When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. 29 I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, 31 that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen....
First, let’s get the bigger picture of Romans and then come to our text in chapter 15. At the beginning of this letter, in chapter one, and at the end of this letter, in chapter 15, Paul expresses his longing for a personal, mutual, loving relationship with the saints in Rome. He has never been there. He doesn’t know most of them. But listen to how he talks. And test yourself to see if this is the way you feel and speak and act. Romans 1:9-15:
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
You can’t miss the level of importance and preciousness that Paul puts on these hoped-for relationships.
- I pray without ceasing that I will be able to come to you.
- I long to see you.
- I want us to encourage each other as we share our spiritual gifts with each other.
- I have often intended to come but have been hindered.
- I would love to be used by God to reap some harvest among you.
- I am under obligation. I am your servant.
Then he comes near the end of his letter in Romans 15:22-24. And he picks up the point he made in Romans 1:13 that he had been hindered from coming.
This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
Again the emphasis is clear that he wants the joy of a mission-driven, personal, loving relationship with them:
- I have longed for years to come to you.
- I hope to see you as I go to Spain.
- I hope you will help me and be part of the mission.
- I want to enjoy your company for a while.
Don’t miss that last comment. I want to be filled up with the joy of your presence and friendship and faith and ministry. Paul was not afraid of saying that part of the fullness of his enjoyment of God comes through relationships with God’s God-besotted children. We see more of God, we know more of God, we enjoy more of God when we live in relationship with God’s people. If you try to be alone in your faith, needless distortions and discouragements will come. It’s not the way God designed us to be.
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