1048. A Ministry Worth Praying For

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. We're in a study series of Acts Chapter 20 in Seminary Chapel. Today's sermon is preached by Dr. Leighton Talbert of the Seminary Faculty. 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 Corinth. He remained in Ephesus for two and a half years until this happened. And I'm actually kind of inching back a little bit even further into Acts 19 to this incident because, in part, I came across this kind of half comical, half cool video.

Some of you have probably seen this before. That helps give a little bit of a sense in its own small way of the scope and the humanity of the historical experience of Paul in this city. And I'm muting the first half because there's kind of some funky elevator music going on and I want to preserve the dignity of chapel a little bit here. But zooming in on Ephesus and, of course, the amphitheater at Ephesus, just to give you a sense of the scope of this, I'm going to get a view now of the distance to the sea from there. It used to be a port that actually came up to Ephesus, but it's been landfilled for centuries. This is the amphitheater where the incident takes place that is recorded in Acts chapter 19.

It gives you, again, just a sense of the scope and the size of this. Picking up then with Luke's narrative in Acts 20, hopefully you're in Acts 20 by now, chapter 20, verse 1. After the Ephraim was seized in the amphitheater at Ephesus, Paul called unto him the disciples, that is the Ephesian elders and the believers and the people that were there at Ephesus that witnessed this, embraced them, and departed to go into Macedonia. So he's leaving Ephesus to go towards Macedonia, stops at Troas, that's where he meets Titus coming back from Corinth, writes what we call 2 Corinthians from Troas, or very shortly thereafter, sends it on ahead with Titus to Corinth while he takes his time going into Macedonia, including Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea. And verse 2 of chapter 20, when he had gone over those parts of Macedonia, which would include those cities I mentioned and others, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, that is Corinth, and abode there three months. And it's during that stay at Corinth 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 letter we're gonna be turning to in just a moment. The rest of verse 3, and when the Jews laid weight for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia, that is retrace his steps by land. In other words, his original plan from Corinth spending three months there was to go straight by sea to Syria. But he discovers a plot to kill him, and to evade that, he instead changes his plan, goes by land back through Macedonia, and, where am I picking up here, verse 6, we sailed away from Philippi, so he goes back through Macedonia, at Philippi he's gotta take the ship to go back to Asia Minor, and sailed from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, verse 6, and came unto them to Troas. Finally, in verse 15, they came to Miletus, which is where Paul sends for the Ephesian elders to meet with him.

And the point being, at least part of the point being, that were it not for the discovery of the Jewish plot to ambush him apparently aboard ship, or while boarding ship or something, the ship that he intended to take from Corinth directly to Syria, were it not for the discovery of that plot, and his decision to change plans and go by land back through Macedonia, Paul's final farewell and charge to the Ephesian elders that we have in Acts 20 never would have happened. Now you can turn to the end of Romans chapter 15. We'll make our transition to Romans 15. All this means that just weeks before Paul's charge to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, which we've been focusing on in Seminary Chapel, Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome this.

I'm going to start with verse 15 of Romans chapter 15. Brethren, I've written more boldly to you on some points as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles ministering, and 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 has 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 round about to Illyricum, that's actually saying from Jerusalem, all through Asia Minor, up through Macedonia, down into Achaia, including Illyricum, which is this region up here with the agency between Illyricum and Italy, which is what we call now Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, if that helps.

That's the area that he's referring to. He has fully preached 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 on another man's foundation. Drop down to 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 one, verse 13, saying I've been wanting to come to you, but I've been hindered.

He comes back to that now. And verse 23, but now no longer having a place in these parts, because he's covered as much of the territory as 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, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints, for it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who were in Jerusalem.

It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors, for if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. Therefore, when I have performed this service in Jerusalem, and have 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 of 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, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. Now the God of peace be with you all.

Amen. You've got, in verse 30, Paul's appeal for prayer, an appeal for joint prayer with him, for him, and for his ministry. And I want to start with this observation that an apostolic minister acknowledges his need of prayer. See, 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? I really strongly suspect that we all struggle with regular prayer more than any other aspect of our 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 has 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 and God's protection and God's blessing in whatever ministry God leads you into and for however long you've 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 and 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, there's no divine presence in them. Tools and gifts are never substitutes for prayer.

Not too far, sorry. For the intervention of God, for the direction of God, for the protection of God, for the blessing of God on ministry. I've used this quote numbers of times before so some of you are probably familiar with it, but it's a powerful observation, especially given who says it in his context. I am scarcely in a position to criticize expository preaching and seminaries. I have 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 too, can devote thousands of hours to the diligent study of scripture and yet somehow display an extraordinarily shallow knowledge of God.

And I've 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 is 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 prayers? Many of you are aware this is a compound word and the root verb is the Greek word from which we get our word, English word, agonize, or agony. I think that derivation can be overdone.

It's kind of like using dynamite to illustrate dunamis, right? Because we can transfer the connotations of our English word agony or agonize back into the Greek term and the question is, is that really the intention? Dr. Stikes recently wrote an excellent post on our blog about de-metaphorizing New Testament words.

In other words, pondering whether a word that originally or often carries a particular connotation in certain context necessarily transports all that metaphorical baggage everywhere it shows up. Because you can read a lot of commentaries who emphasize the strenuousness of this word. I mean this is agony, this is agonizing. And sometimes they'll point out that it implies straining every muscle and nerve in prayer and I don't know how to do that. I mean literally.

I don't know how to do that. Straining every muscle and nerve in prayer. I've never done that. Really. And I'm not sure that that's exactly what Paul really has in mind here. Because the word yes, it is used in athletic context but it's also used in legal contexts. In court battles. And I don't think when it's used in those contexts that we're supposed to imagine a lawyer with his hands gripped on the judge's bench and his knuckles are white and his veins are distended and he's straining every muscle in arguing for this legal point.

Basically it just means to exert yourself with energy and diligence and earnestness in whatever context is in view. And I go into this because I think depicting prayer as 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.

He's your father. He's not your adversary. God is not a bail who demands those kinds of demonstrations and he's not an unjust judge who has to be pestered and pled with before he can finally be persuaded to intervene. Now if you're fighting God about something, okay that's a little bit different. But prayer is also not wrestling or struggling or striving with Satan as though he bars our way to the throne of grace and we have to fight our way through Satan to get to God. That's not what's going on in prayer. Prayer is not wrestling and struggling and striving 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's 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 one, his children. Always of course according to his will and in his time. Now prayer is warfare. That I think 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, our distrust, our apathy, our distraction, our laziness, our jumbled priorities, our 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 half-heartedly, not casually but with earnestness and urgency and persistence. And Paul's requests for prayer suggest two major areas of prayer for any apostolic minister. If you scan 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's writing. In most letters he does both. And here in this passage you have two henna clauses, two that clauses that identify I'm going to suggest two major areas of prayer. One in verse 31, one in verse 32. The first is ministry concerns.

Verse 31, that I may be delivered that, let me do it this way, that A, I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and B, my ministry to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints. So his first request is basically for safety in ministry. And this is not an unrealistic concern for Paul. Paul was not a hyper imaginative hand wringing paranoid. But he is a realist. And if you read it tenderly through the book of Acts you'll find that Luke records this trail of houndings by the Jews after him in 14 different passages including seven times recorded in Acts when the Jews tried to kill him. So this is 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 Corinth when he was going to take ship and he finds out there's a Jewish plot and he changes his plan. But what does Paul's specific prayer request here have to do with us? What do we do with this? Is anybody here concerned about an assassination plot on your life? See any hands? If you start worrying about that there are people here that can help you.

Dr. Cruz and Mazak 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 discredit your reputation. And all of you will always have someone nearby who desires to destroy your testimony and your usefulness by seducing you or sidetracking you. 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. And the second aspect of his prayer request is success in ministry. That his 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 Achaia are sending with him to their Jewish brethren in Judea. That's his particular historical context.

And I just want to make the passing observation. When you look at the kind of thing he's asking for in terms of ministerial success, scripture never defines ministerial success the way people tend to. Ministerial success is never about numbers or fame or influence. It is about the unity, sustaining the unity of the brethren in fidelity by fidelity to the truth leading to growth in Christ's 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 Corinth.

I'm sorry to visit Rome. And 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 that he mentions up in verse 31. So it's that God would do these things in verse 31 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.

It is an example of the principle of submitting all our plans to God's will that James spells out in his letter in chapter four of James verses 13 to 15. We've got plans. We're going to go here. We're going to do this and do that. He says don't do that.

Don't live like that. You should always say if the Lord will, we'll do this and go here according to God. That's exactly what Paul is doing here. And again, if you think about the passage, the part of chapter 15 I read leading into this that a Paul would recognize, a Paul who has seen the kind of blessing and protection and success that he has seen and 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. Did God answer these prayers? And you think about how Paul might have imagined this when he makes these prayer requests and imagining how this hopefully will turn out and under what circumstances he'll arrive in Rome. And as we might expect and envision the answer to these requests on the front end without knowing the rest of the story, one commentator writes, we think we see the apostle after happily finishing his mission in Palestine, embarking full of joy and guided by the will of God, then arriving in Rome there to rest his weary heart among his brethren and the joy of the common salvation to recover his strength for the new work as he launches from there into Spain. That's how we might have envisioned God answering these prayers. But we do know the rest of the story.

And that's not quite how it worked out, right? And yet, did God answer those prayers? Did he answer them positively? Commentators are actually divided on this too.

And some commentators, some that I really like, argue no, 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. And they say, look what happens to Paul, as soon as he gets to Jerusalem in Acts 21, he's mobbed at the temple and nearly beaten to death.

Yeah, but the word nearly is really important. Because he does get providentially delivered in the nick of time, by the Romans no less. They say, yeah, but then he's 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 opened remarkable opportunities for ministry in places and to people he never would have had otherwise. And they'll add, the fact that Luke never mentions any follow up about how the Gentile offering was received in Jerusalem, I mean he just doesn't talk about that, suggests that Paul's whole Jewish Gentile ministry hope was probably unsuccessful.

Really? That's a really loud argument on the basis of silence. If Luke doesn't say anything about it, then it must have 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 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 from Corinth to Syria. He was delivered from being beaten to death by the Jews. He was delivered from being torn apart by the Sanhedrin on Acts 22. He was delivered from their attempt to sway the court to move Paul so 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 he's released from Rome. Sounds like God answered the prayers to me positively.

What about this? Was Paul's ministry of Jewish Gentile unity accepted in Jerusalem? Luke doesn't give us a lot of detail, but everything he says about it is positive. Acts 21 starting in verse 15. After those days that they had spent in Caesarea, we packed up and went to Jerusalem. And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us 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 glorified 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 hoped 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 Acts 28 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.

2 Corinthians 12, for example. Sometimes the answer is wait. Although, and you need to be prepared for this, God rarely says an answer to our prayers, oh that prayer, you need to wait on this. He doesn't say wait. Just like nothing happens. Wait looks a lot like no until the answer finally comes.

Then in retrospect you realize, oh that was a wait, not a no. But 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. Let's pray. 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. But 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, our fears, our concerns, our desires. And 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 you've called us to. And we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon preached by Dr. Leighton 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.