1048. A Ministry Worth Praying For

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina were in a study series of acts chapter 20 in seminary chapel today sermon is preached by Dr. Layton Talbert of the seminary faculty. If you would please to ask chapter 20 the text that I've been asked to preach from. As you can see on the slides I see in Romans but will begin by taking you back to ask.

22.

Establish a connection particular chronological connection to our original base passage for these seminary chapels. Paul's third journey took him from Antioch. This Antioch Syrian Antioch through Asia Minor to Ephesus, where he wrote for what we call first Corinthians had that sent by ship straight across from Ephesus to Cormorant. He remained in Ephesus for 2 1/2 years. Until this happened.

I'm actually kind of inching back a little bit even further into and ask 19 to this incident because, in part, I came across this kind of half comical, half cool video. Some of you probably seen this before, that helps give a little bit of a sense in its own small way of the scope in the humanity of the historical experience of Paul in this city and it is I'm doing.

I'm using the first half because it's kind of some funky elevator music going on in. I want to preserve the dignity of chapel little bit here that zooming in on Ephesus and course the amphitheater at Ephesus just to give you a sense of that the scope of this negative you know of the distance to the sea from there used to be a port that exit came up to Ephesus, but it's been landfilled for centuries that this is the amphitheater where the incident takes place that is recorded in acts chapter 19 gives you again just a sense of the. The scope and the size of this picking up then with Luke's narrative in acts 20. Hopefully your next 20 by now.

Chapter 20 verse one after the upper was ceased in the amphitheater Ephesus.

Paul called and to him, the disciples that is the Ephesian elders and the believers in the people that were there at Ephesus that witnessed this embrace them, and departed to going to Macedonia so he's leaving Ephesus to go towards Macedonia stopped the true as that's where he meets Titus coming back from Corinth writes what we call second Corinthians front-row as or very shortly thereafter since it on ahead with Titus to Corinth while he takes his time going into Macedonia, including Philippi and Thessalonica and in Berea and verse two of chapter 20 when he had gone over those parts of Macedonia which would include the cities and mentioned another's, and given the much agitation he came in the grease that is Corinth and bowed there three months, and it's during that stay at Cormorant for three months. That's where he is when he writes Romans and that letter to the Romans goes by sea to Italy over here during that three-month period and that's the deliver to be turning to a just a moment the rest of verse three and when the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail in the Syria. He purposed to return to Macedonia.

That is, retrace the steps while another was his original plot. His original plan from Corinth ready three months there was to go straight by sea to Syria that he discovers a plot to kill him and to evade that he instead changes plan goes by land back through Macedonia and picking up here verse six we sailed away from Philippi, so he goes back through Macedonia. Philippi's gonna take ship to go back to Asia minor and sale from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread verse six and came unto them in to Truax. As finally, in verse 15.

They came to Miletus which is where Paulsons for the Ephesian elders to meet with him and the point being, at least part of point in being that were it not for the discovery of the Jewish plot to ambush him. Apparently aboard ship or while boarding ship or something that the ship that he intended to take from Corinth directly. Syria were it not for the discovery of that plot and his decision to change planes go by land back through Macedonia, Paul's final farewell and charged the Ephesian elders that we have asked 20 never would have happened. Now you can turn to the end of Romans chapter 15 maker transition Romans 15.

All this means that just weeks before Paul's charge to the Ephesian elders and asked 20 which we've been focusing on in seminary chapel. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome. This is start with verse 15 of Romans chapter 15 brethren I've written more boldly to you on some points and was as reminding you because of the grace given to me by God that I may be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministering in that word there is actually ministering as a priest.

The gospel of God that the offering of the Gentiles. The offering up to God of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus, and the things that pertain to God.

For I will not dare to speak of those things any of those things which Christ is not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and around about to illiterate come.

That's actually saying from Jerusalem all through Asia minor up through Macedonia down into Acadia, including Lyrica, which is this region appear between with the Aegean Sea between illiterate come and Italy, which is what we call now Croatia Bosnia-Herzegovina if that helps. That's the area. These referring to his fully preach the gospel of Christ. Verse 20 and so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named lest I should build another man's from another man's foundation dropped on verse 22.

For this reason, I also have been much hindered from coming to you and he actually returns here to a passing remark he made back in chapter 1 verse 13 saying I been one to come to you but it but then hindered he comes back to that now in verse 23, but now no longer having a place in these parts, because he's covered as much of the territory he's been able to access and having a great desire. These many years to come to you whenever I journey to Spain. I shall come to you for. I hope to see you on my journey to Spain and to be helped. On my way there to Spain by you is first, I may enjoy your company for a while but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints for it please those are Macedonia and Acadia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem it please them indeed and they are there debtors for if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things. Their duty is also to minister to them and material things. Therefore, when I have performed this service in Jerusalem and has sealed to them. This fruit I shall go by way of you to Spain but I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing the gospel of Christ. Now verse 30 our text, 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 in my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and they be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

You got in verse 30 Paul's appeal for prayer and appeal for joint prayer with him for him and for his ministry. I will start with this observation that an apostolic minister acknowledges his need of prayers that sound that's so basic it is. But tell me which of your spiritual disciplines is the easiest to ignore the easiest not to participate not to do.

III really strongly suspect that we all struggle with regular prayer more than any other aspect of the Christian life and by apostolic minister. I don't just mean Paul I mean all of us who aspire to a ministry that meets the standards of the New Testament apostles, a ministry that is based on and perpetuates apostolic doctrine and apostolic practice and even a Paul who is experienced the kind of unparalleled divine presence and protection and blessing that he describes in the verses that we just read about even a Paul like that does not presume on God's blessing for future ministry. You can't presume on God's presence in God's protection and God's blessing and whatever ministry God leads you into and for however long you been there. Whether it's a big and busy ministry or if it's a small and seemingly insignificant ministry. You can't rely on your gifts. You can't rely on your abilities and your experience in your wisdom and your past success.

You are here in seminary acquiring tools and honing gifts, but there is no power in those tools and gifts. There is no wisdom there's no direction is no divine presence in them tools and gifts are never substitutes for prayer to force her for the intervention of God for the direction of God for the protection of it for the blessing of God on ministry.

I've used this quote numbers of times and forces them, you're probably familiar with it, but it's a powerful observation, especially given who says that in his context. I am scarcely a position to criticize expository preaching in seminaries.

I've given my life to such ministry yet. I would be among the first to acknowledge that some students at the institution where I teach, and some faculty to can devote thousands of hours to the diligent study of Scripture and yet somehow display an extraordinarily shallow knowledge of God and I said it before and I will say it again I thank God I can't say that about any of my colleagues here biblical knowledge. He says can be merely academic and rigorous but somehow not edifying nor devout nor guileless. We need to know God better. One of the foundational steps in knowing God's prayer, spiritual, persistent, biblically minded prayer are we better at theological articulation than spiritual adoration better. God help us at preaching than praying. So what about the nature of this call to prayer that Paul issues this appeal to strive together with me in prayer.

As many of your where this is a compound word and the root verb is the Greek word from which we get our word was word agonize or agony. I think that derivation can be overdone, like using dynamite to to to illustrate Dumas right because we can we can transfer the connotations of our English word agony are agonize back into the Greek term and the question is, is that really the intention. Dr. Stites recently wrote an excellent post on our blog about D medicine arising New Testament words towards pondering whether a word that originally or often carries a particular connotation and certain context necessarily transports all that metaphorical baggage everywhere. It shows up because you can read a lot of commentaries who emphasize the strenuous nests of this word. I mean this is agony. This is agonizing and sometimes all point out that it implies screening every muscle and nerve in prayer and I don't know how to do.

We literally like and how to do that straining every muscle and nerve in prayer.

I've never met really and am not sure that that's exactly what Paul really has in mind here because the word yes it is used in athletic context is also used in legal contexts in court battles.

I don't think what is used in this context that were supposed to imagine a lawyer with his hands gripped on the judge's bench in his knuckles were white and his veins are distended and he straining every muscle in arguing for this legal point basically just means to exert yourself with energy and diligence and earnestness in whatever context is in the and I guy I go into this because I think detecting prayer is agonizing and wrestling and struggling can contribute to some misconceptions about what prayer really is because prayer is not wrestling and struggling and striving with God as though he's an unwilling God who has to be appeased by our pain and persuaded of our sincerity by our sweat and our tears before he's willing to answer is your father is not your adversary. God is not a Bale who demands those kinds of demonstrations and is not an unjust judge who has to be pet pestered and played with before he can finally be persuaded to intervene meth your fighting God about something. Okay, that's a little bit different, but prayer is also not wrestling are struggling or striving with Satan as though he bars our way to the throne of grace we have to fight our way through Satan to get the God that's not what's going on prayer. Prayer is not wrestling and struggling to strive with Satan as though we are somehow responsible for accomplishing those things for which we pray by praying hard enough to defeat the devil and his forces. God is the one that does that prayer is stepping consciously into the presence of our father in heaven who, because of the merits of Christ instantly hears us. And Jesus taught us is eager to intervene on behalf of his chosen when his children always, of course, according to his will and in this time that prayer is warfare that I think is is scriptural and I think we understand that from our own personal experience, but the bulk of that warfare occurs at ground level inside us, the struggle that's involved in prayer is with our own flesh and Satan's manipulation of it. Sometimes our unbelief are distrust our apathy, our distraction, our laziness are jumble priorities are self-sufficiency our presumption. But when Paul appeals to his readers to strive together with me in prayers to God for me. What Paul is entreating them to do is simply to pray for him and with him, not halfheartedly, not casually but with earnestness and urgency and persist in Paul's request for prayer suggest two major areas of prayer for any apostolic ministry. If you stand Paul's writings, you will find that in every single one of his letters except for three. He either prays for or asks prayer from those to whom he is writing in most letters. He does both in here in this passage, you have two henna clauses to that clauses that identify I'm gonna suggest two major areas of prayer when in verse 31 in verse 32. The first is ministry concerns. Verse 31 that I may be delivered that will meet me do this way that AI may be delivered from none of the unbelievers in Judea and be my ministry.

Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints so his first request is basically for safety and ministry. And this is not an unrealistic concern for Paul.

Paul was not a hyper imaginative handwringing, paranoid, but he is a realist, and if you read intently to the book of acts will find the Luke records. This trail of town. Things by the Jews after him in 14 different passages including seven times recorded in acts when the Jews tried to kill him. This a very real issue for him.

In fact, he had avoided one of those assassination plots just a few weeks after writing this prayer request in court when he was gonna take ship and he finds out there's a Jewish plot and changes his plan. But what is Paul's specific prayer request here have to do with us when we do with this immunity here and here concerned about an assassination plot on your life and hands. If if you start worrying about that. There are people here that can help you.

Dr. Cruz's and may Zach and maybe Dr. Burke can help you with that. You may not have enemies that wish to harm you bodily. Then again, depending on where you end up ministering.

Maybe you will, but nearly all of you will encounter people who wish to Dick's discredit your rep and all of you will always have someone nearby who desires to destroy your testimony and your usefulness by seducing your sidetrack. There's a reason Jesus taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. So never assume never presume pray that God will deliver you from those who wish to harm you spiritually if not physically.

You got the instruction of Jesus and the example of Paul to do this in the second aspect of his prayer request is success in ministry that is ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, and this of course is what Paul mentioned already up in verses 25 to 27. His desire to facilitate this bond of unity between the Jewish and Gentile wings of the church through the financial offering that Macedonia and Acadia are sending with him to their Jewish brethren in Judea. That's his particular historical context, and I just wanted to pass an observation when you look at the kind of thing he's asking for in terms of minister of success. Scripture never defines minister of success the way people tend ministerial success is never about numbers or fame or influence. It is about the unity sustaining the unity of the brethren infidelity by fidelity to the truth, leading to growth in Christ likeness for the glory of God. That's a ministry worth pursuing. And that's a ministry worth praying for. The second major request for prayer is disarmingly practical. It is his personal plans to visit court.

I'm sorry to give to visit Rome interpreters are divided over whether to interpret verse 32. As one of the prayer requests as I'm suggesting here, or if this is just intended to be the purpose or the result of the prayer requests. The dimensions open verse 31 and so it's so it's you know that God would do these things worse agreement so that I can come to you with joy and be refreshed with you. Either way, Paul is clearly hinging his personal hopes and his personal plans on God's will. In answer to prayer is an example of the principle of submitting all our plans to God's will that James spells out in his letter.

In chapter 4 of James verses 13 to the 50 we are planning to go here to do this and that. He says don't do that don't live like that you should always say if the Lord will will do this and go here.

According to got that's exactly what Paul is doing. Again, if you think about the passages that the part of chapter 15. I read leading into this, that a Paul would recognize a Paul who is seeing the kind of blessing and protection and success that he has seen in the divine intervention that he is still sensitive to sensible of his profound need of praying over these things is instructive.

It is exemplary to us now, all this emphasis on prayer requests raises a pretty important question to the good God answer these prayers and the thing about how how Paul might have imagined this way makes these prayer requests and imagining how this hopefully will turn out and under what circumstances you'll arrive in Rome, as we might expect and envision the answer to these requests on on the front and without knowing the rest of the story. One commentator writes we think we see the apostle after happily finishing his mission in Palestine and barking full of joy and guided by the will of God, then arriving in Rome, there to rest his weary heart among his brethren in the joy of the common salvation to recover strength of the new work as he launches from there into Spain. How we might have envisioned God answering these prayers we do know the rest. And that's not quite how it worked out. And yet did God answer those prayers that he answer them positively commentator rested divided on this to. And some commentators, some that I really like Siemens argue no. These these were not answered. To them it seems nothing less than total immunity to any degree of trouble or inconvenience would qualify as an answer to this prayer to these requests, they say, look, look what happens to Paul as soon as he gets to Jerusalem the next 21. He smiled to the temple and nearly beaten to death with the word nearly is really important because he does get providentially delivered in the nick of time. By the Romans, no less is a habit. But that is in prison.

He's on trial for the next two years thanks to those unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem from whom Paul had asked prayer for deliverance.

True, but that open remarkable opportunities for ministry in places and to people he never would have had otherwise. And they'll add that you have the fact that Luke never mentions any follow-up about how the Gentile offering was received in Jerusalem and he just doesn't talk about that suggested Paul's whole Jewish Gentile ministry hope was probably unsuccessful really, that's a really loud argument on the basis of silence, the poly flute and say nothing about it than it isn't anything better than it must've been unsuccessful. I think that's a bit of a leap because Paul already knew that bonds and imprisonment awaited him in Jerusalem. He already knew that. He talks to the to the Ephesian elders at Miletus about this he acknowledges this so he's expecting this when he writes those prayer requests, and despite his imprisonment because of the Jews in Judea. He was delivered from an ambush aboard ship and Cora from Corinth to Syria. He was delivered from being beaten to death by the Jews. He was delivered from being torn apart by the senator next 22 he was delivered from their attempt to sway the court to move policy that they could ambush him on the way that didn't happen. He was delivered from them entirely and sent to Rome at his own request and eventually his release from Rome sounds I got into the prayers to me positively what this was Paul's ministry of Jewish Gentile unity accepted in Jerusalem.

Luke doesn't give us a lot of tech detail but everything he says about it is positive. Act 21 story verse 15 after those days that they spent in Caesarea. We packed up and went to Jerusalem and when we had come to Jerusalem. The brethren received is gladly on the following day, Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present when he had greeted them. He told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorify the Lord did Paul arrive in Rome with joy and refreshment among the believers there again. I would say yes maybe not quite the way he meant to arrive or hope to arrive. It was about three years later from the time that he had written them. He was technically a prisoner but with an extraordinary degree of liberty and asked 20 records a warm Roman welcome to Paul and though under house arrest. He had freedom to fellowship with the believers there for about two years. God always always always answers the prayers of his children always. Sometimes the answer is no. Paul got some of those secular things 12 sometimes the answer is weight, although and you need to be prepared for this God rarely says an answer to our prayers are that prayer need to wait on this. He doesn't say wait just like nothing happens. Weight looks a lot like know until the answer finally comes then in retrospect he realized all that was weight, not a no. That's one of God's answers and sometimes as in this passage, the answer is yes, but a lot of times the yes doesn't look quite the way we would have expected may come in times and by means that we never would have anticipated, but the important thing is if we will pray it's always God's answer and that's really really important to know because a ministry worth pursuing is a ministry worth praying for and praying over its prey. Father, we thank you for the privileges that you have given to us to serve you. We thank you that you have not shipped us out on our own that that you have not just invited Lord, you have commanded us to rely upon you to maintain a conscious awareness and to verbalize to you our needs are fears or concerns. Our desires, we thank you that you hear us and we pray Lord that you would save us from presumption that you would save us from our own sense of self-sufficiency that you would help us to remember before you need to remind us in painful ways of how desperately we always need you for the ministry that the chief called us to. We pray these things in Jesus name you been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Layton Talbert, a seminary professor at Bob Jones University. Thanks again for listening. We look forward to the next time as we study God's word together on The Daily Platform