When Paul went travelling to preach, he went out of his way to places where the name of Jesus Christ was unheard of. This was partly because it was the work of an apostle to lay the foundations, and some aspects of Paul’s work are not replicable today. However, his example is also instructive and encouraging for preachers in our own times to take up the task of bringing the exalted Saviour to the attention of those who have never before heard of him. It fulfils various prophecies about Christ’s exaltation when godless places become God-fearing. Yet according to some estimates, a third of the world’s population have never been reached with the gospel. Only 10% of cross-cultural missionaries work where the gospel has not been before (although some indicate that that number could be as low as 4%). India alone has over 1.3 billion people in over 2,000 people groups who have not been contacted with the good news about Jesus. There is still a need for the church to act on the commission given to the disciples by the risen Jesus on the point of ascending to glory — to preach the gospel to all nations and to every creature, to the ends of the earth. In the following extract, John Brown comments on Paul’s missionary strategy as set out in Romans 15:20–21, “So have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man’s foundation: but as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.”

Places which have no church need the gospel

Paul has just been speaking about how far he has been spreading the gospel. But here he anticipates an objection. It might have been said, “You may have travelled through all these places, from Jerusalem to Illyricum, but what does that amount to? The most difficult part of the work may have been over before you got there — the people might have already been converted before you saw them!”

Paul answers, “That was not my way of preaching the gospel at all! I earnestly desired and endeavoured to preach in places which never heard the gospel before, where Christ was not once named. The reason? Lest I should build on someone else’s foundation. If I’d done that, I would have behaved as if I was not an apostle at all, for the work of an apostle is to lay the foundation of the gospel churches, and to found and settle churches where there was no church before. It would have been seeming to rob others of their glory.”

The ambition to plant the gospel is in harmony with promises and prophecies

Instead, Paul shows how in harmony this was with the prophecies that had been made about Christ’s kingdom. He cites a passage from Isaiah (52:15), where it is foretold what the fruits of Christ’s exaltation would be. “That which had not been told them, shall they see, and that which they had not heard, shall they consider.” He cites this passage to show both how this prophecy was partly fulfilled by his preaching, and also how he had an eye to these promises and prophecies in his preaching.

As the Lord gave the apostles extraordinary gifts and endowments, so He set them to a very hard task. He gave them commission, directly under Himself, to plant the gospel, and to lay the foundation of gospel churches, and to set up the Christian model of church government. It was their part to lay the foundation, and be wise master-builders. That is what Paul did, and the other apostles. “So did I strive to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named” (see also 1 Corinthians 3:10–11; Ephesians 2:20).

The apostles, neither one nor another of them, were in their own persons the foundation of the church, but all the foundation they laid was the preaching of the gospel, where it was not heard of before. In other words, the foundation they laid was Christ, who is the only foundation (1 Cor. 3:11; Isa. 28:16) and the chief corner stone (Psa. 142:22). What Paul calls a “foundation” at the end of the verse is just what he calls “preaching the gospel” at the beginning of the verse.

It is laudable and commendable in minsters of the gospel to be so desirous of preaching the gospel, and of converting sinners, that they strive and contend with great zeal and earnestness, as with a kind of holy ambition and desire of honour, striving to outstrip others. That is what Paul did, “I strived to preach the gospel.” In the original language, it is an emphatic expression, meaning to strive with ambition and earnestness, unwilling to be outdone.

The power of the gospel is a wonderful effect of Christ’s exaltation

As it is a matter of great difficulty to bring people under the gospel when they have been living in atheism and idolatry, so it is a matter of great honour to be blessed by God in laying the foundation of any good in a place. This made Paul avoid preaching Christ where He had been heard of, lest he should have robbed others of their glory and due honour. Instead he strove to preach where Christ was unheard of.

When the news of Christ, and of salvation through Him, springs up in a place where there was nothing but atheism and gross ignorance before, it is a fruit and effect of Christ’s exaltation. That is how we should look at it. Isaiah foretold it as an effect of Christ’s exaltation, “My servant shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high … That which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider” (Isa. 52:13–15).

It should be a great encouragement for the ministers of the gospel to undertake to preach the gospel in a place where Christ was never heard tell of before. They may consider how it was foretold of old, and promised as a sweet fruit of Christ’s exaltation, that those who never heard of Christ before would see and understand much about him. It should bring great joy and peace to a faithful servant of Christ when he sees how the fruits and effects of his labours in the ministry conform to the old promises, and how his activities match up with the old prophecies. That is the use which Paul makes of this passage in Isaiah, saying, “As it is written …”

When the gospel comes with power and the manifestation of the Spirit, people make new discoveries. They see themselves in a different way than ever they did before. They get grand and excellent sights of noble Jesus. He is laid open to their view. The gospel uncovers and unfolds the beauty of this excellent Redeemer. “To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see, and they that have not heard shall understand.”

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