A Desire to Be with Other Believers

Introduction

Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established;” Paul begins our section of text expressing a desire to see the Romans. He wanted to be around these people.

In the church, God has placed a wide variety of people: some are talkative and people people; others are shy and awkward. Some are social and others are loners. It is easy seeing passages like the passage we have today to conclude that all loners are in sin. After all Paul, longed to be with these people and we should want to be like Paul right? The more I thought about this the deeper my thoughts on the subject became. Consider some foundational truths:

God created the church for community. God in His wisdom knew we needed people and they needed us. We all have something to offer in relationship with others.

God put a variety of people in that community. Some of them have a general personality of not being super social. They are fine being along. God uses all types of people in the Church.

One of the contrasts between John and Jesus was that John was a loner and Jesus was social. Luke 7:33–35 “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.”

Your personality is never an excuse to disobey God.

So let me summarize my thoughts on being a loner. Some people are designed by God with more of a loner personality and that is fine. God uses all types of people in His church and yet, God has called us all to be in a loving community of believers. That means there should be some element in which we are striving to show the love of Christ with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot completely shut ourselves off from people. Paul knew that we all need each other and so he longed to be with the brothers. Why did Paul long to be with other believers?

Our text today gives us three reasons. I want you to see the structure of this passage so you see where I am getting these points. Paul begins by expressing his desire I long to see you, but what is the next word? That. The word “that” could be translated as so that. It tells us purpose. What is the goal that Paul wants to get out of seeing them. The word that is repeated in this way three times.

Paul desired to be with believers so he could edify them.

Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established;”

that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift- There are a lot of differing opinions on what is being talked about here. Some view, the spiritual gift as the gospel others as a general spiritual blessing. Others view it as a special insight or message from Paul. The one thing they are all agreed on is that this is not Paul laying hands on them and them receiving a spiritual gift. The primary reason for this is that the spiritual gifts are directly given by God, the Holy Spirit and Christ. Notice it says some spiritual gift not the spiritual gifts. There are all kinds of gifts or graces that God wants to give us.

Since opinions are so divided, all I can do is give you my conclusions on what this means. I believe that Paul wanted to share from his spiritual gifting an insight or a message with the Romans. It can be concluded from many passages that Paul’s spiritual gifting was most likely the gift of exhortation, a speaking gift meant to challenge and encourage growth in believers. The word impart can carry the idea of sharing something that you possess. I believe Paul’s desire is to go and preach among the Roman church.

But why? Don’t they have their own pastors?

to the end ye may be established- The word established here means to strengthen or to fix firmly in place. God does not desire for Christians to always be unstable in what they believe about theology or their Christian practice. He wants us to be firmly fixed in place. James speaks of the unstable man as a wave of the sea in James 1:6 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” Paul wanted these believers to be strong and firmly rooted in their faith. Colossians 2:6–7 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” The preaching and teaching of the word is intended to root you in the word of God, to stablish or fix you in place and to build you up.

You cannot grow a tree well if it has weak roots. If its roots just run along the surface, it is going to fall over when a strong wind blows on it. For the tree to really flourish, it needs strong, deep roots.

This is why it is important for every believer to know:

What they believe

Why the believe it

How to walk with Christ- grow more.

A believer who only and always has questions without answers is shallow and cannot stand. They are not fixed in place or rooted like they should be. We should always be learning yes, but we must come to answers. Paul described the false teachers as 2 Timothy 3:7 “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Continue to study, maybe you have questions, but you need to at some point come to a belief in what you think it true, seek to support it. If it can’t be supported than consider if it is actually the truth, but don’t hover between opinions undecided on what you believe.

Paul longed to use his spiritual gift to help the church of Rome become more fixed in their faith. Notice Romans is both theological and practical because we need to be grounded in both. In fact theology often determines practice.

Paul desired to be with believers so they could encourage one another.

Romans 1:12 “That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.”

It almost seems as if Paul takes a step back because he knows what he just said could seem to be one sided. Edification is not about making people into pet projects that we work on. If you approach people merely as a project things don’t often go well. Remember, Paul began this letter by opening up his heart to them. People don’t need to know as much what you know but how much you care.

that I may be comforted together with you- Paul desires not just to benefit them, but that they would benefit him. Notice those two words with you. Relationships are all about give and take. They are mutual. Can I share my heart with you today? I need people who will pour into my life as much as I am trying to pour into yours.

Philippians 2:17 “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.” The word offered here means poured out.

It’s kinda like a pitcher of water. As you pour water out of it into other cups what happens to the water in the pitcher? It gets less and less. If you just keep pouring and pouring what happens to the pitcher? It gets empty. It is important that the pitcher gets refilled if it is going to continue pouring out water.

My pitcher is refilled daily as I spend time with Christ in the mornings, but it can also be refilled as other believers pour into my life. I need this but you need this as well.

One of the main sources of pouring into someone’s life is encouragement. Encouragement is not a pat on the back. It is coming alongside someone and running the race with them. It is a word to spur them on, it is a helping them keep running, it is baring some of that burden with them, it is going the same direction that they are. It is so encouraging to not be along.

by the mutual faith both of you and me- Paul does not have an once of spiritual superiority. He may be a more mature Christian but that doesn’t elevate him to some special class of Christian. Paul humbly needs them. He is encouraged by their mutual faith. The belief they hold in common yes, but also the practice of that faith in their lives.

Paul longed to be around other believers because he knew we all need each other.

Paul desired to be with believers so he could see fruit.

Romans 1:13 “Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.”

Paul had many times before tried to be with the Romans. When our heart is set on something, we do everything we can to try and fulfill that. Paul wholeheartedly wanted to be with them so he had tried to come.

But it says he was let hitherto- What kept Paul from being able to be with them? First of all lets say what it wasn’t:

It wasn’t a sporting game.

It wasn’t going out to dinner.

It wasn’t a movie on the TV.

It wasn’t that he was tired. Paul was tired all the time. He says that he laboured for them. Labour means working to the point of exhaustion.

It wasn’t a generally busy schedule.

What kept Paul from being able to be with other believers was serving God. Paul doesn’t tell us here in this chapter but he does tell us what hindered him in Romans 15:20–24 “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation: But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.”

What is it that kept Paul from being with them? It was following God’s will in preaching the gospel in other places. I understand there are times when life keeps us from taking advantage of being with other believers, but I think more than not, we find excuses because we do not have the heart of Paul. I don’t know your heart, but God does and it is only to him that you will give an account.

The third reason Paul wanted to be with them in Rome was so that he could preach the gospel and see souls saved in Rome. Paul wanted fruit in Rome just like he had had in other Gentile countries. The implication here is that Paul didn’t just go to meet with these other believers. He went to preach the gospel. He is so consumed with the gospel that he preaches it everywhere.

The next few verses will pick up this same theme in more detail. But isn’t it a blessing to go out witnessing with other believers. Sometimes it is hard to go on your own and preach to the lost, to go door to door or however else you do it. But going as a group encourages us, strengthens us, if we let it.

You remember when Jesus sent out his disciples to preach from town to town? How did he send them out? two by two. There are so many opportunities to be blessed when we serve alongside each other in getting the gospel out. Maybe you haven’t experienced that. Try talking to one another between houses. Observe and learn from the example of the other person as they share their faith. Be excited by the opportunities and in seeing God use other people.

Conclusion

I mentioned in the beginner it is alright to be a loner. That is true, but it isn’t alright to be a loner who closes yourself off from other people. You may not feel like you need them. You do. But maybe they need you. No matter how God made us in our personality; he made all believers to need community. Let’s strive for that. Let’s be better at that. God has gifted all of you in different ways, but those gifts need to be used for the edification of the believers. A healthy church is one where the believers want to be around each other and they are helping each other grow.