We're continuing our series on the epistle of Paul to the Romans. We're dealing with the essential teachings of Pauline theology. This is sermon number 137. We will have three more sermons after this. And we're going to switch from exegetical to somewhat of a topical just because of the very nature and essence of the letter as it now begins to close down. Our sermon today is dealing with the Apostle Paul and his request for the church at Rome to support his ministry. Thus the title, The Duty of Christians Toward the Ministry of God. Romans chapter 15, we're looking at verses 30 through 33. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me. that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service from Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Shall we look to the Lord our God in prayer? Father, we thank you for the Word that you have given to us today. We ask that you would bless us as we have now gathered to consider the truth that you have set forth in your Word. We pray, O God, that we would be a people who are committed, committed to the ministry of thy Word, supporting it in every opportunity that we have. We ask, O Father, that you would strengthen us in that commitment. Let us have the passion and the zeal of the Apostle, that we would see that word go forth, that those who do not know you would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. These things, O Father, that we do ask in Thy most precious and holy name. Amen. As I noted this Lord's Day, we will examine the request of St. Paul to the Roman Christians, concerning their assistance in his work through prayer and support. He continues to seek for them to give him the necessary support concerning the ministry that he is especially seeking to do in Western Europe. We shall also see that St. Paul burns with a compassion To take the gospel and to seek to bring it forth unto men That the kingdom of God will be expanded if you will then let's quickly look again at Beginning verses 30 to 33 because I want to deal with four three or four things that I think that are important Paul says now I beg you Paul is pleading his cause Now I beg you brethren He identifies them again as those who are equal with Him in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I beg you, my brethren, I am pleading to you, brethren, as I am making preparations to come and to bring the gospel into Western Europe, that through Christ, That is, in the commitment that we have to the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, to fulfill the ministry that He has started and commissioned us to go forth and to preach. That through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the love of the Spirit, that commitment that we have through the Spirit who indwells us, who empowers us to go forth, drives us to go in to preach the gospel. He says, that you would strive together with me in prayers to God for me. That I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe. Paul speaks concerning the persecution that he's experienced. And that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. As he goes forth, he's hoping that the saints will receive the ministry that he's bringing to them. that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, that He may then, once having completed this work, come to them and may be refreshed together with you. Now the peace of God be with you all. Amen. Well, let's look first at what we have here. Look at the Apostle's request to the Christians at Rome. He has made it very clear. that he would have them to pray for him for two things to take place. First, his protection. The apostle knows that no matter what the circumstances of life may bring, everything is in the hands of a sovereign God who rules and reigns over all things. Nevertheless, knowing the truth of God, the fact that ultimately all things are ruled and governed by God, we do not know the outcome of that rule and reign. God has not told us what is happening step by step, ten steps ahead of us, so that we know everything that's going to come to pass. What we do know is, from our study of Scripture, that we serve a sovereign God, that nothing gets by Him. There is nothing that can come to pass that He has not decreed. Not that He looks into the future to know it, but He has determined exactly what will take place and come to pass. Paul knows that. He's preached that in what we've seen in this letter to the Romans. It's not that Paul doesn't believe in a sovereign God. But Paul knows God has not revealed these things to him. and that as Christians we have to live under the perception of doing what God has revealed for us, to us, in the things that He desires of us, which they call, theologically, secondary causes. God has ordained an end, but a means to that end. He's ordained those who are going to be elect from the foundation of the world. But He has appointed a means through the preaching of the gospel to renew them by the Spirit and bring them into the church of Jesus Christ. So, too, God has ordained every day of our life. He's ordained every step of our ministry. And yet, even though we know that it is ordained, we do not know what happens from day to day. Therefore, we are dependent upon God. And God has appointed a means by which we can come before His throne and honor Him and seek to glorify Him by submitting in humility ourselves to that sovereign hand of God. We do not know, God, what tomorrow may bring, but we do know who controls tomorrow. Therefore, the Apostle says, I want you to pray to God for my protection. God will protect. But maybe it's not in the will of God that he does not protect. We simply don't know these things. And therefore, Paul says, I want you to pray for my protection. Why do we see the Apostle Paul asking for Christians to pray for such protection? Well, as I said to you first, while we certainly know all things work together for our good, the Scripture is clear about this and for God's glory. We are to seek the will of God for the essentials of life, which naturally must include our own preservation. We know from this epistle in Romans chapter 8, 28, Paul taught the Romans. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God. to those who are called according to his purpose. There is no question about who controls all things. But my friends, we cannot and we do not know all those things. We never will know all those things. We simply know that all things will come to pass according to the plan of God. But we're not to act as if we are automatons. We're not to ignore the things in life that God warns us and He directs us how to govern ourselves in the affairs of our life. He wants us to be responsive. He wants us to demonstrate in our actions that we recognize our inability and our utter dependence is upon God. It would be so easy. maintaining Reformed theology to simply ignore the means that are appointed by God. But why do we have to worry about praying for tomorrow or praying for God's protection or praying for God's provisions? Has he not already ordained these things from the foundation of the world? How will prayer change what is ordained? It's not a question of changing what is ordained. It's the fact he has required us without our knowledge of what is ordained. to show in humility our responsibility and utter dependence upon Him that He is the only One who can supply what is right and needful to us. Prayer is for our benefit. It certainly isn't adding anything to God. Prayer is our state of humility. It's our point in which we put ourselves before God on our knees and we admit we cannot maintain and provide and do the things that are necessary to survive in this life apart from the sustaining hand of a sovereign God. And our God loves us when we pray. He has appointed prayer as a means to an end. And therefore, we gain much confidence as we come to Him, confess Him, look to Him, Do you not realize everything that God has appointed as a means to the end teaches us our utter inability to do anything to please God? In our own ability, we cannot do anything. But God, through the power of His Spirit, gives us that ability, sustains us in that ability. so that when we come, we do not come in our own power, in our own ability, but in the power and ability of Him who hath renewed us. We're told in Matthew 6, beginning at verse 33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, Christ teaching us, and His righteousness, and all the things shall be added to you. Here's an appointed me. Do not worry about what tomorrow may bring, about the necessities of life. Be dependent upon Me. Do My bidding. Do what I have commanded of you. Seek the kingdom of God first and the righteousness that is attested to in that kingdom, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. There's enough things in life that we have to face and deal with. Why worry about tomorrow? We know who holds tomorrow. Second, we are required to seek the will of God in all things, which demonstrates that reliance and dependability that is holy upon God. Listen to what James writes in chapter 4, verses 13 through 15. Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go and do such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit, whereas You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. See the context? We do not think about life in the way that God has called us to think about it. We take it for granted. We take our actions for granted. We will go do this. We're going to go and do that. And he says, you know what? You can say that. We're going to go to this town, and we're going to sell this, and we're going to do these things. But we really do not honor God when we think in that way. That's why James says, instead, you ought to say, if the Lord permits, if the Lord wills, if this is acceptable to God, then we shall live and do this or that. Again, what's the purpose of it? What is it trying to teach us? It's teaching us we cannot depend upon our own ability. We are not self-sufficient. But we are dependent upon God to fulfill the essential things of life. And we're to seek those out from Him. were to predicate it upon His will, not our will. In all these things that are appointed for us to come to pass, it predicates on the idea we do not run ahead of God. We do not become self-sufficient. We are not self-centered. but rather we are simply here to seek, to honor, to glorify, to be obedient to the will of God. Well, that's first. Second, besides the protection that he is seeking, is the success of his mission. The apostle of the Gentiles held a very useful and glorious office. It is unequivocal. When we consider his struggles, we do not wonder that he was sometimes in great sorrow of heart, as he struggled through the many treacherous things that he often had to go through. Being stoned, no wonder he wants the saints at Rome to pray for him. I mean, how many times has Paul been chased out of a city, stoned, beaten? This is not what you call one of your more optimal jobs in life. He doesn't get a lot of the good benefits out there, you know? If you ask the Apostle Paul, what do you want to be when you grow up? I doubt that Paul would have said, oh, I want to be a missionary who has no place to really sleep. I don't have a home. I don't have a buggy. You don't have cars back then. So you don't have a buggy, a horse, or a donkey. I'm going to go from city to city, and I want people to get angry and throw rocks at me. That's what I want. I mean, it wouldn't be beneficial if it wasn't for the rock throwing part. You've got to have a little bit. course you could have started maybe a stone quarry if you saved all the rocks out but I mean you get the point this is not a job that someone would say hope this is what I want to be when I grow up or say there's a commitment a cost of the kingdom he understands I need protection but what is most important when I am protected when God prevails with me over my enemies then the success of my ministry can go forward, which is the advancement of the kingdom of God. There are times he struggles. Just like he said when he wrote to them in this epistle, I have long desired to come and be with you. God just has simply prevented it. He has allowed other things to come in the way, and I have not been able to come and to fulfill that which I desire of the heart for you. So therefore pray, as I continue to do this work, as I'm going to Jerusalem, I'm going in both the great bed of ministry, where much work is needed, and yet at the same time, I'm going into the area that has some of the greatest hatred for the gospel. Pray for my protection, but also pray that in the midst of that protection, that provision that God will give to me, as He preserves me, pray that my ministry will be successful. He says pray. Does it astonish us that a man so rich in grace and power before God should ask his brethren at Rome to pray? It shouldn't. For such always we ought to believe that we are dependent upon God. And there is taught in the scripture the absolute necessity that we ought to be dependent upon one another to support and to help. The apostle did a great work for the Lord, and he felt that he could not carry it on unless he had the cooperation of many helpers, not the kind who work with their hands necessarily, but those who would plead from their heart for his ministry. I think of Charles Spurgeon who once was asked the question. secret to your success. I mean, Mr. Spurgeon did not get to go to college. He would have loved to. Craig kind of did his own seminary program. He used to travel. I forget, I think he had to travel two or three miles on foot to go to this small Puritan church where they had a full copy of Matthew Henry chained to the Lord's Supper table so nobody could steal it. Those are pretty hard to come by back in that day. And so if you wanted to come and study, you're more than welcome to. As a matter of fact, to do so, you'd have to actually get on your knees to be able to read it. You couldn't pick it up. Spurgeon used to jokingly say, if someone wants to be called to the ministry, I recommend first they read through Matthew Henry on their knees. That's a good start for being called into the ministry and your preparation. But I think about a group of ministers who were with him And on Sunday morning they ask him, before the church service, Mr. Spurgeon, what do you see as the success to your ministry? What one thing more than anything else can you say has made you successful? And the pulpit from which he preached was on the second floor. It was up high, looked over the audience, and then the people up in the upper seats could almost see directly to him. He walked over to a small trap door, lifted it up, and in the room below where he preached was approximately 100 people on their knees praying. for his preaching, for his ministry. And he said, gentlemen, there's the success to my ministry. I think the Apostle Paul believed the same thing. God has appointed a means to the end. And one of the things that he has asked them, share in my ministry. Oh, he's not saying to them, drop everything you've got. Let's go to the field together. He says, you weren't called to do that. I was called to do that. But I'm coming to you. Can you help supply funds? How about some of the needs we're going to need to take over into Western Europe in order to share with those who have not? But more than anything else, can you share in the ministry by praying, supporting me through your prayers before the Lord? The Apostle was also teaching us there is a duty among the church to pray for those in ministerial service, to hold them up before the throne of grace, to continually bring them back time and time again before the throne of God. I want to remind you, Lord, Your servant is out here seeking to do that which you have called him to do. You must supply the needs. What is it again but an act of contrition and humility of our absolute necessity and dependence upon God? And yet it is a part of that ministry. The apostle so identifies it here. Do you want to be a part of a ministry and yet I'm 2,000 miles from it? How do you do that? you make it a point to pray for that ministry. Where opportunity is given, support the ministry. But more than anything else, pray for the success and the preservation of the Word of God, that the kingdom would be established and expanded. That is a part of what we can do. Paul tells them, pray for me in this ministry. And I say to you, this is often too neglected in the work of Christ's church. Prayer is essential to the Kingdom of God. God has ordained it for a purpose. Paul says in 1 Timothy 4, 5, for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Again, prayer being a part of Sanctification. Ephesians 6, 16, above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. I've got the wrong verse there, which goes on to the next verse and says that we are to always be seeking the Lord in prayer. James 5, 16, confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. If this is the appointed means to the ends, it is the means that we ought to be involved in in our life. Are you going to change the mind of God? Of course not. No more than you can change or add to the number of the elect or delete it by not doing evangelism. You're not going to change what God has ordained. That's not the purpose of prayer. The purpose of prayer is to bring us in true humility before God, to say to Him, it is your will, God. We recognize this. It is your will that needs to be done. You alone have the ability to do this in the way that it ought to be done. We cannot do it ourselves. We are depending upon you. Direct us, lead us, guide us. this work that it may be successful to you. It is not through our power, it is not through our pride, it's not through our wisdom, it's not through our intellect that we have advanced the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact it is those very things Paul says in first Corinthians that you cannot do to advance the kingdom of God. It is not the wisdom of this world It's the wisdom that is given to the foolish, not to the wise man of this world, not to the debater of this age, not to the philosopher, but to those who've been called in the gospel of Christ through the foolishness of the message that they preach. Not foolish preaching, just the fact is we are just messengers and we can't affect anything. But in that that message was ordained as a means to an end, we are to go and by faith do what God called us to do, regardless of what we think the results might be. It reminds me of the prophet when the Lord says to him, go preach the gospel. But I got bad news for you. You're going to go, you're going to preach, and these people aren't going to hear you. It'd have been so easy for the prophet to say, am I wasting my time going to this? These people could kill me. They might run me off. They might throw me over the side of a boat. They could drown me. They could run a spear through me. He'd come up with all the excuses. I'm not going down there and going to affect one thing. Why should I do this? Well, it's very simple. God said, go do it. It's your duty. It's your responsibility. It is the means appointed to the end, and the results are not your own. God wants us to fulfill the means He has appointed to the end, not through those means to try to change the mind of God, which we cannot do. Well, secondly, look at the argument St. Paul uses. For Christ's sake, he says, it is the love of Christ. That's what he means. that His cause might be promoted among those who do not know the gospel." Note, if you will, how important this work of preaching the gospel to men who have not yet heard the message of redemption is to the Apostle. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, "'For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for of necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.'" There is an absolute necessity, there is a compelling interest here to preach the truth of God. Paul says in Romans 1 14, he already wrote this in the epistle, I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the whites and to the Inuits. I have a debt to repay. I've been commissioned to preach the gospel. I cannot do anything but that which I've been called to do. Thus, the apostle was revealing to us this desire that burns, a compelling desire to give that message. No matter what may take place, no matter what opposition he may face, I must preach. But preaching in and of itself will change nothing. I am dependent upon God. Pray that God will make the ministry successful. In order for me to preach the gospel, I must face opposition. Pray for my preservation that I will be able to do these things. The apostle has this sense of urgency that drives him in his work and his labor for the Lord. We too should be so convicted when we witness such passion and godly desire to see men come to the knowledge of truth Therefore, we should hold such men before the Lord, to hold them up, to pray for them, to encourage them, to help them that they might advance the kingdom of Christ. We need to consider that the very victory that is being expressed here comes in the power of Christ, in which, through regeneration, By the appointed means of preaching the gospel and then the regenerating work of the Spirit, men are brought to God in Christ. Paul says in Philippians 117, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. My job is to go defend the truth of Christ to a world who does not love Christ. St. Paul also expresses this desire because of the love of the Spirit who is wrought in us. It is exhibited to us, who convicts and convinces us of the need to seek these glorious ends of the Gospel. Do you sense the desire to have the Church, not in division as Paul has been pushing and prodding along, but in the unity of the faith, that Christ may be preached without hypocrisy? How important is the Church being united as a part of that means appointed to the very end of bringing men to Him? That's why Paul said we need to govern our hearts, govern our actions, govern our words, to see ourselves as a part not only of the Church, But we are a part of the body that continues the existence of the ministry. How can you sit down and pray for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, pray for the success of the ministry, when we are not of one heart, of one mind, and of one spirit? How can you on the one hand have division? How can you have hatred? and then at the same time sit down and say, oh how I love God and Christ and the gospel and those who do not know the gospel, that they would hear the gospel and come. Why would they want to come to a church that has such division? Paul says in Philippians 2 beginning at verse 1, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but for the interest of others." That's what Paul is calling the church to. How can they be a part of His ministry? First and foremost, committing themselves to unity of faith. We must be a church not divided, but united. We must be sound in our theology. We must hold to the truth, preach the truth. It is absolutely essential to the nature of the church. In matters of things of liberty, however, let those things not cause division wherein it would hinder the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it would cause division and the church would not be able in unity to support the work of the ministry. I want you to pray. I want you to help me along in my journey in this ministry that I have to do. How can you do that if you're opposed and at war with one another? It cannot be done. There is no place for rebellion and renegades in the kingdom of God. Maybe we cannot always share in another man's ministry by hands-on type of labor, but in the ways that include our interest in the expansion of Christ's church, the support of the kingdom of God through the means that Paul's speaking of, prayer, support, service to those who work in the ministry. The glory of Christ, the unity of the church, the oneness of mind, of heart, the betterment of man, especially the church body as being one, not many, may become very important to the testimony to those who do not know Christ. How do you take a gospel to a people who says, why would we want to be a part of you? You fight. You devour one another. You're hateful. You're mean. It's the way the world treats us. What makes you any different from the world? If this is what Christ has given to you, no thanks. I can just stick what I've got. Paul says, how can I go forth? How can I show? How can I demonstrate? when the church that is at the center of the empire is in division. If you will not come together, unite, pray, give, support, it means that God is ordained to the end. In 2 Corinthians 3, verses 2-3, Paul writes, you are epistles written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart." You're an epistle. You're a book. You're read. You're a letter. You're being read by men. People are seeing who you are. The ministry that we have been given to bring to you, to build you up, to teach you, to instruct you on how to not only believe, but to govern your life, both within the church and outside of the church, that is a living testimony of to what Christ has done. The Apostle is begging them through Christ and by the power of the Spirit, do not do that which is harmful to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, the glory and honor of Him who is our King, but rather do that which will result in the greatest benefit for the kingdom of God. Well, what is that anticipated result? Thirdly, first for a prosperous journey both to Jerusalem and Rome. The Apostle wants his ministry to succeed, especially in the area of getting Jews and Gentiles and Gentiles to accept the Jews. Let us not forget the Apostle had brought forth the following things to the mind of these Roman Christians. A, that the gifts that had been collected, that they would be received by the converted Jews, that that would be a testimony. The Gentiles accept and love you as a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. We don't have two churches here. We don't have Israel, and we don't have at the same time the Church of Jesus Christ as the dispensationalists would have taught us. If that would have been the case, the Apostle Paul would have never had nothing to do with the situation. He'd have said, look, don't worry about the Jews. I mean, God's got his own program from the Old Testament. He's prophesied eventually the nation will turn around. It's not important. What's important is the church, which is Gentiles, you need to do this. Don't worry about the Jews over here. It's just the opposite. The Gentiles must give support to those who have been converted, who are struggling in Jerusalem. And as I go, please remember that there be prosperity in what I am doing. that a healing will come because it's clear from what he's saying there is a rift in the church between Jew and Gentile. Secondly, that the work of the ministry would be completed. Paul wants to ensure that the work he has done has met its fulfillment in what he was called to do. And third, that Paul would be able to then transfer his base of operation to a new field of missions, which would be, again, prosperous for the kingdom of God. Thus, prosperity in the ministry. That's what the anticipated result is. Union, not division. Love, acceptance, one with another, even when we have areas in liberty that are different. Nevertheless, the true love of God manifested through our desire to help and to share and to care for one another's burdens. Second, for the mutual joy and edification of all men, especially those of the house of the Lord. That Paul's ministry would be beneficial, it would edify, build up, help us to mutually love one another, to be the Kingdom of God, that we ought to be here before all men. In 2 Corinthians 12, 19, the Apostle Paul wrote, again, do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? We speak before of God in Christ, but we do all things, beloved, for your edification. He said, I have taught you many things. I've taught you the great truth of salvation by a sovereign God and the righteousness of Christ. I've explained to you how that takes place in redemptive history. The very purpose of God is seen both in the historical redemptive teaching of the Old Testament as it is also set forth in the historical redemptive teaching of the New. As we look to the future and the fulfillment and benefit of all that God has promised in His covenant to us, in the direction of how you govern your lives with one another before the watching world, how to be careful not to cause divisions, how to learn to be able to be flexible when someone has a difference of opinion in areas that simply do not matter, do not challenge the foundation of the faith. Why have we spent this much time writing these things to you for your edification? Paul says to the Corinthians, it's for your ratification. Paul says to the Romans, it's for your ratification. That the God of peace may rule and reign in this church. And it be a testimony to those who know not Christ. Well, let me say in conclusion. Too often we see prayer as a time for comfort, time of reflection, or time of making our requests known to God. But here the Apostle urges believers to join him in his struggle and to do so by means of prayer. Prayer is a weapon that all believers possess and should use in interceding for others. So Paul says, this is a part of how you can minister to me. How that you can minister in my ministry in a way that you cannot be directly involved. We need to intercede for those who are working to spread the gospel of the faith throughout the world. Many of us know of the believers who labor in difficult places in order to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can send them funds to help them in their physical struggles. And so often the Church does that very thing. The Church isn't often negligent in the area of missionary giving. But what it's negligent in is in that crucial service of prayer where we lift up those individuals before the throne of God. The Apostle Paul is a missionary. He says to them, pray for my work. Pray for my preservation. Those who oppose me are going to try to stop the gospel and the spread of that gospel and the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Do not let that come to pass. There is one who rules, reigns over all things. Put this to Him in prayer. We know who holds tomorrow. We know who controls the future of this kingdom. There is no power so great that can stop the advancement of this kingdom on earth, but we need to demonstrate that through our humility of prayer. God, we know that we cannot in our own ability do that which you've commissioned us to do, but we must do it through your strength and power. And we should pray with such urgency. God bless, God strengthen, God grant that men will receive the truth of your word. That's what Paul wants. That's what he's saying to the Romans. I'm coming. I'm simply coming by way, not to labor in Rome. I'm coming by way of Rome because I'm going on to do the ministry. Will you join me? Will you share? Will you have this urgency of the essential need to get the gospel message out to those who have not heard? You can do that. You can help fund it. You can support me while I'm there. You can add supplies. But you can also spend time praying for the preservation and success of this ministry. That in what little part I have given to you, I might take it to those who have not had the benefit you've already had. The church will see great expansion. Christ will be lifted up, glorified. Because the Church, truly, in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, seeks to manifest the calling of God in us. We be one Church, united, one body, one living body before God. That we commit ourselves to bring others into that body. And we do it by both physical and spiritual means that God has given to us. Paul has an urgency. The kingdom must go on. You know, the Apostle Paul could have went to Rome, he could have sat down, and he could have just stayed there. He could have just taught. He could have been in a good situation. This is probably one of the wealthier churches in the world. It's at the center of all the activity. Paul could have become the greatest theologian of the known world. He was one of the great young men in The teaching of the law of God in Israel. But here, he could have become the greatest. He could have said, hmm, I could put myself in a position. There's a big church. It's an established church. I could come there. I could become the man of the hour. I could be the teacher of theology. He simply says, my only calling is to go preach. One of the greatest minds in the history of the Church did not see his calling in the propagation of his intellect, but in the propagation of preaching the Word. That is compassion. He could have had it very well. He could have been highly revered, well taken care of. But he doesn't seek his own. He seeks what is important for the Kingdom of God. We too ought to consider what is important for the Kingdom of God. We need to be supportive of mission work. We need to be supportive of those who preach the Gospel. We need to be supportive to see that the Church continues to walk in unison together with love, that we might be a testimony and a witness to the world that those who come to Christ, they have acceptance not only with God, but among those who call out the name of Christ, who walk in unison by His Spirit. Let that be said of us here. We love the Gospel, and we love Christ. And we want the Church to be our true testimony and a witness of the unity that we have by the power of the Spirit to propagate and to keep the Church as one in Him, shall we pray.