Turn with me to Romans chapter 15. Romans chapter 15. We will commence our reading from verse 18 all the way to verse 24. Romans chapter 15 from verse 18. The Bible says there, For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. So that from Jerusalem all the way around to Iliricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. As it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. And then the words we are considering together this evening. 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. Well, brethren, we are looking at the Apostle Paul's concluding remarks in the book of Romans. And as I have been saying, it's easy to be tempted into thinking that these words are sort of any other business, therefore let's quickly move on to something else. But what we learn from the words that are the personal concluding remarks of the Apostle Paul, and indeed also Peter does the same thing towards the end of his own epistles, is something of the mechanics that would have been taking place behind the scenes in the life of the early church. And it's important for us to learn that because then we start asking ourselves, is this what is true about us as well behind the scenes? Well, we have seen that The Apostle Paul is one who boasted in the fruit of his ministry, not so much as to imply that he is himself great, but that he has a great master who is working in and through him in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that from verse 17 downwards, this aspect of bursting in the fruit, the great things that were done in and through him as an apostle, which included the power of signs and wonders, which happened in profusion, not like today's apostles, where COVID-19 comes and together with us, we all go into hiding. No, the apostle, when you read the book of Acts, they definitely were ones who, through the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God, God used them in the apostleship. But he also went on to speak in terms of being ambitious, being ambitious. We saw that in verse 20, and thus I make it my ambition, the Apostle Paul says, to preach the gospel and to do so where Christ is not named. And I made quite a big issue of this, that those who claim to be called to the preaching ministry should be individuals who are driven by gospel ambition. And we spoke of ambition as being that conviction that causes a person to seek the higher highest levels of whatever it is that he's ambitious about. If it's in the work of ministry, productivity, the highest levels, and that through hard work, not just somebody dreaming for the highest, but hard work, you can't miss an ambitious person. Well, today we're moving on to another aspect of gospel preachers, and it is that they must have gospel priorities now. They must have gospel priorities. And this ties up with having gospel ambitions. There must be gospel priorities. Now, we can apply this to all of us as Christians, generally, because all of us have received the gospel. It has transformed us. And we, in that sense, have good news to share with everybody around. We can also apply it with respect to church leaders, because they're in charge of the Christian church. And in that sense, they ought to prioritize their work of ministry in the context of looking after Christ's church. We can also speak about it in terms of ministry leaders, because again, a specific ministry has been put into your hands, and you ought to be ambitious about it. You ought to prioritize what that ministry is all about. So in all those areas, we can apply. I have deliberately kept myself to the primary application in the text, because I don't want us to miss what is happening behind the curtains, what the Apostle Paul is actually speaking about. And the primary application there is to gospel preachers. And so we've kept peeping at Ephesians and chapter 4, seeing something of who those are. And I have said before, I want to say it again today, that one of the reasons why I deliberately am spending time with this primary application is because it's so easy for us as preachers to hide our spiritual barrenness behind a false humility, a false view of God's sovereignty, a view of God's sovereignty that is lopsided. It's always, he's sovereign, he's sovereign, and yes, he's sovereign, but that's half of the truth. The other half is that we are responsible. We are responsible. We are responsible. And if we are responsible, then we must be ambitious. And as we are seeing today, we must have gospel priorities as well. So what are we learning then from verse 22 down to verse 24? First of all, it is the fact that part of the success of gospel preachers is due to the fact that they prioritize gospel ministry. Prioritize gospel ministry. In this text, it is this priority that explains why Paul had taken so long to reach Rome. Look at the way he puts it in verse 22. This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. What is that reason why? Well, he's just been speaking about it. This is what he said to us in verse 20. And thus, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, listen to this, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. In other words, my ambition is that of being a pioneer missionary. is that of going to places where the church has not yet been planted and to establish the church there. To, as it were, plant into the ground a candlestick, a lamp stand, which will begin shining the light long after I have moved on. That is my ambition. Now it's obvious by just reading through the book of Romans that therefore Rome would not have been a priority because Rome already had a church, the church that Paul is himself writing to. And therefore there was no need for him to rush there because he would then be building on someone else's foundation. This is what he means when he says, I have been hindered. What has hindered him is not something external. It's not something like perhaps there are individuals who have lined up the way and have threatened that if Paul, you come in this direction, we're going to stone you to death and things like that. Paul would not be afraid of that. Definitely not. but rather it is an internal hindrance, and it is due to his own ministerial priority. Now, Paul mentions, nonetheless, that he actually desired to go to Rome. This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. He himself would have loved to go there if it were not for the priority of ministry. Now why would he have loved to get there? We will see these points from chapter one in a few minutes, but for now, let me just mention them. First of all, it was the cosmopolitan capital of the known world. And Paul wanted to preach the gospel there. That's where you had so many people coming in and going out into the rest of the known world. It was like the way Lusaka is to Zambia, with all the roads. coming into Lusaka and going in opposite direction. This is where you have all the tribes of Zambia in a melting pot, including individuals from outside this nation. So this is the place, you know, that if I preach the gospel here, I am bringing the gospel to the very center of our civilization. Well, that's one reason why Paul wanted to get there, and we shall see that, as I said, in a few minutes. But another is simply the fact that there was a church there, and he was longing for fellowship with believers. As we shall see when we get to chapter 16, the Apostle Paul actually knew quite a number of individuals in this church. He'll be sending greetings to them, and it will literally be by name, not so much that, you know, greet that tall person or that short person. But it's individuals that he would mention by name. He knew them. A number of them had been ministry colleagues previously. So he was longing to be with them for a season, to renew fellowship with this church. And yet, he still prioritized his call. as an apostle, pushing back the boundaries of darkness. by planting more and more gospel preaching churches. And because of that, he held back his desire to take the gospel into the centerpiece of civilization. He held back his desire to be in a context where he would be having fellowship with great friends that he knew. And that partly explains Paul's success in ministry. He was focused. Even in priority, he was focused. This is what my life is about. And consequently, he kept to it. Oh brethren, if you will know true gospel success, you must keep gospel ministry as an unrivaled top priority. An unrivaled top priority. That which you are claiming God has called you to. That's what you keep at, drumming at for your life. So that's the first thing we notice from here, Paul's priority to keep planting churches where there are none of them. But secondly, it is only when that has been taken care of that true gospel preachers then attend to other issues. Paul was now planning on visiting Rome. Why? Because the first priority was taken care of. Let's read again verse 22 and verse 23. 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. I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain." Notice how he defines it as, since I no longer have room for work in these regions. What does he mean by that? Well, it's obvious. When he says that I no longer have room, it's what he had said earlier on in verse 19, when he said, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ. Now, you will recall, we went through this. I sort of drew a little diagram in front of you of the Mediterranean Sea. And here we had Jerusalem, we had Antioch, and then we had all these provinces going. And then just before you get to that boot that we refer to as Italy, with Rome somewhere there, I said Jerusalem was on this end, and Illyricum was just as you are about to touch Italy, just before there. So what he's saying is we have shed the light all the way here. We have shed the light all the way here and now the next area is actually Rome. I'm ready. Now, in what sense can you speak in terms of, I no longer have any room for work in these regions? Well, the point is that his ambition has been satisfied. Churches have been planted in all these areas up to Illirika. Therefore, he's saying, I can live. You see, for Paul, you just have to make your way through the book of Acts and you will see it. Once individuals were converted and they were gathered together under trained leadership, Paul considered his work finished. He could move on. In fact, often it was before individuals were even brought to the position of being ordained as elders. there would be ad-hoc leaders gathered together, being trained. And Paul would consider that work done and move on to another place. And in the meantime, he would normally leave one of his assistants behind, as was the case with Titus in Crete. And then later on, passing through, they would then be ordaining the elders because they have been, as it were, sufficiently cooked and tried and tested and so on, and they are able to then set them apart as elders. But often, he didn't even wait for that. They moved on. And then they would come back later. The point was that a church has been established. Individuals have been converted. They have been gathered under leaders who would then be watching over their work. But number two, they also simply aimed for the main cities. That's it. So when you look at those same provinces that we looked at, each one of them, Paul and his friends went for the major cities. For instance, in Achaia, they would have gone for places like Athens and Corinth. That's it. The job is done. Achaia is down on its knees. The candlestick has been planted. And then their understanding was that in those major cities now, the churches would be planting other churches in outlying areas. That was the apostolic approach that brought the entire Roman Empire on its knees under the work of the apostles. That's the way they went about it. So as long as one could say that in the major city, in that province, a church has been established, Paul says, let's pack our bags and move on. And so having done that in all these areas, all these areas, the apostle Paul was now saying, even in Illyricum, the job has been done. There's no longer any room for work in these regions. What has remained, others can do. What has remained is not that which is my primary calling. I must move on to plant other churches. The work has indeed provided a break. But again, what I want us to notice out of this is the fact that the Apostle Paul was only willing to take a break when he could see that this work has been established. And before I take on the next, I can take a break. I can visit for the purpose of fellowship. I can visit for the purpose of where my heart is in terms of having fellowship with the brethren. Paul was not a jack of all trades and a master of none, which is sadly what too many preachers are today. We don't have priorities. It's just wherever things are nice, that's where we want to move to. Whatever it is that is enjoyable, that's what we also want to engage in. Whatever it is that's going to make us a little more money for our pockets, that's what we want to engage in. And so on and so forth. Whatever it is that's a sort of new idea and bright idea and everybody's being sold up with it, we also want to get into it. And in the end, this delays fruitfulness. It does. Because we are basically doing anything and everything that comes our way. You know, if you want a nail, to really go into a hard piece of wood, I'll tell you what you should do. Put that nail on the wood, get your hammer, don't do anything else, but keep hammering and hammering and hammering and hammering, and before you know it, that nail begins to go in. But if you hammer, and then you go and do a few 10, 4, 15, 18 things, and then again you come and hammer, and then 4, 10, 15, 20 things, and then a hammer, well, it's going to take a long time for that nail to finally go into that piece of wood. The Apostle Paul was saying, I have hit this nail. It's now in the wood. The head of that nail is now flat with the wood. I can now look up and say, uh-huh, what is there for me to do? Oh, brethren, that we were like Paul. That we were like Paul. To be able to say that a work has matured to the point where, yes, I can take a break. Yes, I can attend to something else. Yes, I can see this. rather than simply being a jack of all trades and a master of none. We must be like the Apostle Paul. Let me hurry on, because even in attending to other spiritual and physical needs, gospel priorities cannot be missed in a true gospel preacher. Let me say it again. Even in attending to other spiritual and physical needs, gospel priorities cannot be missed in a true gospel preacher. Look at Paul. Back to our text. He's talking about visiting Rome. I want you to notice as he speaks about visiting Rome that at the back of his mind is already again his gospel ministry. He says in verse 24, I hope to see you in passing, he says, as I go to Spain. As I go to Spain. And then he says, and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. You see, Paul genuinely treasured a visit to Rome. He treasured it. If you go to chapter 1, remember I told you that we would peep there. If you go to chapter 1, you actually see what it was he was hoping to do while he was in Rome. It wasn't just taking off his shoes, letting down his hair and sort of just enjoying the delicacies of Rome, just enjoying the delicacies, you know, and, you know, picking some souvenirs that he can now go and show wherever it is that I have been in this place. No, no, no. Listen to this. Beginning with verse eight. It says there, chapter 1, Romans 1 verse 8, first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. So in other words, Paul had heard about the church in Rome. Everybody had heard about this church. For God is my witness whom I save 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. Okay, what do you want to do there, Paul? 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 do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented. We now know the reason why. But here it is, in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I'm under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. It's gospel ministry. It's still the same focus that is always had, the recognition. This is what God has called me to do. And therefore, even in thinking about coming to Rome and having fellowship with you, brethren, I intend to minister spiritually to you as you are also ministering spiritually to me, but I'm also intending to preach the gospel in Rome. To preach the gospel in Rome. But that's not all. Notice how he schedules it as happening in passing as I go to Spain. back to our text, in passing as I go to Spain. I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain. In other words, he looks at his diary, if we can imagine Paul having an iPad with an electronic diary there. He sort of crawling downwards. He's looking for the place where it would be most convenient to visit Rome. And he sees that, yes, here I am. Rome is here. And the next place is Spain. He thinks, aha, the gospel has not yet reached Spain. So we've been moving, moving, moving. We've reached here. I can visit this church as I proceed to go and do church planting in Spain. Now whether it ever happened in the process, we don't know. There is no New Testament evidence of Paul being in Rome. But still, it was his intention. And it was again fitting into the gospel ministry that Christ had put into his hands. He was intentional. He was planning in that direction. He was ambitious in that direction. And so the visit would be on the way. And then thirdly, and lastly, he actually wanted them to play a role in getting him to Spain. He says there, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my way there. by you once I've enjoyed your company for a while. You know, the days in which Paul lived Journeys took a long time. It wasn't like today where you sort of jump onto a jet plane and you can leave in the morning, you're in South Africa, two hours later do all your business, get the last flight and you're back in your own bed for the night the same day. Nothing like that. It was long journeys along the way and especially when you think that he was going to make his way right across Europe to the end of Europe, Spain, which was right at the end. Your own geography will let you know that. You know that it was going to be days, if not months, in order to get there. And so often, it would be that they would have caravans, and in those caravans, they'll be supplied with food that they would then eat along the way, they would be supplied with water that they would eat along the way, they would be supplied with finances that they would use in order to buy supplies along the way, in order to get to the destination. And that's all that Paul is saying here. He's saying my hope and prayer is that as I come and I have fellowship with you, an established church, that you would also then supply me with what I need for this mission's job that I have on my hands, that I need to accomplish, that you will play your role in that. Friends, you can't miss a true gospel preacher. You can't miss it. Poke him wherever you want. It's gospel ministry that oozes out. Somehow or other, that's what's going to happen. There's this constant thinking of ministry, ministry, ministry, gospel, gospel, gospel, gospel ministry, gospel ministry, gospel ministry. Even in that break, the question is, how can I maximize on this break? for ongoing gospel ministry. So whether it's time that is on such a person's hand, the person is already thinking, how can I use this time for gospel ministry? Even if it's computer knowledge, as the person is being taught how to use Word or Excel or whatever other programs might be, on the computer or just buying a new gadget that is to do with computers, the person is already thinking, well, so how can I use this for ministry? How can I use this? Try and convince that person to join social media. Already the person is thinking, so how can I use social media for ministry? How? It's always ministry and ministry and ministry. Give him money, the same thing. The thought is, how can I use this money for ministry? Introduce him to friends who are sort of high up in status in the community and so on. And he's already thinking, so how can I exploit these friendships for what? Ministry! He's always thinking that way. And that's a true gospel preacher. It's ministry, ministry, ministry. I'm coming to visit Spain, yes, rather Rome, yes, to preach to you. And I'm scheduling it so that it fits into a ministerial trip. And then, oh yes, you guys can help me to get there. It's ministry. So even the brief stops is ministry that absorbs true gospel preachers. So brethren, we've seen from the example of Paul what we ought to be as true preachers of the gospel. that we must have gospel priorities, not forced on us from the outside, no. It must be oozing out naturally out of us. Now, as I said at the beginning, this can be applied to all church members. It can be applied to ministry leaders. It can be applied to church leaders. But it ought to be applied, first of all, to a gospel preacher, because that's what Paul was. And our indictment, friends, upon us as preachers, is that we are jerks of all trades. and masters of none. That's our problem. That's our problem. We've got too many guys who are supposed to be gospel preachers, but they marry it with everything else. One obvious example I can think about is that of being businessmen. They spend a lot of their time in the midweek simply thinking in terms of how they themselves can make more and more money, how their businesses can be more and more successful, and so on and so forth, while their churches are still as small as a canteen bar. You send them to plant churches, and before you know it, you discover they are actually hating NGOs where you've sent them. NGOs. How? You're still totally supported from a church somewhere else, and now you're in charge of an NGO. Or they've become farmers. That's what they're doing, farming. in a big way. Some of them are film actors, well-known in the community and nation as film actors. And then you discover that they're actually pastors of churches, churches that are even very difficult to find, even with a GPS. And of course, politicians. That's attractive. going into politics, becoming MPs, who are pastors and MPs, and then attach gospel preaching to it. No wonder the churches don't go anywhere, because they are hammering here, and then hammering here, and hammering here, and hammering here, hammering here. By the time they're coming here, I mean, they've lost out on time, terribly lost out on time. And for the big name they have in society, because they're businessmen and farmers, and I tell you, I don't mind, there's comedians here as well, film actors and politicians and so on. They've got a big name, now you go and visit the church. And you look, where's the church? I can hardly see anything here. No, I need more time. Brethren, this needs to come to an end. We need to have the spirit of the Apostle Paul here. We must be men of one priority, gospel work. Gospel work. And if we ever find ourselves in anything else, anybody will soon see how it is tied to the gospel, as was the case with the Apostle Paul. Whatever it is, they can easily see that, yes, that's the connection. That's how it's getting back to the gospel. The preaching of the gospel. Must be individuals. You can say, as we'll be singing in closing, if I walk in the pathway of duty, and if I work until the close of the day, I'll see the great king in his beauty when I've gone the last mile of the way. If for Christ I proclaim the glad story, if I seek for his sheep gone astray, I am sure he will show me his glory when I've gone the last mile of the way. If here I have earnestly striven and have tried all his will to obey, it will enhance all the rapture of heaven when I've gone the last mile of the way. It's that joy when the master finally says, come home. The work is finished. Come home. To realize that I was ambitious for his work. I prioritized the work that he had put on my life. And now I'm going back to my master. Oh, may that be true of us. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thankfully what we have shared here can be applied to all of us as believers because in a general way, we are all stewards of the gospel. can be applied to those who are ministry leaders as well, and those of us who are leaders of the church. Oh God, help us to have gospel priorities, that anybody who hangs around us long enough will see that we are men and women of one thing, the gospel. But Lord, above all, we are burdened that men who come to us claiming that you have called them to the preaching ministry, it's not long before we discover that they have no gospel priorities, that they have filled their lives with so many things that even getting on their social media page, one cannot make out what on earth they are paid for. Oh God, forgive us. Forgive us for abusing your trust and the trust of the church. Forgive us and bring us back, oh God, to gospel priorities. That Zambia, Africa, and the world might fall on its knees before the gospel of Jesus Christ, because we burn with one passion and one desire, the preaching of the gospel. Until our life's work is done, and you call us to glory, amen.