Intentions
Romans 15:24 “Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and uto be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be esomewhat filled †with your company.” [1]
I. When
A. Decided
B. Determined
II. Where
A. Distracted
B. Detoured
III. Who
A. Detained
B. Delighted
Introduction: We are in the second month of 2023. Did you make a New Year resolution? Have you kept it? There are probably some that you have kept and some that were not kept. Some were beyond your control when you made the so-called resolution. So what were those things that you said you would do that have not been done? Did you know that you were not going to accomplish the thing when you said that you would? Then the ball is in your court.
Jesus came here with a passion to take the sin of the world when He sacrificed Himself on the cross. He was resolved to do that. There was no way that Jesus was not going to do that. He was God and therefore He had the ability to know everything forward, present and, backwards. Jesus had the attribute of omniscience yet He chose to empty Himself of His divine attributes while He was here until just the right time.
We are not omniscient. We talked about the attributes that we don’t have that God possesses last week. Since we can’t be sure that we will always do what we promise to do it is important that we don’t make rash promises or resolutions. We might be sinning by lying without knowing that we can’t do what we say. Matthew 5:37 records what Jesus said, “zBut let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” [2]
Does this mean that we should not ever set goals for ourselves? I was in a church once where the pastor and I had the idea to challenge people to read through the Bible in a year. That was to be their resolution for the following year. They signed up and we told them that they would receive a brand new Bible to read the first Sunday in January. Some of us donated money to buy the Bibles. Many took the Bibles. Few of them were actually read through that year.
Who was wrong? Did those who took the Bibles and not read them through steal? Were we wrong for trying to coerce someone into doing something that they had not thought of themselves?
I had no idea if all the people who took Bibles would read them through. My intention was to get more people reading their Bibles. The people who took the Bibles and didn’t complete the assignment also had good intentions and they probably started and maybe got behind and quit. Their intentions were good and the idea was set in their minds to read the Bible each day.
Today we are going to look at and examine a statement that the apostle Paul made. We think that he didn’t actually do what he said he was going to do in this particular case. It’s a pretty famous piece of scripture. It’s one that I have especially thought quite a bit about lately.
There have been more instances lately of me not doing what I intend to do than I can remember. In the past when I told people that I would do a thing, sometimes I admit it was a lie. Now I don’t intentionally say things that I don’t plan to do but it seems it happens quite often. Lord help me so that my yes can be yes again.
Scripture: Today’s focal text is Romans 15:24.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: “Whensoever.” Notice that the KJV doesn’t have Paul saying “when” here. If you were to do a search through Paul’s letter to the Romans you might find what I found. This is the first time recorded in the KJV that Paul used the word “Whensoever.” There are many instances of the word “When.” To say that a thing will be done when something else is done is more emphatic that saying “whensoever.” Paul told those Christians in Rome that he would visit them whenever it so happened that he would be on his way to Spain.
We are not picking at legal straws here. The point is that it is important to understand it is not smart to only count on yourself when you make promises that you might not keep. I was warned about that recently by a nurse on my way out of the hospital. It has become abundantly clear why God used her to warn me. I have disappointed myself more times than I want to think about.
To say that you will do something when; that means that what your plan is determined on something else. Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no. Make promises only about the things that you can decide one way or the other without conditions.
So how many things that we do are not dependent on something or someone else? There are other places in the Bible that warn of making plans without God. To even say that I will see ya’ll Wednesday evening for our social is a foolish thing for me to say. If God wills I will see you Wednesday night. That is my intention. So when Wednesday evening comes, if it is God’s will, I will see you then. I might have just lied again. Are you really going to be there? If you are and if Wednesday night comes and if it’s God’s will, I will see you Wednesday night. See where we’re going. Without omnisicisnce it is nearly impossible to always do what you intend to do. Paul left himself an out when he didn’t say when but instead said whensoever.
So if and when Paul took his journey into Spain he would come to see those in Rome. In the next verse it sounds as if Paul was considering that those folks there in Rome might actually help him to continue his journey to Spain. Maybe that’s why he mentioned Spain. We know that he went to Rome as a prisoner and tradition has it that he was under house arrest. Tradition also has it that Paul never left Rome.
Paul’s destination was determined to be Rome. That is where God decided for him to go and apparently that is where God left Paul until Paul went to his eternal home. In verse twenty-five Paul had a detour to make which sealed his fate. “But now I xgo unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.” [3]
Paul considered his trip to Jerusalem almost like a detour. “But now I go unto Jerusalem.” It seems that the money that was taken up in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor in Jerusalem was little more than a distraction on his way to Spain. Little did Paul know the encounter that he would have in Jerusalem with those unruly Jews would cause change in his destination.
Sometimes we have people in front of us that take our attention that we would like to get past so that we can get on to the next thing that we think we are supposed to be doing. Probably I should have said that is very often me only. Maybe nobody else has ever felt that way. When someone treats you that way and you know it; that hurts. It is not a good feeling to know that someone feels you are a distraction to them.
Who is the subject of your attention? One of the prayers that I was taught as a child was to ask God to bring into my presence that day the person who He willed for me to minister to. That could and should be a very good prayer. Paul was on his way to Spain. There is that little caveat about whensoever instead of when but Paul had all intentions of going to Spain with a detour through Jerusalem and then Rome and finally Spain. Listen as we read from verse twenty-five… “25 But now I xgo unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26 For it hath pleased them of yzMacedonia and yaAchaia bto make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For cif the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, dtheir duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. 28 When therefore I have performed this, and have esealed to them this ffruit, I will come by you into Spain. 29 And I am sure that, gwhen I come unto you, I shall come in the hfulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30 Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye istrive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 kThat I may be delivered from them that ||do not believe in Judaea; and that my lservice which I have for Jerusalem may be llaccepted of the saints; 32 That I may come unto you with joy mby the will of God, and may with you be nrefreshed. 33 Now othe God of peace be with you all. Amen.” [4]
Who was it that Paul thought he was supposed to witness to in Spain? The truth of the matter here is that it really doesn’t matter who Paul thought he was supposed to see in Spain. He was detained in Jerusalem and found himself in Rome with the ones that he thought would enable him to continue his mission trip to Spain. Instead Paul was delighted to write some of his most gracious epistles there in Rome. He was delighted as his friends came from long distances to see and be with Paul. He had good intentions but God had a perfect plan.
Prayer:
Invitation: We have good intentions or at least we would like to believe that they are good. We want things to be like we want them to be and often we have not and cannot consider the consequences of our intentions. We are not omniscient. God is.
Is that to say that we should never have any intentions of our own? No! Sometimes and oftentimes the intentions that we have were planted there by the Holy Spirit. What we should never do is to rigidly believe that our plans cannot and will not change. As the old saying goes, “If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans.”
God might have you doing the very thing that He has for you to do in those moments that you are wishing for the distraction to be over. He is the Master of the moment. The invitation today is to be intentional and deliberate in the ministry that God has placed you in right now. Don’t let your plans for tomorrow get in your way of doing what God has you doing right now.
The question was asked if this world has gone too far away from God for a Godly leader to bring us back. Some believed we have gone too far. We are in this moment. Trust God!
u See Acts 15:3.
e ch. 11:25. ver. 24. 2 Cor. 1:14. & 2:5 in the Gk. So 1 Cor. 12:27. & 13:9, 10, 12.
† Gr. with you. Comp. ver. 32.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 15:24). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
z So Col. 4:6. See ver. 33.
[2] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Mt 5:37). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
x Acts 19:21. & 20:3, 22. & 24:17.
[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 15:25). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
x Acts 19:21. & 20:3, 22. & 24:17.
y Acts 19:21. 1 Thess. 1:7, 8.
z See Acts 16:12.
y Acts 19:21. 1 Thess. 1:7, 8.
a See Acts 18:12.
b 2 Cor. 9:2. See Acts 24:17. Comp. Baruch 1:6.
c ch. 11:17.
d 1 Cor. 9:11. Comp. Gal. 6:6.
e See John 6:27.
f See ch. 1:13.
g So ch. 1:11.
h See John 1:16.
i Col. 4:12. So 2 Cor. 1:11.
k 2 Thess. 3:2. See 2 Cor. 1:10. Comp. Acts 20:22, 23.
|| Or, are disobedient. See ch. 11:30.
l See 2 Cor. 8:4.
ll See ver. 16.
m ch. 1:10. See Acts 18:21.
n See Ecclus. 3:6. So 2 Tim. 1:16.
o ch. 16:20. Phil. 4:9. 1 Thess. 5:23. Heb. 13:20. So 1 Cor. 14:33. 2 Cor. 13:11. 2 Thess. 3:16.
[4] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ro 15:25–33). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
