Well, we have just a few more sermons in the book of Romans, and as I said last time, there's some very interesting things in the bookends of this, especially toward the ends of books that typically we don't consider much. And so last time, you'll remember how the Apostle Paul wanted to encourage the church in Rome about how he viewed them as a church, that beautiful statement, "I am satisfied," verse 14, "about you my brothers that you yourselves are full of goodness, full filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another." He saw this as a new covenant ministry, and he had very positive thoughts about them even though he had to write to them extensively about the gospel. He didn't want them to think that they didn't understand the gospel. He wanted to encourage them even in the difficult things that he had to write about sin.
Why he would be so strong about that is to show and magnify Christ in his great work for us and providing us a righteousness that we cannot attain to, justifying us by faith, the heart of this great book. And now we come tonight to him really giving some personal reflections about the church in Rome.
So I will begin at verse 21 and we'll read to the end of the chapter. This is the word of the Lord:
"But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
"At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints, for Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
"I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen."
There will end the reading of God's word.
Well, this is definitely a lighter passage, something I think is good to consider tonight, something that is very encouraging when we look at the book of Romans and the way that Paul is speaking to this church, the way that he views this church, how happy he is about this church. But really, how he looks at the whole kingdom of God and the project of God to evangelize the nations, we see such the heart, as I've been trying to capture here in chapter 15, of a pastor and the heart of someone who really loves God's people
And is mesmerized by what God is doing. And I think that's a crucial point to consider tonight: that often we don't feel that we're very much part of anything that big. That we may feel that, and it's natural, we think the center of the universe is just us. That's life, where we are, our own body, our own people, and that's in many ways how it should be. But Paul wants us to consider the brothers and sisters elsewhere. Paul wants us to consider how we are a part of a much bigger project, and a very important project, and that we are participants in that project. And that's the heart of the Apostle Paul tonight to encourage us. And that's meant to encourage us as a church to think about how we are part of the whole.
There are saints all over the world right now that are advancing the gospel, and people are being ministered to who are going to be, and we're going to see, are our brothers and sisters in heaven. Paul longed to visit this church in Rome. He had just written this powerful, think about this, Epistle to the Romans. How much is in this great book that we have been privileged to study! And he admitted last time that he's written things that are bold. He's written things that are sometimes hard those were the first chapters of Romans, and even chapters 9 and 11 when he looked at election and some of the more difficult concepts. Paul had to speak these things. Paul taught these things. And yet, through it, even though he said hard things and bold things, he wanted them to know how much affection he had for this church.
And I thought about this; it really does capture, when you have an apostle speaking this way of the church, how God views His church, how God loves His church, how God really does speak to us and intend good for His people. But there was a major challenge here. There was a major challenge that that this church had never met Paul. They had heard so much about the Apostle Paul. They had never seen him. I preached this years ago, and I went back and looked at my notes. And I never liked old sermons, but you know what? I said years ago, i said "They had no CDs to listen to him!" How times have changed, haven't they? They had no CDs. They had no for some of you, eight tracks, right? They had no technology to hear the Apostle Paul preach. They didn't know what he looked like. Somebody must have said it. They longed to see each other. And Paul was constantly under attack for his apostleship as being illegitimate, so he constantly had to say things to demonstrate that he was once sent by god last of all. But what tonight's passage is it's an excellent encouragement to them because of this dilemma. And he wants to explain to them why he can't come to them, but still important how they need to understand they are a crucial part of the whole ministry.
He was mesmerized that God raised up a church in Rome. He was mesmerized by what He did there for the whole cause of the Christian gospel, for the whole missionary activity of the church. And this is important for us, I think, to have moments like this to to stop. It's not the kind of passage you just say, "Well, I really want to preach this one because it's it's just... it's it seems detail oriented And what is the purpose of it? And is it helpful to us?" I think it is. I think it's very helpful to us. It's an encouragement because we often face this very same dilemma.
Here we are, a church in Escondido, California, and we feel somewhat disconnected from the church that is spread across the whole world. We don't really feel that united together, do we? And Paul would say, "You indeed are." And at times we don't know how we fit into the bigger picture, maybe. It's important to think about that. It's easy for us to forget about what we are a part of. It's easy to think that we don't make much of a contribution or that we're really not all that important to the big picture. And Paul would see every local church and say, "You are very important that way."
I believe what the apostle is doing here is encouraging these Roman Christians that they share in the gospel ministry, and he's encouraging them and explaining to them how that is so. He does this in a few different ways tonight. He wants them to understand how they have encouraged him with mutual encouragement. that was a theme that was picked up from chapter 1, you'll notice there. And then he will explain how their giving for the gospel ministry is of crucial importance. And then he will finally say, third, that your prayers really matter for the advancement of the gospel.
Now, those we might think are little things, but not so in the eyes of God and not so in the eyes of the apostles. Mutual encouragement, giving, and prayer are huge ways that connect us to the whole project, are important ways that connect us. And so this is what Paul is really doing here in this section tonight in verse 22. He says, you'll notice, this is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you." What is that reason? Well, he says... I think that's why he quotes Isaiah 52 here, which is an important verse: "But as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand
I'm sure when Dr. Godfrey gets to this great verse and this great section in the book of Isaiah, after a lot of darkness, it's a marvel to see God's missionary heart, if you will, to take the gospel to all the nations, to those who've never heard. And that's what we're part of. And so Paul's connecting this as to why he couldn't come. He says uh in the remarkable statement there, "This is the reason why I've so often been hindered in coming." I've had a specific mission from the Lord.
Paul was called. And what did Christ say to Ananias when Paul was baptized? He said, "He is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, before kings, and before the children of Israel." What What a calling! what an important calling "I've chosen this particular figure to have a unique ministry, and he will bear witness to Gentiles and to kings and to the people of Israel." That covers a lot of ground, doesn't it?
But he says, "But now since I no longer have any room..." You'll notice as he goes on, "But now since I have no longer any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while."
Well, why was he hindered? It was because he was fulfilling his calling to go out to these Gentile regions where Christ would send him and to preach the gospel where he was sent. Now, this is i i think something we don't think about in ministry enough. It's helpful, especially since we have seminary students here and those in the backyard of Westminster Seminary who are training, to see really the whole design of ministry that is outlined here and the way that the Apostle Paul viewed the ministry.
He essentially is saying: God strategically sends His servants where they are to go and to whom they are to go, and really for how long they are to go. It's really amazing in light of all the scriptures. Everything, when you study the scriptures about life, as we felt this morning, about timing, even our times and boundaries (Acts), even our deaths, even where we go, even where we live, even where we're sent, what we do, it's all sovereignly designed and commissioned by God. All of it!
You remember that during the night, and these were apostolic times: Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." And so Paul went. But you'll remember as they went through different regions of Phrygia and Galatia, listen to the statement: "Having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia," Paul wanted to go to Bithynia at one point and wanted to go to these regions, and the Holy Spirit said no. that That's that's remarkable! To think about, he's going where He sent He's going he's going as the Lord sent him.
So now he says to to the church in Rome: "I finished my work in these regions. I'm done." His work in Macedonia and Greece was accomplished. And now he gives his ministry plans: "And since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain." But then he tells us that in verse 25, that before he can come to them, "I've got to go to Jerusalem. I have to go bear witness to the Jews, to Israel."
Now, why is he telling them all this? Why are these details here? How do they benefit us? Well, we know that the Lord gave a specific kind of mission and calling to the Apostle Paul. And we really do see the heart of a servant that should be in every servant of the gospel right here. We move, we go, we speak where God sends us. That's true in life for all of us; specifically and especially true for the ministry.
And I've often thought: if there's anything that needs to be recovered in the church today in terms of pastoral ministry, it is that this is a calling from God. One of the things that I have witnessed in the ministry as of late is sort of an attitude of those looking for a call that they will go to, the place that most appeals to them, the place that they want to go to, the place where they want to serve, what they want to do, where it's actually often most comfortable for them. And it seems to me that here Paul is demonstrating that the pastoral call, the great question that has to be asked, and one of the things that's driving the Apostle Paul is, "In how he presents the whole ministry, is the Lord's calling to send us where he will send us."
Ministry is not what we want it to be. It is never really on our own terms. And Paul recognizes this here. We go and we do what His will is. where He sends. Where He places. And that's true of your life in general. That's true. And it's very important for the church to understand this. Every servant must have that. a servant of "not my will but your will be done. What will you have for me?"
And I think this is crucial for the church to appreciate again in our day, because we don't really think about how complex the sending of pastors is, and why we are called to pray about this. When the Lord said, "Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send pastors you ever thought about Now, this is not too much work for the Lord, but have you ever thought how much work goes into this? The Lord raises up and sends ministers over the whole face of this world. You think about it he's constantly raising up and training servants. I think this is a marvel to think about. And that He sends Romans 10 how will they hear unless they are sent and that He gives each one a particular kind of assignment. And all the different needs of people and all the different regions of the world and think of all the challenges and all the dangers and all the hardships! It's like a giant puzzle that we could never put together. The Lord is sending servants who are the right ones to the right people at the right times to accomplish the mission that He will have, He has determined. And that it would be great blessing and benefit to you.
And that's been a great blessing I've seen in the whole history of this church as the Lord raises up and sends pastors. You can understand the importance of this then tonight.
The Apostle Paul is essentially saying, "Dear church, the reason I've not been able to come to you is because the calling that I have been given by God is being fulfilled at a specific time and a specific place, and that the need has been so great out in the world in this very calling. that first, to get to you, I've got to fulfill the call to go to Jerusalem. Now, do you know how hard that's going to be? Just read Acts. He's going to end up in jail."
Now, what does Paul want them to understand as a church? All this is going on out there, right? It's all this is happening out there. He's concerned that the church in Rome would understand and appreciate how integral they are to his mission and the mission of the gospel to the ends of the earth. How important do you think we are to the whole? That's a good question. We could ask: Is the Escondido URC really that significant? What marks us as significant? What kind of particular opportunities do we have that the Lord has given us here? His answer is: "You're very significant."
And Paul begins to encourage them. Look at what he says. When I go to Spain, I want to see you in passing. Notice this: "to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while." Isn't that beautiful? Isn't the fellowship and harmony of that just beautiful? "I want to be mutually encouraged. I need that." It's really picked up from chapter one where he said this very thing: "For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you that is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine."
"I want to come and I want to strengthen you, but as that happens, I want you to strengthen me. You see? Now, that's pretty important, isn't it? I love this particular emphasis in ministry, because Paul essentially said, We need each other we need each other in mutual love and mutual fellowship and mutual encouragement. I want to strengthen you so that you strengthen me
"I need to be helped on my journey there by you," he says. "I need assistance from you." The word is is important here. It could mean a whole bunch of different kinds of helps. But Paul is asking this church to help him reach forward to the goal that he has been assigned. And now that he's leaving the Macedonia region, those churches couldn't continue to support him. His home church in Antioch couldn't do it. So he's saying, essentially, "I need you to be my supporting church. I need you to do that for me."
Now, I don't know, maybe we have so many needs today we get kind of bogged down. And what are the most important needs? And there's so many needs out there. It's important to think through this. You see how important the local church is to the cause of the whole? He just included Rome, the church in Rome, in the great missionary project that's going on in the world. "My ultimate goal," he says, "is to go to Spain. It's believed that he got there. We could ask the scholars what they think. We know that he was beheaded by Nero in the persecution of AD 70. But if he did get there, hear what he just said: I need you if that's going to happen you ever think about the effect of your involvement in helping the ministry? And have you ever thought about the effect of one faithful gospel minister and how many people he will affect? Have you thought about that? How many children will be converted under one faithful servant's ministry? How many people? How many people pulled out of the fire? How many people rescued? What's the price on that?"
I often think, if we're looking at our specific scenario, we have a great opportunity here with Westminster next door. Hundreds of pastors have gone out from that institution all over the world. Think about that. He wouldn't want me to say this, but I'm just going to say it. Andy Van D. gave himself to be a blessing to all these seminary students, constantly. He encouraged them. He had them over for fellowship. How much do we think about the importance of what's happening and the opportunities we have in this regard? We are a part of this. He's saying: "We share in the most significant cause as a church."
And so what Paul does at this point is encourage the Roman Christians. He essentially says: "You've got to understand then, is that your giving for the gospel is very important."
If you look at verse 25, "At present, however, I'm going to..." You notice what he says in 25: "I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain. At present, however, I'm going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem, for they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings."
That's a really neat, amazing section. Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia took up offerings for the poor in Jerusalem. Now, if you understand that, these are Gentile churches blessing the churches in Jerusalem, the Christians in Jerusalem. Think of all the struggle that went on. The Jews were really poor in Jerusalem. And Paul says, "I'm really thankful to be able to go to Jerusalem to minister to them because I get to bring, and Paul saw this as a great witness, I get to bring their contributions with me to give them from the Gentile churches to the Jews in Jerusalem. That excited Paul. That showed love. That showed care for them."
In fact, Paul used the Macedonian churches as an example to Corinth. And the shocking thing was, was that these poor churches were way more faithful in their giving than the rich churches in Corinth. So Paul was overjoyed to encourage the Roman church with this. Think of the struggle he's captured in this book of Jew and Gentile tension and liberty issues in chapter 14. And now he comes together with this, and it's as if he says, "Think of the big picture here. It pleased them, verse 27, to give because they're debtors for the Gentiles. If the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, remember what he said in chapter 9 and chapter 11 about the root and us being grafted in their duty then is to minister in material things."
So this Jerusalem church was poor and were full of Jews who were Christians. And Paul is saying, "You are partakers of their spiritual blessings, and they viewed it as a great blessing to help them in need."
There was an article years ago written on giving in America, and it said: "When Americans earned less money following the Great Depression, they gave more. When income went up, they began to give less of it away." And there was a study of one pastor that showed how the giving of the poor was remarkable in the U.S. Those below the poverty line give about five percent of their total income to charitable causes. Those in the middle, slightly more about seven percent they have more to give, but the highest bracket 100,000 or more gave a shocking two percent!
Now, Paul doesn't bring a heavy hand on this issue. The Lord wants a cheerful giver. But he wants you to see there is a crucial connection to how the ministry goes forward with giving. Um, God could rain down money from heaven if he wanted to, but he does it through the gifts of you. This is that beautiful thing that is happening with the Gentiles providing for the Jews here. And so notice what he's saying to the Roman church then: "The ministry doesn't go forward without this kind of heart. It's for you. It's your giving that keeps the ministry going forward."
And then he gives them to think about finally how they share and participate in this great ministry. Now notice this final encouragement: "So mutual encouragement to those sent in the ministry, to servants, that mutual encouragement, that bond among us is special how we are involved in the whole is a giving for that cause. And it doesn't have to just be financial. I mentioned there are other ways, but then the third one he mentions here, verse 30: i appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me
This is so beautiful. "...in your prayers to God on my behalf that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company."
"What is the final connection that he makes tonight? Well, what does he ask them to do? Pray! Would you make it a crucial part of your lives to pray for the success of the gospel ministry? You're part of this. I need that. This is the apostle. I need that. strive together and pray for me Would you be committed to pray for me?" It's just... it's just so powerful, isn't it? Think about all the servants who got on their knees for the Apostle Paul. Would you pray for the advancement of this? For those who minister to you, would you do that for us? Would you pray for your elders and your deacons? Would you pray for the saints together in the love of the Spirit? It's necessary.
What a great encouragement! Two reasons Paul gives. Because this thing is full of opposition! The next chapter he's going to say, "There are those constantly causing divisions, those contrary to the doctrine we've learned avoid them." How many people hindered and frustrated the work of the Apostle Paul? This is in Thessalonica. "But we, brethren, have been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. Therefore, we wanted to come to you, Listen to this. We wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and time again. But Satan hindered us." Satan did that. He didn't have any problem saying that. Some great threat prevented us by Satan himself to come. I need you to pray. Because the warfare is that fierce for the cause of the gospel all over the world."
Ephesian church: "For this I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in, not sparing the flock, and from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I didn't cease to warn everyone day and night with tears."
And then, second, he says: "Because the warfare's fierce, but I really am asking for you to pray for this that my service in Jerusalem would be acceptable to the saints." Paul is asking that his ministry would be received. Ministries aren't always received. That it would be fruitful. That it would be faithful to the design God gave. That the sheep would recognize it for what it is in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
Please pray for me. Please pray for every appointed under-shepherd of Christ. You see how important that is? See how involved you are in this? See how much effect you have on the whole? You mutually encourage. You can give to support the greatest cause under the sun for the deliverance of people, and you can pray.
People always say to me, "What? What? I want to do something. I want to do something." Start here. The things that you don't think are very big are big. What encouragement tonight! How can we support the gospel advancement through our giving hearts, through our prayerful hearts, through our encouraging hearts, to be thankful for the wonderful things God's done for us?
If God has blessed us with the gospel, if God has done wonderful things for us in the gospel, in some ways, aren't we not debtors to help those who need more help in the gospel? That's the point. And God has responded to you in what way?
Well, that's the end of this. It's not really even the end of the book, but he gives a blessing and benediction: "May the God of peace be with you all. How wonderful the Lord is. He has blessed us with peace, and he is with us. And so, never underestimate how important the local church is, and never underestimate how you are an important part to that. Remember these things, and may you be a blessing to the whole cause of our God and His missionary activity in all of the world."
Let's pray.
Gracious heavenly Father, thank you for this word to us tonight. And thank you for encouraging us. Your saints matter, and they are very important to you. And we pray for the success of the gospel ministry and that you would continue to use your people for that advancement, and that we, oh Lord, would be faithful in it. And in the opposition, that we would be strong by grace. And that the ministry here and around the world would be acceptable to the saints. Thank you for giving us this tonight to understand the whole picture of your work. In jesus name, we pray. Amen.