Romans 15:31

That I may be delivered from them that are disobedient in Judea, and that my ministration which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.

Paul had a double concern, not merely his own safety, but the attitude of the church members themselves. Would they be willing to accept the collection which he had gathered through the expenditure of so vast a measure of time and energy? If they did trot, it would jeopardize the unity of the church and possibility destroy the Gentile missions he had worked to establish. No wonder he prayed to God and asked others to join. What if the racial prejudice in Jerusalem had caused the poor Christians to say, "We will not touch a gift from the Gentiles,"! In such a disastrous response, Paul's gift of tears, blood, sweat and money would have been in vain. No wonder he prayed that they would accept it! Where, ever in history, was there another prayer like this? Paul's fears and prayers were more than justified by the swift succession of tragic events which befell his mission to Jerusalem. God, however, had indeed heard his prayers. The Christian poor accepted the bounty of their Gentile brethren; the enemies were foiled, and Paul's life was spared. An army guarded Paul's life as he was transported out of Jerusalem; and, in time, the battlements of Rome loomed upon his horizon. Moreover, the Judaizing of Christianity, taking place at that very instant in Jerusalem, as evidenced by the testimony of the Jerusalem elders that:

Many thousands of them (the Christians) ... are all zealous for the Law (Acts 21:24);

- that Judaizing process God himself would summarily thwart by the utter destruction of Jerusalem within a few short years afterwards.