Faith Series: Fellowship Strengthens Faith

Faith Series: Fellowship Strengthens Faith

In Romans chapter one, I'd like to begin the reading in verse number seven there this morning. Romans one beginning the reading in verse number seven. To all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end you may be established. That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

For some weeks now, we've been looking at this subject of faith. We said faith is resting, putting our weight upon the Lord. It's full confidence in Him and what He has promised. We take His promises to heart. We believe them. We obey His commands because we believe them. We take those seriously because we believe that He loves us. And He wouldn't tell us something just to be wasting His word, so to speak. But we have also seen many things about faith that must be exercised. It must be tried. It must be nourished. There's many things we've seen about faith in these recent weeks.

But this morning, I want to speak to you about fellowship and how fellowship strengthens our faith. Fellowship strengthens our faith. We see in verse 7 this morning that Paul, writing to those in Rome, says grace and peace. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a very common greeting that Paul gives in his letters. But I think sometimes we could just sort of glaze over that and not really understand or appreciate what is being said here.

Sometimes we say God bless you to someone. And this is not some sort of incantation or something that we're saying. We're simply expressing our desire that God would bless that person. God bless you in your Christian walk. God bless your family. God bless your home. You know, God bless you in your business. Whatever the case may be in all of that in your life. God bless you. We're actually not to pray for God's blessings upon those who are actively working against the cause of Christ. We don't, the scriptures tell us it's not to do that. But upon those of like faith, we are to express that we desire for God's blessings upon them. Paul is expressing here that his desire is that God's grace and peace would be abundantly known to these believers. Obviously, by him saying that, it did not initiate God's grace. God's grace was already there. But I am, in so many words, this is a prayer. Grace and peace be unto you.

Grace, as we think of God's grace, as Paul says to Titus, is the grace of God that teaches us how to live. It is the word of His grace that is able to build us up and give us inheritance among all those that are sanctified. God's grace is needed just to live everyday life. We need His grace. We are very much in need of the grace, the gift of God, in order to live what He tells us to live every day, to live in a way that's pleasing before Him. And Paul says, peace also be unto you. God's peace, I think of that hymn that we sing, "It Is Well with My Soul." And it says when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, whether it's good times or bad times, thou hast taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul.

We're told in Philippians, I've mentioned this this morning, in chapter four, how often I'm reminded of, be careful for nothing. Don't be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God, and He promises that His peace will keep our hearts and minds. Grace and peace, we even read in the scriptures, be multiplied unto you. Be abounding towards you. May God, may you know God's grace to enable you to do what you ought to do and think the way you ought to think. And may you know God's peace that keeps your heart and mind as you go about your daily walk.

And this is a very individual thing, isn't it? This is a very personal thing. God's grace is received individually by us, isn't it? God's grace is available to meet all of our individual needs. This is called, sometimes we read in the scripture, the manifold grace of God, the variegated or many-colored grace of God; it meets a variety of different needs in our lives. He's able to make His grace abound toward us so that we have all sufficiency in all things that we need to think or we need to do. We need His grace. We're to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. We may find grace to help in the time of our needs. So Paul is wishing, Paul is desiring, praying good things for them. Grace and peace be to you.

He says here in verse 8, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith, your faith, your faith individually but then ultimately as a body of believers there in Rome, your faith is being spoken of. Your faith is being talked about. Your faith is being announced in other places because of the testimony that you have; your faith, as he says here, is spoken of throughout the whole world. Remember what we just said last week in the Sunday School Hour about the Thessalonians, right? They received the word and as soon as they received the word, there was a lot of trouble that came to them because of, well, because of those who didn't believe the word, and there was a lot of difficulty, and yet that didn't affect their joy in the reception of it. They joyfully received the word that Paul brought, so much so that Paul says, I don't even need to say anything. Those even in other parts of the empire have already heard about your faith. It's just evident.

It's amazing when somebody, we might say, the town drunk gets saved. You don't need to go out and tell anybody about that because everybody knows about it. What happened to him? What happened to this fellow? When the woman at the well that Jesus met there, this Samaritan woman, when she put her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, everybody knew that very quickly, didn't they? The faith, her faith, just like the Romans here, was spread abroad and declared. What does it say here, spoken of throughout the whole world? That's a good question for us to ask ourselves: is my faith spoken of by anyone else? Is it evident? Is my faith shining brightly so that others would say, well, that person believes? Daniel, if he believes the gospel, even if they may say, well, I don't believe it, I can see that he clearly does, or she does. Elizabeth, Theodor, Donna Gupton, or Sister Gray, I can see that their faith is evident. Any one of us here this morning, is that what could be said of me? Not to be the emphasis upon me, but to simply say that your faith is evident. Faith is evident.

In verse 9, we read here, God is my witness, Paul says, for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. You know, it's really humbling, sobering, but comforting as well to know that God witnesses our prayer life, doesn't He? He knows, He knows if we're praying for those that we say that we're praying for, right? God is my witness, Paul says, I tell you the truth, I lie not, that I pray for you, I pray for you continually, I pray for you without interruption, I don't go for a day without praying for you. You're always on my heart, and you're always in my prayers, as what Paul is indicating here.

Because I just can't wait to go and visit you. I've heard of your faith. Everyone's heard of your faith. I want to come, and I want to come to fellowship with you. I want to come, I want to be a blessing through the Lord, and I know that I will be comforted and blessed through our meeting together. That is my desire, and yet as much as I want to come be with you, I've been hindered up until this point from coming to be with you. I have not been able, in God's providence yet, to come to be with you there at Rome, but I plan to do so. That is my desire to come and visit with you.

Maybe it didn't happen in the way that Paul thought it would happen, did it? It happened through what seemed like something that could have been avoided, right? I appeal to Caesar. It happened in the way that he probably couldn't have planned. Well, this will be the way that it happens. No, but it's the way that it turned out. It was actually through him being on trial and appealing to Caesar that he ended up going to see the brethren that were in Rome.

Well, God's timing is something that enters into the equation here. God's timing is perfect. God's timing is perfect when a soul comes to put their faith in Him. God's timing is perfect when we get together. Sometimes we say, I just wish that it worked out. I don't know why that happened the way that it did. Well, maybe God didn't want it to happen at that time. Maybe we experience certain, not maybe, I believe we do experience things in God's providence in a certain sequence, in a certain timing that He's arranged in such a way, not only for our good, but for the good of others as well.

Yes, you see, just as Copernicus realized the planets don't revolve around the earth, so when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we realize the world doesn't revolve around us. But God is working all things. We believe. We know that all things do work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose, to them that love God, or are called according to His purpose. Paul says, God is my witness that I do pray for you. It's not any lack of desire for you that I haven't come to see you yet even. I pray for you regularly, regularly. And I know that He will meet those needs, even as we intercede in prayer for you.

In verse 10, He says, making requests, I still am asking, I'm asking regularly, if by any means, now at length, I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. Sometimes there's people that we'd like to go see, that just doesn't work out at a certain time for some reason. It just doesn't seem like the door keeps getting closed for some reason to do that. And it may be it's because it's not the Lord's time for us to go. He puts roadblocks in there.

I think of times that I look back at my life of something that delayed me. I know this has happened when I was going back and forth on 95 several times, going back and forth to Dunn. You know, a delay of a few minutes, and it kept us from some wreck that we could have been in. I think the Stewarts mentioned something about that recently. There was a funeral here in Rocky Mount back in July of, was it three years ago now? There was a funeral at People's Baptist, and after the funeral was over at the church, they were getting ready to leave, but there was a little mix-up in the parking lot of the people that were not going to the funeral. I think they started pulling out, the people that weren't going in the procession, pulled out. It caused a little bit of confusion in the parking lot, and it delayed them something like a minute for the funeral procession from going out to Rocky Mount Royal Gardens. And in God's providence, there was that tornado. We all remember that day that touched down on Cross Halifax Road, and it crossed right in front of the house. And they had to stop. Nobody was anticipating a tornado that day. And it shattered the window, at least one of the windows on the hearse, I understand, you know about it, don't you, brother? And you know, I thought if it had been, and Pastor Grogan was talking about, if it had been a minute later, it would have cut right through the middle of that procession. And how many times has God done that? Allowed that to happen that way. So we shouldn't question even when there's a hindrance, I guess we can say, to us doing things.

It was Paul saying here, I have at length been praying that I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you, for I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gifts. It is my desire that God would use my ministry to be a blessing to you, to the end that you may be established, that you might be strengthened and established in your faith. This is what we're talking about. This fellowship would be advantageous, right? It would be helpful. It would be encouraging to get together and be able to share in God's words, what the Lord had laid on Paul's heart for them, and then they could join in together, and they could just edify and sharpen each other and grow. But this has been delayed for some reason. And so he wanted to fellowship with those that he loves.

Number one, he prayed for them. He shared this common faith with them. He says it in verse number 12, doesn't he? He says that I may be comforted together with you. By, what does he say here? By the mutual faith, both of you and me. Your faith has been broadcast. Your faith has been spoken of throughout the world. And I would, I know that we hold mutual faith. Our faith is in the same gospel, the same good news, and I know that when the Lord willing, we come together, we would be comforted together in that mutual faith that we have. And so his desire was to be used of God and knowing that ultimately he would be blessed as well.

Isn't it something how we see this idea of this word here in verse number 12, that I may be comforted together with you? This is a prefix that obviously means with or together in this word, but it is that word "parakaleo" in the Greek. It's the idea of calling to one side. What we call, you know, we would call to one side. Maybe I could say one of my daughters is having a difficult time on a given day, and I just come over, put my arm around her and say, it's gonna be alright, daughter. I want to encourage you. I want to tell you something that's gonna be helpful to you, right? If we love someone, that's what we do, right? If we see our husband or wife is having a hard time, maybe we just put our arm around them. We draw them to the side, and we say, just put down anything else we're doing, and we seek to call them to our side to encourage them, right? To speak words of comfort, words maybe even of helpful instructions to them or helpful reminders to them that would help them in their faith. And so we see this is what Paul says. I want that to happen when I come. I want this to happen that we may be able to comfort basically one another in this way when we come together.

You know, we all face different tests, different challenges and trials, physical and spiritual and mental challenges that we come against. And yet the scripture makes it clear that we're not, I think Paul told the Corinthians that we're not to be comparing ourselves with one another, saying, well, my trial's bigger than yours is. No, mine's more challenging than yours is. You'd never face something like I face. No, that's not what we're to be talking to one another about. Instead, we are to say, you know, if any is sick, let him pray. And if we see someone that's sick, let's pray with him, right, let's encourage him. It may be that we even weep with someone that weeps, and yet we rejoice with those who rejoice instead of saying, well, he's got it good in his life. I wish I had the grass that green on my side of the fence, kind of thing. No, the Bible rebukes that kind of thinking. No, come together to mutually comfort one another in our faith and to strengthen one another in the faith. That's why we are to fellowship, right?

And think about families. We need family time together. Do you sense as a father, a husband, a wife, a mother? You know, we say busy, don't we? We say busy in our lives. We've got to protect. I'm getting phone calls sometimes during supper. I'm like, I'm not going to answer that phone call, unless I know it's an urgent matter. I can call that person back. We've got to jealously guard that time with family. There's all kinds of distractions that would keep us from that. We need that time together as family. And not just to be sitting at the same table together. You know, you certainly see families that sit at the table and one's doing something over here and the other one's doing something over there. And they're all sitting together, but they're not even talking, right? They're not even communicating with each other. I'm sure I've been guilty of looking at my phone at some point at the table, but I need my wife to remind me one time, funny after supper, not in front of the kids. She said, why don't you, she said, I know you did pretty good with this for a while, but I noticed the last couple of times you've had the phone at the table. I said, you're right. I need to put it aside. Because what happens? We lose out on that fellowship. We lose out on that interaction as a family that we need when we get distracted with those things.

So as families need that time, we as God's people, we need time. Times where we can come together and do exactly what Paul was praying he'd be able to do with the Roman believers, right? We need that time. We need that time together. We need to take the time to listen to one another, to share. Obviously, first of all, we come together today to worship. And some of you may have fried chicken that's going to burn before you can get home, you know, and if you've got to go, you've got to go. But maybe you can get here a little early. And, or maybe you can stay a few minutes afterwards. Especially, I know some of you may not be able to make it on Sunday night, or you might not be able to make it on Wednesday night. Some of you do. And I'm not comparing one with the other, I know different ones have legitimate reasons for not being able to come on Sunday night, but you know, we come together. Let's make sure we don't just sit at the same table and then we leave, right? We don't just sit at the table and then we're out the door and we don't take the time to encourage one another in the faith. It may not just have to take a long time, but just, it's what a blessing.

It's good to see Sister Brenda here this morning. We have really missed Sister Brenda. And what a blessing, even though she wasn't feeling 100% today, she came. You know, I'm just going to say, it does my heart good. Brother George mentioned COVID. You know, how we didn't realize what a blessing it was to be together. Like we were meeting in the parking lot, waving through the windows and people in the parking lot for a while. And that was good for the time. It was helpful. But what a blessing it was to be able to come together again. You know, I thank the Lord that we have Telegram, we're going to talk to the Bergmans in Spain on Telegram, but you know, I think they really would like to come here and give us a hug. They would like to come here and talk to their grandchildren face to face. But thank the Lord for what we do have, right? What a blessing that we have the privilege to gather together, to come together. And we pray that that gathering would be for blessing. It would be for encouragement, not for tearing one another down, not for promoting our own selves in some way, right?

Look in Hebrews chapter 10, look there in verse 24. Hebrews 10, verse number 24, it says there in verse 24, you know it well, and let us consider one another. That takes the attention off of me, doesn't it? Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Well, you know what helps? If you've been thinking about your wife, your husband throughout the day, and you're thinking, I just love her so much, I love him so much. You know, it helps bright words to come out of your mouth when you come home, right? You know, instead of thinking, I can't believe they did this yesterday, or something like that. If you've been thinking the right way in your own thoughts, and then you come together, then good words generally come out of your mouth towards your spouse.

Well, if you're spending the week thinking about, I can't stand this so-and-so, I can't stand the way they said this, right, they just couldn't rub me wrong in this way. If I'm ever tempted, if I'm tempted, and I am from time to time to think unscripturally about a certain brother or sister, you know, I find the Holy Spirit often rebukes me and says, if you can think about them in that way, you need to pray for them. Maybe they have a need. Maybe they do have a need in there. Maybe they're obnoxious. I don't know, but I'm not thinking of anybody this morning in particular, I'm just saying. We know, and it may not even be in our church, but there may be somebody, their personality just grates on you. It rubs you the wrong way or something. Pray for them and seek to be a blessing to them. We're called to be a blessing, not to detract and not to tear down one another, right?

So consider one another, think about one another to both—how can I provoke this person unto love and to good works? Even in a marriage, you know, it takes 100% from both people, doesn't it? It's something that we have to continually feed and grow in love for each other. And not say, well, I'll straighten my act out when she finally decides to get serious about it or something. It's her response. But no, that's not the way we think of it in marriage. And then as brothers and sisters, it certainly can't be that way either. So let us consider one another, but it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but instead, exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching, calling one another to your side, even if it's just a short word. You know, saying something to encourage another person in the Lord, saying something to share a testimony. You know, the Lord blessed me with this this week. The Lord showed me this. The Lord, you know, has helped me with this thing. Just giving a testimony of God's goodness. Just saying, I'm praying for you and meaning it because the Lord is our witness, right? The Lord is our witness. Are we praying when we say that we're praying for each other? Are we being faithful in that?

You can grow in many ways in the Lord. He puts us in isolation sometimes. He puts us in the desert, so to speak. He puts us in difficult situations where sometimes we're not able to even be in the assembly. I think Sister Brenda has been going through something recently, and several of you have, but there's a time that comes where we have to come back together, right? And the Lord allows us to be able to come back together because that's also important as well. When we're tested, when we learn how to apply our faith, and we learn from our failures, and we experience God's forgiveness and grace and help in our lives, we need to share it with someone, right? Share what God is doing. Don't just be a clam closed up to yourself when God's grace and peace is working in your life and being evident in your life and share it. Share it with another. Share the blessings of the Lord with others.

Looking at Second Corinthians chapter one, please. Before we draw to a conclusion today, we want to look in Second Corinthians chapter one and verse three. Second Corinthians chapter one and verse number three. Paul says this, he says, Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. I believe Paul said all of those things because he had found it to be true in his own life. He says in verse four, Second Corinthians one, verse four, who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

God doesn't put us through challenges just to make life hard on us. He wants us to find out more about the preciousness of His promises. He wants us to find out more about the importance of His commands that He gives us. He wants us to find out more about the purposes of His warnings that He brings in His word. And we know that He wants us to take the things we learn, the comfort we receive, the strength that we gain through the things that He places in our lives. We're not to be a fountain shut up unto ourselves, but we are to be, what is the hymn we sing, a channel, make me a channel of blessing. The fountain of blessing is the Lord, but we should be channels of blessing. We should be conduits of God's blessing. If we try to hold that water, so to speak, within, it will stagnate, it will grow mold and algae, and it will stink. But if we let the Lord, as His grace and peace are flowing in our lives and through our lives, we can be a conduit of blessing to others.

And so our faith can be a strength to others' faith. Because the manifold grace of God may be working differently in this brother's life over here, this sister's life over here, than He's currently working in my life. And yet, it's something how God can weave all of that together in His timing, in His way. You know, I hope you've had conversations, maybe even this week. I hope you've had conversations where you know it was God speaking in that conversation to you what you needed to hear at that moment. Because there's no way the person talking to you had any idea of what you were facing at that moment. There's no way that they had an idea of something that was very private that you were going through. And yet, it was almost as if they were the mouthpiece right there, speaking to you at that moment that you needed to hear. What a blessing when God in His timing, despite delays that He allows to happen. And we might say, look back and say, you know, maybe He prevented that so that I would receive what I needed to hear at the time that I needed to receive it.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, Paul tells the Colossians. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. We're actually commanded. We're instructed to teach and admonish one another with these psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. How many times I remember Scripture through a psalm? I think I mentioned that recently. How many times Scripture of truth comes back to me in the form of a song? The Lord has given us a gift with music, hasn't He? It can be used for wrong purposes, but how many times has it been used for good purposes in our lives?

So let's embrace the trial of our faith, the delays of life that God brings when He brings those. Let us find it to be true that His grace and His peace are flowing into our life, and we're receiving, as a conduit, we're receiving that grace and that peace that are coming to us. Let us not receive the grace of God in vain. Let's receive with open hearts and open minds what God has to give to us. And then as we nourish our hearts, we find our faith being nourished with the Word of God that is dwelling richly in us. And we're hearing what God is saying to us. Let's not forsake this assembling of ourselves together. Let's consider one another. This is what Scripture says. Let's consider one another. Paul says, I'm considering you, brethren, at Rome, and I would love to come and visit you. I would love to come so that I could share some spiritual blessing with you. And yet He had in His heart and mind when the Lord allows us, I know that it will be a mutual blessing. I know it will be a mutual blessing for all of us.

So let's, when we come together, let's speak the truth in love, the Scripture says. Well, we have many tools, not only when we come together physically, right? What a blessing, when we are able to come together. I wonder if Paul would have enjoyed having a cell phone in some ways. He could just call up instead of waiting months to hear back from the people that he wrote to. But nonetheless, that was God's appointment for that time in history, wasn't it? Speaking the truth to one another in love. Why? Paul told the Ephesians that we can build up one another. We may grow up together into Him, which is the head, even Jesus Christ. He's the source of the body, but He's the head and authority over the body. And so may, as we grow in our individual faith through the tests and trials that He brings, let's see ourselves as a conduit that God can use us to be a blessing to others. And also to receive the blessings God has for us through others.

Our Heavenly Father, how often we have been nourished in our faith, strengthened, established in our faith by something that someone has shared with us, has said to us, whether in person or over the phone or by a letter. And it's because the things they said were true. We have said in this series of faith, faith is not in just, we wouldn't put our faith in a lie. No-ingly, we would not put our faith, nobody, I don't think anyone on this point, would knowingly or willingly put their faith in a product that they thought was a terrible product. And if they're going to buy something for their home, they wouldn't back that product if they thought it wasn't any good. And when it comes to the spiritual life, we know that you have given us the truth, we want to understand that truth and apply it and even share it with others. We want to speak that truth in love with consideration for others. We want to have wisdom in the way we speak and what we speak and when we say it, Lord, so that we could just share something that would be able to build up another brother or sister in the faith. We certainly want to, not to tear it down. We certainly want to be able to edify in the things that we say. Thank you for the opportunity, the help that we have to come together in this house today. And we pray that you would just bless our conversation as we conclude this time together. May it be glorifying to you and everything we think, say, and do be pleasing in your sight. Even throughout the week, we may have the opportunity to make a phone call. We may have the opportunity to pay a visit. We may have the opportunity to write a letter or to send a text or any number of things. We may have the opportunity to do, and we pray that as we do that, Lord, it would be the prayer upon our heart that you would use it in a way that would bring glory to yourself and help the individual. So many times, we've gone somewhere like even a nursing home, a retirement center, and we've spoken to another individual, and we thought we wanted to be a blessing to them, and we felt like we came away with the greater blessing many times, because of how you work in your time and in your way. We just thank you for these moments we have together in your house. We pray you'd bless this final hymn, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.