First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (9) 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; (10) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. (11) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; (12) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (9) 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; (10) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. (11) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; (12) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
I beg the Reader to observe, how the Apostle begins his subject to the Church, after he had finished his prayers to God, and implored grace and peace for the people. He enters upon his Epistle with thanksgiving. Reader! nothing can more effectually call forth praises to the Lord, when the heart is tinder the teaching of God the Spirit, than a deep sense of the Lord's mercies to the Church. Though Paul had no personal knowledge of the saints at Rome, yet knowing by their call to God in Christ, that they were beloved of God, they were beloved to Paul also. There is a oneness of heart and affliction among the saints of God, which proves a kindred of souls, and manifests an union with each other, from an union with the Lord Jesus. No wonder the Apostle longed to see them, whose faith carried with it such an honorable testimony everywhere.
But what I would more particularly request the Reader to notice, is, what Paul expected from seeing them, namely, that while through grace he might be enabled to impart to them some spiritual gift, he himself, though so great an Apostle, might receive from them comfort. It were devoutly to be wished that this statement of Paul's was but more generally regarded in our Churches, both by ministers and people. The Apostle here speaks of a mutual faith. And, surely, as the faith is the same in all the members of Christ's body, in all its properties, all flowing as it doth from one and the same fountain, which is Christ; however different in the greatness or smallness of the stream, it must be, or ought to be, a faith which worketh by love, and therefore the consequences would be truly blessed, if they were thus sought for. And it is very blessed both to minister and people, when the one is refreshed under the Lord from the labors of his servant, and the other is comforted in his own, and their establishment in grace by the Word. Paul felt the sweetness of this, and so must all faithful ministers also, when they can adopt Paul's language; he told the Corinthians, that they had acknowledged his labors in part, and we are (said he) your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus, 2 Corinthians 1:11-14.