 Today we're in Romans chapter 15. We're going to be looking at verses 20 through 33. In other words, we'll conclude the chapter today. And obviously I normally take smaller portions of scripture and try to give more information, but I will be giving information in, and hopefully that is practical to us as we go through this passage. So let's begin reading in Romans chapter 15 at verse 20. I'll read verses 20 and 21 and develop an introduction and move into our study. Romans chapter 15, beginning at verse 20, reading verses 20 and 21. Paul writes, "'And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, "'not where Christ was named, "'less I should build on another man's foundation. "'But as it is written, to whom he was not announced, "'they shall see. "'And those who have not heard shall understand.'" So Paul has been writing concerning his ministry as we've been going through Romans, especially as we've been in chapter 15. And he's been writing concerning the work that the Lord has been performing through him. And in verse 19, he had made it clear that the work was performed by the power of the Spirit of God. In verse 19, he had spoken concerning how God worked through him in mighty signs and wonders noticed by the power of the Spirit of God. Now, when he speaks concerning the fact that God worked through him by the Spirit of God, by his power, we need to remember Paul was an apostle. An apostle was one of those who was selected by the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned and sent out to proclaim his message. He had many disciples. He had many followers, many disciples, but he only had the 12 apostles. We know that Judas through treachery had fallen and was replaced by a man by the name of Matthias. Paul has been referred to as the 13th apostle. He was one who had been selected by God and was sent out commissioned to do a work. And that's what he's speaking about. As an apostle, God had used him and God used him in a mighty way. God worked miracles through him as he went about preaching this message called the gospel. Now, when you see him after his conversion, Acts chapter nine speaks of how Paul came to faith in Christ. When you see him after his conversion on various times and incidents, you see Paul was used by the Lord to perform works, perform miracles. And it's recorded for us in the book of Acts in Acts chapter 13, verses six through 11. It speaks of a time when the apostle Paul was confronting a false teacher by the name of Elimus. And how that this man was attempting to persuade a Roman official, a proconsul by the name of Sergius Paulus to try and dissuade him from embracing the faith of Christ. How that Paul pronounced a judgment upon him and that miraculously told him you will not be able to see for a season. And he became blind. You see in Acts chapter 14, now he and Barnabas were out doing the work of ministry and how they were ministering in a certain place where people began to respond. But it says in Acts chapter 14, verses two and three, the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time speaking boldly in the Lord who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. You see in Acts chapter 14, verses eight through 10, how God used Paul to heal a crippled man and on and on and on throughout the works of Paul as he preached the gospel very often, those works were accompanied by signs and wonders and miracles and we see that in scripture. Now he was speaking concerning that in verse 19 when he spoke of mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from Jerusalem and roundabout to Elyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. So he speaks of the signs and the wonders and the miracles. Signed wonders and miracles are actually what we would call the authentication of or the insignia of an apostle. There are those who today refer to themselves as apostles and sometimes you might be watching a program where they speak concerning the teacher that's going to be speaking and his name is apostles so and so. You know, I don't know why they refer to themselves as an apostle because an apostle had certain distinguishing characteristics. He had certain things that evidenced his call. So when you read the Bible, much of the New Testament is written by apostles and so they were used by God inspired by God to write the scriptures. They also were according to Acts chapter one to have been those who had accompanied Christ. Paul was selected by the Lord in a very special way as he was on the road to Damascus but he could speak concerning seeing the risen Christ and so they were those who saw Christ and also a sign of an apostle is through the working of the wonders and the miracles. You see that in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 11 and 12 where Paul says, I have made a fool of myself but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you for I am not in the least inferior to the super apostles even though I am nothing. The things that mark an apostle, signs, wonders and miracles were done among you with great perseverance and so there were the authenticating evidences, the emblems of his call as an apostle and so he speaks of these signs and wonders and miracles. When you see in the Bible the word signs, a sign is normally just that it's something that is done to point you in a direction and so signs were performed to point you towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Wonders are speaking of the works of power but often can speak concerning the effect of the work of power in that the people will wonder as they see this particular sign performed that has directed their attention to Christ and then you have the miracles which is the Greek word is dunamis. It speaks of the miraculous power of God, the Holy Spirit who performed these miracles and Paul has been speaking about how God has used him in that way and he did that kind of thing among them and did not take the credit for the work but gave all credit to the Lord and so that's what he's been speaking about here as we introduced verse 20 in Romans 15 and so in verse 20 he says, 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 but as it is written to whom he was not announced they shall see and those who have not heard shall understand and so he has a desire to travel throughout the world proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. That was his calling to go out and proclaim the message. When you study Acts once again in Acts chapter one verse eight Jesus said, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. So you're to be a witness when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and that's what Paul was a witness. Now he had ministered in Jerusalem even as he had said in verse 19 when he said so that from Jerusalem and roundabout to Illyricum. So he had ministered in Jerusalem but he had taken this message from Jerusalem and gone 1400 miles to the Northwest. So from Jerusalem he went as far as modern Albania is what he's saying, proclaiming this message called the gospel. And so he said that was my aim. He said I have made it my aim to preach the gospel. I have made it my life's goal to preach the Lord Jesus Christ and I have faithfully discharged my duties. I have taken this message to places where the name of Christ has not yet been mentioned has never been preached. I don't want to work in the same fields that other preachers have already worked he's saying I want to take the word of God out. That's why he said in verse 21 to whom he was not announced they shall see and those who have not heard shall understand. I don't want to build on another man's foundation. I don't want to go into a city that has already heard the ministry of the gospel. I don't want to come and plant a church next to another church if there's already a thriving work in the name of Christ there. I want to go out and take this message out and I want to preach this message of Christ to those who have yet to hear him. He's not saying that he never taught in a Christian congregation because we know that. We know that he did. He didn't plant the church in Jerusalem. He did have fellowship there and he did minister there and there are various times in scripture that you can see that he ministered in the city of Jerusalem. So he's not saying that he's not open to teaching in a church. He's simply saying I don't want to go and plant a church next to another one. I don't want to go out and do a work next to a church that already exists. If somebody here has a desire to go out and plant a church then it's always wise to seek the Lord as to where you should go rather than just going wherever you feel like it or doing a demographic study or trying to find out certain facts concerning the cities and all and finding the one that seems to fit you the best. You need to seek the Lord and ask him what fits into his desire. Sebastian, that's what Paul is speaking about, his desire to go out and do the work of Lord. Paul would go out and he would do both. He would preach and he would teach. Sometimes when you're reading your Bible you might find this interesting to note that when you see the word preach and you see the word teach very often they're combined preaching and teaching but they're not necessarily the same gifting. So those of you in this room who go out and share when you're speaking to somebody who doesn't know the Lord when you're witnessing to them what you're actually doing is you're preaching. The gift of preaching speaks concerning an appeal. It's an appeal to the will and what you're doing is you're communicating to them the facts of the gospel and appealing by the power of the spirit for them to make a decision concerning Christ. And so when preaching goes forth it's like an evangelistic crusade. It's like when you see somebody like a Billy Graham or a Luis Palau or a Greg Laurie or somebody who's doing an evangelistic effort they are actually giving certain things of the gospel with the intent of encouraging people to come to faith in Christ. That's called preaching. And so you can preach and very often it is to the unsaved but you can also teach. Now the word teach speaks concerning an appeal to the intellect. It's the giving of information and you normally will teach those who have received the message through the preaching. So Paul would go out and preach but he also would go out and teach. He would go to a synagogue and he would minister there but there weren't always people there who knew Christ and therefore he'd be preaching to them. But when they got saved he would begin to teach them the things of the gospel. And so it was his aim to go out and take the name of Christ out to a world that had yet to hear the name of Christ that he might minister and he might plant churches. And so he didn't want to plant a church on somebody else's work. He didn't want to plant a church next to an existing one. He wanted to plant a church where the name of Christ had yet to be named and that's what he's speaking about and that's what he did. He says in verse 22, for this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. Now he had opened the letter by informing them that he had often desired to see them in Romans chapter one verse 13. He had made that clear. But he's saying now for this reason because I've been busy preaching and teaching in various places and well I've been delayed in coming to you and now it seems that I'm going to be able to do that. Verse 23, but now no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire of 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 and to be helped on my way there by you if first I may enjoy your company for a while. Paul desired to go to Spain. The reason that he would want to go to Spain is during the time of the writing of this letter Spain would be what we would call the westernmost part of the journeys that the Jew would normally take. And it from the early days, very early in history there were Jewish populations in what is today called Spain and there's a still to this day. If you went to Spain you would see that there's a large not so much a large but there is a present Jewish population even to this day 2000 years after the writing of the book of Romans and predating Romans when Jonah was fleeing from the presence of the Lord in the Old Testament he wanted to go to Tarshish which many believe is the ancient name for Spain. So there was a Jewish population there for a long time and Paul wanted to go and he wanted to proclaim the message as far as the western border was which in his mind would have been at that point it would have been Spain. So he's saying listen I have preached the gospel in the areas I've been called to. I'm ready to come to Rome and I want to minister in Rome and I want to teach and I want to preach but I also want you to provide for me so that I might make my journey on to Spain. Now when he speaks concerning that and he's expecting them to help him along his way notice how he says it in verse 24 I hope to see you on my journey and be helped on my way. We need to remember that even back then we had what would be called ascending ministry there were senders. Not everybody who is called to evangelize and do missions work. Not everybody is called to do missions work. Everybody is called to be a witness but not everybody is called to be an evangelist or a missionary. So you don't necessarily have that gifting so you aren't necessarily called a missionary but you can be a sender and that's what he's speaking about here. In this church we have people who are senders. They can't get into a plane and they can't fly to a foreign country and they're not gonna live there for many years and all but they support those who do. And so he's speaking concerning the Romans being senders helping him to get his work accomplished. And so he's speaking in that way when he says in verse 25 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 are in Jerusalem. Now I'll spend a few minutes looking at this. It pleased them. From the beginning of the history of the church the body of Christ cared for its own members. When you read the book of Acts in its earliest days the church was already caring for the members in need. In Acts chapter two verses 44 and 45 it says all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need. In Acts chapter four verses 34 and 35 nor was there anyone among them who lacked for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them brought the proceeds of the things that were sold laid them at the apostles feet and they distributed to each as anyone had need. From the earliest days when there was a need a genuine need the members of the body of Christ rose up to meet that need. It's the same kind of thing that takes place and is taking place right now. It's the same kind of thing as I mentioned to you recently on Thanksgiving we were able as a church to provide meals for some 220 people here in the church. We're able to do that. We're able to fill shoeboxes for children in Mexicali. We're able to provide resources and all for those who haven't need because that's what we're called to do when there's a sincere very real need. Our single mama's get together and we know that single moms have a difficult life and a hard time. And so we give the children gifts and things and we have baskets that we give to people in the church you have needs. We've been doing that for a long time. We do that because that's what churches do. We help to care for one another and that's what he's speaking about. In 1st Timothy chapter six verses 17 through 19 Paul had said command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy let them do good that they be rich in good works ready to give willing to share storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. And so generosity is a mark of love and that's what they did. They cared for those who were in need. Now in the case of the Jerusalem church there was a reason why they were in the situation that they were in because when again you read the book of Acts you see that in Acts chapter eight as well as Acts chapter 11 it speaks concerning persecution that had arisen as well as a famine that had stricken them. And so they were in tremendous need. So Paul went about trying to find help in order that he might support the brethren in Jerusalem. He says in verses 26 and 27 it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution. When he speaks of Macedonia and Achaia that's simply speaking of Northern Greece and Southern Greece. So the Macedonian and Achaian churches were contributing to the needs. Now you see that very clearly in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 as well as 2 Corinthians and especially speaks about that in chapters eight and nine. And so these are churches that united together to meet the needs, the practical needs of those poor who were being impoverished through persecution and famine in Jerusalem. And that's what he's speaking about. But I want to show you something here in verse 27. I want to show you two things. Notice how it says it pleased them indeed and they are their debtors. Now when it pleased them, it pleased them to do this. He's emphasizing the joy and the willingness that they had in giving to those who are in need. In 2 Corinthians he speaks about it in chapter eight verses one through five. Paul says I want you to know dear brothers and sisters what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. They are being tested by many troubles and they are very poor but they are also filled with abundant joy which has overflowed in rich generosity for I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford but far more and they did it of their own free will. They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. They even did more than we had hoped for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us just as God wanted them to do. It pleased them indeed. There was a joy and a willingness in their giving of support. When a blessing it is when you have a heart that is charitable at the risk of sounding like the proud father that I can be in some ways. My son David is one of those very generous little boys. I've shared this with you before but when he was growing up as a little boy little David had a very tender heart. He was the little boy in our family that if some friends would come over the first thing he would do is he would take them to the cabinet that had cookies or whatever and the very first thing he'd do and I'm talking about three years old and four years old he would say to them, would you like some cookies? Would you like some snacks? And he was the first one to do that. He'd go into the refrigerator and open it up and pull out one of my beers. I mean, one of my sodas. No, I'm just kidding, I don't drink. Better say that quickly, I don't drink. But he would open it up and he'd say, would you like a soda? That was my son. My son's still that way to this day at 35. He is still that way to this day, very generous. I can still remember we were doing ministry in Mexico and I took my kids with me and he was a little guy maybe a few years old and we were walking on the sidewalk. We were walking up the street. He and I together and I noticed he was looking to his left as we passed a woman and I looked down it was a woman and her child and I kept my eye on my son as we walked about 30 yards past her, came to a corner and he kept looking back. He just kept looking back in her direction. We crossed this little two lane street, came back in the same direction it's where the lady was and now he's looking up to his right. I'm holding his hand, he's just a little guy, about five or so. And finally I stopped directly across from this lady and I said to my son, David, I said, what's wrong son? He says nothing and I said, you're sad. He said, yes. I said, why? You're sad because that lady is poor and she has a baby, aren't you? Yes, daddy. And you want to do something good for her, don't you? Yes. You'd like to give her something, wouldn't you? Yes. So I put my hand in my pocket and I gave him some money and I said, go give her something. That little boy's face lighted up and he ran to the corner and I watched him as he ran across it was safe for him to do that. And he ran up and he put something in her hand and she smiled and blessed him for that. And he came running up and took my hand and he had such a joy, he has always been that way. From the time he was very little, he cared about people, very generous. And he just told me the other day now that he was with his daughter and his daughter and he walked by a lady and she's looking at this lady and he said, and I took my hand and put some money in my Bella's hand and I said, give her something, baby. And he's taught her to have a generous spirit. It's a wonderful thing when you have a spirit of generosity. Not everybody does, of course, but it's a wonderful thing when you do. And Paula's speaking concerning this. He said, it pleased them indeed. These are people who are willing and joyful even though they themselves were going through intense poverty. And so that's something that he speaks concerning. He said, it pleased them indeed. But as a second thing, they are their debtors. It pleased them because they are their debtors. The spiritual benefits, in other words, that were enjoyed by Gentiles was a blessing that came through believing Israel. So you see, they are their debtors for the spiritual benefits. Now, as we've been going through Romans, we've seen that Paula's spoken concerning the fact that Israel received the adoption and covenants. They received the law and the priesthood. They had the messianic promises and Messiah had been born as a Jew. He had pointed out that the Gentiles, though they at one time were not God's people, have now become the sons of the living God. And he also pointed out that the Gentiles had been grafted into Israel and that Gentiles were to glorify God because of the mercy of God. And so the bottom line is, is he's saying they are their debtors. You see, he's basically saying, if you're truly saved, you cannot help but materially care for your messianic brethren. He's reminding them, they are one in Christ. But yes, you owe a debt of gratitude. And as brethren, you ought to care for the needs of other believers. And for them, it was a blessing. So it pleased them and they made this contribution. Now in verse 28 he says, therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. So I am totally blessed as I'm serving the Lord. He's saying I have performed this and sealed to them their fruit. So he refers to their material support as being fruit. Now fruit is a product of their faith. It found its origin in the spiritual things of Israel. The fruit that they have is the love and spiritual bond that they, they the Romans have with their Jewish brethren. The church in Jerusalem is simply reaping what they had sown in the Gentile world. You see, fruit is something that is not for the tree itself. Keep that in mind. I have several trees that have survived my care in my backyard. I have a tangerine tree and I have an orange tree. I have two apple trees and the tree produces fruit. But the fruit isn't for the tree. If it's for the tree and it remains on the tree, all it does is rot on the tree. But I take a great pleasure on occasion going into that backyard and taking one of those oranges off a fresh, you know, it's just, it's just there. It's been formed and everything. But the fruit isn't for the tree. The fruit benefits others. And that's what fruit is. See, when you produce fruit in the Lord, when the fruit of the Spirit is in you, the love and generosity and those kinds of things, it's not simply for you, but it benefits other people. And so that's what he's speaking about. This fruit that they have, this fruit that he's speaking about, this fruit is something that's a product of their faith. And by the way, this fruit that's being produced is really the result of the fact that Israel has predated you in a relationship with God. And so there's love that you have and the spiritual bond that you have is something that is important, but comes through a relationship that you have with Jesus Christ because of what God has done through Israel. Now, they have fruit of generosity. It's mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9, verses 12 and 13, where he says, two good things will result from this ministry of giving. The needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God for your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the good news of Christ. And so when you have this kind of fruit, it's demonstrating that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, when he says in verse 29, I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. God has blessed my life to overflowing, Paul is saying. And that overflow will spill over to you. And I'm going to come with a fullness of blessing that pours over to you. When the Holy Spirit is poured into your life, you become a conduit, you become a channel because Jesus said rivers of living water will flow out of you. So when God pours the spirit into you, it's not just for you. When the Holy Spirit is poured into you, it blesses and benefits you in a personal way. Yes, but we also overflow to other people. So Paul is saying, I've come in order that I might bring a spiritual blessing to you. I shall come in the fullness of blessing of the gospel of Christ. And then finally, he says, now I beg you brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, through the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in your 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. He says, how could you know that you're gonna have blessings? Well, I'm gonna overflow blessings into your life because I've glorified Jesus and I'm filled with the love of the spirit. How can you be a blessing to your family? How can you be a blessing to your friends? How can you be a blessing to your coworkers or fellow students? Walk in the spirit. When you walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the spirit. Pray that God will pour into your life the love of Christ for other people. That's how my mom and dad got saved. That's one of the ways God used me to bring them to salvation. From an angry child, rebellious young man, they saw the transformation. And the thing that won my dad's heart through the gospel was the love of Christ that started to flow from my life to him. My mom was hungry for the things of the Lord. She wanted to know God. So she was very responsive. My father was not. My dad only knew one person in his life who read a Bible. And that person, he thought was crazy. So my dad told my mom, when I was growing up, you cannot have a Bible in this house because the only person I know who has a Bible is a crazy woman. And my dad thought that the Bible had contributed to this woman being crazy. So one thing I know about my mom that she disobeyed my father in because my mom hid a Bible. She had a Bible in the house and my mom would pick it up and read it and hunger and want to know what it meant. And she did that all my young life until I was 20 years old. And when I got saved, the gospel set my mom free just through the preaching of the message. The love of Christ that my dad saw in my life impacted him. So he saw transformation and he was able to attribute that transformation to the message that he thought made people into crazy people. And he saw in reality that his son who was crazy was now in his right mind. So God's love pouring out from you by the power of the Holy Spirit has a tremendous impact. It's interesting though, as he speaks in verse 31 here, he's saying I want you to pray by the way through the love of the Spirit and strive together with me in your prayers to God for me that he says in verse 31 I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe. Well that's interesting because the term do not believe means they refuse to. They refuse, they're unpersuadable. These are people who can hear the gospel and will continue to say it's just a myth fairy tale or it's not real. There are so many people, they're in church every Sunday, every once every time I teach who fall into this category, they're unpersuadable. I have given invitations in this church where a young woman wants to get up and her boyfriend is holding her down. They are, she's have seen it. They have seen them holding her down. No, you can't, she's turning and talking saying I want to go up and get right with God and the boy's looking at her saying no, you can't, don't do that. He is unpersuadable and he wants to keep her in the same condition. Refusing to believe, and this is what Paul is speaking about, those who do not believe because in the ministry of Paul he would go into synagogues and he would bring the message of the gospel and very often people would listen and someone would respond but there were others who refused to believe, they were unpersuadable. You see that from the beginning of his ministry. He had to deal with those who rejected the message. In Acts nine, 28 and 29 it says he was with them in Jerusalem coming in, going out. He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus and disputed against the Hellenists but they attempted to kill him. When he was in a city in modern Turkey, a city called Iconium, Paul entered a synagogue to preach and many Jews and Gentiles believed the message but there were unbelieving, those who refused to believe, unbelieving Jews and they poisoned the Gentiles' minds. It says in Acts 14.5, a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse them. When he was writing to the Thessalonians in second Thessalonians three, one and two, he said, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for not all have faith. They don't want what we're offering them. Christmas in the United States, a holiday that is under attack for obvious reasons and it is under attack for obvious reasons. But there are many who celebrate it. The nation still celebrates it and the overwhelming majority of people who celebrate Christmas don't believe the message of the gospel. They don't believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. They don't believe what the gospel speaks concerning his incarnation whatsoever. And when confronted, when spoken to, when shared with, they will listen and they'll say, yeah, right. It's just a nice myth and it's a good story and it's a great opportunity to party and get presents and go out and eat with family. And I like those kinds of things, but please don't take that message seriously. Don't really believe that that's true because that's a child's fable if it's anything at all. We don't even know if there really was one named Jesus Christ. And we've had so many conversations like that over the years. They refuse to believe. Murray and I have been in our house and people have knocked on the door and I've welcomed them in. Now sat down with them, Murray and I. And there's the one who's the trainer and there's the one who's being trained. The trainer normally introduces the trainee and then we'll ask the trainee to speak. So you know immediately who's training who by the way that they conduct themselves and I've done this many times and so I just wait to see who does the talking. And so the older one normally will speak and say well this is so-and-so and she has some things she'd like to share and then they get quiet for a moment and so I know who to zero in on, the trainee. And so when I speak to the trainee, the older one when I give them a question the older one will try and step in. Some of you have done this, step in. And so I've done this, I've turned to the older one and I said excuse me I'm sorry I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to her and if you don't mind I'd like her to answer the question and they'll normally say well she's not really equipped to do that yet and I'll say you know what I'd like to see what she's equipped to do. So if you don't mind I'd like to continue my conversation with her and then I'll say well did you know and I'll give them a scripture when I do that then this woman over here will jump in and say well the answer and I'll say but you know the thing is I'm not asking you. Like I said a moment ago I'm speaking to her and I'd like to hear what she says and I can still remember one time where the woman started getting the trainer got so upset. I finally she said she can't answer those things I have to answer and I finally turned to the young lady who was being trained and I said to her let me ask you a question do you want to be part of a group or an organization that tells you exactly what you're supposed to speak and say and that they answer questions for you or would you like the freedom that Christ offers through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then the woman gets mad at me and says well we don't have to put up with this and I said no you don't you can leave there's the door but I want to talk to her. That's what we're doing here you see. And so they will get upset at you and all but when you give them a scripture very often they just get dull to it. They don't even want to answer the question they try to answer your question with the question they refuse to believe. You have seen this it happens to this day. So it's not just people walking into Christian churches like this but it's when you're sharing the gospel and Paul is saying I need prayer 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. So I need prayer. I want God to move. I want prayer that we may be able to preach the gospel boldly. I want to do something without my ministry being interfered with. I want God's word to go forth. And that's what he's saying. 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. Which is interesting. We know that Paul is from the city of Tarsus and this is one of those evidences that he was from Southern Tarsus because he says may the God of peace be with you all. There it is. Hot dog. Now, earlier he had spoken concerning God being the God of hope. He had said that in verse 13. Notice how he now refers to him as the God of peace. And the reason he refers to God as the God of peace and we'll leave with this is this. God is the God of peace because he is the God who gives peace. And God's peace that he gives is a peace that is called a peace that surpasses all understanding. You can be going through what would knock somebody down for the count. And maybe you're knocked down a bit but you can get back up because you never go through anything alone. And you can have hope and you can have joy and you can have the peace of God that passes all understanding because God is the God of peace. God is the God of hope. And though things at the moment may not seem like they're ever going to turn out right in Christ they do. My son David announced to me a few years ago as many of you already know that his girlfriend had become pregnant. It broke my heart. It broke my heart. People didn't understand that. They thought, well, Pastor David, you know why would it bother you so much? It's so common today. That's why it breaks my heart because it's so common today to have a baby out of wedlock is not a good thing. It isn't something God organized and designed. It's painful. And so my son announces and Marie and I have deep sorrow and being the man that I am in this church I don't hide things. So I come up and introduce my granddaughter Bella whom I love with all of my heart. And over the course of several months numerous people because I guess they feel that I'm just not a good pastor or a good man or a good father numerous people leave the church because I certainly must not be a good man. I must not live the gospel out apparently. And it breaks my heart. And I tell my son this, I say son do not compound one thing by making a more serious decision. No, you don't need to get married right now. You need to discover who this young woman is deeper. You need to know beyond a shadow of doubt that God wants you together. There's something worse than being married or rather being unmarried and pregnant or with a child. And that's making a decision to marry when you shouldn't marry. Seek the Lord in this. And you wanna know something? For four over four years my son went about working on it until he finally, he and his girl finally did it the right way. And that's why on Friday when I conducted that ceremony that's what I rejoiced to see what God would do with a broken heart, how he heals them. That's what God is. He is the God of peace and he has given us peace and hope and joy. Even when it doesn't look like it's gonna turn out the way you'd like it to I can stand here saying it does if you trust Jesus Christ, it does, it does, it does.