I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, how often I planned to come to you (but have been prevented from visiting until now), in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered so far), that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.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.And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles.
3 sermons cite this verse
you'll escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance. But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed, God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, and mortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking, who will reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for everyone who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. All who sin apart from the law will be judged apart from the law. All who sin under the law will be judged under the law. …
… Amen. Our text this morning is Romans chapter 1, verses 8 through 15. For better or worse, I don't know if this is good news or bad news. Don't tell me if it's bad news. But after two weeks of sermon prep in Romans, and since one week was iced away anyways, I have determined that the rest of the sermon calendar printed in the bookmark is going to be a general guide rather than a fixed schedule. I have found in these first two weeks of sermon prep wishing that I had another week to dive in a little deeper on that verse or that phrase. Now, I do not think we are going anywhere close to Piper's 229 sermons or Boyce's 239 sermons or Lloyd-Jones' 366 sermons, but maybe slowing down just a tad from what is printed in the schedule. I want to make sure that we get out of this text what is here. All that to say, I will do my best to study as hard and pray as hard as I can each week, and you'll do your best to listen each week. And the one that it's going to be hardest on is Nathan, because I'm just going to have to tell him from week to week how many verses or lines I think I'm going to make through. We will do all verses 8 through 15 this morning, but moving ahead, we may find ourselves off the schedule just a bit. Follow along now as I read. First, I thank my God through …
… And then we see regarding this reason. He gave it way back at the beginning of Romans 1, verse 13. This is what he said. This is his reason. Now, I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often plan to come to you. Remember, he's writing. He's in Corinth, Greece, writing to them in Rome. but was hindered until now that I might have some fruit among you also just as among the other Gentiles. I want to get to Rome. He's got this reason. I want to meet you. I want to see you. What I love about the apostle is that these are believers that he has never met before. It's not like he's going to have a reunion. Wouldn't it be fun? What if we could do this? What if we could say in the next two hours, meet me down at LAX, and we are going to take off, and we are going to fly to Papua New Guinea. And now, for some of you who are carnal, you're thinking, but there's mosquitoes. …