All right, let's look at Romans
16. As I said, the apostle in the
first 16 verses of this chapter, as he concludes the book of Romans,
he lists a bunch of names of brethren that he had met along
his missionary journeys. And remember, he had expressed
before this his desire to go to Rome and to meet with them
personally. So these were believers who either
were originally at Rome, Romans, or they were believers who had
moved to Rome or were in Rome for some reason, fellowshipping
with the church there. And he says, he starts off by
mentioning a woman named Phoebe. He says in verse one, I commend
unto you, Phoebe, our sister, our sister in Christ. We have
brethren, you know, when the Bible speaks of brethren, it's
not just men, it's talking about women too, women believers, sisters
in Christ. And those sisters in Christ have
an equal standing in the kingdom of God with brothers in Christ. Over in the book of Galatians,
he mentions this, how we who are in Christ, who are washed
in his blood and clothed in his righteousness, that we are equal
in salvation, in justification, in sanctification, in the eyes
of God through Christ, so that there's no male nor female. In other words, the distinction
of male and female, which is a beautiful distinction, and
is for the purpose that God had, when God originally made man,
he made Adam, then he made Eve from Adam, and gave him a helpmate,
and they were together, man and woman. and they were to be fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth, as he said. And that distinction,
we're never to forget or deny that distinction. You know, today,
you know, they're talking about how many sexes there are. You
know, some people jokingly or maybe seriously, you talk about
how, well, whatever you declare yourself to be, that's what you
know. Whatever God made you, that's what you are. If he made
you a man, you're a man. If he made you a woman, you're
a woman. And that's the only two sexes. And the only kind
of love between a man and a woman, see, in marriage, to be fruitful
in that way. And so, but when it comes to
salvation, how God saves sinners, upon what ground God saves sinners,
the distinction of male and female means nothing. The distinction
of Jew and Greek mean nothing. Bond or free means nothing. The
only thing that means anything in the kingdom of God is Christ
and His righteousness alone. And Paul mentioned, he said,
a new creation. In other words, have I been born
again by the Spirit? And so we see this, but Paul
thanked, he said, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister, listen,
which is a servant of the church, which is at Sincrea. And so Sincrea
here was near Corinth. So Phoebe was a woman who was
in that church near Sincrea, but apparently Paul knew her
and these believers in Rome knew her. And so he says, I commend
her unto you. For what reason? He says in verse
two, that you receive her in the Lord as becometh saints.
So apparently she was going to Rome and Paul says, I want you
to receive her in the Lord as becometh saints, and that you
assist her in whatever business she hath need of you, for she
hath been a succorer or a comforter of many, and of myself also."
So he's saying, this woman's coming to you, help her, receive
her. Now, this shows us also that
the role of women in church Women have a special place in the body
of Christ. Now in the church, as God has
set up the government of his church, It's clear that men are
to have the authority to be the preachers and the elders and
the like. Women are not to take those places.
I know that's, oh man, I've opened up a can of worms. It's not that women cannot witness
the gospel, speak the gospel. Godly women can and should, especially
to your children, to other women, and even to men who don't know
the gospel. If you had 10 men in a congregation
and none of them knew the gospel and there was a woman who knew
it, she's the one who ought to be doing the speaking because
they don't know it. Whatever they speak would be heresy. So
they're given those circumstances, but in the body of Christ, in
the local church, the man is to have the authority. The church
is a reflection of the physical church, as far as the authority
of it, the human authority of it, that God has given that authority,
it's his authority, but it comes through his chosen means, is
to be a reflection of Christ who is the husband, the head
of the church, and the bride, or the wife, which would be the
church body. He's the head, we're the body,
he's the husband, we're the wife. And our relationship as men and
women in the church, believers, is to reflect that, just like
in a marriage. The man is to be the head of
the home, the wife is to be right with him by his side, he's to
love her as Christ loved the church, and she's to submit to
his authority, not to his tyranny. Now the Bible doesn't teach that
man is to be a tyrant, but she has her place and they're both
necessary. One without the other is bad.
And so when he talks about this woman, she has a mission that
God has given her and whatever it was. Now, first of all, look
at verse two again. He says that you receive her
in the Lord. Now he's not talking about just
hospitality here. We're to be hospitable. were
to be kind, but you receive her as a sister in Christ in the
Lord, as becometh or as is befitting of saints." And what is a saint?
A saint is a sinner saved by the grace of God. Saint is a
believer. He's not talking about false
believers here. He's not talking about other
Gospels and other religions here. He's talking about that which
is That that which glorifies the Lord in the Lord and in his
truth, in his glory, in his power, and he's talking about that which
is becoming to saints. If somebody comes unto you, whether
it's a man or a woman, and says, well, I have a mission, but they
don't believe the true gospel, you're not to receive them. The
Bible tells us that. Remember over in 2 John and verse
nine, he that transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of
Christ hath not God, and we're not to receive them. But this
woman is a believer. Paul was convinced of it, and
he says, you receive her, and she has some business. Now, we
don't know the exact business that she had, but it was in the
business of the church, in the business of the Lord, the Father's
business, as you might say, and it has to do with comfort. She's
a comforter. You know that's a gift, to be
a comforter, to speak a word in season. She has been a comforter
of many and of myself also. She's comforted Paul. So it may
be with words of encouragement, it may be with physical medicine
maybe, something like that. It could be a lot of different
things. But he says receiver. Now look at verse three. He says,
greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus. He says
in verse four that, who have for my life laid down their own
necks I think that's a reference to the beheading. You know, Paul
was beheaded. Laid down their necks unto whom
not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles,
Aquila and Priscilla. You can read about them first
in Acts chapter 18. This husband and wife, Aquila
and Priscilla. And they were believers, they
helped Paul. They were with Paul in the gospel. You know, the Bible says greater
love has no man that he would lay down his life for the brethren. That's something to think about.
I often think about if we ever come to a point in our lifetimes
where our lives would be laid on the line for what we believe,
how would we fare? How would we be like Peter who
denied Christ three times, but later on Peter didn't? How would
we fare? I know this, I can tell you this
for sure, that I can say in my mind that I would lay down my
life for the gospel and for my brethren, but I know that it
would take the grace of God for me to do it. It would take the
grace and power of God. Without the grace and power of
God, I would deny him and run like a rabbit. So we know that. But this husband
and wife, Priscilla and Aquila, They laid down their own necks
to save Paul, to help Paul and to save him from harm. And this
evidenced their love for the gospel and their love for Paul.
You know, back then many believers were forced to do this and we
can read about it in church history too. But that's something Paul
said, I thank God for him. Thank God for my brethren. Look
at verse five. He says, likewise, greet the
church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Eponidas,
who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ. And so Paul says,
greet the church that is in Aquila and Priscilla's house, wherever
their house was. And I can't remember, but you
can look back up in Acts 18. He says, greet the church that
met in their house. They met in their homes. A lot
of times that was the case back then. It's still the case of
our brother Bobby Wright right now. In his congregation, they're
meeting in a home because they lost the building. They were
renting part of a school building and they lost it. In fact, we
need to pray for them that the Lord find them a place to meet,
to congregate as a church. And so he says, greet the church. You know what the church is now?
The word church, comes from the Greek word ekklesia, means called
out ones. Those who have been, who are
they? Who is the church? They're the elect of God, chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world. They're the redeemed
of the Lord. Christ bought them and paid for
them by his blood on the cross of Calvary. They've been justified,
they've been forgiven and declared righteous before God based upon
Christ's righteousness imputed to them. That's their only righteousness
before God. They are sinners saved by grace.
And then called out ones means they've been called out by the
power of the Holy Spirit in the preaching of the gospel. And
that's the church. And sometimes in the Bible, the
word church refers to the complete body of Christ all over the world. There's only one church in that
sense. It's the church which he gave
his life for, gave his blood for. He purchased with his own
blood. And then there are churches,
local groups of believers in various places, like here in
Albany, that we meet together. There's a church here in Albany,
there's a church in Jacksonville, North Carolina, there's a church
in Ruston, Louisiana, and there's a church in Ashland, Kentucky.
See, those are churches. And a church up in Indiana where
Bobby is, and a church in Ohio where Scott Price is. We're all
brethren, we're all members of the one church. which is the
called out ones of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, greet the
church that meets in their house and salute this man Eponatus. It looks like he was the first
convert in that area. He said, who is the first fruits
of Achaia under Christ. The first one that the Lord brought
to Christ out of Achaia. Look at verse six. He says, greet
Mary. who bestowed much labor on us,
much labor. Mary had helped Paul and his
companions in the ministry. This is another woman that he
thanked God for. And this much labor, think about
it. That's what the Christian life is, it's much labor. I'm
gonna be talking about that in the fruitfulness of faith. It's a labor, it's a work, it's
a working. But salvation is not by works. Salvation is not contained, excuse
me, salvation is not attained or maintained or culminated by
our works or our labors. We're not saved by our works
or our labor. We're not kept and we will not
be glorified by our works. We're not made righteous by our
works and our labors. If we think that, that's legalism.
This was a believer, this Mary was a believer. So she knew her
labors were not in order to gain or earn God's favor and blessings. Sanctification, that's not by
our labors. We're not getting progressively
sanctified by our labors, but these are labors of love, motivated
by grace and love and gratitude. Else Paul would not commend her
or ask them to greet her as a sister in Christ. So this is not legalism. Get it out of your head. Anytime
you see the word works or labors, when it applies to a brother
or sister in Christ, it's not legalism. If it were, the apostle
would approach them like he did the Galatian false prophets.
Let them be anathema. Call them to repentance. So this
is the labor of love. And look at verse seven. He says,
salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners,
who are of note among the apostles who also were in Christ before
me. Now this may have been a couple
again, a husband and wife, we don't know. But Andronicus and
Junia, they were his kinsmen in the faith. His brother and sister in the
faith. And fellow prisoners. And they had walked and worked
among the other apostles. And that fellow prisoner, you
know, Paul had been jailed many times for preaching the gospel.
And many of his fellow believers, his brethren, had been jailed
with him. And they were of note among the
apostles. In other words, the apostles took note of their help
and their ministry in this. And they were, Paul said, they
were in Christ before me. Now, what does he mean? Now,
in Christ before me. Now, understand that we've got
to interpret scripture with scripture. And so what does he mean being
in Christ before me? He's talking about their conversion.
He's talking about their new birth. Now, first of all, every
one of God's people, the elect of God, were in Christ before
the foundation of the world. There's not one before the other
in that eternal sense. If you were ever in Christ, you
were in him before the foundation of the world in electing grace.
God chose you in Christ. Every believer has been justified
in Christ based upon his righteousness imputed, not one before the other.
But now, and everyone was redeemed in Christ, not one before the
other. It was all together, Ephesians chapter two says. But as far
as our new birth, when we first heard and God brought us to believe
the gospel, we didn't come at the same time then. You may have
been before me, I may have been before you, it doesn't matter
though. But what Paul's saying is this, Andronicus and Junia,
they had been brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
works even before Paul. And so Paul thanked God for them.
Look down at verse eight. He says, greet Ampelus, or excuse
me, Amplius, my beloved in the Lord. Amplius was, you know,
Amplius, Bible scholars who've studied these and gone into the
background, they say that was a common name, Amplius, a common
name among the emperor's household slaves at that time. Apparently
that was a common name. And so this Amplius may have
been one that Paul mentioned over in Philippians four and
verse 22, who was of Caesar's household. You remember, he talked
about brethren who were members of Caesar's household, and that's
what he's talking about, servants in the household of Caesar, and
they believed the gospel. And Paul calls him my beloved
in the Lord, signifying his fellowship in the faith. And again, that
brings us to the fact, just like men and women are of equal footing
and equal standing before God in Christ, washed in his blood,
clothed in his righteousness, that applies to bond and free
too. Even a slave in Caesar's household. I'm sure that he may have had
to use some wisdom in communicating his faith in that household.
and especially later on when it really became a crime to preach
Christ. But this Amplius, he was a servant
in Caesar's, I believe that's true, that he was a servant in
Caesar's house, but he's on equal footing with Paul, he's on equal
footing with any other believer in Christ by the grace of God. And then look at verse nine.
He says, salute Urbain, our helper in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. These are all brethren in Christ,
helper in Christ. How they help, we don't know,
whether it was just in helping Paul with money or provisions
or support, encouragement, even preaching the gospel. These were
dear brethren. Verse 10, salute Apelles, approved
in Christ. Now every believer is approved
of God in Christ. But Paul mentions this man specifically. This approved means he's been
tested. He's been proved to be true and faithful in Christ,
to Christ and his people. And this means approved by the
Lord in the trials of faith that come from God and reveal the
genuine faith of his people. And then he says, salute them
which are of Aristobulus' household. That's another brother in Christ. Let me just read through the
last few verses here until we get to verse 16. Verse 11, he
says, salute Herodian, my kinsman, kinsman in the faith. Greet them
that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. This probably
is Narcissus' family, And he says, greet them which are believers
in that family, verse 12. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa. Aren't you impressed that I can
read all these names? And you know I got it right.
You know that, don't you? I've always told you all, when
you get in the Old Testament and you read all those $20 names,
just say them like you know what you're talking about and dare
somebody to disagree with. I'm just teasing, all right.
He says, salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Again, there's that labor of
love. Salute the beloved Persis, which labored much in the Lord,
much labor. And again, labor of love, not
legalism. Paul never applauded legalism. He always called it what it was,
a false gospel. then verse 13 he says, Salute
Rufus, chosen in the Lord. He mentions this man as specifically
being chosen in the Lord and he said, and his mother and mine.
He's talking about his mother and his mother must have been
a sister in Christ. Why does he pick this man out
to say chosen in the Lord? I don't know. I know that every
true believer is chosen in the Lord. That's election isn't it? God chosen. It may have been
that he's referring here to a specific task. God chooses, God elected
all of his people in Christ before the foundation of the world but
then he chooses them out for specific tasks of ministry. He
chose Paul to be an apostle and he chose Paul to be an apostle
to the Gentiles. So this man, Paul may be referring
to this man having some specific ministry but I know this when
it comes to being chosen if God hadn't chosen us we would have
never chosen him and if God chose this man to do a task in the
ministry he equipped him also to do it. Verse 14, salute Asencritus,
Phlegon, Hermas, Petrobus, Hermes and the brethren which are with
them. So here's another group of believers In verse 15, salute
Philologus and Julia, Nerus and his sister and Olympus and all
the saints which are with them. So Paul, he was thanking God
for the brethren. Now let me deal with verse 16
a little bit. He says, salute one another with
an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute
you. Paul concludes, his final greetings to them with a common
expression in that culture of love and fellowship and mutual
faith in Christ. It's called the holy kiss. In
our culture, we don't greet each other that way. In fact, nowadays
they're telling us we can't even shake hands, let alone greet
each other with a holy kiss. But often we shake hands and
we hug one another, that's our culture. But in this culture,
it was a holy kiss. And it was common to greet a
family member or a close friend with a kiss on the forehead or
on the cheeks or on the beard. I mean, even that, if you look
in the Old Testament. And the Jews in the church that
had become believers, they carried on that practice. It became especially
precious to new believers. who were often outcast from their
own families because of their identification with Christ and
his truth and his people. In other words, it was a lot
of times, especially with Gentile believers, it was touch not,
stay away from. We're practicing social distancing
now. And I suppose it's a good thing.
I don't want to get this coronavirus, and I know you don't either.
I don't know how much of it is real or whatever, but I don't
want to get it, and you don't either. So be wise and be careful. But this holy kiss, it's called
a holy kiss. And what that means is different.
The word holy means separate. And it's special and it's distinguished
from anything evil or deceptive, such as when Judas portrayed
the Lord with a kiss. You remember that? That was a
deceptive kiss. When Judas kissed the Lord. Back
in Matthew 26, you can read about that. And that's how he identified
the Lord to betray him. So this, but this, that's not
this kind of kiss. This is a holy kiss. And it has
nothing to do with sex or anything that is perverted. Some try to pervert this practice
and portray it as something sexual or a sinful practice, even in
homosexuality. For example, you know, a lot
of people, you know, they'll say that David and John, remember
King David and Jonathan? How Jonathan and David loved
one another. And they had a friendship. They had a fellowship in the
Lord. And back over in 1 Samuel 20
and verse 41, it talks about how Jonathan kissed David. And
they'll try to make that something sexual. They'll try to pervert
it and say, well, David and Jonathan were homosexuals. It's just not
true. That's a lie. That's human reasoning which
denigrates and desecrates the scriptures. When David kissed
Jonathan, it was this kind of holy kiss. And it was simply
a sign of fellowship and friendship. It was platonic and brotherly
love. But those who hate the gospel
of God's grace in Christ and who resent that love that true
believers have for one another, they'll go to great lengths to
justify their own sinful practices and twist the scripture to their
own destruction. So understand this. Now Paul
also expressed sincere greetings from all of the churches of Christ,
and that signifies the unity of all local congregations into
the one body, the one church of the Lord. Okay.