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Morning Thoughts |
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Romans
15:30-32, "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and
for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to
God for me; That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and
that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; That I
may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed." This morning, many today - perhaps moreso than at any other time in human history - fail to understand the scope of the gospel. The scope of the gospel is not just its purpose but its intended area of impact or immediate impact. As one familiar with firearms and marksmanship, I found the use of a scope on a rifle to be an interesting situation. The scope does not negate the fact that other things are happening directly outside the field of vision, nor does it fail to see other things directly outside the "crosshairs. As Paul concludes his address to the church at Rome, he entails some rather interesting things. As usual - for Paul - he mentions specific people by name (some positively and others negatively), and he commands by way of commendation some closing thoughts directly tied to his ministry. In our verses above, he specifically addresses the scope of his ministry and the hoped for effect. To begin with, Paul invokes the power of prayer from the saints for his efforts and labours in the gospel. Indeed, this detail can never be overlooked, for as the song so ably declares, "I need the prayers of those I love." We need to be found continually in earnest prayer for one another, and as ministers, that our labours - and the labours of our yokefellows - would find fruitful abundance in the lives of the hearers to the praise and glory of God. Directly following the invocation of prayer, Paul makes reference to things outside of the scope of his ministry. He prays for deliverance from (not to) those that are outside the scope. To modern theology and thinking, this is a backwards statement. Why would a minister pray for deliverance away from people? If he is imparting the rich gift of spiritual life through his efforts, this would indeed not make any sense at all. But, due to the import of the gospel being light of life and immortality (II Timothy 1:10), there are some that do not need the light as they do not have the life and immortality to bring to light. Paul makes the same declaration in Colossians 4:2-3 and II Thessalonians 3:1-2. Since all men do not have faith, Paul desired to be delivered - as much as possible - away from their presence. Ministers today need prayer (by themselves and others) to be delivered away from people that would delight in stoning them to death for preaching. Furthermore, Paul addresses those in Judaea as nonbelievers that he wanted to be delivered away from. These nonbelievers were not, without exception, completely void of faith (although a portion probably were), but some were content and happy in their erroneous state. A minister will not have fruitful results preaching to people with seared consciences. Just as Paul had enemies for the gospel's sake that were beloved for the fathers' sake (Romans 11:28) so shall we today as well. Trying to answer them according to their folly will only yield the result of ending up like them: just as unreasonable and stubborn. (Proverbs 26:4) Therefore, Paul's scope of the gospel as it pertained to his ministry was prayer away from these nonbelievers and prayer to the saints at Jerusalem. The term "saints" can only refer to people whose hearts are tendered by God Almighty, but the word also reflects that they are warm, gracious individuals that exude a sense of reverence and holiness for the things of God. The scope that Paul longed for was the ministry to people at Jerusalem that were hungering and thirsting after righteousness, seeking to know more of those wonderful things that their heart spoke of so that they would know more (outwardly) of what their heart knew (inwardly). Paul laboured in service for an acceptability in presenting rich, sound truths to those that longed for these things. These people may even be ignorant of many things that Paul desired to teach, but he longed that these hungry sheep would know what he knew. Therefore, Paul's scope of his ministry for that time was the saints that he wanted to impact in the vicinity of Jerusalem on his journey. The end result of that impact was primary in focus and overflowing in general effect. Verse 32 speaks of the impact of preaching being the refreshing of those saints in their mutual love and joy. Preaching today, while not quickening into divine life or assisting that work, does serve to refresh and renew the joy of that life. Refreshing carries connotations of rest and revival from mutual effort and energy. Therefore, Paul wanted to rest with these people with a revival of spirits with them. That effect would require mutual work and labour (starting with prayer and ending with the joy of that scene of rest) by both he and them. Yet, there is an implied general effect that Paul desired. If one is refreshed and rested in a physical way, they are more able to accomplish work and duties that require that physical energy. Physical rest makes for better employee duties, household work, friendly cooperation with neighbours in the community, etc. Spiritual rest tends to more joy in day to day living. The general effect of the gospel is that the refreshing of the saints makes them better employees, husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, sons, daughters, and friends. By the revival of the spirits, we generally impact those around us as they see our hope and begin to inquire of it. (I Peter 3:15) We should always stand ready to speak of that life that we should be daily walking after by the refreshing impact of the gospel. When I look through a natural scope, my eye is fixed on a point that I am seeking to immediately impact. Yet, when the bullet finds its mark, those items within the scope's vision are directly affected: smoke, movement of objects, etc. Yet, objects and items not seen in the scope can then see the repercussions of that instance. Perhaps the ground vibrates with the travel of the bullet, or perhaps the item affected lands outside what the scope saw. In the case of preaching, the minister's scope is those that he preaches to, but the overall effect can reach into places that he did not see. Perhaps the hearers' lives were so positively affected that their friends and neighbours decide to "Come and see." Perhaps they hear of these great things by word-of-mouth discussions about the sermon (like the bullet travelling over the ground). Whatever the situation may be, may our scope be that of the refreshing of the saints who long for these things. May that more general effect from the labour redound to the glory of God in our efforts to be hearers and doers of the word. (James 1:22) May our prayers for one another be in this scope with the hope of that end.  In Hope, Bro Philip |