The Acts of the Apostles- 94

Subtitle:  Paul Arrives in Rome

Acts 28:11-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 2, 2025.

The first part of this passage deals with Paul’s itinerary from the island of Malta to the city of Rome.  They had wintered on Malta for about 3 months, but now it was time to get these prisoners to Rome. 

They finish the trip from Malta to Rome (v. 11-16)

You can go to https://bibleatlas.org/ to see these locations.  From Malta, they sail north to the island of Sicily.  There they stay three days in the town of Syracuse.  They then sail along the southeastern coast of Sicily headed towards the Strait of Messian.  They spend a day docked at the town of Rhegium, which is on the tip of the “boot” of Italy.  They then take advantage of a south wind (blowing north) and head up the western coast of modern-day Italy.  They dock at a town called Puteoli and end up staying there seven days.  From here, they will travel to Rome by land.

In Puteoli, they found brethren (other believers in Jesus).  It is probably through them that word is sent ahead to the Christians in Rome.

As they travel to Rome, we are told that the brethren came out to meet them as far away as the Market of Appius, which was about 43 miles from Rome.  This would be similar to the Rome custom of greeting a hero, or emperor, coming home to Rome from war.  Of course, there is a lot of irony in the fact that Paul is in chains and on his way to Rome as a prisoner.  From the viewpoint of believers, this makes him a hero, but from the Roman pagan mentality, he is not a hero.

Verse 15 tells us that Paul thanked God and took courage when he saw them.  Though he is experiencing a situation that would discourage most people, we see him being encouraged by God through many means: angel visits, dreams, help from unbelievers, and help from other believers.  God can and does employ a multitude of ways to help His followers.

It is easy to lose sight of the humanity of a man like Paul.  If you tell someone to follow Paul’s example, or Moses, or Elijah, they typically scoff it off.  “He was a saint!  I’m not.”  Of course, all Christians are saints, i.e., people who have been set apart by God for His purposes.   But, it is easy to be derisive of such encouragement.  We feel like there is no way that we can relate with a man like Paul.

When Paul is coming to Rome, he is a saint of God who is being faithful to his calling in the face of persecution.  However, these people meeting him are just as much saints as he is.  Paul was encouraged because a part of him was struggling with the difficulty of everything.  He is just a man, needing God’s encouragement through whatever means it might come.  Do you think that the Holy Spirit may have stirred their hearts to travel 40 miles in order to walk back to Rome with Paul?

We need to pay attention to this area of being encouraged because the enemy wants us to be discouraged and quit the work of God, or at least become paralyzed.  Many of the encouraging things above cannot be controlled (angel visitations, what others do, etc.)  However, there are somethings that are intended to encourage us, and they are completely in our control (at least, generally).  We can read the Scriptures like this story and be encouraged that the same God who helped Paul is working in our life.  We can pray to God and be encouraged by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  We can also be intentional in connecting with other believers.  God intends for us to encourage one another.

They arrive at Rome.  Paul is not handed over to the captain of the guard.  Instead, he is allowed to rent a place where he can stay under the guard of a soldier.  This treatment is most likely because Centurion Julius doesn’t think Paul is a flight risk and has requested this kinder treatment.

Paul calls for the leaders of the Jews of Rome  (v. 17-22)

Paul would normally visit the synagogue on Saturday, but he is under house arrest.  Therefore, he sends word to the Jewish leaders, asking them to meet with him.

When they arrive, he begins by explaining that he has done nothing against “our people” and the “customs of our fathers.”  These counteract the main charges against Paul that have circulated throughout the Jewish communities.  They accused him of being a traitor and undermining the Mosaic laws, as well as trying to destroy the temple.

Yet, he has still been delivered into the hands of the Romans as a prisoner by the Jews of Jerusalem.  He also mentions that the Romans were of the mind to set him free due to the fact that there were no grounds to keep him.  Yet, the Jerusalem leaders objected so much to a release that Paul had to appeal to Caesar.  In all of this, Paul makes it clear that he does not intend to lay a charge against Jerusalem before Caesar.  He will only present his innocence.

He tells them that he is wearing these chains for the sake of the “Hope of Israel.”  His faith and belief in the Hope of Israel is at the foundation of why he is there.  There are many things that we can point to as a hope of Israel, but most of these are things that they are hoping for. 

The hope of Israel is another way of referencing the God of Israel.  This is seen in the book of Jeremiah.  Look at Jeremiah 14:7-9, particularly verse 8.  Jeremiah addresses God as such.  “O Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?”  Again in Jeremiah 17:13-14, we see, “O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all who forsake You will be put to shame.”  Ultimately God Himself was the Hope of Israel.  God had also promised an Anointed Son who would redeem Israel and set all things right in the world.  The Messiah then, by extension, becomes the particular means by which the Hope of Israel had promised to help and to save them.

Israel was still giving at least lip-service to the hope of Messiah’s arrival.  Of course, this hope was realized in Jesus, that is the point.  Jesus was the Messiah, the Hope of Israel.  Yet, the leaders were not having anything with that belief.  They rejected Jesus as anything but a heretic.

Let me just say that Jesus is the Hope of Israel, but he is also the Hope of Everett, WA.  He is the Hope of these Fractured States of America.  He is the Hope of every nation under the sun.  If we are to be mistreated and looked down upon, let it be for the sake of the Hope of America.

Yet, there is a personal thing here too.  The Hope of Israel has become the Hope of Paul.  How?  It has become so by faith.  He has put his faith in Jesus.  He has believed God’s witness of His Son.

If a person is connect to Hope with a capital “H”, then they have nothing to doubt or fear.  Yes, in our mortal flesh, we will feel doubts and fears, but the Hope of Jesus is there to keep us out of bondage.  By his Spirit, he helps us to fight through those doubts and fears.  Paul was a man just like you and me.  Yes, I can sense your eyes rolling. So, what is the secret?  Quit looking at the chains and start looking to Jesus.  Quit connecting to the doubts and fears and start connecting to the Hope of the World.

The Jewish leaders tell Paul that no letters or men have arrived in Rome.  They have heard nothing about his case.  This may be because they know they have no case and fear standing before Caesar “wasting his time.”  It may also be that they think the problem will go away now that Paul is removed from the equation.

Of course, the work of Christ is not dependent upon any one person, even the Apostle Paul.  Paul is important and you are important.  Jesus works in and through all of his followers.  However, no matter what happens to me, the work of Jesus will continue where he wants it to do so.  The enemy can do his best to get rid of this person or that person because of their effectiveness.  But, this will never stop the work of our Lord Jesus.

We need to adopt this attitude.  On one hand, I am irrelevant to God’s work because I cannot stop the work of God.  Yet, on the other hand, God wants me (you) to join Him in this work.  He plans to use your successes and failures in order to advance His kingdom.

When that attitude surfaces that says, “I’m not Paul, so I can’t do anything.”  Stop it immediately.  Instead, trust God and do what He says for us to do.  You know, the general call to be a witness of Jesus.  And then, seek His specific calling and will in your life everyday.  Do what He wants you to do.

Though these religious leaders have not heard about Paul, they have had reports about these followers of Jesus.  This group is “spoken against everywhere.”

It is not easy being in a group that is maligned, pilloried, and lied against.  This is what it means to stand with Jesus.  In fact, today, different groups under the banner of Christianity can be the very ones maligning you.  Such a place is not comfortable for our flesh, like being on a cross. 

May God help us to get our eyes on something greater than the attacks against us.  May we see the glory of the victory procession of King Jesus.  In that day, none of the malignant statements and lies will stand!

Arrives in Rome audio

The Acts of the Apostles- 92

Subtitle:  Shipwrecked

Acts 27:21-44.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 16, 2025.

We are going to continue with Paul on his storm-tossed journey to Rome.  But before we do that, I want to share some similarities and contrasts between the Apostle Paul and the prophet Jonah.

Both of these men were tasked by God with taking a message from Him to Gentiles and their king or kings.  Paul of course has a scope that is much larger than Jonah who was only sent to the capital city of Ninevah.  They both end up in a storm that threatens their lives, but are spared by God in order to deliver their messages.  Finally, they both end up in water that could kill them, but are helped by God.

Yet, there are some big contrasts between Paul and Jonah.  Paul goes toward his task as a willing voice to the Gentiles.  Whereas, Jonah is running away from his meeting as an unwilling voice to the Gentiles.  We could add to this that Paul has a heart of love for the Gentiles (not wanting them to perish), and Jonah wants the Gentiles to be destroyed.  Paul is taken in chains by others to his task, even though he would freely go.  However, Jonah uses his freedom to flee from the task.  Of course, there is great irony in this.  We can see that spiritually Paul is the man who is free and that Jonah is the man who has a spiritual bondage to vindication.  We also see that the storm is sent to chastise Jonah for disobedience.  Whereas, this is not the case for Paul.  The storm only helps people to see God’s mark of approval upon him.  Finally, Paul is happy to see Gentiles saved, but Jonah is sad that they are spared.

Of course, a person could come up with more.  All of this gives us insight into the thorny ground of wanting justice from God while keeping true to His heart towards all people.

Now, let’s get back to our passage at hand.  We left them on a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, caught up in a storm so powerful that they are throwing stuff overboard to save their lives.

Hope is given (v. 21-26)

Verse 20 ended with the statement that all hope was gradually being lost.  However, God had different plans.  When we are in hard and difficult times, we can be tempted to complain about them.  Yet, their situation when from hard and difficult to an existential crisis.  They had come to believe that they were going to perish in this storm.

It is at this time that God speaks to the men through the Apostle Paul.  Paul encourages them and gives them hope in this time.  However, this would not be a hope of circumstances, what their eyes could see. 

Our hopes are generally pinned on what we can see, what seems most probable.  However, Christians are told to live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Now, that passage is not telling us to ignore the things we can see and to suspend our thinking.  Rather, it is calling us to remember that God is greater than all of the things we can see.  Such a hope is something that is deeper than what we can see.  In a situation absent anything that gives visible hope, a man stands up and says he has been given hope by God, a word from God.  Of course, this begs the question who is this guy.  Men like Luke, Aristarchus would draw great hope from Paul’s words.  He has proven trustworthy to them.  Perhaps a man like Julius the centurion would also draw some hope.  Perhaps everyone else would simply draw hope from the courage it took for him to stand up and say that there is still hope.  Regardless, Paul stands up and speaks hope to them, “after many days” of fighting the storm and going without food.  All told, they would spend 14 days fighting this storm.  We don’t know how close to the end that Paul received his message.  I would think that God did it at just the right timing. 

As Christians, all of us would like to receive a concrete word from the Lord.  However, when God uses someone else to speak into our lives, we are generally not as thrilled to rely upon it.  We balk with the thoughts of how trustworthy they are.  We even balk at whether we think it is possible or not.  This is not a game of “hearing things from the Lord,” as if we are trying to see who can get the best record.   God speaks into every situation generally through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit.  However, from time to time, He will speak specifically.  If God has given a word, then it will bear out to be true every time.  If you have been in a situation where you think that God spoke something to you, or someone else told gave you a word from the Lord, and it failed to happen as was said, then the failure wasn’t with God.  You have to go back to God in prayer and humble yourself.  Perhaps you jumped to conclusions about what the word meant.  Look closer.   Perhaps you wanted something so badly that you let your imagination get away from you. 

What we have here is a man who has faith in what God has said, and it will bear out exactly as God told him.

Paul gives the classic I-told-you-so, but it is not given in a vindictive spirit.  Rather, he is really trying to help them.  “You didn’t listen to me before, but listen to me now.”  He is coming alongside of them to encourage them.

We have to be careful not to let our spirit become bitter when people don’t listen to us.  People are free to choose and learn their own lessons.  Yes, your ego may have been hurt, but God is not working in order to spare your fragile ego.  Perhaps we fear that our experience is overly tied to how they respond.  Listen, God is quite capable of helping you regardless of who listens to your godly counsel.  Yet, the foundation question is this.  Am I truly giving godly counsel?

Essentially, Paul tells them that no one will die, but the ship is going to be lost and destroyed.

It is then that he describes how the word of God came to him.  A heavenly messenger spoke to him that very night.  The message is this: don’t be afraid, you must speak before Caesar, and God has granted you all those who sail with you.

There are two things here.  First, the message is really to Paul and about what he will experience.  He doesn’t need to fear because God wants him to appear before Caesar.  Yet, it is also clear that Paul has been praying for the lives of these sailors, soldiers and passengers.  God has heard his prayer and is granting him this request.  I don’t believe the angel is sent to convince Paul that he will survive.  Rather, he is sent to assure Paul that all the others will live.

This is important because Paul shouldn’t even be there in one sense.  He was unjustly arrested without due process, and he is protesting trumped up charges about Jewish religion.  Their salvation physically is going to be due to the intercession of this man.  This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about them.  God cared enough to put His special man on their boat.  As God spoke to Jonah, we can see here.  Jonah didn’t care about Ninevah, but God saw 120,000 people who couldn’t even distinguish their right hand from their left hand spiritually.  They were lost and in the dark, but God cared about them and sent Jonah, sent Paul, sends you and me!

Paul understands this.  He was a man who was supposed to have the light of God, but was absolutely clueless to the truth, until God had mercy and showed him the light.  How much more are these Gentiles worthy of a hearing who have only known darkness and lies?

Paul gives them his conclusion.  They should keep their courage (take heart) regardless of how tough it is going to become.  We don’t always receive such information from God.  When we are in difficult situations, part of us may want to use that to accuse God.  However, faith is not found in knowing the future.  Faith is found in knowing the One who not only knows what will happen, but can work it to our good in impossible ways.

The real question is this.  Do I really know God?  If I do, then that knowledge will help to strengthen my faith, as well as the Spirit’s help.  Yet, this kind of knowing is a knowing of experience.  I can know what God’s word says, but I need to experience times of trusting God (or failing to do so) and finding out that He is trustworthy for myself.

The sailors attempt to save the ship (v. 27-38)

As we said, these men have been caught in this storm for nearly two weeks.  Regardless of when Paul told them this message, the sailors try everything they can (probably with the help of all able-bodied passengers) to save the ship.

We are told that around midnight the sailors sense that they are approaching land.  Even though it is pitch dark with howling wind and rain, they probably hear the sound of the waves dashing against something other than the ship and other water.  Years of sailing had attuned their senses to recognizing that distinct sound.  Was it wishful thinking, their mind playing tricks on them?  Regardless, they were convinced enough to take some sounding with a plummet line.  They soon discovered that the depth went from 20 fathoms to 15 fathoms.  They were sailing towards shallower and shallower waters, which is a hallmark of land.  All ships have a certain depth of water that they can sail in without the bottom of the boat bottoming out.  To keep this from happening, the command is given to throw out anchors.  This is dangerous because of the wind and the waves.  Yet, they had to try something to buy them time for a chance to make it to land.

Some of the sailors used this command as a pretense to try and escape on a small skiff, a lifeboat.  However, Paul recognizes what they are doing and warns the centurion and the soldiers that none of them will live if those men do not stay with the ship.  This may seem strange, but in 2 Corinthians 11, we are told that Paul had been shipwrecked three times and had spent a day and a night in the water.  He had spent a lot of time traveling on ships, so he knew that they were not throwing out an anchor.

Why would Paul say that the soldiers would not survive if those men didn’t stay with the ship?  This does not seem to have been a part of the earlier angelic message, but it may have been something that Paul did not mention.  It is also possible that the Holy Spirit prompted Paul’s mind in the moment that this was not part of God’s plan.  Think about it.  They are buying time for a shot at navigating any rocks and making it to land.  For these sailors to abandon ship in this moment, is to leave the rest of the people to sure death.  It would take everyone of them just to have a hope of getting to the shore.

This is where we should recognize an important fact.  These men’s skills would not be used to save the ship, but they would be used to help get the ship to a place where the people could make it to land.  God wanted to save the men of the ship, but He also wanted to use these sailors, at least partially.

This brings up the mystery of how God uses our actions at times versus sending a miracle.  We could call it the miracle of God including our efforts, even those of unsaved people. 

He wants us to do what we can even when it will never be enough.  Imagine a disheartened dad facing his inability to do a good job with his kids.  He may recognize that he is not up to the task and is failing these kids in many ways.  So, what then?  Do we just quit?  Don’t give up in such situations.  There is a sense in which none of us are enough for every relationship and purpose that God gives us to do.  However, God is not only able to use our weak and feeble attempts, but He intends to use them.  He intends to use your weak efforts, not just to help your kids, but to help you.  In the midst of your weakness, you will find God’s assistance as you give yourself to the task.  You will find yourself growing in ability, but even more, in faith that God can and does work through you and in you.

As it gets close to daylight, Paul encourages the men to eat food for their strength.  “Not a hair from the head of any of you will be lost!”  Yet, pay closer attention to how Paul presents the bread to them.

Luke’s phrasing about Paul giving thanks and breaking the bread suggests that this was also treated as communion for the Christians on board (Luke and Aristarchus).  There is something spiritual happening here as they prepare for the final push to survive.  God is using Paul to implant in the minds of all of these men this crazy man giving God thanks for bread when their lives were in danger.  They don’t know God, but they now have experienced life with a man who does know God.  These 273 (276 minus Paul, Luke and Aristarchus) souls are being touched by the God of heaven who cares for their souls.

At this point, sensing that this is their last chance at land, they send the last of the cargo (the grain) over into the sea.  This would lighten the boat and give them the best ability to steer the ship and maneuver to land.

They fail to save the ship, but God delivers them (v. 39-44)

These men will fail to save the ship, but God does not fail to save their lives, at least physically.

Once there is enough light to see, they make a run for the beach.  This involves putting up the mainsail and cutting away the anchors at the same time.  They don’t recognize the land, but they do see a place on land that is their best chance.  As they put up the sail and cut the anchors, the ship lurches forward.  At some point, they become stuck on a sandbar (often these also have clay under the sand).  The wind and the surf begins tearing up the back of the ship.  It is time to abandon ship and pray to make it to the shore without drowning or being dashed against the rocks.

Things are happening fast at this point.  They will need to swim for their lives.  We are told that the soldiers were preparing to kill the prisoners.  This was common policy for Romans and many cultures of the ancient world.  Those charged with the custody of a prisoner pledged their own life for the life of the prisoner.  If they lost a charge, then they would be put to death.  In situations where there was no way to guarantee their custody, prisoners would be put to death.  Yet, God has been working on Julius the centurion.  He normally would be okay with killing the prisoners, but he favors Paul.  Thus, he tells his men not to kill the prisoners.  Of course, then it comes down to how much they trust him.  They had to respect him enough to follow such an order.

The instructions are quickly given.  Those who can swim are to jump in first and make for land.  Others are to grab a board or something from the ship so that they can hopefully float to shore.  I love the phrase, “so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.”  This was a miracle; but even more, it was a miracle that Paul had proclaimed well in advance.  Paul had testified and witnessed to the fact of his God’s grace for them all.

In the end, the greatest shipwrecks are those that metaphorically happen in the lives of people, individuals, groups and even Republics.  Paul uses this metaphor in 1 Timothy 1:19 for a shipwrecked faith.

Sometimes there are things in our lives that God does not intend to save, even though He intends to save us.  This can bother us.  We are so used to serving Him with those things that it can be unclear just exactly what we are trusting.  Satan tested Job in this way.  God wouldn’t let him kill Job, but he could take away many of the good things in Job’s life.  Would Job curse God and die?  Did the things mean more to him than God?  These are the questions we face as we do life with God.

God always intends to save the souls of people.  The loss of ships and things in our life are not proof that He doesn’t care.  Rather, He cares about much bigger things (like eternal salvation) than we often do.  No matter what we face, God wants to save us, to save our family, to save our church, to save our State, to save our Republic, to save our world.  He is not willing that anyone perish.  So, He is working every day to the ends of saving everyone’s soul.  The real question is do you have enough faith to stand in there with Him like Paul did?

When you face a time of losing things, don’t ask God why He is doing it to you.  Rather, put it on the altar and let Him know that He means more to you than those things.  Then, ask Him what it is that He has for you to do in this situation so that other might know who He is.  Yes, sometimes our trials are just as much about the people watching us go through them than they are about us.

Shipwrecked audio

The Path Ahead of Us

1 Corinthians 13:8-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 21, 2021.

Next week, we will pick back up in Mark 15 and walk with Jesus to the cross and the resurrection. 

Today, I want to talk about the path ahead of us as believers and followers of Jesus in the United States of America.  One of the devil’s tactics in these last days is to tempt believers to quit loving one another.  However, the love we are to have for one another is God’s love, and not love as defined by this world.  It is the same love that Jesus had for us when he chose to go to a cross for our sake, despite the world having rejected him, and believers who were slow to believe what they did not understand about him.

The disciples could not see how Jesus letting himself be arrested and killed would be the loving thing to do.  Peter even rebuked Jesus for even thinking of such a thing.  I am sure that Peter felt that he loved Jesus and loved Israel, but the actions of Jesus did not look right, did not look like love to Peter.  He didn’t exactly say this, but it is the same idea.  “Jesus, that isn’t love.”

In the days and months ahead, we must not be obstinate in fleshly concerns, but neither can we let the world, including worldly Christians, define for us what love is and what it would do.  We must learn to make the tough decisions of love as the Holy Spirit leads us in any particular situation.

We must not stop loving

In this section of 1 Corinthians, Paul is dealing with problems among the Christians in the Greek city of Corinth.  Their great desire for spiritual gifts was overwhelming their duty to love one another.  They were more concerned with the social prestige of exercising a spiritual gift than the people that God wanted them to bless with that spiritual gift.

This is why chapter 13 functions as a sort of parenthesis within a larger teaching on spiritual gifts.  No matter what Christians may think, they need to keep loving one another as a primary focus that is replaced by nothing else.

Our minds have a tendency to focus on the wrong things.  The believers in Corinth were focusing on the spiritual gifts that they had, and how “spiritual” that made them.  It functioned in their minds more like a badge of honor that was a gift to them, instead of being a gift to their church that would operate through them.  The over-emphasis on themselves was perverting the true purpose of the gifts.  They were not helping one another.  Instead, they were stirring one another up in envy, jealousy, and strife.

Spiritual gifts are not the only thing that can sidetrack believers.  There are whole groups within Christianity that do not believe the spiritual gifts are still in operation today.  Essentially, “God doesn’t do that anymore,” is their mantra.  They are more tempted to focus on the appearance of wisdom and knowledge to the expense of loving their fellow believers.  Again, wisdom and knowledge are good things if they are given from God and we are using them to bless others.  However, if they come from man’s attempts to look wise before others then we will be led astray.  Typically, we will only “bless” those who give lip service to our “human wisdom” and speak invectives against those who do not, even though they are believers.

We should always ask ourselves the question, “Will this make me and others more like Jesus?”  Whether I am exercising a spiritual gift in the assembly, or waxing in philosophical wisdom before other believers, I must always begin with the sacrificial love of Jesus.  He is the ultimate example to us of what God has called us to do, and what it means for us to love others by God’s definition. 

It is easy to say that loving one another is a primary focus, or purpose.  However, sometimes love has to make tough calls.  It has to run the risk of the other person, or onlookers, accusing us of not loving them.  Ultimately, God is our judge.  We will have to deal with the judgments of others, but they are not our judge.  If we allow the judgment of believers and onlookers to become more important to us than God’s judgment then we are not loving them as Jesus loved us.

Even right actions done for the wrong reasons can fail this question.  If my heart is wrong, or selfish, no amount of “loving actions” can make me like Jesus because the heart of Jesus was not wrong and selfish.  Our culture is lost when it comes to the proper judgment of actions.  We believe that the end justifies the means.  As long as someone is fighting for the right cause, their methods are rarely criticized.  Yet, at the same time, our culture has become extremely judgmental.  “If you do this thing then we know that you are that bad thing.”  Even this is hypocritical because of the first maxim.  If someone is working for the end that is deemed acceptable then they can do something all day long that others will be hyper-criticized for doing.  God help us to flee from such godlessness and receive a love of the Truth that only He can give.

Paul is reminding the Corinthians that a day will come when prophecies, speaking in tongues, and knowledge (i.e., spiritual gifts) will no longer be needed among God’s people.  This is described as when the perfect has come.  This perfect is describing the place that God is bringing us to.  At the resurrection, we will be clothed in glorified bodies that are immortal and untainted by the sin nature.  We will be a finished being who looks like Jesus, and we will be united with him never to be separated again.  It is in this perfect relationship that we will not need the spiritual gifts of this age anymore. 

Keeping that in mind, Paul’s main point is that love, faith, and hope will continue into the perfect age ahead.  The Corinthians were focusing on temporary things to the expense of eternal things.  That is never good.

This brings us to the relationship between love, faith, and hope.  Paul mentions that love is the greatest of these three virtues, but he doesn’t explain why.  From a biblical point of view, we know that love is described as an eternal attribute of God.  “God is love.”  (1 John 4:8,16).  In a way, faith is an internal, rational response to God’s love for us.  We believe because He loved us and loves us now, and we believe because we love Him.  We might call faith an aspect or facet of love itself.  When there is a separation of some sort in the relationship, love demonstrates itself in faith; it still trusts.

Hope is similar.  It is partly a rational and partly an emotional response to God’s love for us in regards to the future.  Because God is love and has promised His love eternally into the future, I need not fear the uncertainties of the future.  When we are united with Christ, it is not that faith and hope cease to exist or are no longer needed, it is just that they are less obvious.  We will dwell with Him ever able to see Him.  Perhaps this is why Paul calls love the greatest of the three.  It is simply the foundation of the other two.

We are in that tension between the now and not yet.  We have God’s presence now, but not as it will be in eternity.  It is God’s love for us that enables us to walk in faith (though we cannot see Him), and to have hope (though we cannot see the end result promised).  In a sense, we see Him with the eyes of faith, and our eternal future with the eyes of hope.  By the Spirit of God and by the Word of God, the love of God fills our hearts.  We need to daily refresh ourselves in the knowledge and experience of God’s love.  Even in times of discipline, we must see it as proof of His love for us.  The enemy does not want you to live out the love of God, to live this life trusting Him, and to joyfully trust your future to Him.  If he can, he will get you to focus on something else by undermining your faith in God’s love.

We have to spiritually mature to the point where we are not driven by our circumstances.  If something difficult happens, or persecution comes our way, we cannot fall into pity, thinking God doesn’t love us.  We must trust His love for us in the now and we must walk in faith.  We must trust Him with our future in such a way that we are filled with the hope and joy that comes when you truly believe that the Creator of all things is working it to your good (Romans 8:28).

With the Apostle John, let us rise up to the challenge of our day.  Faith is the victory that overcomes the world, and all of the enemy’s attempts to pull us off course.  Let us trust God by loving one another, and having our hearts full of the joy of those who belong to Him!

The Path Audio

The Fruit of Faith

Romans 15:13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 30, 2018.

Today we will finish our series looking at the issue of faith. 

Ultimately faith is not intended to be a dull and drab hardship that grinds all the fun out of life.  God does want us to enjoy and rejoice in trusting Him.  In our passage today we will see how trusting God fills us with wonderful things that make life enjoyable and can fill us with peace.

God fills us with Joy

In Romans 15, verse 13 seems to be a prayer that Paul is praying for the believers in Rome.  The first thing he prays for them is joy.  He prays that it will come to them “in believing.”  This direct connection helps us to see that faith is a prerequisite to having joy or peace.

These things are given by God and yet they are also the natural outgrowth of faith in God.  When we have become convinced that God can be trusted and the things that He has promised will come to past, it ignites a whole host of things within our heart of which joy is one.

This joy is a rejoicing happiness that one can experience even in the face of great difficulty.  Sometimes it rides on the surface, but at its heart it is deep-seated bedrock that no volume of turbulent water in this life can wash away.  It is a joy that comes not from the things of this world, but from the knowledge that “I am my beloved’s and He is mine!” (Song of Songs 6:3).  Regardless of what I experience this relationship with Jesus cannot be touched by it.

Also, he prays that God would fill them with this joy.  There are many carnal joys of this life that can “fill” us for a time, but they are transient and not long lasting.  However, the joy that comes from believing in Christ is one that truly fills.  However, we can be drawn away from this joy if we get our focus off of Christ.  Yet, when we draw our eyes back to Jesus, we once again connect with that deep-seated joy that He has given us, and will constantly supply as we trust Him.  He desires joy for us, but not as a command.  Rather it is a constant supply that He pours into our lives as we trust Him, a supply that never runs dry.

God fills us with Peace

Now let’s look at the other thing that Paul prays for them.  He prays that they would be filled with peace.  This too is connected to believing in Jesus.  It is the fruit of a life that is trusting Christ.

There are several things that we should notice in regard to this chapter.  First, in verse 33 Paul refers to God as “the God of Peace.”  He does a similar thing in verse 5 calling Him “the God of patience and comfort.”  The point is not just that God has these things that He can give us, though we can start there.  God has abundant stores of peace, patience, and comfort.  However, these are also the natural experience of His being.  God is full of patience and not frustrated with how long things are taking.  God is full of comfort and not inconsolable towards the world today.  God is also at peace and not in turmoil at any time.

We in our flesh are not as impressed with God’s patience, comfort, and peace.  We often holler at God to do something right now!  However, if we trust Him, He will take from what is His and give to us without measure and without end.  Let us turn to Him for these things in our lives every day rather than turning to the things of this world to give us peace.

When your peace comes from God then nothing can really take away your peace.  You may be convinced to quit drawing peace from God, but it is always there.  1 Peter 1:6-9 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

The next time you sense that you are lacking peace take time to remember that it is connected to your faith in Jesus.  Go back to the fundamentals and trust the Lord.

We receive them in Hope

Though Paul could have listed hope as a third thing that we are receiving (that is it is also a fruit of faith, a fruit of the Spirit), he instead lists it as a condition in which we receive joy and peace.  If we have no hope then our joy and peace is greatly diminished if not extinguished.  Thus hope is critical to our joy and peace in life.

As we saw earlier with peace and comfort, so we see here.  God is called the God of Hope.  Again, He doesn’t just have hope in a bag for you.  He is filled with hope Himself.  Do you ever think that it could be possible that God has had his hopes crushed and is stuck in despair?  Of course He isn’t.  He is God!  Yet, when it comes to ourselves we often forget this.  God is He who cares for you, and the One who cares for you is still full of hope.  He knows that the future holds wonderful things for those who trust Him.  Yes, He is the God of hope and, even more so, He is our God!  As we hope in Him He pours joy and peace into our hearts.

Paul also prays that these things would “abound” to them.  This means that it will be given in an abundant measure.  The word means to overly fill, to have plenty of leftovers.  Thus we need to allow faith to ignite hope in our hearts.  In fact, faith is to the mind what hope is to the heart.  I understand that faith involves the heart as well, but faith at its heart is recognition of facts.  It believes the truths about Christ.  Hope also involves the mind and looks forward to factual things that God has promised, but at its core it is a response of the heart agreeing with the mind.  Yes, He will come through for us!  As we trust in God, He fills us with hope for today and for tomorrow.

Paul also describes this as being done by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Fruit cannot grow without some energy source and thus God Himself is the author and finisher of our faith.  It is He who is working in you by the power of His Holy Spirit to fill you with faith, hope, joy, love, and peace (the list goes on).  Sometimes we allow our experiences to pull us off of the path that we should be walking with the Holy Spirit.  We can go off on our own tangents and end up wondering why we don’t have those things anymore.  Rather, we must return back to the place where the Holy Spirit is waiting for us and continue walking with Him.  Let Christ be your source of strength and power by the work of His Spirit within you.

Ultimately this whole verse is a prayer for believers, and not just those from Rome.  We too must add our prayers to Paul’s.  Take time to pray for the Lord to strengthen your faith and hope in Him.  Ask Him to fill you with His joy and peace to overflowing, so that you might live a victorious life in this world.  Also, do not let the world define for you what a victorious life is.  We dare not look to the world and our circumstances in it to give us the faith, hope, joy and peace that we need.  Rather we must wholly trust Jesus and Him alone.

The Fruit of Faith audio