Paul's Rejoicing

Romans 1:8 First, I think my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

In this verse Paul is showing the priority he gives to being thankful for the salvation of the Romans. Remember, these are people that Paul has never met and that live many miles from him, yet he is thankful for their salvation. How often do we as individuals rejoice when we hear of the salvation of individuals in foreign lands?  When  missionaries send a letter tells of five individuals being saved do we get really excited? Do we take time to praise God because these people have been saved, that they've trusted in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse their sin?    

Not only is Paul thankful for their salvation but goes beyond that. when he rejoiced that their faith was known to many people around the world. In fact their testimony had spread to other believers throughout the world. They had apparently stood up for what they had been taught and the impact was far-reaching. How well is our faith known? Do our neighbors who live across the street even know of our faith?

The faith of these Romans may have been much like the faith of Chinese Christians today. Christians whose lives are on the line day by day. I recently heard of believers in one particular church that have been locked out of their building. The authorities of the city kept them from being able to rent any properties in their city. Despite this we are hearing that these Christians continue to meet together on a regular basis even outdoors in the wintertime. Because of constant surveillance of the pastor’s home meetings cannot be held there.  The faith of these Chinese people is being reported today the world over just as the stories of the Roman faith had come to Paul half a world away.  Some of these Roman believers would some day face the persecution of Nero

Paul moved from rejoicing in the faith of the Romans to his desire to go to Rome.  He had desired to go for some time as can be seen in verse 13; but he had been hindered from doing so.  Paul made it clear in this passage that he would not put his own desires above those of God’s and would not go until such time that he knew it was the will of God.  From this it can be surmised that we are to seek God’s will above our own.

The video version of this is available at www.youtube.com/user/churchoflittleton   FW # 62