 We'll begin here in in Romans chapter 15. Let's see, I'm going to read just verse 14. We will be looking God willing to the end of the chapter, but I'll read verse 14, give you a few things to remind you of what's taken place in chapter 15 and then get into the verses in front of us and go through it carefully, like I've said, through the rest of the chapter. So Romans chapter 15 verse 14. Paul writes, now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Now Paul has been dealing with the question of Christian maturity and we've seen how Paul has been dealing with that in chapters 14 and into 15 and he had said that love for the weaker brother, the less mature yet in their faith, the weaker one, is evidence that we are truly growing in our maturity in the Lord because a truly mature will bear the load of their weaker brothers and sisters. You see, a mature Christian will not judge them because a lot of times those who are older in the faith, a lot of times they may look down on the younger one and treat them with disrespect. How can you believe that? Why do you do that? That kind of attitude. And he said, no, he said a stronger brother is going to be more loving and understanding, never accepting the sin but receiving the one who is in need of instruction and growth. And that's what the body of Christ is supposed to do, is love one another. He had said in verse 2, he had said in chapter 15 verse 2, let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification, the word edification, a building up of that person. And so the refusal to live a life of just a self-pleasing life, he's saying, is evidence of maturity. So along with maturity in the things of the Lord comes a desire for unity within the church and that's what led him to pray that they would be like-minded. He had prayed that God would draw them into unity and that they would worship the Lord Jesus Christ together. So in unity with one mouth and one mind, he said, may you together worship God. And then he had moved into chapter 15 and closed this portion of the letter with the blessing. In verse 13, he said, made the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. May your faith in the Lord abound in the fruit of hope, joy and peace. And so at this point, he's revealing that he trusts that they are in fact mature. And though there are things that need to be tuned up, he's going to now go into the mode of encouragement. He's encouraging them. And that's why he says in verse 14, he says, now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you are also full of goodness filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. So what you're seeing here is a change of gears. He's been laying things down for 15 chapters. And now he's moving into an encouragement to those who are the mature in the church. And he's saying, I want to add something to you and what we're going to see. And you'll see this from this point to the conclusion. You're going to see what has been called a personal note because in a moment in chapter 16, he's going to be sending greetings to the people he knows. So he's no longer giving general exhortations. His letter is taken on a more personal feel as he's about to close the letter. And again, he's been sharing with them concerning their behavior. He now writes to the leaders of the church, the ones who are overseeing the body of Christ there. So he's saying, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, I have written with sincere conviction. And this is because I believe that you are mature enough to understand what I'm writing. And so at this point, I can feed you with something more substantial. Now, some of you realize, you know, you've been taught, you've read your word. You know that when somebody first comes to faith in Christ that they receive what is called the milk of the word. And so you receive the milk of the word which is able to build you up. But as you're drinking of, we'll say as a baby would drink of the mother's milk, as you're drinking of the milk of the word, you begin to become more mature and eventually you develop spiritual teeth. And as you're developing those spiritual teeth, you're able to now eat of what is called the meat of the word. And so babies are fed with milk. And the more mature are given the meat. And what we're having here now is him speaking. He's changing gears and he's speaking to the leaders. And that's how he's approaching verse 14, because he's speaking to the leadership of the church and he's telling them that he knows that they are able to do certain things that require spiritual maturity. And so he says you have certain qualities that I want to commend you about. He says you are full of goodness. When he says you're full of goodness, that speaks of the fruit of the spirit. Goodness is another way in the Bible of speaking of moral excellence. You are practicing the virtues that I've been instructing the church to practice. And so you're filled with this goodness. It's a proper description of you and how you live. So ask yourself, and I don't say this for any reason other than it's worth doing, if someone is speaking of me, somebody is speaking of you, is one of the first things, if I were to ask or someone were to ask of me, is the word goodness one of the first things they would speak about with us? Tell me about so and so. But they say they're filled with goodness. If you ask me and I say this because it's true, if you were to ask me about my wife, that would be one of the first things I would say. I would say this woman is filled with goodness. She's a good person. She's a moral person. She's an excellent person. I don't say this to embarrass her. I just say it's because it's true. And I'm saying it because she told me to. And it's and she did it in a nice way. That makes her really good. So it's goodness the proper way to describe how you live. If somebody were to speak to a neighbor, somebody were to speak to a coworker, somebody were to speak to a family member, would they say my friend, my brother, my sister, my whatever is a good person? Well, he says I know that you are filled with goodness. You have moral excellence. He also says you're filled with knowledge. When you speak of knowledge, it's not kind of knowledge that puffs up because Paul in first Corinthians eight says that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. So he's not speaking simply of intellectual prowess. He's saying you have been carefully instructed in the word of God, you have been filled with proper instruction. You have proper understanding. You have been thoroughly instructed. You know what's true. Not only do you know what is true. This is important, but you are guided by what you know. There are many who don't live what they say they know. Oh, I already know that I've had conversations over the years and as a pastor speaking to somebody who was asking for advice and whose life is not reflecting on certain things and we've had that conversation. I still remember saying, Well, this is what scripture says concerning what you're going through. And I've had people look at me and say, Well, I already know that. So I said, Well, didn't Jesus say, If you know these things, blessed are you if you want, if you do them. It's not enough that you are a walking Bible able to communicate scripture. I heard of a non believer who was a Bible teacher. A non believer in a college was a Bible teacher, not at a Christian college, but he would teach it in a secular college. He had one of his students is true story. The professor sitting back, and he tells the young man to read a chapter in the gospel of Mark. And as the young man is reading word for word, the professor is looking at him. And then he stops him. And he says, That's not the word. And the guy who's reading Oh, I'm sorry, the guy had memorized the entire gospel of Mark word for word. And so if you read it to to him, he was able to correct you when you misread it. But he didn't know the savior. He knew the Bible, but not the author. He knew what it said, but he didn't know why it was written. So it's more it's important for us and you all agree. I'm just saying what we know is important for us to do what we know. If we know these things, blessed are we if we do them. And so he's saying, You're able to do this. You, you know what's true and you're guided by what you know your examples to the people, not only in what you're saying, but how you're living. He also goes on to say and you're able to admonish that word admonish simply means to reprove or remind in a gentle way. You can gently remind somebody you're qualified in other words to disciple and you're qualified to counsel a believer in the ways of God. And as you're doing it, you don't have an arrogance. As you do it, you have a humility. You do it in a gentle fashion. And I see that you're capable of doing this in Colossians 3 12 and 13. Paul said, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you also must forgive. So these are qualities of maturity of faith. And he's saying, I am fully confident that you have these things. So he, as you can see, has changed gears. He has been speaking concerning basic doctrine. He's given them so much theology. Now he's speaking, if you will, to the leaders. And he's saying, I am very confident in things I'm saying to you, you're aware of and you put these things into practice. So he says in verse 15, nevertheless, brethren, I have 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 the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified, set apart by the Holy Spirit. And so I've written to you because you stand in need of these instructions. And so he's writing using what has been referred to as apostolic authority. I'm writing with authority to you. And I'm advising you out of love. And I'm instructing you. You see, as a minister to the Gentiles that gives us some insight, what had happened is even the leaders needed more instructions. And so he's saying, I'm ministering to you. I'm a minister in verse 16 of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Now we know that as we have been going through the book of Acts on Sundays, we know the story of how the Apostle Peter had welcomed Cornelius, the Gentile into the household of God, he and his household that come to faith in Christ. We know that the Apostle Peter was ministering to Gentiles and all. But Peter had a specific ministry. He was called the Apostle to the Jews. And Paul was referred to in Galatians. He calls himself that in chapter two, verse seven, he says that he had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised. And so he's speaking concerning the Gentiles as one who has apostolic authority that God has opened the door for him to minister to them. And so what is he doing while he's offering up the Gentiles to God? By the spirit. You see, by coming to faith in Christ, they were an offering that was acceptable now. And so that's what he's doing. Now he goes on in verse 17 and says, therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus and the things which pertain to God. I glory. I boast, but not in myself. I have reason to. I have reason to glory. But in what? I have reason to glory in Jesus Christ. I glory in the ministry God gave to me to preach the Gentiles. I glory in that. I'm grateful for it because he has used me to preach his message to those who are without him, to those who are in need of knowing him. And then he goes on and says in verse 18, I will not dare to speak of 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 roundabout to Chino. Oh no. Illyricrum. I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. I will not dare verse 18 to speak of any of those things which Christ hasn't done through me, hasn't accomplished through me. This is, this is a pastor's conference message. This, this verse here, right here. If you were pastors in a pastor's conference, I'd approach it in a different way, but let me give you a couple of thoughts about this. He's saying, again, I'll read it and then explain some of some of it. He said, I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient. I will not take credit for work that somebody else was used by God to perform. I'm not stealing glory. I'm not trying to take credit for work that others have accomplished. I don't take credit for what others have done amongst the Gentiles. I'm not the only person who has labored to bring Gentiles to Christ. I mentioned in Acts 10, I spoke of Cornelius and his, his household had come to faith in Christ. He had, he had come to faith in Christ through the Apostle Peter. In Acts 11, those of you who are with us on Sundays, in chapter 11 verses 20 and 21, it says this, it says, some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks, also telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. We saw in Acts 11 verse 24 that Barnabas was a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith and a great number of people in Antioch were brought to the Lord. So he's not, he's not taking credit for the work that Peter did, that Barnabas did, that these others whom we don't know by name, but they were men of a certain area. He said, I'm not going to take credit for the work God did through somebody else. If there's anything that we need to always remember, especially those who minister, is that we're not alone in this, that there are so many others that God is using. There are so many other, I could, I could speak a long time on this, I won't, I'll just say this. We were not the first church in, in Geno. We were not the first church in Ontario. We were not the first church anywhere. There were already churches in existence. There were already pastors of labour and there are already people in the body of Christ who are doing the work of ministry. We simply entered into their labors. And so Paul is saying, I'm not taking credit for what somebody else was doing. I am simply being used by God and I am glorying in what he's done with me. You see, there were others laboring amongst the Gentiles and they were receiving credit for it. And so in this, we see that Paul refuses to boast in other men's victories. He also refused to boast in his own accomplishments. He's saying, Christ has given me strength to perform the work, but Jesus gets all the glory. In 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 6, this is what he said. He said, even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool because I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain. So no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe I've been around in ministry too long, but one of the things that bothers me is when I see preachers taking the credit for what God has done. If God really has done it, why are you boasting as if God hadn't done it? And if you did it, why are you taking credit for something that will not last? Because a man who builds on a faulty foundation is doomed. The work is going to crumble when storms hit. Like Jesus said, you have to build on the strong, firm foundation. You don't build on sand. And anytime you do ministry, and I'm saying this briefly, but any time you do ministry, it's for the glory of God. It is not for the glory of the man. And Paul said, I'm not going to take glory from God. Notice he says in verse 19, in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit. Now he could have gloried in what God was doing, but he didn't. And he points out, God has moved through me in my ministry in a supernatural way. We're in the book of Acts again, and we'll be continuing to do so until Jesus comes. And hopefully it'll be soon. But when we get to chapter 13 in verses 6 through 12, those verses speak of a sorcerer that is found in that portion. His name was Elemis, and Paul had caused him to become blind. He's speaking of a miracle. In chapter 14 of Acts, verse 3, it says that God works signs and wonders through Paul and Barnabas. And so he's speaking of mighty signs and wonders that have been performed by his hands, God using him. Now here's something for you. Part of his apostolic credentials included miracles that were performed through him. We have people today who refer to themselves as apostles. Some of you are aware of that, some may not be. The other day, Marie and I were kind of channel surfing, and I like to go to the religious channels for a minute or two. I can't take much more than that. And they had a lady whom they referred to as the apostle so-and-so. And this is the stuff that I turn to Marie and she'll go, why do you do this to yourself? And I don't know. So people use the term apostle loosely. We need to remember the apostolic credentials. Part of the credentials in apostle included miracles. In 2 Corinthians 12, 11, and 12, 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'm nothing. The things that mark an apostle, signs, wonders, and miracles were done among you with great perseverance. And so as an apostle, he's alluding to the signs, verse 19, mighty signs and wonders that he had performed that God used him to perform. And so as he speaks about that, he says that he has preached the gospel throughout Ilyricum. I'll look at that in just a moment. He says in verse 20, 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. I have made it my life's goal to preach about Jesus wherever I go, anywhere and everywhere. And I am not building on another man's foundation. I'm not watering the seeds that were planted by another apostle. Again, this is very common in the American church. Sometimes churches begin to grow and it's not due to evangelism. It's not due to reaching out and reaching the loss in them coming to church. It's what we in the church world who are who are regarded as as the world will call us professionals and I'm not. But you know what I mean. I hope you know what I mean by that. We who have made our livelihood and our life in preaching the gospel. There is a language amongst us sometimes that is used. And much of what you see when a church is growing is not due to evangelism. Many times what you're seeing is what we call transfer growth. Somebody had been in one place for a while and just goes to a new place. And the more that show up, the larger the growth. And then what happens is it becomes a very good work, good sized work. But people think oh that's a really living church. When in fact sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's simply sheep who've run from one place to go to another. And so he's saying I haven't built on another man's foundation. You see very few pastors ever experienced being the first to preach in an area. Some will enter into a place that have been reached already. People have gone through. They have they have broken up the fallow ground. Others have come in and they've sown seeds. Others have come in and they've watered. Then God has brought the increase. And that's generally how it works. And so we're entering into the labors of others. In John 438 Jesus said I sent you to reap what you haven't worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reap the benefits of their labor. And once again that's what ought to keep every minister humble. We're entering into the labor of others. So Paul didn't preach where others had already labored. Instead what he did is he endured dangers and hardship that he might plant new works. In 2nd Corinthians 10 13 through 16 he said we however will not boast beyond measure but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us. A sphere which especially includes you. For we are not overextending ourselves as though our authority didn't extend to you. For it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things beyond measure. That is in other men's labors but having hope that as your faith is increased we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not boast in another man's sphere of accomplishment. And so that's what he's speaking of here. And so as he's making it his aim to preach the gospel where Christ has yet to be named. He goes on to say in verse 22 for this reason. I also have been much hindered from coming to you. I've been evangelizing new areas and I've been delayed in coming but now I hope to see you soon. Verse 23 but now no longer having a place in these parts 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 and to be helped on my way there by you if first I may enjoy your company for a while. And so it's interesting how he says this. He had been preaching and I want you to notice this. He had made it very clear that he had preached again verse 19 that he had preached around a place called Illyricum. So he's pointing that out and he's saying that I have no longer verse 23 I don't have a place in these parts. In other words I've already accomplished that which I was called to do. I've gone about here preaching. So what he did and I'll now tell you where this Illyricum is. He said I have preached throughout the major cities basically the larger cities is where the apostles would go to because you had the most impact not to say they didn't go to villages they did but very often they'd go to larger cities and regions and so he said I've gone throughout Illyricum. Now Illyricum is what is used to be called Yugoslavia it's that area it's north of Greece. I drove through Yugoslavia back in 1975 from Athens Greece. Oh I was going to tell you a story I got a moment I will. I went to to Greece I went to Europe for three months backpacked Europe. I saw numerous numerous countries ended up in Greece and so we were in a place called Patras and then we went up into Athens and Thessalonica up in that area and so there were some people of my friend I was traveling with who was Greek he knew these people and so they had bought Mercedes-Benz's brand new Mercedes-Benz's and they were bringing them back to the United States and so they needed the cars transported to Frankfurt Germany so we were in Athens and we drove a Mercedes I drove one of the Mercedes from Athens all the way up into Frankfurt that's where we went some of you geographically know what that is where that is and so we went through Greece and traveled through Yugoslavia this is the area he's speaking about it's north of the border of Greece we were on a two-way highway driving up a hill in a mountainous area when I decided to pass an 18-wheeler and discovered that a six-cylinder Mercedes going uphill you shouldn't do that and so as I was going up I was up close to the to the driver's door when over a hill crested an 18-wheeler towards me and it's coming downhill so it gives you an idea what happened so as I'm driving I'm thinking well I'm glad I'm right with the Lord but my passengers and I couldn't hit the brakes it wasn't going to work we're going to go into head-on I still remember that and so what did I do well the driver of the truck that I was passing and there was a cliff and not a cliff it was a hillside there was no room he hugged the hillside probably a couple feet away from the hill his big ol' rig and I slid next to him and this big 18-wheeler came and blew past me and anybody who's ever had that kind of suction you'll never forget it and the Mercedes that we were in started to rock and we just kept going and went along so anyway I'll tell you that to I've been in Yugoslavia that's the whole point of the story and I know it well though my eyes were closed for just a moment anyway Yugoslavia is what is modern Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia it's in northern Macedonia, Slovenia, Albania that's the region so that's a large geographic region that's what he's saying so he said I've taken the word throughout this region it's time for me to have a new ministry opportunity and for the longest time I've wanted to come to Rome so in verse 24 so whenever I journey to Spain I shall come to you his hope is that the Romans will help him to get to Spain but there's no record of his ever making it there he goes on in verse 25 and he says but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints for it please those from Macedonia and Achaia that's Greece northern and south to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who were in Jerusalem it please 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 and have sealed to them this fruit I shall go by way of you to Spain so I'm on my way to Jerusalem I'm there to minister persecution as we've been looking through the book of acts again I allude to that persecution and famine had devastated the church in the south in Jerusalem we just looked at acts 11 27 and 28 when it said during this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch one of them named Agba stood up and through the spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world and this happened during the raid reign of Claudius and so this had happened and so as this is taking place verse 26 he says it please those in Macedonia and Achaia to make a contribution now he made it clear that it was pleasing to these churches it blessed them to be able to take care of the poor among the saints not all but many of the believers were enduring very difficult times and it pleased them because the church had actually been born in Jerusalem it was from Jerusalem that the gospel spread their salvation was a result of what had happened in Jerusalem and so when they had heard of the sufferings of the Jerusalem church how did they respond while they were themselves going through hard times but they responded in 1st Corinthians chapter 16 verses 1 through 3 you see Paul alluding to the contributions that were made but in 2nd Corinthians he gives more information chapter 10 verses 2 through 4 you see they were going through tough times wouldn't have been expected to give but they did he says in the terrible ordeal they suffered their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity I testify that they gave according to their ability and even beyond it of their own accord they pleaded with us with much earnestness with much in treaty for the grace and the fellowship of the service among the saints I didn't have to force them they pled with us give us an opportunity our salvation the churches were saying is of such value to us that even though we are going through extreme hardship ourselves we want to be a blessing to them God has made the poor to be rich in faith some of the most generous people you will ever encounter and you know this perhaps you're one of these I don't know some of the most generous people I've ever met in my life have been those who have need themselves but they give Marie and I were in Cuba ministering to along with the team to over 700 Cuban ministers few years ago and I'll say this quickly but as we're there um so many showed up for the for the conference that they didn't have room for them so there were these small like cubicles outside that were concrete that they would use to throw trash and storage in and they cleaned those out they had thrown away mattresses and the mattresses were just torn up and if you've never been to Cuba you have to understand that it's a it's impoverished it's a it's very it's it's a poor it's a poor country and they threw these ragged torn up mattresses in these small areas for the people who came the people who came they normally don't have their own cars they get on on semis that are we would call cattle cars um 18 wheelers and they all stand and they stand for two days as they come and that's what these people were doing they stood for two days to get there when they arrived to this conference the joy of these people is humbling they were so happy to have fellowship because even though people like to advertise Cuba as a place to go for tourists they don't go to where the people really are they go to Havana where they have tourist traps these people live in the country they have they have horse drawn carts not everybody has cars so there's a lot of impoverishment I say it to say this so they began to feed us we're there we're eating for two or three days we're there for a few days and we're eating chicken and rice every day chicken and rice and I'm grateful to what I eat and I'm not complaining it just says the same thing so somebody approached me and said you know why you're getting meat they called it meat you're getting chicken I said I said because the people have rations these people donated the ration cards so you and the teachers could eat yeah yeah they're eating rice while you're eating the chicken that should have been theirs some of you have seen that some of you have been part of that some of you have been humbled by that because how humbling is it to know that there's somebody who gave you their meal because you're feeding them about Jesus Christ see the american church doesn't understand this the american I could tell you stories I can't but I can tell you stories of places I've been to serve India where they have tents that are set up in in traffic islands because there's no place for him and the manila philippines in neighborhoods that have these cardboard houses where people are living where children stand in front of the mcdonalds asking for a couple bucks so they can have a hamburger because to them it's like eating filet you know americans are we're very spoiled we just don't realize it we just we don't realize it the macedonian churches the achean churches were going through hardship but when they heard there was a need with their brothers and sisters in jerusalem they begged me paul said please receive because you can feel guilty receiving from somebody who has very little you don't want to take from them but they said no we want to participate in this blessing talk about being humbled talk about being humbled why? because they're debtors because their salvation had made it possible been made possible because of god's love and mercy to israel and sending messiah he said in verse 27 it pleased them indeed and they are their debtors for and if the gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things their duty is also to minister to them in material things they are debtors and out of gratitude and love for their brethren they want to care for them and then finally I'll read and conclude but I know that when I come to you I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of christ I beg your 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 judaea 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 amen he said I want to come and bring verse 20 29 I want to come and bring the full blessing of the gospel I want to bring the knowledge and the grace and the comfort that comes through Jesus christ and so I'm begging you through Jesus christ if you love the lord and have the love of the spirit I am praying and I'm asking you to in christ's name strive in prayer with me pray as if in agony and pray with great urgency and please pray for me for what that I may verse 31 be delivered from those in judaea who don't believe the jewish leaders were in complete opposition to him as well as this message more than one attempt on his life had been made and because of this he desired fervent prayer remember this all ministry is spiritual warfare all ministry is spiritual warfare and you say oh no only the teaching of the word or singing worship songs no all ministry is spiritual warfare you may not believe that but it is you're serving in the children's ministry as a helper you're having trouble getting to church in the back of your mind you may say it's no big deal I don't do anything other than all ministry is spiritual and the devil I'm telling you believe me or not the devil wants to hinder you from doing even the smallest thing because if he can discourage you in the things that are least you will never be used by God in the things that are great keep that in mind if you can't do the least thing you'll never do the greater there are people who say I want to be a pastor and I want a mega church mega church is 2000 plus that's what mega churches are have you ever taught a home bible study no but I want to be a mega church pastor they always want to start at the top no you start wherever God places you I started ministry in things that that you wouldn't think are ministry one of my very first official ministries was I was a chaplain in the in our softball team when I was a young man and I could still play I was a chaplain Marie and I my wife and I I was an assisting pastor I also oversaw the children's ministry and did children's ministry you start where the need is and you show faithfulness there and when you're faithful in that which is least you will be faithful in that which is much when you begin to think that you want to speak to the adults but you can't speak to children our pastor my pastor taught us if you can communicate the depth of the gospel in a simple way for a child to understand you can teach anybody you need to understand that because sometimes we want to start out here you know I'm applying for the job and what job do you want I want to be the CEO and so when you're ministryed all ministry is spiritual warfare so he says pray for me now why because it's a struggle after his conversion to Christ an attempt was made on his life they had to put him in a basket and place him over the over the wall because there was a plot to kill him and so he's saying I need your prayers and then finally he said verse 31 through 33 pray that my service will be acceptable since Paul ministered to Gentiles some still may have trouble with that and also sometimes the Gentiles themselves may not want to receive the gifts that came from the Jewish church so pray that this will be accepted and then finally pray that I may come to you with joy by the will of God pray that I can come on unimpeded because that will bring me joy to see you and to be able to impart to you that which God has given to me for you when I share with you and I'll close with one last thought and I say please keep us in prayer we're gonna go you just read why because because the enemy does everything he can to hinder those who want to exalt Christ he does everything he can he does everything he can he throws roadblocks he causes he provokes people you will be surprised at the warfare that takes place that's the reason why every time I teach on Sunday morning especially we have people praying they pray during the service the whole service that God would move because Paul and others have said keep us in prayer it is spiritual warfare never forget that and so he prays and says keep me in prayer and pray fervently