The less skilled Christian will feel guilty for not forcing the gospel on people. I should have said something. Why should you have said something? You think Paul just walked down the Roman roads just jamming the gospel down people's throats? Of course not. As many as are the sons of God, these are led by the Spirit of God. However, if you're going to use that to excuse your laziness, that's not going to work either.
You'll be stunted. But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. That is not only the shipwreck on Malta and that experience, but it's all the other junk he was putting up with Rome.
And all the accusations. He continues, he says, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, he's under arrest, and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. Well, he's chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day, and he's saving some of them. He's leading them to Christ.
And this is what he means by the whole palace guard, more than one. And he continues, and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Now, that doesn't mean you jam the gospel down someone's throat because I don't have any fear, I don't care what you think about me, you know, repent. That's not being led by the Spirit. But when you are led by the Spirit, you don't choke.
You share it, you give it to him, just like it is. You're dirty before Christ. In fact, you're filthy before a holy God. He can cleanse you from that, but he won't if you do not come to him for that. One of the things about water baptism, you've got to walk down into the water. Nobody's going to hoist you in.
It may be an exception, but anyway, it's the only joke you're getting, because you didn't appreciate it that. Now vengeance is fine. Verse 13. Keep this in mind, this whole Roman experience.
I want to get there, I want to bless you. He gets there, at first it's not working, but then it does because we have that letter to the Philippians written from Rome. And you just see the life of this man. What kind of master does this man have that he's willing to be such a slave? It's not about Paul, it's about Jesus Christ. And that's what Paul's trying to tell you.
He's worth all this to me. We just happen to have more biographical information about this particular servant. Verse 13. Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often plan to come to you, but was hindered until now. That I might have some fruit among you, also just as among the other Gentiles. And I just read from Philippians where he did get that fruit in the palace guard.
And then the Christians of the church in Rome who witnessed this stuff and said, Man, if Paul can lead people to Christ in jail, these hardened Roman soldiers, then I can lead people to Christ. Don't you believe for one minute you can't. That's the voice of the devil if you hear that voice saying you're just not smart enough, you're not educated enough, you have a pastor that knows the word, that's very handsome, and you just can't. Don't even bother. Well, the part about don't even bother, that's the voice of the devil. The part about him being handsome is the voice of me. So, now I don't really think that. Don't go thinking that, boy, you're pretty full of yourself.
Well, we're all full of ourselves because we can't get anybody else in, but not in the sense that it's negative. Oh, that's the second joke and that's because I'm merciful. Or cruel, I don't know. Anyway, verse 13, back to verse 13, I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often plan to come to you. Now, he did not want them to doubt his zeal to get to them. So, if you're in the church in Rome and you're saying, man, Paul's going to Macedonia, Achaia, Corinth, Ephesus, Asia, he's going all over the place, Jerusalem, but he won't come here. So, not that anybody was saying that, but he's preemptive.
He's going to, because how else will they know? He says, I've been trying to get to you. Now, there's three things that go into keeping us from getting somewhere that we might want to go. And I'm going to use these experiences of Paul. The first one is, God may open a door in your life where he wants to leave you because there's progress, there's work there, and that's where he wants you.
When you're saying, yeah, but I want to go to so-and-so, I need you here. Well, to the Corinthians, he wrote, for a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries. Now, when he wrote 1 Corinthians, he's writing from Greece, Macedonia, Achaia, and he's saying, I've got this stuff happening here. There's a great effective door and I don't want to leave right now. In this letter to the Romans, he goes back to this subject and he says, let me also circle around and tell you why I haven't gotten to you yet, chapter 15, 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 foundation. Oh, we have to stop there.
This is a side note. There are Christians that have no problem building on another man's foundation. They'll, you know, I got this little Bible study, but nobody's coming. I'm going to go find a church and I'll steal people from that church that come to my Bible study.
I have nothing to learn from somebody who pulls something like that. You know, Paul said, I go out of my way not to go where Peter has gone and Thomas. They're ministering there.
Well, I'm not going to barge in and compete with that. I'm going to find where there is no preaching and I'll make foundations there. And this is what he's saying to the Roman church. He said, I've been out ministering when nobody's been preaching and I haven't been able to get to you. You're saved, but there are others who are not. Then he continues in chapter 15, for this reason, now catch this part, also.
There are other reasons. For this reason also, I have been much hindered from coming to you. So, the first one he is saying, God has opened doors and I've got to go through these doors.
I can't get to you. Then to the Colossian letter, that again, a jailhouse letter, one that did not go with the Philippian letter, but at a different time, he says to them, before the Philippian letter, he writes Colossians. And when he writes to the Colossians, he says, pray for me in Rome that I can have fruit, which we already read.
He did get fruit. Well, here it is in Colossians 4. Meanwhile, praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the work to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I also am in chains. So, I'm reading that Colossian note to say, the first reason why he could not get to them is because there was so much work where he was. He said, well, you took a long time to say that, but the verses are so rich. So, God answered that prayer that he made to the Colossians, and he writes to Philippians about it. The second one is that God closes doors.
You know, you're the eager beaver. I'm going to preach to those people. God, maybe I don't want you to preach to those people. And it's beyond you.
The arrow is beyond you. Just do what you're told. Now, if you're in the military, you could appreciate that. But maybe some of the civilians have a problem when someone says, do what you're told.
Take your orders. Some in the military have had that problem, too. And they get dishonorably discharged if they get caught. Anyway, coming back to this, God closes the door. Acts chapter 16. Now, when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
Man, that's pretty heavy stuff. But that's what the Holy Spirit did. Raise your hand if you would like to defy the Holy Spirit. Then the third one is the obvious one, our common enemy. He hinders, such is ministry.
All three of these, such is the life in Christ. First Thessalonians chapter 2. Now, when Paul got chased to Thessalonica with a beating on his back, he and Silas, they were caned in Philippi for preaching. They leave Philippi. They get chased out. Well, they have to leave. They come to Thessalonica. They have such fruit at this church. Then they get chased out of Thessalonica.
Well, his heart is like, man, we just started the work. These are new Christians. So he writes the two Thessalonian letters. In the first one, he says to them, Therefore we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. Well, how did Satan do that? From what we know, there were those Jews in Thessalonica who soured some of the Gentiles, and together they chased Paul.
He goes to Berea, and then they chase him from Berea, and he ends up in Athens and Corinth. So another reason why we get stopped from going forward in Christ is also sometimes the devil. You say, how am I going to know when these things are? Well, if you are walking in the Spirit, you will know.
There are little signatures that belong to these. For instance, you're having a work, and it's working well. I just can't leave these guys. This is where I belong, is that conviction of the Spirit. And then there's other times you say, man, this isn't right. It's not biblical. Satan is interfering here.
And what do you do when that happens? Well, you turn to Acts chapter 20 and read to chapter 28. You find out what Paul did.
He survived the shipwreck and other things, but he did make it. He says here in verse 13, that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. He wants results. He's writing to Jews and Gentiles in this church. If pastors don't teach you the truth, the devil will teach you lies. That's a system God has put in place. The pastors did not come up with it. The pastor would have come up with something like, can you just leave me alone?
I just want to relax. God puts this system in place. And the same has He put Moses and Aaron in place. And those who didn't like it, the ground swallowed them. And so, you know, let's not repeat these silly mistakes.
Results count. And when you're not having fruit, you are calling on the Lord of the harvest for fruit. Beware of heresy, entering the church, as I mentioned earlier, under the cloak of love. The main role of the pastor is to preach the word, to feed the sheep. Peter, tend my sheep, feed my sheep, not as lords over them, but as one of the flock.
This is what happens when Christians aren't taught from a pulpit. Well, they become the church at Laodicea. They become the church at Thyatira and Pergamos, infested with heresies. And where are those churches now? They're absolutely gone. You could say, well, some of the good ones are gone. No, actually, in those places in the world, there's still a remnant. In my understanding, last time I checked. Anyway, verse 14, I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. The temptation is to think that the barbarians are these crude people. That is not the case. It's not even how it's meant. He says, I am a Jew, and I preach to Gentiles also.
I'm not caught up in this racial stuff. Oh, no one except love, he will write in the 13th chapter. Anyone who is in Christ has the answer to the deepest human need, and that is salvation through God, the need for God. Now, the reckless and overzealous Christian will preach the gospel without the spirits leading.
Who needs him? I'm going to jam this down your throat so I can show everybody I'm not afraid. Well, has the Lord led you to do this? They'll probably say, verbalize, yes, but you'll know them by their fruits. You'll say, this person is just irritating everyone. Maybe you've not met a Christian like that. Maybe you need to be in a bigger city longer.
You'll find some of them there. Anyway, the less skilled Christian will feel guilty for not forcing the gospel on people. I should have said something.
Why should you have said something? Do you think Paul just walked down the Roman roads just jamming the gospel down people's throats? Of course not.
As many as are the sons of God, these are led by the Spirit of God. However, if you're going to use that to excuse your laziness, that's not going to work either. You'll be stunted.
You won't mature. That's not a good thing. The seasoned saint will be led, will be active, will be free, and will be fruitful. That has been my experience.
Sometimes there are gaps where there's no fruit, a lot of struggle, and then all of a sudden, God opens doors up to have fruit. This is how it is. Unfortunately, sometimes even the seasoned saint has a sense of guilt. I'm not doing enough. Well, who is? Who is doing enough? You look at the life of Paul and you say, man, I haven't even started. These barbarians are native tribes who've opted out of the Greco-Roman culture.
They're not buying into that culture, and they were looked down upon by some, but that's what he means by I have a debt to Gentiles, or the ethnic peoples of the world, and to those who are considered uncultured. I'm almost done, in case you're wondering. Those who have the treasure of the gospel are always scanning the horizon for someone to share the gospel with. You're always looking. Lord, is it this one?
Is it that one? Maybe you've got family members that you've already been through this, and every time it comes up, you argue with them. Well, you kind of knock the dust off your feet on that issue. You say, okay, I'm not going to bring this up. If God wants me to share it with you, he'll open that door later, but I'm not going to, you know, I'm going to avoid this because now wisdom is taking, because some people just get, they learn, especially with family members, because they think they have licenses that they don't have.
They just enjoy irritating you. I put my family for sale on eBay, and no, of course, but you laugh because you understand the difficulty of being close to people. If you look at 2 Kings, now some of you have a wonderful family relationship, and you're like, that's not my family. Yeah, well, thank God, but it's not most people.
A lot of people, I don't know how many, I never counted, but I know there are a lot of people that have family issues. You don't get to choose them. So anyhow, coming back to this, in 2 Kings, there's this illustration of doing the right thing with what God has given. The four lepers in the days of Elijah, the prophet, they're in the city, Samaria, I believe it was, and they're surrounded, they're under siege, they're starving to death, and they say amongst themselves, look, if we stay here, we're going to die a slow death. Let's go to the Assyrians and we'll ask them for food.
If they kill us, then we're just dead. So they go, and the Lord had already been there, and the Assyrian army fled in an instant, and they left all this food, an army's worth of food. And so they sit down and they're gorging, and in the midst of their gorging, the lights turn on. They have an epiphany. 2 Kings 7, verse 9, Then they said to one another, what we are not doing right, this day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. You see, there are people in the city starving to death, and we're gorging out here. We've got to go tell them, and they did go do that. So it's not to lay guilt on anybody, unless you've done something wrong, but the point that comes out of that little verse is that if you have the good stuff, and you can share it, you better be sharing it.
And there's a lot of ways we can do that. Verse 15, So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. That means with all his might, as much as is in me. David, in preparing for the house of God, said, 1 Chronicles 29, Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might. You remember David danced before the ark with all of his might. He was a passionate man. Sometimes, anyway, Paul was saying, With all my might I'm going to reach Rome. And that's just what it took.
But what was behind all this might? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength. This is the first commandment. And this is what we're seeing in action. We saw it in David, we saw it in Daniel, we see it in Paul, we see it in Nathanael. It's all over the people of God. Paul goes from indebtedness to readiness.
I owe you, and I want to do something about it. He was a force in readiness. I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are also in Rome. The ever-ready man uses two distinct words in talking about his readiness. Here, the Greek word ready is eager. But if you look at Acts 21, verse 13, where he says, I'm ready to die in Jerusalem, that Greek word means prepared. So he is ready, and he is prepared.
And he was available all the time. You ask the Athenians, Has Paul been through here? You ask the Ephesians, Has Paul been through here? You ask any of those cities, Has Paul been here?
And they'll all tell you, Yeah, and he wouldn't shut up. You're talking about Jesus risen from the dead. And now we've got a church here competing with our, you know, people who used to burn incense to Zeus aren't doing that anymore. They're praying to this Christ.
So, at the time that he wrote this letter, he had already been chased from cities, Thessalonica and others, stone, cane, jailed, because he was prepared, he was eager, and he made himself available. Years earlier, he wrote to the Galatians, From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear on my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. What's on your body? What marks are on yours?
Well, I got this one, you know, fishing, and I got that one, you know, sitting in my recliner, and I fell out, you know. And I don't want to make a sound, because God wants us to take time and relax and to enjoy those things. I'm not bad-mouthing them. But I am, I am saying, such verses haunt me. Such verses make me say to myself, what's, you know, one of the marks I bear on my body is, most of my life, before Christ, very physical, very athletic, and one time I walked to London from Virginia, and I can't now.
All my time is taken in the Word and writing notes and talking about you. It's called prayer. And I don't get to go to the gym or to work out like I want to. But I want to.
But when am I going to find the time? If you see a bulk pastor, he's not studying. He's not in the Word. If he is, he thinks he's a natural. And he might be, he's just not a spiritual. So I remember years ago at the Pastors Conference, there was this one pastor, he's all buffed.
Well, about five years later, he wasn't buffed anymore. You know, it just demands, it takes. And you bear it. What's the alternative? Well, I'll join a gymnasium, and does anybody use the word gymnasium? I just did, and I'm proud of it. I'll join a gymnasium, and that will take up three hours.
Travel, workout, shower. I mean, you need to do that. Hygiene is important as a Christian. Read the book of Leviticus.
Anyhow, for him to bear these marks on his body, how great must his master have been for such absolute devotion? Yeah, the Bible challenges us, and there's so much mercy. God says, I know you can't. I know you can't be like Jeremiah.
But I'll take 10%, and I'll use 100% of your 10%, and we'll get results. I'm telling you God does that. I know God does that, because I know the workers in the church. I know you're dynamos in Christ. Readiness does not come naturally. I think some Christians think that it does.
They're just natural. You know, I got saved, and now I'm going to go bless people. Were you staying home? Anyway, you better humble up. The ever-ready Christian is the minute man. Paul wrote to Timothy, preach the word. Be ready.
That's another Greek word. That one means stand. Be available to stand. Preach the word. Be ready all the time. In season and out of season.
There are no other seasons. That's all of them. Eager, prepared, available to defeat Satan, who entrenches himself in the souls of people. I'll close with this verse, because we got some questions to ask ourselves.
Am I a generator or a drain? Am I the right stuff? What church would I belong in? The stuff that's in me, what church does it fit best with?
Laodicea? Am I lukewarm about Christ? Or am I hot for Christ?
Before I read this verse, if you have not opened your heart to Jesus Christ, and you're listening to me, you are being told very clearly, your not coming to Christ is the work of a real Satan that hates your guts. And he'll flatter you. He'll deceive you, distract you, whatever he can. He'll delay you. Anything he can do to keep you from taking that first step. Never mind those little baby steps.
Take the step, a full 30 inch step. Man up, woman up, and say, I know my redeemer lives, and I shall see him. And it begins now.
So we close with this. Ephesians 6, and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reverence Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.
We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again, or want to listen to others like it, head over to crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross-Reference Radio, so make a note of it, crossreferenceradio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans, here on Cross-Reference Radio.
