In verse 30 of Romans 15, the
apostle says, now I beseech you. That word beseech is an interesting
word. It's a plea. It's an earnest
plea. And it comes out of a need. This is not just a casual byline,
you know, and he's gonna be talking about prayer. He says, I beseech
you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, for the love of
the Spirit, that you strive together with me. Striving, you see. That's
a diligent effort. Striving with me in your prayers
to God for me. So he's talking about prayer,
and this request for prayer is born out of a real need that
the Lord had laid upon Paul's heart and his mind concerning
the ministry of the gospel. the ministry to the Gentiles
mainly, but also to the Jews. And Paul had already written
these people in this letter to tell them that he had a strong
desire to come to them and to meet them face to face and have
fellowship with them, and that his plan was to do that on his
way to Spain. But before he would go there,
he wanted to go to Jerusalem to take a gift. that was collected
by believers in Macedonia and Achaia to give to believers in
Jerusalem who had been persecuted for the gospel. They had lost
their jobs, lost their homes, they were destitute. So the Gentile
believers and Jewish believers in Macedonia and Achaia, they
got together and had a collection. probably of money to take to
the destitute believers in Jerusalem, and Paul wanted to go there.
And so he requests prayer from them. So let me just say a little
bit about prayer. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
four to start off with. You know, prayer has become almost
a byline today. It's a very, very casual thing
to people Because people are, by nature, religious, as you
know. And especially when people get
in trouble, they look above, and they pray. And a lot of times
in their prayers, they simply do nothing more than make bargains
with God. I used to do that. God, if you'll
get me out of this one, I'll go to church, I'll do this, I'll
give my life. all kinds of things, and that's
heathenistic, really. It's paganistic, it's not prayer,
it's not biblical prayer, it's not the prayer of a believer.
Prayer is a sacred thing to God's people. Prayer is the earnest
plea of a true child of God seeking communion with his or her father
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what prayer is. Prayer
is not something that we do trying to convince God to do anything,
trying to change his mind. I pray that the Lord would cause
this trial of this virus to pass quickly. That's my desire. God, he knows my desires before
I even express them. The Bible says he knows what
I have need of. He's the one who sent this virus
and he's the one who's gonna bring it through. He knows when.
But he commands us to pray because prayer is an act of worship. When we pray unto the living
God, the true and living God, we're worshiping him. We're exalting
him. Hallowed be thy name. That's
what Christ taught the disciples to pray in the model prayer as
recorded in Matthew chapter six. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. We pray unto God because we're
his children. And prayer is an act of faith. We pray unto God because he commands
us to, and he gives us that privilege. It's a privilege. You know, people
today who claim to be Christian but who deny the sovereignty
of God, they'll use sinful human reasoning. to combat their, combat
people, true believers who do know that God is sovereign in
all things, that God has declared the end from the beginning, that
God works all things after the counsel of his own will. And
they'll say things like this. For example, we know the Bible
teaches that God has chosen a people before the foundation of the
world to save. And that Christ has died for
them and they're going to be saved. And somebody might make
a statement like this. He might say, well, they're gonna
be saved no matter what. No, that's not what the scripture
says. They're gonna be saved in the way that God says they're
going to be saved, and it's according to his glory revealed in Christ. But unbelievers who deny election
and who deny God's sovereignty, they'll say, well, if God's gonna
save them anyway, why preach? Well, first of all, we preach
because God commands us to preach. Secondly, preaching is God's
means. Preaching the gospel is God's
means to call out his elect. And thirdly, it's for his glory.
Now the same thing holds true with prayer. If my prayers don't
change God's mind, then why pray? Well, number one, he commands
us to. Number two, it's his means that he's appointed to bless
his people. And the keys to prayer Number
one here, look at Hebrews chapter four, verse 14. Here's the first
key to prayer, verse 14. And remember I said prayer's
an act of worship, it's an act of submission, it's an act of
faith, it's praising God. He says in verse 14 of Hebrews,
for seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, passed through, And what he's talking about is
how Christ, it says, Jesus, the Son of God, Christ has made a
way to God, a way of fellowship, a way of acceptance, a way of
communication in prayer. And this is the first key. Prayer
is an act of a believer. An unbeliever's prayer is an
abomination. And that's why Paul over here
in Romans 15 and verse 30, he says, now I beseech you, brethren,
for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. In other words, what I'm beseeching
you and begging you to do is to go to God on my behalf in
the name of Christ, on the basis of Christ's blood, on the basis
of his righteousness which is imputed to us. Because that's
our only access to God. Somebody asked me a couple weeks
ago, says, does God hear the prayers of an unbeliever? Well,
God is aware of them. God knows what goes on. But does
he accept them? Is he pleased with them? The
answer's no. Because without faith, it's impossible to please
God. The only way that we have true access to God in prayer
is through the Lord Jesus Christ, our mediator. Our persons, ourselves,
we are accepted of God by the blood of Jesus Christ. Our works,
our worship, our praises, our singing of hymns, our fellowship,
our efforts to please God, they're all accepted only by the blood
of Christ and no other way. And so even though God does hear
the prayer, of an unbeliever, he doesn't accept it. It's an
act of idolatry, actually, because the God to whom an unbeliever
prays is a false God. Now over here in Hebrews 4, 14,
he says we pray because we have a great high priest who did a
great work. Who is the great high priest?
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The God man, God manifest in
the flesh. What did he do? Well, he passed
into the heavens. Now, what was on his way into
the heavens? The cross. He died on the cross
to save his people from their sins. He removed that which alienated
God's people from God, that is sin. He purged our sins and he
brought forth righteousness whereby we can stand before God and be
accepted. And it says in verse 15 of Hebrews
four, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, that is the weaknesses of the
flesh, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin, the sinless substitute. Now look at verse 16. Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Prayer
is coming to God on his throne of grace. Now, if I don't believe
in salvation by grace, what throne am I coming to? You see, grace
is the salvation that God freely gives us based upon the righteousness
of Christ. And those who believe salvation
is conditioned on themselves, on their works and their will,
they're not coming to a throne of grace. They're really not
even seeking mercy because mercy is free and undeserved. It's
unearned. So when Paul requests prayer,
we have to understand the seriousness of this. You know, people today,
it's almost like saying hello and goodbye. Pray for me, pray
for me, pray for me. Do you know when you ask a person
to pray for you what you're doing? You're asking them to go to God,
whatever idea of God they have, on your behalf. It's sort of
the equivalent of saying, you're my brother or my sister in Christ.
And that may not be the case, and that's what Paul is saying
here, verse 30 of Romans 15. I beseech you, brethren, for
the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. And what that means is I beseech
you to pray for me in the name of our Heavenly Father through
the merits of Christ. So to ask someone to pray for
you is to say we have the same Father, we have the same God,
we worship the same God. And if they're going to a God
who will bless them based upon the merits of their prayers,
that's not the God we worship. That's an idol. And so asking
someone to pray for you, saying you're my brother, you're my
sister in Christ, well they might not believe the same gospel.
So we have to understand that even the act of prayer begins
with the unity of truth in the gospel. The gospel of God's free,
how does God save me? He saves me by his grace. through
the merits of the righteousness of Christ. That's how he receives
me and accepts me. He says, and for the love of
the Spirit, the love that the Spirit sheds abroad in the hearts
of God's people. That's what drives us to prayer.
Prayer is an act of love. And so Paul was saying we're
together in this thing. It's from a motive of sincere
love that believers have for Christ and for one another because
the Spirit of God has shed that love abroad in our hearts. Now,
also, now Paul well knew the sovereignty of God. I mean, you
read the book of Romans, we've been studying, especially Romans
chapter nine. He knew God couldn't, that we
can't change God's mind, yet he says, I beseech you that you
strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Now he
knew that he couldn't change God's mind, but he also knew
that prayer was an instrumental means for believers, for children
of God, by which God accomplishes his sovereign purpose and blesses
us through Christ. And that brings us to the second
key to prayer. The first key is coming to the
throne of grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. The second key
to prayer is in these words, thy will be done. That's a key to prayer. I know
what I want, okay? I know what I desire. I also
know that I don't always get what I want and what I desire. And I also realize that being
a child of God, being bound in this world, in this humanity,
this human flesh, That sometimes I don't know what would be good
for me or what would be bad for me. I think in my own mind that
a certain thing that I might pray for is good for me. But
you know who knows better than me? My Heavenly Father. And I don't want to change his
mind. because his mind is for all his glory and the good of
his people. I know whatever God has in mind
for me is going to be good for me, even though I may not see
it because I'm so limited in this human body. And so when
I pray, Lord, heal me of this sickness, that's what I want
and I desire, and that seems like it would be good for me,
but God knows better than me. He knows better. And so the key
to prayer, number one, praying to God, the God of all grace
through the Lord Jesus Christ, and secondly, thy will be done. There's nothing wrong with me
expressing my desires and wants as long as those desires and
wants are not in opposition to God's revealed word. I thought
about this, you know, people today who claim that, who hate
God's electing grace. And they say, well now, salvation's
not by the sovereign will of God, it's by the will of men
and women. And so they'll pray, God save
this one. God say, if you believe that
salvation is by the free will of men and women, why are you
praying God do this? You ought to be pleading with
them to accept him. But you know that's a lie. That's
heresy. We pray to God, save your people
from their sins. Knowing that he's gonna do that.
But that's my desire too. And so we pray, thy will be done. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. And that's the keys to prayer.
Lord, give me what I, Lord, save me, keep me. I pray for people. I pray for my loved ones who
I know are lost. Lord, save them. I don't know
if he's going to do it or not, but I know it's my desire that
he do it because I love them. And then I pray, Lord, keep us,
all of those things. So Paul in verse 30, now I beg
you, you might say it that way, brethren, and see, this is the
key, he's asking brethren, people whom he knows are brethren in
the faith. They believe they have the same
father, the same mediator, the same savior, they're all saved
and equally saved and justified based upon the righteousness
of Christ. For the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love
of the Spirit that you strive together with me in your prayers
to God. Now he brings some specifics
here. Look at verse 31. He says, he's
praying this, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe
in Judea. Now he was going to Jerusalem
and he knew there was a lot of opposition to Christ and his
people, to the gospel. Why? Because Paul well knew the
offense of the cross The preaching of Christ, the preaching of the
righteousness of God was an offense to these Jewish unbelievers because
it exposed their deeds of which they were so proud as being evil. It exposed their false refuges.
It called them what they were, idolaters. And so Paul says,
pray that when I go there that I'll be delivered. Paul was delivered
from Jerusalem, but not in the way that he thought. You remember, they arrested him and put him
in chains, and he appealed unto Caesar, and then they took him
to Rome. So God's ways, they're very mysterious, you know, but
God's gonna get his, his will is gonna be accomplished. And
you know, Paul, he wrote to Timothy from prison in 2 Timothy chapter
two. He talked about how he was suffering
in his bonds over the gospel, and that was part of that when
he went to Jerusalem, and he was arrested. And you know what
he said? He said, Timothy, the reason
I do it is for the elect's sake. I know God has a chosen people,
and he's gonna save them by his grace. But how's he gonna do
it? Through the preaching of the
gospel through such weak vessels as we are. That's God, it pleased
the Lord by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The gospel is the power of God
and salvation. So Paul's prayer was answered
in that he was delivered from death in Jerusalem, but not from
imprisonment. And then he says in verse 31,
he says, not only pray that I be delivered from them that do not
believe in Judea, He says, and pray that my service, which I
have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the saints. Now that may sound
a little strange, but you know what, Paul, he realized, especially
in these early days of the church, when the gospel first began,
the New Testament church was first inaugurated in Jerusalem
at Pentecost, and there were Gentiles there then and Jews,
And then it began to be shot out over the Gentile world. Even
in that early stage, even some believers among the Jews still
had sinful prejudices against the Gentiles. And it wasn't right,
and they had to be taught. And you remember, even the apostle
Peter had a little hard time with it. You remember when he
was in Galatia eating with Gentiles, and the Jewish brethren came
from James, and he got up and moved tables, you know? He knew
that there was prejudices there, probably in his own mind. You
remember in Acts chapter 10, how the Lord gave him that vision
in a dream that sent him to a Gentile named Cornelius. So there were
problems there. And so Paul was simply saying,
you pray that these Jewish believers would accept the gifts that he
had from Gentile believers. And this is what a lot of people
don't understand, especially throughout the New Testament.
You know, when the word world is used in connection with salvation,
a world of believers, that's really what, That word is showing that God
has a chosen people all over this world, Jew and Gentile,
elect people. It's not saying that God is trying
to save everybody without exception in the world. Not at all. Christ said, I pray not for the
world. I pray for those which thou have
given me. All those whom God gave him, he said, shall come
to me. and him that cometh to me, I will unknowwise cast out. But one of the hardest lessons
for many of the Jewish believers to learn was the fact that in
Christ, there's neither Jew nor Gentile. And if you look over
at Ephesians chapter two, in Ephesians chapter two, the apostle
deals with this, talking about how the that every chosen sinner
was quickened together with Christ when he was on that cross. We
died with him, we were buried with him, we were raised again.
Grace, by grace you're saved through faith and that not of
yourselves were his workmanship. And he says in verse 11 of Ephesians
2, listen to this. Wherefore remember that you being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. There
was a division there between the Jews, the circumcised, and
the Gentiles, the uncircumcised. And he says in verse 12 that
at that time you were without Christ. And this is mainly the
time of the Old Testament. Being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, Because that's where the word of God was with the
commonwealth of Israel under the old covenant. And strangers
are foreigners from the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. But look at verse 13. But now
in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. You're brought near. And verse
14, it says, for he is our peace. who hath made both one, that
is Jew and Gentile believer. We're one in Christ, there's
no division there. He said, and hath broken down
the middle wall of partition between us. There's no division,
see. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law
of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself
of two, twain, of two, one new man, so making peace, reconciled
to God by the blood of Christ. And so this division of Jew and
Gentile has no bearing in the kingdom of God. Any Jew who is
saved, saved by grace. Any Gentile who's saved, saved
by grace. Jew and Gentile, both equally
justified, forgiven, pardoned, righteous in God's sight based
upon the imputed righteousness of Christ. And so that's all
gone. So Paul, he realizes that some
of these Jewish brethren might still retain some of those old
grave clothes of prejudice. And so he says, you pray for
me that they'll accept this gift. Well, look at verse 32 of Romans
15. He says, pray that I may come unto you with joy by the
will of God. And there's your key now, the
will of God. If it's God's will, And may with
you be refreshed. He anticipated a great time of
worship and fellowship with these saints at Rome and that he would
enjoy, they would experience together the joy and it would
be a refreshing. Here's Paul working out here
on the road, preaching the gospel, sometimes having to run for his
life. And he said, boy, it's just nice to sit down in the
fellowship of believers and rejoicing Christ. And so he says, you pray
for that, that joy and refreshing of fellowship. And again, you
know, when he finally got to Rome, he was in prison, he was
in chains, but he was allowed by God, according to God's will,
to receive brethren and to see them and they could come and
go and he could talk to them about the gospel. And then verse
33, he says, now the God of peace be with you all, amen. God of peace, who is the God
of peace? That's the one who's been reconciled
under his people, his elect, by the blood of Jesus Christ,
by the cross. Peace with God is the product
of righteousness established through the blood of Christ.
And so when we come to God in prayer, when we enjoy the fellowship
of each other, when we enjoy our unity, we know it's by the
grace of God that reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay.