Romans 15:20

Romans 15:20

Romans 15:20 says, "Yes, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation." Jesus gave the command to go into all the world and spread the gospel. Paul had a unique calling and capacity to work at fulfilling that command. Paul said that he "strived" to preach the gospel. The word translated "to strive" literally means "to desire to be honored." Paul earnestly wanted to be honored by someone, therefore he did what he knew that he had to do in order to receive that honor. Obviously, he wanted to be honored by Jesus. Therefore, he did everything that he could to obey the command that Jesus gave to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

The same word that is translated "strive", and means to desire to be honored is used in just two other places in the New Testament. One of the other places is Second Corinthians 5:9 where the word is translated "labor" and is in the context of eventually appearing before Christ to be judged by Him for the things that we have accomplished as believers. Second Corinthians 5:9-10 says, "Wherefore we labor (in other words, we desire to receive honor and therefore we labor), that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone, may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad."

In the context of Romans 15:20 Paul associated his great desire to eventually be honored by Christ with the work that he did to spread the gospel. In our day we certainly honor Paul for what he did. In the spirit of self-sacrifice for world missions and for the lost souls of mankind, there may be no one in 2,000 years who has been able to equal Paul in effort and in desire and in faithfulness to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Undoubtedly Paul was right to think that if he would one day be honored by Christ, it must be based upon his efforts to spread the gospel. Did not Jesus say that He came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost. The most valuable thing in the world is a human soul, because Jesus also said, "What shall it profit a man should he gain the whole world but lose his own soul?" It may very well be that the last command that Jesus gave in the Gospels is the one that He thought was the most important for us to remember. He said to those who believe in Him, "Go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Certainly, when we are judged by Christ, one of the things that we will give an account for is what we did to help fulfill His great Command.

Paul knew the importance of believers being willing to spread the good news about Jesus. There is a spiritual side to things, but there is also a very practical side. People will not believe in Jesus until they hear about Jesus. That is where you and I come in. Romans 10:14 says, "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear unless someone tell them the Gospel?"

There is a tremendous power, a tremendous capability in the telling of the gospel. There is enough power in the telling of John 3:16 and what it means to save the whole world. Romans 1:16 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes: to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Paul was driven to constantly go to new cities or new regions where the gospel of Christ had never been preached. The spirit that animated him had always been the spirit of world missions. It is the spirit of Jesus. Jesus said, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus also told us the parable of the lost sheep, in which there were ninety-nine safely in the fold; but the shepherd went out into the night to find the one that was lost.

As Paul went from city to city with the gospel, some believed and churches were started. Most of the epistles that Paul wrote were letters to those churches. It is important to note that most of the members of those churches did not become missionaries in the same sense that Paul was. In reality every believer is called to be a missionary, because Jesus gave the great commission to all of us. Some are missionaries who travel to new places with the gospel as Paul did. Others are missionaries who stay in the city where they already live, and their purpose is to spread the gospel in their city. If you are a believer in Jesus, you are called to be a missionary. You have a mission that has been given to you by Jesus: spread the gospel.

We live in a day and a time when you can reach people from many nations without leaving the city that you are in. There are more people in America today who are foreign born, than there ever has been in the history of the USA. There are more immigrants than there have ever been before, legal and illegal. Why go to the trouble and expense of learning another language and moving to another country to spread the gospel among foreigners, when you can take the gospel to them right where you live? Someone from India, Pakistan, China, or Japan who believes the gospel after hearing it from you in this country, will be much more effective than you could ever be in spreading the gospel in their native language. Of course, many of the immigrants in America today will write, visit, and even eventually return to their native lands. Think of the possibilities should they do those things knowing Jesus.

Do not say, "I will learn another language, sell all my belongings, uproot my family, move half way around the world, ask people to obligate themselves for thousands of dollars per year for me to do all this, and then I will be able to spread the gospel." Jesus said, "Lift up your eyes and look: the fields are white already to harvest." If you really care about those who have never heard the gospel, there may be hundreds and even thousands in the city where you now live who have never heard the gospel. The question is: what are you doing now, where you now live, to spread the gospel and to obey the great commission that Jesus gave to all of us? You cannot do it on your own strength, but you can ask God to give you opportunities, and if you are willing, He will. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Whether you go half way around the world in the way that Paul did or whether you spread the gospel right where you are, blessed will you be if you understand the value of the human soul and if you find the capacity in your relationship with Jesus to speak for Him. Daniel 12:3 says, "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."

There may also be a lesson in the last part of Romans 15:20 which says, "...lest I should build upon another man’s foundation." Perhaps Paul understood what so easily happens to human beings in the area of competition. When you put two people with similar responsibilities together, one of the things that can happen is that they can end up competing with each other, and there are situations in which competition can be negative and undesirable. Christians should work together toward a common goal. They should not compete with each other.

If you cannot work well with other Christians, you can at least do what Paul did: you can find a place of need where nothing or not enough is being done in the name of the Lord, and you can do something there. There are plenty of people in the world who have no one that is praying for them, or who is looking for opportunities to speak to them about the Lord, or who is ministering to their sorrows. Jesus said that you will even be rewarded for giving a glass of water in His name. How greatly shall those be rewarded who do even more for those who are hungry or cast down or destitute. There are many prisoners in the world, there are many sick and dying in the world, there are many lonely in the world. There is plenty to do in the name of Christ. You can be productive for God without competing with other believers.

Paul quoted from Isaiah and said in Romans 15:21, "But it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand." Isaiah was a Jewish prophet, writing to the Jews at a time when many of them had turned away from following God in spirit and in truth. But even though many of the Jews stopped listening to the spirit, God knew that there were still people on the earth who would listen. And this is still probably the greatest reason that Jesus delays His return and thus does not put an end to things as we know them. There are still some who have not heard, but who will listen when the time comes and when God sends someone to them with the gospel. God is preparing their hearts. Who is willing to go with the gospel to family and neighbor? If you were the last believer on the earth, how much would the gospel be spread?

It is true that many people in our society have already heard the good news about Jesus, and sometimes it may seem that too many of them have hardened their hearts. If you talk to family and neighbors and co-workers, you may find that to be true. Just remember that you are on a fishing expedition. Jesus told the disciples that He would make them to become fishers of men. If you are a serious fisherman, and the fish are not biting on a particular day, you do not give up on fishing. You might wait until the fish are hungry, or you might try fishing in a different place, but you do not give up on fishing as a viable activity. One of our problems may be that we keep trying to reach people who have already heard. Maybe we should spend more time doing what Paul did: looking for people who have never heard and trying to reach them with the gospel. The promise given here is that there are those who have never heard who will believe.

Are you doing things to help attract people to the Kingdom of God, which comes by faith in Jesus Christ? Paul said that he was. As a matter of fact, he was so busy fishing for men, that it kept him from doing other things that he wanted to do. For example, he wanted to visit the Christians in Rome, but he was so busy fulfilling the great commission that he did not have time. He said in Romans 15:22, "For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you."

Paul was writing this letter to the Roman Christians from the city of Corinth in what is today Greece. Evidently, he decided to combine his work of going to new places with the gospel with his desire to see Christians and speak to them about the things of God. He said in Romans 15:23-24, "But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; Whenever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company."

Before Paul could go to Spain with the gospel or visit the Christians in Rome, he had one more task that he had to complete. He needed to visit Jerusalem in order to take contributions that had been given to him for the benefit of the poor and destitute believers in Jerusalem. Paul said in Romans 15:25-28, "But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it has pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It has pleased them truly; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. And I am sure that when I shall come unto you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ."

In Romans 15:30 Paul said, "Now I beseech you, brothers, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together for me in your prayers to God for me." Paul called the believers in Rome his brothers. Even though Paul was an intellectual giant and a spiritual man without peers, even though Jesus had appeared to him personally and visibly, and even though Paul served with a spirit of dedication that few have ever matched in any endeavor whether Christian or not, yet Paul had an important capacity to treat other believers as equals. He did not look down upon them. He did not act superior. He did not seek a special title or position that gave him an advantage over them. He called them brothers.

They were brothers because of Jesus. After everything is said and done, no matter what anyone accomplishes, all the honor and all the credit goes to Jesus. We are saved by the grace of God that is in Christ, and we have nothing to glory in except the cross where Jesus suffered in agony because of our sins. And so Paul reminds them that he is writing these things to the Romans for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the Spirit of God motivates you, it is the Lord Jesus whom you will want to see glorified. If some other spirit motivates you, then it will be yourself or some other human that you will glorify.

At the end of Romans 15:30, Paul asks the Christians to pray for him. He said, "...that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." Prayer makes a difference. It makes a difference because He loves us and He listens to His children. Many times Jesus told us to pray because God answers prayer. If our child asks us for bread, we do not give him a stone; and God loves us much more than we love our children.

There are some things in the world that God has predestined. To predestine means to decide beforehand. The word is used five times in the New Testament. One of the things that God has predestined was that Jesus would come to die for the sins of the world. He did that and nothing could stop it. But most things are not predestined. God has given man a free will, and most things become determined as they unfold. If all things were predestined, there would be no reason to make requests from God. But that i’s not the case. Paul was filled with the Spirit of God and he asked these Christians to pray for him about specific things that he hoped to see come to pass. Prayer makes a difference. Prayer changes things because there are many things in which God has not yet decided what He is going to do. God might do one thing or He might do another in a specific situation, and one of the factors that determines what God is going to do is what His children ask Him to do. "You have not, because you ask not." "Ask and you shall receive."

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