Our Plans - God’s Plans

I invite you to open your Bible to Romans 15.

We will complete chapter 15 today by looking at verses 22-33.

When Robin and I were in Bible college at Liberty University, we were both on student leadership on our dorms.

And one of the requirements was to attend a weekly meeting led by a campus pastor where he trained us in Christian leadership.

And this guy was one of those guys who had a quote for everything, and the quote I believe he used most often was one that at the time, I hated.

He would always tell us: schedule time to schedule time.

Think about that one for a minute.

You must schedule time to schedule time.

Oh, I would roll my eyes every time he said it.

Yet now, here I am seventeen years into my marriage and Robin and I have a longstanding meeting with one another every week where we get on our synced iPhone calendar and talk through the next week and take a brief look at the next month together.

No matter how much I hated it at the time, one of the pieces of advice that has served my life, my marriage, the raising of four children, and my ministry well has been to schedule time to schedule time.

We are by and large a busy people.

While so oftentimes I want to fight against being busy, the reality is the way the world works, what it takes to work and make a living, what it takes to sustain a healthy relationship with God, a healthy marriage, raise children, maintain family relationships, and be a committed member of your local church makes life extremely full.

Full is the word I like to use instead of busy.

Because life is this way, it is absolutely essential that if we are going to follow Jesus, we must be intentional with our plans and our time, we must learn to make the best use of our time as the Bible says, that means we must learn to prioritize and say “no” to many things so that we can say “yes” to the right things.

In a world of constant access and entertainment, we have to say “no” more than ever.

Because if you are doing the things God has given you to do, you are not going to have much time for anything else, and that’s a good thing.

My nineteen year old self would be shocked to hear me say this: but I believe one of our greatest needs for maintaining a vibrant love relationship with God, our spouse, our children, and our church while working and providing in the way God has called, one of our greatest discipleship needs is developing the habit of scheduling time to schedule time.

It may not sound very spiritual, but managing time with right priorities is absolutely essential to loving God and others which is the very thing believing the gospel produces in us.

We are in a final section of the book of Romans where Paul has completed the main body of his letter regarding the power of the gospel and how we are to live in light of it.

Paul is now writing very personally to the church in this final section.

Last week, we heard him assure the believers that they were filled with all goodness and knowledge in Christ and are able to instruct one another.

They didn’t need to look down on their ministry just because an apostle had not started their church.

And he explained that his ministry is to serve the Gentiles by ministering the gospel to them so that they can offer their lives as a fragrant worshipful offering to God.

And that he has made it his ambition to preach Christ where he had not been named.

And Paul now continues, writing of his plans and priorities, which will teach us much about the way we must think about our plans and priorities.

Please follow along as I read:

Romans 15:22–33 ESV

22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 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, 24 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. 25 At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. 27 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. 28 When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 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, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

1. Plan To Help And Refresh Gospel Workers

Remember, the church in Rome probably felt inferior because their church was not started by an apostle like many of the other churches, and an apostle had never visited them,

An apostle was one of the twelve who had been with Christ throughout his ministry.

So, Paul has been clear in saying that they have all they need in Christ to be who God wants them to be.

It’s a wonderful reminder to us that we have all we need in Christ to do the ministry He has called us to do even if your pastor doesn’t have a book deal, and we don’t have a million dollar budget or whatever it is you are tempted to believe we need.

And Paul explained that his primary ministry as an apostle is to preach the gospel where Jesus has not yet been named.

So verse 22: This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.

Because obviously, the name of Jesus and his gospel already got to Rome and the church is established there, so Paul had to prioritize other areas where Christ had not yet been named.

Verse 23: 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,

Notice, Paul tells us that he has wanted to go to Rome and see the church there for many years,

But, he had a priority assignment to preach the gospel in order to establish churches from Jerusalem to Illyricum which we read up in verse 19,

And that priority assignment from God kept him from doing something good that he desired to do for many years.

Listen, there may be things that you desire and dream about doing, they may be wonderful things, they may be things for the gospel and for ministry, but God has placed a priority in your life that may hinder you from doing that thing that you are desiring.

It may hinder you for years, or you may never get to do it.

The book of Acts tells us that Paul did finally make it to Rome, but he made it in chains and was taken straight to the Roman prison.

But, Paul knew his place, and he knew his priority assignment, and he gave himself fully to it at the expense of saying “no” to doing other really good things.

In the digital age of social media and 24 hour news outlets, it has become increasingly difficult for us to know our place and to give ourselves fully to our priority assignment.

It is as if we always have a million options to be somewhere else than we are and to do something different than we are doing.

Our finances and our technologies lie to us and tell us that we should not accept such limitations as one place, one focus, and one assignment.

But the truth is that God has sovereignly placed boundaries around your life, your place, your position, and your calling in this season.

Prioritize where God has placed you and the season you are in, whether you are a student, a mother or father, an employee, a church member, a grandparent, in a discipling relationship, supporting someone is a difficult situation, whatever it is.

Don’t get lost in the daydream of where you wish you were or what you wish you were doing.

Be present and faithful where God has you and trust He will make it clear if and when he wants to move you.

Paul had to stay focused on his assignment to preach the gospel and plant churches even though he wanted to visit the Roman Christians for a long time.

But, now he says finally, he plans to visit them because he no longer has work in those regions.

Remember, we saw last week, that certainly did not mean that everyone from Jerusalem to Illyricum were Christians, but it did mean that God had used Paul to establish enough gospel preaching churches to be a witness to all those areas.

Now, it is instructive to us that Paul has longed and prayed for this church for a long time although he has never been able to go there.

When it comes to the gospel partnerships we have with pastors and missionaries around the world, many of us have never been there or met them, but we can learn of them and pray for them and ask God if he would give the opportunity to go at some point.

Verse 24: 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.

Notice, Paul is still prioritizing his mission to the unreached by saying he plans to visit the Roman church on the way to Spain which is where Christ has not yet been named.

But, to make sure the Roman church doesn’t think his only interest in them is to help him get to Spain, he says he plans to enjoy their company for a while.

You see, God’s design for Christian fellowship is that it be sweet and life giving.

Paul looks forward to spending time with this church in Rome, who he has never met personally, but he is confident the time will be enjoyable because it is amongst brothers and sisters in Christ.

While Paul didn’t really have a home because he was always tentmaking as a missionary, he found home and refreshment and life while spending time with other believers.

Way back in Chapter 1, Paul wrote:

Romans 1:11–12 ESV

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

One of our international partners that we have gotten the closest to is Louis and Suzannah in Scotland.

Our church was able to send a team over to them last summer to help them put on their first VBS.

They would love for us to go on a mission to them like that every other year, so pray for them and ask God if he would open the opportunity for you to go at some point.

On this off year where they won’t be hosting a team from us, they have invited Robin and I to come over in May and spend a week with them.

We are going to attend the Pillar international pastors conference with them for two days then we are going to spend the rest of the time in their home and at their church.

We will ask them about their marriage, their parenting, their ministry and seek to encourage them with God’s word.

We will be able to attend church with them and I will preach at the church.

They are very much looking forward to this time as their ministry can be very isolating.

I pray we will be used to God to provide refreshment to these faithful gospel workers.

It was going to be refreshing for Paul to see and meet the Roman church in person.

May we all be used in Christian fellowship to refresh one another and to prioritize helping and refreshing gospel workers.

2. Plan To Be A Spiritual and Material Blessing

Verse 25: 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 in Jerusalem.

Paul tells them here that now that he has completed the work of gospel proclamation and establishing churches in the region, he has one more place he has to go before heading to visit the Roman church, and that place is Jerusalem.

He is going to Jerusalem to bring aid to the saints there.

This was no menial task Paul was about to undertake, and he certainly didn’t plan it on a whim.

When you read the books of Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Galatians, they all help us understand that a central and strategic part of Paul’s missionary work of preaching the gospel where it had not been named among the Gentiles and establishing churches was to collect this offering from the Gentiles to help and bless the church in Jerusalem.

You say, that’s nice, but how can you say it was central to his missionary efforts?

Think about the situation with me.

Jerusalem was the center of Jesus’ final week of ministry as well as his death on the cross and his resurrection.

The Jewish hatred and persecution of Jesus and the early Christians was centered in Jerusalem, so imagine what it was like for the church in Jerusalem.

Many of them had lost family ties as well as the ability to make a living because they were now followers of Jesus.

There had also been a famine in the land that made things difficult for everyone.

Added to it all was the Jewish skepticism of Gentiles coming to true faith in Christ.

As we have seen in the letter to the Romans, one of the main gospel works Paul had to focus on as the apostle to the Gentiles is how to help Jews and Gentiles come together and truly understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ has not only brought reconciliation between themselves and God but also between peoples, in this case, Jews and Gentiles.

So, Paul’s strategy was to share the needs of the church in Jerusalem with all the majority Gentile churches he was planting and asked them to take up a regular offering for the church in Jerusalem.

As you read Paul’s letters, you see that Paul used this offering to disciple the Gentile churches in gospel centered generosity.

He also used it as a way to teach them how we are all one family in Christ who cares for one another.

So, now that Paul has finished his church planting work in those regions, he is going to Jerusalem to take the offerings that had been collected by the churches.

Verse 27: 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.

I want us to think for a moment on the fact that the Gentile churches took pleasure in giving these offerings, and it was also their duty.

The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

One of the best ways to think about gospel centered obedience to Christ is learning to take pleasure in doing the things you ought to do.

Paul made clear in 2 Corinthians as he was writing about this offering:

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And we only find joy in generosity when we are drinking deeply of the truth found in

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

When we are drenched in the gospel of grace, generosity is a joy.

But Paul says it was also the Gentiles’ duty.

Paul shares a principle here that we see throughout Scripture:

If you have come to share in spiritual blessings, you should also share in material blessings.

1 Corinthians 12:26 ESV

26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

The early church was known for giving to one another to the point where no one had any need.

It was through the elect Jewish people that Christ was born and all believers in Jesus have been grafted into the people of God who are Israel.

We have been spiritually blessed through the Jewish people, so it is only right for the churches to bless the Jewish church materially in their time of need.

As the redeemed people of God, through whom Christ became poor so that we might become rich, it is our pleasure and duty to both give and receive in the body of Christ.

So, many times we seem to grasp and understand that we are called to be generous, but do you realize at times, you are called of God to receive a gift?

Some people really struggle to receive a gift.

Are you one of those people who feels compelled to argue when someone else offers to pay the check?

I remember when Robin and I were dating in college, we went to get ice cream with some friends, and one of the dad’s offered to pay for everyone.

And Robin was mortified when I replied, “Hey, thanks a lot!”

She was mortified because she is one of those people who thinks the right thing to do is argue, “Oh, no, you don’t have to do that!”

We are all blessed to be a blessing.

We are all called to give and to receive.

Everything that we have both spiritually and materially we have as a gift from God not only for ourselves but that we would be generous with others.

That’s why if we have the Holy Spirit of God within us, we should be joyfully sharing him with others.

If we are walking with Jesus, we should be discipling others to walk with Jesus.

The paycheck, the car, the house, and whatever else it is you have is not just for you, but it is for you to use for the glory of God and in generosity to others.

What would it say of the witness of Christ if someone in the body of Christ were suffering without proper food, clothing, and shelter, when many of us have more than enough?

But, it takes time and intentionality to be a spiritual and material blessing.

You have to say “no” to other things in order to invest time and effort in God’s church, in a community group, in a ministry, in a discipleship relationship.

You have to say “no” to other things in your budget in order to give generously to God’s church and others in need.

Do you have a line in your personal budget for missionaries? What about for others with material needs God puts in your life?

Plan to be a spiritual and material blessing.

Verse 28: 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.

Paul will be confident that Christ fully blesses his coming to the Roman church because he first completed the priority of taking the offering to Jerusalem.

3. Plan To Pray For Others In Their Gospel Work

Verse 30: 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,

Notice the intense language Paul uses in his appeal for prayers to be made on his behalf.

By our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, strive together with me in prayer.

You see, Paul’s plan to head back to Jerusalem to take the gift to the Jewish church was an extremely risky plan.

Paul was previously a Jewish zealot persecuting the church of God, I guarantee you the Jewish establishment who had Jesus killed was not happy Paul was now a missionary for Jesus.

So, Paul asks the Roman church to pray earnestly that God would deliver him from the unbelievers there.

But more than that, the Christian church in Jerusalem struggled with this new era of Gentiles being equal under the gospel.

There was a lot of Jewish skepticism toward Gentile conversion to Christianity, and Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles,

So, there was no guarantee that Paul’s coming with this Gentile offering to the Jewish church was going to be welcomed and received.

Paul’s hope was that this gift would strengthen the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers and so strengthen the witness of the gospel in the world, but he couldn’t guarantee it.

So, there were many dangers and obstacles in the way as Paul fulfilled his plan to go to Jerusalem.

So, he asked the Roman church to strive together with him in prayers to God on his behalf.

When was the last time you considered your prayers to be a work of striving?

When was the last time you labored in prayer?

Sometimes the reason we don’t pray more is that we are not really on mission with God.

So, there are no real dangers or obstacles because we aren’t attempting anything for God, HIs church, and His kingdom.

But even when we do pray, we talk about speaking a prayer or remembering someone in prayer, lifting them up before the Father, those are all wonderful things.

But may we be challenged that the Bible speaks of striving in prayer, laboring in prayer, Jacob wrestled with God all night as a picture of fervent prayer, Jesus wept and prayed in the garden.

I’m convicted this week that I spend way too much time considering how I’m going to handle and situation, or what I am going to say in an upcoming situation, when I should be spending my time laboring in prayer believing it is God who will provide the wisdom, the strength, and the words at the proper time.

Our gospel partners need us not only to give offerings of material blessings to their work, they also need us to strive in prayer for them.

You know a new church plant, and a missionary venture in a new place or a foreign land comes with many dangers, risks, and obstacles.

Do you schedule time to labor in prayer?

Do you see prayer as the first and primary ministry understanding that we can’t but God can?

Verse 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

We always seek to labor in prayer as we trust in God’s will.

The book of Acts tells us that Paul did finally make it to Rome, but in chains as a prisoner.

He was under house arrest, so the Roman Christians had to go visit him in prison.

It is not the way we would have expected God to answer Paul’s prayers, but God is always working for His glory and our good, even in the most mysterious of ways.

Paul concludes the section in verse 33: May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

The Bible is clear that we are all sinners who desire our own kingdom and our own glory instead of the glory of God.

Because of this, we are at a place of hostility with God, and we spend our time living for self and hurting others.

Yet, in God’s perfect plan, He sent His son Jesus to take the wrath of God in our place on the cross so that all who would repent and believe in the Lord Jesus would be reconciled to peace with God.

Having the peace of God in the gospel means that God is always with you.

And He empowers you to be intentional with your time and to make the best use of the time and establish right priorities:

To seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

So, plan to help and refresh gospel workers.

Plan to be a spiritual and material blessing.

And plan to labor in prayer for gospel work.

Let’s pray.

(Lord’s supper)

(Elder At Couch)