22 For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 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. ~ Romans 15:22-24
We are progressing our way to the end of this letter written by the Apostle Paul to the believers in Rome. As has been pointed out, the ultimate point of this book is service. Most people often miss the main point that God has through something, and, the book of Romans is no different. When we think of Romans we think of all of the deep theology that is in it. Theological words like justification, and sanctification. As is always the case with God, the main point is not to be found in the glamorous headline. No, God always is at work most in the subscripts of life. This is why the end result of this book is servanthood.
Today, we return to our study of Romans 15, the Apostle Paul's continuation of what a "living sacrifice" looks like. And, to the degree that we understanding the deep theology taught in Romans and to the degree that the grace and mercy of God apprehends our souls will be the degree to which we will be living sacrifices unto God and we will be useful to Him in what He is doing in this world.
In v.22 of today's passage we read, "For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you."
When we arrive on the porch of servanthood our wills take a back seat to the will of God. God does not always send us where we want to go. The Apostle Paul wanted for years to go to Rome, but God had other ideas that prevented it. The gospel had already been preached in Rome, and the believers there didn't need the Apostle Paul there like some other parts of the world did at that time.
In a sense, Paul had completed his work in those regions, but there was more work to be done. Paul had laid a foundation for the Christian faith and he had planted churches in those areas. Now, others would pick up the mantle and water the seed Paul planted. Others would need to continue the work there, to disciple the believers to become mature Christians and to reach more people for the Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, we must never believe our work for God is done while we are on this earth.
In v.23-24 of today's passage we read, "23 But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 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."
The Apostle Paul gives two reasons for his planning visit to Rome. First of all, he says there was no more place for him in the parts that he had been up until the writing of the book of Romans. Paul had preached in almost every major area in Greece and in Asia and now he didn't need to be there anymore and he felt free for the first time to travel west to Rome.
The second reason is simply that he had always had a longing to visit Rome and meet the Christians there in the capital city of the Empire which was such a critical place where he could make such a great impact for the Lord Jesus. But Rome wasn't Paul's final destination. He had his eye on another place. According to v.24, he wanted to go to Spain, a country which at that time had never yet had a gospel witness. Paul was always thinking ahead. Always laying tentative plans to do the thing he loved to do best and the thing he was called of God to do, and that was: to preach the gospel in virgin territory.
Finally, there is a huge lesson embedded in today's verses that the servant of the Lord must come to grips with if he is to be useful to the Lord in this world. The lesson is what do I do when I am delayed? In such a context, we must wait patiently. Times of waiting are very revealing, they reveal who is calling the shots in our lives. As the servants of the Lord we mustn't be too quick to rush into something that the Lord has told us to wait on. God sees what we can not see, He sees everything involved. We must trust His leading and we must trust Him to open the doors according to His timing and then we will walk through those doors.
