And as we do so, turn with me to Romans and chapter 15. Romans and chapter 15. We are still going through Paul's concluding remarks. And as I have said before, and I want to repeat, that these words are not meant to be any other business so that we go through them half asleep. These words give us something of the engine room of the early church. They help us to understand what was going on behind these great epistles that we read, so that we can ask ourselves the simple question. And the question that we ask ourselves is this. Is this the way that church is happening among us today? That's really what we ask ourselves. And if we find that that's not the case, we then begin to make the necessary amends so that we may truly in activity and life reflect the New Testament church. The last time that we looked at Romans chapter 15, we saw how gospel preachers should remember the poor, a phrase that I borrowed from Galatians chapter 2 and verse 10 where the apostles agreed those that would be ministering among the Jews and those who would be ministering among the Gentiles, that they should both remember the poor. And what we emphasized there was that this encapsulated especially the material needs among the people of God. We know that that is something that was already being done within the context of the church in Jerusalem, and that's how they ended up with those difficulties in Acts and chapter 6, but this was now to be done in an inter-church way, in inter-regional way. so that therefore the needs of the church in Judea and Jerusalem were to be met by the condition of prosperity and peace that was in the Gentile churches. That's what we saw from Romans chapter 15 and prior to verse 28. Well now we're reading verse 28 down to verse 33, which is really the last section of Romans 15. So if you're one of those who's been praying that we might soon cross over into chapter 16, your prayer is finally answered. Romans 15 and 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. 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 for me 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. So what we're learning today really is yet another aspect of the lives and ministries of gospel preachers, and it is the fact that there must be individuals who plead for prayer support, who plead for prayer support, and especially from the churches that they relate to. Now, as I have said before, all of us as believers need prayer. Indeed, those of us who are involved in running different ministries and home groups, we do need prayer. All of us who are in church leadership also need prayer. But I am specifically again applying it to gospel preachers primarily because that's the first application that is in this text. And even today, as we open up these words, you're going to see that to try and simply apply this generally, we will be missing out on what I would call the engine room of the Christian church, what often takes place behind the scenes. And again, you will notice from the way I'll put things that I am concerned. about those of us who are preachers who are very content to hide our barrenness behind a false humility. God is sovereign and therefore, yes, there's hardly anything happening. It's simply because this is God's sovereign will. And I want us to see that there must be this human responsibility which is the other side of the shield of truth, and that also is part of what garners or produces real Christian fruitfulness. Let's quickly jump into this text, therefore, and see what we can learn from there. First of all, preachers must look forward to their next preaching mission expecting great fruitfulness. Whether it's going to happen or not is not the issue here, but they should be looking forward to the next engagement, the next mission, the next preaching appointment with this great sense of expectation that God will bless the preached word. You cannot miss this in the words of the Apostle Paul as he anticipated his visit to Rome. Verse 28 again and verse 29. The Apostle Paul says there, when therefore I have completed this, That is, the taking of the financial support from the churches in the Gentile world, particularly Macedonia and Achaia, as we've been seeing in the last week or two. And they've delivered to them what has been collected, I will live for Spain by way of you. But look at verse 29. I know, and that's what the confidence is, I know That when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. This confidence that Paul had that he would minister in such a powerful and fruitful way. Now, for Paul, the remembering of the poor. the taking of these collections to the churches in Judea was a very temporal affair. You can capture it there. He's saying, we saw that earlier, I have preached in all these regions and now we've reached Erecham and there's no place for me to labor anymore, so I'm now taking a bit of time off in order to deal with this matter. And when I've dealt with this matter, I will come through Rome, since the church is already there and thriving, have fellowship with you brethren, preach there, and then continue my journey to Spain." Ultimately for him, the priority was gospel preaching. That was the priority. So it was burning in his soul. So when he noticed that the work there was done and he surveyed the territory and he's asking himself where next, where next was not what is in between. These were, yes, necessities, temporal necessities, but it's really that ultimate agenda and it is to find himself in Spain and begin preaching there in order to see souls converted, in order to see a church built up, in order to live a lampstand burning ablaze with the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, as we noted, I think it was last week or the week before, even going to Jerusalem was not part of his plan. Remember that, 1 Corinthians and chapter 16. Collecting was in his plan. He knew that he had what I was calling as spiritual capital. In other words, with an ongoing ministry that he had had, he was able to so speak as to enable believers to put hands in their pockets and consequently place the finances there. But it was not part of his interest to then become the conveyor of the actual finances over to Judea. Notice verse 4, or let me begin with verse 3. And when I arrive, that's 1 Corinthians 16, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. Okay, so I'll come, put all the money together, and those whom you've appointed will now give them and say, go to Jerusalem. Notice verse four. But if it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. So it was purely in that sense that the churches felt it was advisable, and he then committed himself to take these resources to Jerusalem. However, I want to repeat, in his mind, as soon as that was done, it was Spain through Rome. to go and preach the gospel. And even in Rome, the way he has put it in our text, I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. What does he mean by that? Well, thankfully, he had talked about it in the first chapter. So let's quickly go to Romans chapter 1. And you see there that what he meant was that through the preaching of the gospel he would strengthen believers and through the preaching of the gospel he would harvest sinners. Chapter 1 of the book of Romans. I begin reading from verse 8. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. You remember we've dealt with this matter a few times before. For I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you. There it is. That's why he was longing to get there, not simply have some kind of undefined fellowship, but while he's there to preach to them and therefore strengthen them in the faith. Then he adds, that is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I've often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented. And here is the second, in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. And so he says there in verse 15, so I'm eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome, to strengthen you and also to reap a harvest of souls even in Rome. So I want to repeat, it is this aspect that he's referring to here as coming to you in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. The fullness of the blessing of Christ is not material blessing coming to you, the people of God in Rome. It is spiritual blessing coming to you. That by the time I am continuing my journey, those of you who are believers would have become stronger believers because the Word of God would have been preached faithfully among you. And those who are unbelievers who may have come for the public meetings, a number of them who are the elect of God would have come to repentance and faith in Christ. And they would be able to point back and say, when Paul visited this place on his way to Spain through his preaching, that's when I got converted. That's the blessing of Christ that Paul is longing for. And brethren, those of us who are preachers should have this confidence as we go on to our next preaching appointment, that I'm going with the full blessing of Christ. souls may be built up, that souls may be converted, that Christ might indeed bring into the kingdom through me the souls for whom he died, and that the church might grow in better quality because the truth was proclaimed among the people of God. That's what we should be praying for, and that's what we should be longing for. as we move from place to place and we are preaching, that we are pushing back the domains of darkness in the hearts of God's people and in the hearts of sinners through the proclamation of the Word. We're not just filling in time, not just filling in a schedule, but that we are indeed releasing the armory of God in order to depopulate, as it were, the kingdom of darkness, to ensure that there's brighter light that is going forth through the lives of God's people. Now, for preachers to have this confidence, it must be because of their partnership with God's people who pray for them. Their partnership with God's people who pray for them. And they do so in time, in real time. In other words, it's people who are praying for that which is coming. Not simply praying generally, you know, we pray for this preacher, we pray for this pastor, but we pray for him in view of this event which is lying ahead. And that's what you cannot miss in the intense prayer request that the Apostle Paul places before the people in Rome. Listen to verse 30. Romans chapter 15 and 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. Now if I had the time I was going to show you that this is common fare with respect to the Apostle Paul. In fact, let's just go through it. Just that you have to move at breakneck speed to see that as Paul would write to the various churches, he would plead for prayer. He would plead for prayer. So, we have seen this. Let's quickly go to 2 Corinthians and chapter 1 verse 11. 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 11. He says there, you also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us, how? Through the prayers of many. That's why you should pray for us. That through the prayers of many, there might be this blessing through our ministry. To the Ephesians, the very last chapter. Ephesians 6, verse 19. Verse 19, I begin with verse 18, praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. And then there it is, and also for me. Words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I'm an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. Colossians, and chapter 4. The last chapter again, the Colossians, chapter 4. And this time, verse 3. Colossians 4, let me begin with verse 2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us. And there he means the apostolic team that was driving the engine of the gospel, that God may open to us a door for the Word. to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may speak it clear, that I may make it clear rather, which is how I ought to speak." 1 Thessalonians and chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians and chapter 5. Again, you can't miss this ongoing plea, this ongoing plea for the prayers of God's people. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 25. It's a simple appeal. Brothers, pray for us. Brothers, pray for us. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 1. Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you. Let me quickly read the next verse because it will come in handy. And that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all have faith. The Apostle Paul pleaded for prayer. He pleaded for prayer. He knew he needed the prayers of the saints. And therefore, these churches that he had been relating to, when he wrote to them, he pleaded. He wasn't just asking. He was pleading. I urge you, he says, or as the ESV puts it, I appeal to you. Pray for me. Notice how he grounds this appeal in the Lordship of Christ and the Spirit-empowered affections of the people of God. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ. The great general of the army, the one who himself has actually sent us to go and do his work. Him who is my Lord and your Lord, who's made us together as people who are interested in the fruit of this work. I appeal to you by his name. that you may pray for me. And he also appeals by the love of the spirit, the love of the spirit. In other words, the affections in your soul for me and for the work that I am doing, affections that are born because the spirit of the living God is in your soul. And obviously, he is interested in ensuring that there is success for the gospel. He is interested in ensuring that. He says, by Christ, by the Spirit, strive together with me. He's not simply saying pray, he's saying strive together with me. The phrase there is fight along with me. In other words, this business of praying half asleep, not really interested, just repeating words into the air and soon forgetting about it, he said, no. Just as I am involved in an intense spiritual battle seeking to push back the domains of darkness. You are doing the same, but for you, it is through your prayers. There must be heart and soul and favor when you are thus praying. Brethren, for preachers to have an impactful ministry as they are pushing back the domains of darkness, there must also be powerful prayer support, powerful prayer support. And to have such support in churches where you do not regularly minister, there's need for you to actually ask for it, to send that plea. Brethren, pray for me. Brethren, pray for me. Now there were essentially two prayer requests that the Apostle Paul shared. And these are the requests that preachers must constantly be asking for. And it is prayer for protection and prayer for fruitfulness. Prayer for protection and prayer for fruitfulness. Let's notice this in verse 31 to the end. Verse 31 to the end. First of all, for protection, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea. And then secondly, for fruitfulness, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. so that by God's will, when all this is over, I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. May the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Two primary requests that Paul had in mind. The first was for protection. Why? Well, as we saw earlier, In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 1, not all men have faith. You see, it's inevitable that when you have been preaching God's truth for some time, you will inevitably gain enemies, those that don't agree with you. The more you preach, the more they hate you. And very soon they want to see you out, snuffed out. When you're just a young preacher, this might sound like theory. But when you have been in the ministry long enough, It shocks you because you love the Lord and you are saving because you love the Lord. And you expect, therefore, because you are preaching truths that are for the good of souls, for the salvation of souls, for the sanctification of souls, you assume that everybody will be saying you are a jolly good fellow. But alas, that's not what happens. For the Apostle Paul, he puts it this way. Let's go to the book of Acts. In fact, we'll spend a bit of time there. Acts chapter 20 and verse 22 and 23. This is the way he puts it. Let me begin from verse 22. He's bidding farewell to the Ephesian elders as he's making his way to Jerusalem. And he says, and now behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. Imprisonments and afflictions await me." And then he says, but I do not account my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus Christ to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. But somehow the Apostle Paul sensed that he wasn't going to come back this way again. And so he says in verse 25, and now behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. He had some premonition that when he gets to Jerusalem, things may not go well. In fact, we read in chapter 21 and verse 11. Chapter 21 and verse 11. And coming to us, he, referring to Agabus, took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, thus says the Holy Spirit, Agabus was a prophet by the way, this is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, what are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, we seized and said, let the will of the Lord be done. This is what he was praying for and asking the brethren to pray for. The brethren, I have gained enemies in the process of my ministry as I have preached justification by faith. In his case, it's the Jews. who were now twisting what he was saying and making it look like he was now a sworn enemy of the people of Israel. And yet he wasn't. But you know what happens when people hate you? They twist whatever you are saying. They take out just a little bit of your entire paragraph, your entire sermon, just a little bit. He said this in Twitter size. And that upsets a lot of innocent people, and they come for your jugular vein. That's what happened with Paul. And therefore, he arrived in Jerusalem. And upon arrival, he met with the church there, and listened to the advice they gave him. Verse 17, chapter 21. When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God, and they said to him, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses. telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk to our customs. What then is to be done? Now this wasn't true, but obviously they were picking one thing here and picking another thing there and picking another thing that Paul had said and then stitching it together and at the end of it all it looked like Paul was a sworn enemy of the very people that he was serving. I mean, that's why he has brought the money from the Gentiles, in order to bless the Jews. Can a man with one hand be wanting to end your hunger and then on the other, want to destroy your entire nation? Of course not. But alas, the slander had already spread. So Paul was advised. to go through the rituals in the temple. He proceeded to do that, but when he was in the temple and the Jews spotted him, that was the beginning of the end. When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stared up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying, men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. And on and on it went. Well, this was the end. of Paul's freedom. He was arrested here. They wanted to kill him. He was put before the council, end of chapter 22. He stood before the council of the people of Israel. From there, of course, they wanted to kill him. He was handed over to the Roman governors in chapter 23. He stood before Felix, the governor, still in chains. From there, he was moved to Felix. Sorry, he went before Felix in Caesarea, which was like the provincial capital. And while he was there, He knew that the Jews were planning to kill him by demanding that he should be brought to Jerusalem for trial, and along the way they were to ambush him, and so he appealed to Caesar. Thankfully, somewhere along the way, the Lord had appeared to him in chapter 23 and verse 11. chapter 23 and verse 11, the following night the Lord stood by him and said, take courage for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome. Well, Paul didn't know that when he entered Jerusalem that his visit to Rome was going to be slightly different. At that time he thought he would deliver and upon deliver, get on a ship, travel, and go continue preaching. Well, actually, he reached Rome as a prisoner because he stood before Felix, he stood before King Agrippa, and all of them, up to chapter 26, were convinced that he was really innocent, that they really should have freed him. But because he had appealed to Caesar, he must go. Chapter 27, was the travel by ship as a prisoner to Rome. Along the way, we know the story, there was a shipwreck, and consequently they arrived on Ito Island with hardly anything except the clothes, wet clothes that were on them, because everything else had to be thrown into the sea. And even there, the people simply felt sorry for them and gave them clothes and other requirements and so on. And they stayed on this island for about three months, or at least a number of months before then beginning the journey afresh. And he arrived in chapter 28 in Rome, a prisoner, with people wanting to kill him along the way. And that's how the book of Acts ends, verse 30 of chapter 28 of the book of Acts. He, referring to Paul, lived there two whole years at his own expense. He was under house imprisonment and welcomed all who came to him. Proclaiming, there it is again, the preacher of the gospel continues preaching the gospel. Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. Pray for me that I may be delivered from the hands of the unbelievers in Judea. That's why he was putting forward this with a lot of passion. That don't pray half asleep, brethren, because this work of the gospel is one of pushing back, I repeat, the domains of darkness. The devil doesn't sleep. He ensures that those who are depopulating his kingdom as their very life's job, that he must stop them along the way. He must stop them along the way. This is real. Christianity, brethren, is not a movie where the good guys, the main actors, always win. No, no, this is real stuff. It's not sort of Black Panther kind of movie, always coming out champion in the end. This is real life. And those who enter into the gospel ministry become the front line soldiers. And many of them pay a dear price for it. And I mean it, a very dear price. And hence the appeal. Pray for us. Pray for us. In other words, as we are striving that way, You also strive in your prayers. Well, let me hurry on to close. We've seen here that when the Apostle Paul was writing these words, yes, he was doing so with confidence. God had other plans of the way in which he was going to arrive in Rome, but he was pleading for prayer. And brethren, this obviously can be applied to all of us as Christians, because we're all expected to be sharing the gospel, to be, you know, what in the book of Acts is referred to as gossiping the gospel. It can be applied to all of us as ministry leaders, various ministries we're trying to reach out and so on, church leaders as well and so on. But let's not lose sight. of this engine that was taking place behind the scenes through real, live gospel preachers who are going from place to place, spreading the light of Christ, and in the process attracting onto themselves the enmity of the evil one, the effort on his part to bring them to a quick end. Let's not overlook that. Having said that, I want to repeat about preachers who are not pleading for the prayers of God's people. Even when you take the initiative, you write to them and say, you know, sort of any prayer requests, they write back and say, you know, pray for my uncle. He's sick in hospital. Is that your job? Your uncle who's sick, is that your job? is where are you with respect to pushing the domains of darkness backwards? Where are you? So that we join you there and cry to God with you there that you in that point may have success. Where are you? We'll pray for your uncle under any other business. But what we want to know is where the battle is thickest, where you are planting the gospel, where your next preaching is going to be. Where are you? That's what we want to know. And sadly, sometimes just getting prayer letters out of missionaries is more difficult than getting water out of a rock. They don't want to resign too much. You know, this writing, too much! They have to be reminded every week or every second week or every month, we need prayer requests, we need prayer requests. I'm asking how? How? Tell me! If a person knows that I desperately need the prayers of these people, desperately, it will be in his diary. And he's the one who'll be sending those requests regularly. He's going to be doing it. There's no need for reminders. Absolutely none. Breathing bothers me. This partly explains the ongoing barrenness and we are hiding behind a dead Calvinism. That's what we're hiding behind. Sovereignty, sovereignty, come on. There must be human responsibility as well. This fight is real. We cannot remain barren forever. Churches will be still three or four after 10 years. And we're still asking, just, you know, my uncle is sick. Preachers must plead for prayer support. They must. They must. There are several groups around the world who pray for me. And friends, I honestly don't need them to send me reminders. It's in my clock. It's in my diary. Every Tuesday, it pops up on my screen to send the prayer requests. I thank God for them. I've got a praying church here. I thank God for that. But any more prayer warriors, bring them in! Because the enemies are real. The devil ensures they are there to destroy your ministry. You need prayers also for fruitfulness, for souls to be converted, for men and women to be convicted of sin through the word of God. You need the prayers of God's people for your own marriage, for your own family life to be protected that devil can enter even through that. Preachers need the prayers of God's people. Brethren, we are soldiers. in a very low army. All of us, we are soldiers, just that we play different roles. But we are soldiers who are marching into the battle. And prayer is one in God's armory that must be in active service. Preachers must plead for prayer. Let's pray. eternal and gracious God. Oh, that you might raise up poles in our day. Men in whose bosom the gospel is ablaze. who are willing not only to suffer but even to die for this gospel, who will not leave without preaching this message, and who recognize the need for the church for the church as prayer partners, pleading with the church to pray. And oh Lord, may we as a church sense that we are in battle, a real battle. Grant, oh Lord, that in that battle, we may have the victory. In Jesus' name, amen.