and I pray that this lands on all of us. All of life for the apostle was centered on the glorious reality of the gospel. all of life, all of life was centered on the glory of the gospel. Now, this is one of those kinds of purifying questions that I like to ask myself periodically, but I'll be honest with you, there are times I don't want to ask the question because I don't want to answer it. If you take the fine-tooth comb of a life devoted to the gospel, and you run it through your life, your practices, that which you do, your enjoyments, how much is staying and how much is falling out? How much is gonna be sustained as this truly is in service to Him and centered on Him, and how much of it is just American fluff that we've adopted as the norm? I'm not talking down to anybody. I'm right here, I'm talking to Dan, okay? But consider that, beloved, consider that. If you knew today that all that you own would be removed for the glory of Christ, how does that land? If you knew today you would be martyred for the glory of Christ. Does that even compute? They're weighty questions and the purpose is not guilt. Please don't misunderstand me on this one, you guys. My goal, my purpose in asking those kind of questions of myself and of you, it's not for a guilt kind of thing. It's rather I want to see how far am I from where I must be. Every now and again it's tough when you feel like you've done so well and then you measure it and you see how badly you're doing. Because I flatter myself by nature that I'm doing better than I am. But when you take that measuring ride and you go, okay, but let's really see how I'm doing over this. And sometimes it's overwhelming. Those questions are important for us to ask periodically. But if you look at the second half of verse 9 through verse 13, we see Paul's deep desire to fellowship with the body in Rome. Second half of 9 says, is my witness, so he's calling upon God as his witness, as to how without ceasing I make mention of you. always," what a big word, in my prayers, earnestly asking, if perhaps now at last by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you. Now, I want to press something here just to remind you about the context. He has not been there. Paul has not been to Rome. Paul didn't establish this church. He's heard about them. His desire is to go there. This is why he uses words like, finally, or at last, I get to come to you and see you. But has that stopped his prayer life on behalf of them? How regularly do you pray for Christians you've never met? Now, some of you might be super regularly. Particular missionaries you heard of or organizations or something along those lines. Do you see how deep the apostle wants to go here where he says, I call upon the Lord to bear witness that I am constantly in prayer on your behalf? consistently moving in a direction of prayer for you. Paul calls on the God, the one and true God, to bear witness to the fact that Paul never ceases to pray for the believers at Rome. Paul has continued to request that God would allow a visit to Rome. Now, the passionate Prayer life, I believe, is one of the greatest revelations of the level of your maturity and the closeness of your walk with God. The strength of your prayer life is revelatory of the level of commitment and intimacy you have with the Lord. And Paul says, I never cease praying for you. Well, so here's the thought. If He never ceases praying for a group that He's never met, then what's His prayer life like for those that He's been so close to, rubbed shoulders with, embraced? I believe the man lived in prayer. I forget who said it, but someone said, most of us pray in the context of ministry, and Jesus ministered in a context of prayer, unbroken fellowship with the Father. And so Paul says, I consistently am in prayer for you. Look at verse 10, always in my prayers, earnestly asking if perhaps at last by the will of God, I may succeed in coming to you. Again, there's that language of perhaps or at this time. It hasn't happened. I want it to happen. I want to come and see you. And what's fascinating to me is, did you notice whose will he's depending upon? Not his. He says that, if by any chance I could come to you by God's will, by the will of God, that God in His sovereign good pleasure would allow me to get there. So he didn't see his circumstances merely as, oh man, they're working construction today. He saw the circumstances as God-ordained. The Lord is behind the circumstances. Those little weird details that you woke up and your tire was flat is not some coincidence, some weird mistake outside of God's design. Think about how many small things kept the apostle from getting to Rome. And he says, my desire is that I could come to you if it's being the will of God. Paul was not living his life, but rather a life upon the Lord. Paul was not a man who made plans and was frustrated by nothing working out according to his plans. Remember that passage in, you know what? No, I'll remind you that passage in James. Go to the book of James really quick. This just speaks directly to it, is why I want to go there. This is the tough part when you do it off the cuff. I got to find it. Verse 13 of chapter 4. James 4 verse 13, "'Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we'll go to such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." Now, listen to what he says, "'But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it, to him it is sin. Now, I've been in the church my whole life, some of you have, or a really, really long time, and a cliche at times can be, well, God willing, I'll so-and-so. Or, well, if the good Lord wills and the river doesn't rise, I'll go do so-and-so. It's not about the statement, it's about the belief. It's not about saying it, you can say it glibly and not mean it. It's about in your heart of hearts saying, Father, I wish to do Your will. And as circumstances come into our lives, we accept, we absorb it, we live according to the will of God as best we can. And what really shows that, and I'm speaking to Dan Mason's heart right now. is when it goes so contrary to what you designed, how do you respond? And to my shame, I can say my response quite often is frustration because I lined it out so well, and God threw it so far off course from what I wanted it to be. Where theologically, biblically, the answer should be, apparently, God's got another plan And so, Father, let me absorb that and continue on. That's why one of my favorite phrases of the Apostle Paul is, a door was opened to me for the gospel. Well, he didn't open the door, the Lord opened that door. Don't miss his dependency on God in this. Paul was not a man who made plans and was frustrated by nothing working out. Paul, his great desire was for mutual refreshment with the church. Look at verse 11, "'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." Paul calls on God. to send him there for the purpose of bringing some spiritual gift to them." Now, some folks will say, is this in reference to the spiritual gifts or is it in reference to something different? I believe it's something different. I don't think he would say some spiritual gift so generalized if he knew that he was going to go work out some particular gifting he has. Rather, what's being communicated here is, I wish to be an encouragement to you. In whatever way the Lord calls me to be and how He shows me to be, I wish to come to you and bring a gift to you. And I think it would be... At times, you can hear those kinds of passages and go, what an arrogant statement. Imagine if I said this, hey, Amber and I'd like to come have dinner at your house tonight and be a gift to you. Yeah, okay, yeah, okay, you catch it. But I would argue, this is not arrogance, but it's boldness from truth. Paul knows who he is, he knows whose he is, he knows what he's called to do, and he has a passionate desire to go serve that body. And so he says, my desire is to come to you that I might bring a gift to you, I might be a present to you, I could serve you, bless you, encourage you, strengthen you, that you may be strengthened. That idea of encouraging or bringing fresh courage to somebody. where your hands are feeling a little weak and you're struggling a little bit, whether it's you're struggling with a particular issue or just in general, you feel weak, you're fading a little bit in your faith as a believer. And God in His grace brings somebody down the pike into your life and it's like this infusion of fresh courage, fresh boldness, fresh joy. And quite often, it comes from angles you never saw coming, where you have a particular meeting, or a particular individual, or a particular family member. You didn't pick it, but God says, nope, Dan, I've got this lined up, and I want to encourage your heart, so I'm going to bring this person into your life. And I, by my spirit, through this fellow believer, will just bring this fresh boost into your life as a believer. I'm going to impart my grace through them to you." Why God designed it that way? He's the designer. I merely recognize His great design. But I will be so forthright with you guys. There have been times of such deep... such deep discouragement, and then angles where you just, no way, just so weird the way in which He came. So weird in which the way in which the Lord refreshes your soul. There was an afternoon, this was serving a different church and just really, really struggling. And the phone rings and I answered it. And it was my pastor, Jerry Kennedy. And I'm sure you've been here at some point or you've been a part of something like this at some point. His words, I just felt really strong like I need to call you and see how you're doing. And nobody called him and said we were struggling, nobody did that. God brought a gift to me through Him. And I, you know, you hang up that phone and it's like somebody brought you a really good fresh cup of hot coffee, and you just feel back in action, back in the game. That's what Paul wants to do. Guys, your rep is so good throughout the world. Your faith is spoken of everywhere I go. I want to be part of that. I want to encourage you. I want you to be strong in the Lord. So may God in His will have me show up there that I may bring a spiritual gift to you." But there's another piece here, and it's a piece that is profound. If you caught it, I hope you did. If you didn't, I want you to catch this. Paul also sought encouragement, okay? So look at the passage. 13, 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." Now, I'm sorry, look at verse 12. That is, by mutual encouragement while among you, by each other's faith, both yours and mine. Paul was not merely saying, I'm coming to dump my glass into your glass. He was coming and saying, I wish to be a blessing to you, to serve you, to be a gift to you, but I'm also coming for something. I'm coming to be refreshed by you. I want to refresh and I want to be refreshed in my faith. Paul was not in any way above being encouraged by the church. He was very much so in need of the gift of the body of Christ. So, there's two pieces here, okay? Here's where we can make a massive mistake, and I'll pause in the middle of the sermon right now, three-quarters of the way of the sermon, I'll stop right now, and say, on behalf of Dennis and Mitch and Raj and myself, thank you for the cards and the gifts and the encouragement last week for the Pastor Appreciation Sunday. I'll speak to that in just a moment, but I also want to say thank you to Barb and Karen and Mary Ellen and Amber for their faithfulness. You know, the preachers get to stand up there and receive that, but we all know who's really the powerhouses behind all of it. And I mean that with all my heart. I'm out of ministry without her. Don't agree too quickly. Okay, so let me go down here. It is a massive mistake. to ever think that spiritual leaders have no need of spiritual encouragement and strengthening from the rest of the body. This is a very bad mistake that can be made by the leader or by the body. So either it's the leader saying, I'm above them and could never receive from them, or it's the body saying, he's far beyond receiving anything from us mere mortal Christians. Paul expresses the fact that he has been prevented from getting to them. Paul is deeply desirous to see fruit produced in the Romans as well in his own ministry. So, beloved, my point is simply this, there is a massive dependency of spiritual leaders on the body to refresh and encourage them. And I'm not shirking my responsibility. I know what God's called me to do and what He's called me to be. I'm here to serve with all my heart, okay? I'm in, I'm all in. Simultaneously, there is a profound God-designed practice and process by which I am dependent upon you. I need your spiritual gifts. We've made a massive mistake in the church culture in our country right now, where the pastor is the sage on the stage who comes and does everything right, and the body comes and they observe. And they get fed, or some say, I don't get fed, and they leave frustrated. Where's the body life? Where's the life of the body? Unfortunately, at times, we make reference to a worship service, and we think the service are the people leading the worship service, and you're there to receive. No, you are the service. You're in service here. The worship service is not put on by spiritual leaders for the church. The church has a spiritual service. This is a service to God, not spiritual leaders to the church. But my goodness, beloved, just take a glance at our world right now. Take a glance at our church world. With the smoke and the lights and the big stage, and it's so dark in there, nobody can read a Bible. And we've adopted so much of that showmanship and missed the design. So that way the preacher, preachers, only get encouragement from other preachers. That's in our culture. And what a mistake. So I just say that simply to put it in this light in that, please recognize your elders need you. We love to serve. We love You, and it is a privilege. We're all in, but we need You. We need You to pray for us. We need You to talk to us. We need You to spend time with us, to help us with our raising of our kids, well, me at least, and be involved in that. The body is a gift to the body. Paul had a passionate desire to, yes, impart a gift, but also to be a recipient of that which he can only get from the body of Jesus Christ. From 1985 to 1990, I attended Fourth Memorial Church. From 1990 to 2006, I attended Foothills Community Church. From 2006 to 2007, I attended Kettle Falls Community Church. From 2007 to 2011, I shepherded Burnt River Community Church. From 2011 to, Lord knows, I've been a part of Pacific Coast Bible Church. Lots of ups and downs, lots of weird stuff, lots of really rich, good stuff, but here's the thing. is I have not one memory of not being among the body of Christ. And as one who has been a recipient of God's grace through God's people, I ask you two questions and then I'll be quiet till Sunday school. Do you love Jesus Christ? in your heart of hearts. Nobody's watching, it's just between you and Him. Do you love the Lord Jesus? And the second, do you love the body of Christ? Beloved, if you answered yes to the first and no to the second, I question the first. When I read the big-heartedness of the Apostle Paul in this passage, that man recognizes the gift that he has in the body of Jesus Christ. I pray with all of my heart that you have that. You love this church. And when I say this church, obviously PCBC, but also God's church in the universal sense also. You love God's people. You love to be around them. May the Lord grant some of this Apostle Paul's big-heartedness to us in a fresh way for His people. Let me pray.