Brothers and Sisters in the Lord

Good morning. My voice isn't that bad. I want to thank everybody for taking care of my voice. The next thing I want to talk about is where are we going from here in Romans? And Roger and I have talked for quite a few weeks about what to do. And we've decided that probably the most important chapters of the Bible to every believer is Romans chapter five, verse 12 through the end of Romans eight. They're no more important other than salvation. There are no more important verses than those four chapters. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna Pick out, go through those verses, but not necessarily line by line. You won't see, well, this Sunday we're gonna do 512 through 14. It'll be topical in that 512 says, by one man, sin and of the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men, because all men sinned in Adam. You could spend 20 minutes on sin. You could spend another 20 minutes on that one man, who is he? And what are his characteristics? And why is he so important? And thirdly, why is the way God set it up that one man sins, everybody sins? Why is it that way? and why it spread through the whole population all over the world and answers the question why everybody dies. So that's kind of how we're going to do it. We'll start with 512 and be a few weeks before.

And I would invite you to, if you're taking notes while we're talking and you don't understand something, write it down and come talk to us about it. Because like I said, I think those are extremely important verses because they are the mechanics of the spiritual life. This is how God did everything, not only for gay sins, but solved the sin problem, solved it. and how you and I as believers are able to change men. And he is able to talk to us about what it means to be in Christ. So, that's where we're going next.

Okay, today, I thought it was pretty funny when you, in reading all these names, if you look at your handout, It has, and Jim, you're right, I missed one. Hermas. It'll say things about each one of these people, and if you wanna fill in the blank, fine, but it'll give you a list of people that were near and dear to Paul, who were believers that lived in Rome. When you study verses like this, When you study, like, 13 verses that talk about, well, say hello to Roger. Roger is, you know, in Christ. And say hello to Jim. I mean, what kind of sermon can you put together that says, say hello?

But that's in essence what he did. Well, I thought this was kind of cool. So William Newell had a really cool thing to say about this. This 16th chapter is neglected by many to their own loss. It is by far the most extensive, intimate, and particular of all the words of loving greeting in Paul's marvelous letters. No one can afford to miss this wonderful but pouring out this wonderful outpouring of the heart of our apostle towards the saints whom he loves so much, which means all the real Church of God. And that, if you start with a statement like that, and then you go back and read it, it gets to be uplifting the way Paul does things.

So he starts out with, I commend you to our sister Phoebe, or the Greek says Phoebe, who is a servant of the church, which is at Centuria. I'll show you a map in a minute. And The word commend is one of those combined Greek words, sun esteme, meaning esteme means to place, sun means with, to place with. He commends her as having a place with them as a believer.

We ought to be exercised as to being such as could be truly commended It's good when brethren who write letters of commendation can refer to definite spiritual features in the person commended. I know the brethren used to have these letters of commendation. If you were going to move from one church to the next, you had to have a letter from the old church that said, Joe is a pretty good guy. And he's a spiritual guy.

So, and it puts the focus on their assets rather than their liabilities. So, where is this place, Centuria? I hope you can see that. See the yellow circle? See where Corinth is, right there? Centuria was seven miles from Corinth and it was the port city. And so it was a really important place because the city of Corinth was a very wealthy city because lots of commerce goes through there because of the canal they had.

Otherwise, it'd be like the Suez Canal. If we didn't have the Suez Canal and you wanted to get from It's the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. How do you get there? You have to go down around the Cape of Hope and up that way. Well, if you have a way to come straight across, that's a real benefit from a commercial standpoint. Well, that's what was going on here. So who is Phoebe? She's the first woman mentioned in this letter. She's a deaconess of the Assembly of Censureas.

A deaconess means that she's a servant. She has a reputation of good works, and everybody knows her. Servant diakonos, a word that could be either used for masculine or feminine gender, either one. The word means a servant as seen in his or hers activity, according to we so. She didn't talk a good game, she lived it, and it was noticeable by everybody who was around her.

Coney Barrow assumes that Phoebe was a widow on the ground that she could do, according to the Greek manners, have been mentioned as acting in an independent manner. You know how women were treated in this time of history. If they were married, they could only do what their husband would allow them to do. So there's an assumption that she's a widow. and acting in an independent manner, she decides, either if her husband had been living or if she had been unmarried. She must have been wealthy, too, because she can afford to travel, you know, and women in those days didn't travel by themselves, for sure.

Renan says that Phoebe carried under the folds of her robe the whole future of Christian theology. Imagine this woman, Paul gives her the responsibility to take this letter to the Romans. Paul, if we back up a little bit, Paul would not abandon going to Rome because he felt the responsibility for all the money he had collected that he must deliver it himself. But he took this letter, and I think this letter is the fundamentals of Christianity, and gives it to this Phoebe to take to Rome. What a responsibility.

And she may have traveled alone or just with a few people that don't know. So she's pretty special in Paul's eyes and responsible. So, verse two says, to the churches in Rome that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints The degree to which she is received is the manner worthy of being a saint. That you help her in whatever manner she has, may have, and need of you, for she herself has been a helper of many, and of myself as well. Phew, it burns. So she had business in Rome, beyond what Paul gave her, I think. She's commended to the states in Rome, and they're asked to assist her in her affairs in any way that they may find her needing help, not only in delivering the letter, but anything else she might need. Paul asked the churches of Rome to help her along those ways.

Let's also remark that like Phoebe, we who are helpers and give assistance and give ourselves to assisting them both by prayer and personal service. I think we do a pretty good job of that around here. If we find somebody in need, we rally to help them if we can. Evidence, Tom Mallinson and others, you know, I think that's part of the Christian heart and the life of the Lord Jesus that's in us.

Verse three, priska, which is the Greek word for Priscilla, and aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Imagine that. They risked their neck for Paul.

Doesn't say what they did or how they did it, but that's what happened. If you look at Acts 18, one through three talked about how they met Priscilla and Aquila. After these things, he left Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius, the emperor, had commanded all the Jews leave Rome. He kicked all the Jews out of Rome.

He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they were working for, by trade, they were tent makers. They call them tent makers, I call them home builders. They were in a, Yeah, they're like Phil. They were in a construction business. So that's how they met. And the thing that, so I think in Axe, in Corinth, Paul was working, remember we talked a lot about when we were doing First Corinthians how Paul didn't want to be a burden to the Corinthians and so he had a job, he worked. So he didn't have to receive any help, financial help from them. So he meets Aquila on the job, that's how they meet. and find out that they're believers and they become fast friends the rest of their life.

Aquila is recognized as the head of his house, as we see in Acts 18.2, a certain Jew named Aquila with his wife Priscilla.

But when we get to Acts 18.26, when they are inviting eloquent, poorly instructed Apollos, it's a good way to describe Apollos, he was elegant, but poorly instructed. Inviting him to their home is Priscilla, whose humble discernment and a gospel of earnestness seem to be the foremost. She's the one that was helping to instruct him. When Priscilla and Quilla heard him, notice her name is first now. They took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately. That was their job, and she led that fight.

But if you compare 2 Timothy 4.19, it says, salute, prisca, and aquila, personal salutations. But when the church is concerned, as in 1 Corinthians 16, for this devoted pair had their house in Ephesus. Also for a home church of the saints, they had one of the home churches. Aquila is the head of the house's name first. You see that?

It's not that big of a distinction, but the fact that whoever, whose name comes first, the Greek language is where the word is positioned in the sentence, it makes, increases the importance. If the word is the first word of the sentence, that's the most important word, and it goes, English isn't like that. The position and ministry of sisters in Christ is not at all unrecognized or suppressed by Paul's epistles. He wants women and everyone to know that the sisters in the Lord are to be recognized and they're not to be suppressed about their ability to teach the word. Depends on who they teach, but not being a teacher. So. And now we start into the names.

Also greet the church that is in there, Aquila and Priscilla's house. Greet Epaphanetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. That's kind of cool. This is Paul's first convert. So there's a home church, as we said, in Aquila and Priscilla's house. Salute, Epaphanesis, Panentheus, my beloved, the firstfruits of Asia, and probably converted in Paul's three years mission in Ephesus, the capital of proconsul Asia, which is here referred to as the first convert. So he's near and dear to Paul.

Am I making that noise? All right, okay. Then greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. So we don't know who Mary is other than she's mentioned here. Greet Adronokos and Junius, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners who are outstanding among the apostles. who also were in Christ before him. This is really interesting, these two men. Mary is just a Jewish woman. Her name is Mary, which would be Miriam or Marianne. And what he says about her is she worked hard. That's pretty cool. She worked hard. It means great spiritual toil on behalf of all the saints in the assembly. I don't think a church can function without a Mary. I really don't.

Adronicus and Junius, kinsmen, is the sojournees of the same kid, related by blood, of the same race, a fellow countryman. Obviously, I don't think these two guys were, Paul's family, but I think they were from the same region. These two early converts also helped to goad the conscience of their still persecuting kinsmen and to prepare the way of Christ in his heart. So This Bishop Mole says that about them. I wish he was still alive. I'd call him up and say, where'd you get that? But that's possible because these two men were believers before Paul was. And so they obviously were Jerusalem, Damascus, that area.

And even if they never met Paul before he was saved, who they were and how they functioned must have had a real impact on Paul, obviously, one of the goads. Greet and polite us, my beloved in the Lord, and greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and I never can say this, Stasius, my beloved. Probably Ampelitus was a convert of Paul's own, and because of that, he's dear to him. I don't know if you've ever been in a position to lead somebody to Christ, but if you have, those people more than likely are still in your sphere. of friendship and you're in contact with them all the time.

You really care about them. Urbanus, notice how Paul remembers the names of those who were either known by him as believers or labored with him in ministry. That's one of the amazing things about going through these verses, that Paul remembers their names. He knows who they are, and so he knows what their names are. Also notice a couple other things.

How many times Paul refers to them as beloved in the Lord or worker in Christ? little commercial for Romans 5.12 through 20.

If you don't understand what this word in means, you need to pay attention to Romans 5.12 through Romans 8.20. In is probably one of the most important words in all of Christianity, in Christ, in the beloved. Greet Appellus, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in Christ. You see that in Christ, in Christ, in the beloved, it's everywhere.

Bishop Lightfoot holds that this heiress, Stubalus, was a grandson of Herod the Great, brother of Herod Agrippa of Judea, of his household, therefore would be as his retainers and servants who will still, after his death, hold their master's name. What he's pointing out is that if you, belonged to the servants that worked in the household of, say, Herod the Great or Herod Agrippa. Part of your name included them, Herod's name. It may be true also of the house of Narcissus. In verse 11, the word household does not appear in the Greek. but only those from or of Aristobulus and Narcissus.

So they're from that part of Judea where Paul was converted and where Herod Agrippa, you know who Herod Agrippa is, he's the one that killed John the Baptist. This is interesting names here, Grete, Trypinia, and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Grete, Persus, the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord, repeated over and over again. Grete, Rufus, a chosen man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. So, Paul speaks of the men to whom he's especially attached as my beloved, and when he talks about women, he refers to them as the beloved. Tryphinea and Tryphosa were perhaps sisters, and almost certainly by the type of their names, they were female slaves. Notice how their names both start with T-R-Y.

Perhaps the Rufus of Mark 15.21.

In Mark 15.21, the son of Simon of Cyrene, the man who helped Christ carry his cross and had the tomb who bore our Lord's cross and his mother and mine. Greed, this is a hard one. Ethnistic, as Nidicritus. Psilogon, Hermes, Patropotobrus, Hermas, and the brethren with them. And then 15 says, greet Philobius, Julian, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them.

What's he talking about here? He's talking about two churches. See, the many converts to Christianity are from the ranks of slaves. Most of these people were slaves. So this is the second Three Gatherings of the Saints in Rome. Here mentioned, most remember that in the early days of the church, believers gathered in great simplicity, according to our Lord's word, where two or more are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them. I thought I would put this in. William Newell wrote this statement in 1938. Listen to what he says. In terms of church, it's fast coming to this in these last days, 1938 last days.

Also, where the Laodicean spirit claims the property and ecclesiastical importance in this world of that which is known as the Christian religion. While humble saints finding themselves unfed, and very often unwanted in the great establishments are gathering more and more as early Christians did in homes, in Bible conferences, wherever Christ and his word and real fellowship in the spirit are the only drawing powers. And how sufficient? Isn't that a great statement? 1938, gee, we passed that problem, left it behind us, right? The Christian religion. Isn't this amazing?

And there are so few saints like you. that really have a heart for, well, what does God really have to say? I want to find out what he has to say about things like salvation and going forward in his word. I need to know those things. And the only place I can find them is usually in a Bible study. Or now you can find some good teachers on the web. The only problem with that is that they're on the web, and there isn't a lot of fellowship. You're just listening, you know. So real fellowship in the Spirit, or the only drawing power, that's the drawing power, fellowship in the Lord. This last part is really interesting.

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All of the churches of Christ greet you. So when I saw the word holy, I thought, what is holy? Especially as it has to do with a holy kiss. It is foretold of God as the absolute holy one In his purity, majesty, and glory, God is holy. He's pure, he's majesty, and he's glory, and he's self-sufficient.

It is used of men and things so far as they are devoted to God. The quality as attributed to God is often presented in a way which involves divine demands upon the conduct of believers. We're studying about that on Sunday school. When a human being decides that they're gonna be devoted to the God of the universe and to the Lord Jesus Christ, there are demands on that believer's conduct.

But this sainthood is not an attainment. It's a state into which God in His grace calls us. I want to make that point really clear. This is not an attainment. You don't work or spend the rest of your life being holy. It's something that God in His grace calls you into.

The word here is hagios. There's a lot of kindred words that kind of are translated the same way. Express something more or higher than harios, sacred, outwardly associated with God. Harios means something sacred or something that you can see that's associated with God. Something more than the word semos, that word means something that's worthy or honorable. Something more than hognos, which means pure, free from defilement. Hogyos is a more comprehensive word.

It is characteristically godliness. It is godliness. I find it interesting that God has called us to be godly. If you look in Romans chapter one, he doesn't condemn men for missing the mark. He shows his wrath against all ungodliness. So God says, if you wanna be with me for all eternity, you gotta be like me. You have to be godly. You have to be holy like I'm holy.

So greet one another with a holy kiss in the churches of Christ. Greet you. The Roman saints were instructed to show mutual love in the Lord. And Paul sends greetings from all the churches of Christ. Who knew their minds and hearts better than Paul? Nobody. The Holy Spirit who formed and wrote by Paul, he would keep the saints in the interchange of true and warm, but holy affection in his grace. All our believers exhorted to show clearly their love to one another by greeting each other with a holy kiss.

The ordinary custom of a country in manifesting affection can be used, but in the case of Christians, is to be unfeigned and holy. You see a lot of these, especially in Europe, kiss on the cheek and all that other kind of stuff that goes on. It's just showy. For Christians, it's a special thing.

In order for a kiss to be holy, here's what's got to happen. Both parties got to be holy to start with. They both have to be holy. They both have to belong to the Lord. And so to kiss one another, but done by holy people, makes it a holy kiss. I could talk more about this holy kiss because it really sort of struck me. Some people do it a lot and are real comfortable with it, others aren't, but if I kiss you on the cheek, it's okay. Let's close. Father, how we love you. We thank you for your word. We thank you so for the Lord Jesus and his life and the fact that you have given us your word that we can learn what it's like to be holy. We pray in your son's precious name. Amen.