People Matter, Unity Matters, Obedience Matters
January 1, 2017 · Romans
Scripture referenced 3 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 16:1-27 the primary passage preached through in its entirety
Keep this verse
John 17
Jesus's high priestly prayer quoted for unity: 'sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth' and 'that they may all be one'
1 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
2 even as you gave him authority over all flesh, so he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
3 This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do.
5 Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
6 I revealed your name to the people whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me. They have kept your word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatever you have given me are from you,
8 for the words which you have given me I have given to them, and they received them, and knew for sure that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
9 I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
10 All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
11 I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
13 But now I come to you, and I say these things in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
14 I have given them your word. The world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that you would take them from the world, but that you would keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, even so I have sent them into the world.
19 For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
20 Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.
22 The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;
23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may see my glory, which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 Righteous Father, the world hasn’t known you, but I knew you; and these knew that you sent me.
26 I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Mark 15:21
Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus, pressed into service to bear Jesus's cross
21 They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark closed out the church's year-long study of Romans by working through the final chapter, Romans 16. Rather than skipping the long list of names the way most readers do, he slowed down and treated each person as someone worth knowing, using that list to show what the early church actually looked like from the inside.
What was said
Pastor Mark opened with a name game, asking the congregation to picture a face when they heard names like Tyrone, Dimitri, Ignacio, or Buffy. The point was that first-century Christians hearing Romans 16 read aloud would have done the same thing. They would not have skimmed the list. They would have known immediately, from the names alone, something about each person's background, status, and ethnicity. Modern readers skip it; they would not have.
The first two verses introduce Phoebe, whom Paul calls a servant, or deaconess, of the church at Cenchrea. Pastor Mark noted that the word is generic for servant but that the role was real and significant. Paul gives her what amounts to a letter of recommendation and tells the Roman church to receive her aggressively and help her with whatever she needs, because she has been a helper to many, including Paul himself. She almost certainly carried the letter to Rome.
The bulk of the sermon stayed with the name list in verses 3 through 16. Pastor Mark worked through the roughly 28 people named and drew on a study by archaeologist Gordon Franz, who had examined inscriptions from Rome to estimate the ethnic and social backgrounds of each name. About a quarter of those named are women, and every woman mentioned is described as a hard worker. There are at least two and probably three married couples. Some names are clearly Jewish, others clearly Gentile, and several point to slave or freedman status.
A few individuals got particular attention. Priscilla and Aquila are named six times in the New Testament, alternating order, which Pastor Mark read as a deliberate gesture toward equality in their partnership. They had risked their lives for Paul, and all the Gentile churches were grateful for them. Epaenetus is identified in the text as the first convert to Christ from Asia. Andronicus and Junia, whom Paul calls his kinsmen and fellow prisoners, were in Christ before Paul was, a fact he notes with humility. Rufus is very likely the son of Simon of Cyrene, the man pressed into service to carry Jesus's cross, a detail drawn from Mark 15:21.
Pastor Mark then moved to the charge in verses 17 through 20. He connected Paul's warning about those who cause dissensions directly to Jesus's high priestly prayer in John 17, where Jesus prays that his followers would be one so that the world would believe. Anything or anyone working to divide the body rather than unite it should be treated with suspicion. Paul calls such people servants not of Christ but of their own appetites, using smooth speech to deceive the unsuspecting.
The closing benediction in verses 25 through 27 was described as a full sermon unto itself, one Pastor Mark encouraged the congregation to sit with during the week. He touched on the phrase "the mystery kept secret for long ages past but now made manifest," explaining that the Old Testament prophets put their faith in God without knowing how He would accomplish salvation. The incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus made it clear. That revelation has now gone out to all nations, and the list of names in the chapter is living proof of it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Jason spent time on the name game to help us slow down and actually hear the list of people in Romans 16. What does it tell us about Paul, and about God, that the Holy Spirit preserved the names of 28 individual people in this passage?
- Pastor Jason pointed out that roughly a quarter of the people named in Romans 16 are women, and almost every one of them is described as a hard worker. What does that say to us about how the church should recognize and receive the work that women do?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 7,843 words
0:00
Morning, everybody. How are you?
0:02
Good morning.
0:03
Good morning. There's a lot of a lot going on this morning. We had a a Is it, is this thing working? Okay. Good morning.
0:17
So, we're, would you stand with me and we're going to sing the rest of em into the either into here or out the door, maybe one or the other. Come now found of every blessing, hymn number 11. If you want to sing along in the hymn book, come now found of every blessing, hymn number 11 for our first song.
0:41
Come thou fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing thy grace streams of mercy never ceasing call for songs of loudest praise teach me some melodious song if sung by flaming tongues above praise his name I'm fixed upon it name of God's redeeming love hitherto thy love has blessed me thou hast brought me to this place. And I know thy hand will lead me safely home by thy good grace. Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God. He to rescue me from danger interpose his precious blood. O to grace, how great a debtor, strain to be.
2:02
Let thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart oh take and seal it seal it for thy courts above
2:29
Amen. What a beautiful song. Well, happy New Year everybody. Glad you're here. This is fun.
2:37
Glory to his name. Hymn number four ninety three.
2:50
Down at the cross where my savior died down where for cleansing from sin I cried there to my heart was the blood of life. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. To name there to his my heart was the blood of mine glory to his name am so wondrously saved from sin. Jesus so sweetly abides within there at the cross where he took the glory to his name my glory to his name precious fountain that saves from I am so glad I have There, Jesus saves me and keeps me clean.
4:22
Glory to his name. Glory to his name. To my heart was the blood of life glory to Amen.
5:27
Y'all can have a seat. We sang a lot of folks in here just then. So, I've got a couple of announcements. One of them is this, church on fire weekend. So, y'all remember Don Young, Marlon Young, Don and Marlon are gonna be coming in towards the end of January and they are going to do something that they've done in other places in the past.
5:46
It's part of their work with the College of Prayer Missions Agency that they're with. It's called the Church on Fire Weekend. So, Don and Marlin will be here the twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth, Friday night, Saturday in the daytime, and Sunday morning. He's gonna preach. So, church on fire weekend.
6:01
I pray that that's figurative and not literal and they should be here towards the end of the month and I'm looking forward to seeing both of em. I have been keeping in touch with them and they have been all over Philippines, China, Alabama. They've been everywhere. So, they're living in Atlanta right now but they'll be out at the end of the month. Connect hour, y'all know happens between the services and this morning, there was cereal and coffee cake and all kinds of good stuff down there and I just want to say thank you.
6:29
I don't know if Nancy Teracciano is in here but she does a great job. She has been the one coordinating that lately. So, she's done a really, really good job. With that and this Monday night, so that's tomorrow. Normally, you know, we do Monday nights and Awana at the same time but we are observing.
6:46
It's New Year's Day observed. Even though it's the second, we are not going to do Monday nights at first b down the hall down there and we're not gonna do Awana tomorrow because they're still on Christmas break. So, no merry Monday nights this week but we'll be back on next week. And I think after the Christmas season of all the announcement that we do, it feels really short, but that's it. There are other things.
7:09
Oh, I didn't get that. I did get it. Thursdays at 09:00 in the morning, precept study is starting up. Jane is facilitating and leading a group. Mostly ladies but it's not just ladies.
7:22
Doesn't have to be 09:00 Thursday morning if you'd like to join for a precept study on the book of Hebrews. This ought to be a good good study. Thank you for reminding me. I did not make a slide. So, everything else, if you would check your bulletin, it should be in there and why don't you all would you mind standing up and greeting one another?
7:41
And we'll bring you back together with a song.
7:45
I'm very happy to be here again. Amen. What a blessing to be in God's house. This song was supposed to be the closing song for today, but when I practice to play the piano, I have to spend a lot of time on the piano because I need to memorize a lot. I I play by ear.
8:01
So playing and playing and playing, I look at these words. I said, what a beautiful song. And then I called Violetta to sit down with me at the piano. I said, we need to sing this song. This is so good.
8:13
So, here we have to praise God. Amen.
10:37
My longings my dreams Jesus is lord of all my failures his power redeems Jesus is Lord Jesus is lord all my possessions and all my life Jesus is lord Amen.
11:43
Thank you, Florine. Thank you, Violetta. And as I was praying, I was thinking actually Violetta's father passed in the last week and a half. Also, I didn't want to mention it in the prayer because I didn't want to start the fountain. Okay.
11:57
So, we are praying for you and for your family. Her father is in Romania. Good morning. I have the privilege this morning. So, first day of twenty seventeen, we're finishing off Romans 16, okay?
12:15
Romans 16, we're going to do the whole thing right here, right now, in the next forty minutes, I hope. The name game though, to start off with, I want y'all to close your eyes if you need to and think about these names and picture for yourself in your head who these people are when I mention the name, close your eyes. And when I say the name, Tyrone, who do you picture? Dimitri, who do you picture? Rose.
12:51
Billy Ray Katie, Buffy, Ward, Ignacio, Oscar. If I say Oscar, does it make a difference? Laird, Jeeves, Nigel, Laquita. Okay, you can open your eyes. Now, when I said Tyrone, how many of y'all envisioned an African American man?
13:22
Y'all are from Wyoming. Y'all are a really really white crowd. My goodness. I'm from Georgia. Tyrone is a black guy.
13:28
There's no doubt in my mind as to whether Tyrone is a white guy or black guy. There are a few but there are not many others. Dimitri, you kind of got an eastern black guy probably had a certain look about him, right? Rose, did you imagine an older woman or a younger woman? Mostly, older woman.
13:46
So, Billy Ray. Billy Ray Cyrus, sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you. Y'all have achy, breaky heart in your in your mind all day. Sorry about that.
13:56
Buffy. Buffy is like the prep, a preppy. You know, you can kind of see that. Ignacio, you know, you're imagining a a short, dark guy with dark hair, dark eyes, you know, the name game. So, you can tell a lot from just hearing the names and those were kind of chosen at random.
14:13
Tyrone actually was maybe an extreme example for me but when you hear names, you can tell a lot about the person. Now, it's not always true but you can tell a lot from this context. We're twenty first century Christians. First century Christians hearing the sixteenth chapter of Romans would probably not have skipped the list. There is a long list of names in this chapter and it looks like, oh, he's getting near the end.
14:38
He's just saying, greet people and you just skip it. We skip it a lot. So, I wanted to do the name game so you can slow down a minute and start thinking about what a first century Christian would hear when they heard this first century list. So, today, we're going Romans sixteen one through 27. There are five kind of parts we're going to go through rather quickly.
14:56
The messenger, the first two verses, the messenger, and then there's the grocery list and that, you know, it's a grocery list. Just skip it. You know, a lot of times we skip that. I'm going to spend more time on that grocery list than the rest of it probably today. 14 verses there.
15:11
The charge which will have some encouragement and exhortation, the charge, and that, if you're mining for a topical sermon from Romans 16, it's those four verses right there. This is the charge. The team of people that are with Paul that are helping him in ministry and writing this letter and then, it closes with a benediction. Another thing, if you're doing a topical sermon, this benediction is very, very rich and I'd ask you that if you study something this week from this from this passage, that benediction is rich. It's really, really good.
15:43
So, just look at those three verses right there this week. We're going to start with the messenger. So, if I were to say this name, I commend to you our sister, Phoebe. It's a different crowd than the first service. If who'd you think of when I said Phoebe?
16:02
Was it that gal? From Friends? This is a character from the NBC sitcom Friends and Phoebe, in the nineties, I didn't know anybody named Phoebe at all. It's been gaining in popularity. There are lot of Phoebe's around now.
16:13
She's just a character but this is a character that's an old icon or an old picture, a painting of Saint, the Catholic Church, and the Eastern Orthodox and the Greek Orthodox would call her Saint Phoebe but Phoebe is the sister that Paul commends in this passage and this is what it says in the New American Standard Bible says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe who is a servant of the church which is at Century. That's a geographical location about seven or eight miles from Corinth. It is on the water, right on the water and so, Paul had traveled through there several times. He knows the lay of the land pretty well there, Century, that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of, you, for she herself has also been a helper of many and of myself as well and you see the footnotes there from the NASB, deaconess, holy ones, and literally me myself. So, it looks like this.
17:12
Who is she? I commend to you our sister. So, she is a believer in Jesus. She is in the family of God because of what she believes about and in and through Jesus. Our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess.
17:25
That's what the word is. It's a deaconess of the church. So, she is a servant of the church. It's a generic word for servant. We have taken it to be an office of the church.
17:36
So, there are deacons, there are elders. We have elders here and the elders in this church because of first Timothy, second Timothy, Titus, different passages, elders of this church are male guys but the servants of this church, if we didn't have the women work in this church, we wouldn't have a church. Do you agree? Most of the time, much of the work is done by women. So, who is a servant or deaconess of the church?
18:00
We have a board of trustees which really acts as a deacon board. We have men and women both serving on that board. Phoebe is a deaconess of the church which is at Centra that you might receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the holy ones. Now, no one's righteous. No, not one.
18:16
How can he say she's a holy one? Because she believes in Jesus. She's a sister. What Christ has made holy is holy. So, he says, be receiving her aggressively receiving, you know?
18:28
Her in a manner that's worthy of a holy one, a believer, and that you help her in whatever matter she have need of you, she herself has been a helper of many and of me myself. So, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, fairly famous guy. He is fairly famous for his dramatic conversion. He's fairly famous for at this point now, twenty either twenty four to twenty, twenty four to twenty seven years of ministry that he's had since his conversion. So, twenty, twenty four, twenty five years of that and he's been all over the place.
19:01
He's made by this point close to ten, zero miles probably ministering. Staying at Ephesus for a while, staying at Corinth for a while. He's writing from Corinth and he says that Phoebe, seven, eight miles away in Centre, is a helper of many and of me myself. So, help her out. She's been good to me and this is kind of a letter of recommendation for them.
19:24
Fairly common thing. In the old days, you know, our letter at church, your letter, you want to move your letter to another church? Diane will type up a letter and say, so and so is a member of good standards. She has requested that we send her letter to this church and that that's membership. It's it's something that we still in some places in the South especially still do that.
19:43
It's kind of fallen out of fashion but it's still happens. What does Paul instruct them to do? He commends them to receive her in the Lord. Amen. And that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you.
19:58
He's instructing us to aggressively receive those from the outside. Whether they be believers or not. In this case, she is and she's a hard worker and she's helped me personally. I want you to throw open your arms, give her a big bear hug, and later on, he'll say, I'm a holy kiss, okay? Receive her.
20:16
So, Phoebe is a sister. She's a servant. She's a saint, a holy one, even before the Catholic Church said she was. She's a patroness, a prosthesis, which is a leader in the church at Centre but she is a patroness, probably wealthy, and was able to give generously and she's the one who delivered the letter. She's very helpful.
20:37
She probably, most people believe she's the one who carried the letter to them and that's why her name is mentioned right here in the first part of this last chapter. Receive her. Whatever she may need, help her. So, that's the messenger. Finish with that.
20:49
One fifth of the sermon. The grocery list is next. Three through 16. How many of you skip these kind of passages when you see em? You go, oh name I can't remember.
20:58
Name I can't pronounce. Name I don't know and we just go right past them. This is probably my favorite part of the sermon this week because I looked at each one of these names. I did a history study on em and I read a couple of good articles. One of em was by Gordon Frans who is an archaeologist and a writer and he was studying all the inscriptions from Rome and numbering like how many people named this there were and what the chances are of them being Gentile or Jewish or slave or free and it was just a fascinating article.
21:31
So, I I've studied this. These names, these are people that he mentioned, Prisca, also known as Priscilla. Priscilla is a diminutive of Prisca. So, if you know a guy named Juan and he's a little bitty guy named Juan, he might be called Juanito or Juana is Juanita if she's little. So, it's a diminutive.
21:50
Prisca is Priscilla. Greet Prisca and Aquila. That's a married couple. Priscilla and Aquila. Epanidas.
22:01
Mary, Andronicus, and Junius. Junius actually could be Junius or it might be Junia because it's in the accusative case in the Greek. It's ambiguous. You can't tell whether it is masculine or feminine and so, it might be a guy, it might be a girl. We don't really know but the early church has a history and a tradition on it and I'll tell you that later.
22:21
Ampliatas, Urbanas, Stacus, Appelles, Aristobulus, Herodian, Narcissus, Trafina, and Trifosa, Persis, Rufus, and Rufus' mama, a synchronous flag on Hermes, Patrobus Hermus, Philologus, and Julia, Nerus, and his sister, and Olympus. Those are the ones that are named or it's a sister or mama of the ones that are named. So, those are all the names. That's 28 of em or so. There are 28 people.
22:51
Here they are And out of those 28, we see that seven or maybe eight are women. That's cool. Enlists in the first century, women might not be so prominently featured but a quarter of them are women. All of them in this chapter, they're mentioned as women are hard workers. It says that in almost every case.
23:15
Including twin sisters, Trafina and Trafosa. The names mean delicate and dainty. They're dainty and delicate. Twin sisters, Prisca or Priscilla and Aquila, Andronicus and Junia, and Philologus and Julia are probably three married couples, although Andronicus and Junia could be brothers. It could be Antronicus and Junius and Junius is a male name.
23:38
Junia is a female name. So, I'll say, either two or three married couples. Jewish flavored Christians. We've been talking about this a lot because the book of Romans was written to help with their problems between having a Gentile flavored church and a Jewish flavored church that are trying to coexist together to trying to be the body of Christ and they're having trouble with some of the traditions and some of the ways things are done. Y'all remember at this time, I've mentioned this multiple times in our study over the past year.
24:08
It's been almost a year that Claudius, the emperor of Rome, had kicked the Jews out of Rome in forty nine AD and after his death in '54, his poisoning death by Nero's mama. In fifty four AD, they started trickling back in. This letter was written in '57, probably arrived winter fifty seven, fifty eight and so, the Jewish flavored were the weaker brothers that we talked about a couple chapters ago. Last chapter. Priscilla and Aquila, Jewish background.
24:44
Epanitas, probably Jewish background. Mary, most likely Jewish. There are so many Jewish girls at this time named Miriam which is the Hebrew name for what? Moses' sister, right? There are a lot of girls named Mary.
24:58
Still a lot of girls named Mary. Andronicus and Junia, Jewish flavored, Ampliatus, Jewish flavored, Apeles, Aristobulus, and Herodian. From either their name or from context clues we see, Rufus and his mama. All of Jewish flavored believers. Now, here we are.
25:17
Junius and Andronicus, you might not be able to tell by their names but it says in the text, my kinsman. So, Paul being Jewish background says, these are my kinsmen. They're probably Jewish. Herodian, it's fairly obvious because Herod is was king of the Jews, right? He was the king under the Roman Emperor.
25:36
He was allowed to rule over the Jews. Herod was and Herodian takes the name of his benefactor or his master. He's my kinsman, Paul says. Rufus' mother and mine, he has a close relationship. That one may not say that but I'll get to Rufus in a little while too.
25:56
So, most likely Gentile. These are from names and from what else it says in the passage context clues, Urbanus, City Slicker, Stacus, Narcissus, Trafina, and Trafosa, Persis, Lady of Persia. A synchronous flag on Hermes, Patribus, Hermes, probably all at the same church. We'll get to that too. Philologus and Julia, Nerus, and his sister and Olympus, most likely Gentile and if you look at this list, these are probably slaves or freedmen.
26:27
Now, that's not that's not Friedman is fairly new. Claudius, the emperor in his time had done a lot for slaves. Claudius had a lisp and he had a limp. He had a speech impediment and a limp and he had no chance of ever becoming emperor. Although, he was part of the family but there was so much murder and mayhem that happened that he ended up being the emperor.
26:52
Now, had studied at his as a historian. He had done some work and he kind of believed that slaves had gotten a raw deal for a long long time. So, he made it illegal to kill a sick slave. To mistreat a sick slave. This is a Roman emperor.
27:08
Just a few years before this letter was written. After Christ and so some of the teachings of the church and some of the way that slaves were treated by the church was starting to seep into Roman society. Even before Nero, even before during this reign of Claudius. Slaves or freedmen, these all were probably either slaves or had experienced life as a slave and been freed at some point. These might not have even been believers.
27:38
Aristobulus and Narcissus, it says, greet those of the household of Aristobulus and greet those of the household of Narcissus who are believers. So, not everybody in Narcissus' household was a believer and Aristobulus, it probably would have said greet Aristobulus and all those in his house. So, let's go through em. I like this. I'm having fun.
27:59
I was really amped this morning to go through it. Greet Priscilla and Aquila. These folks are mentioned six times in the Bible. Three times it says, Aquila and Priscilla and three times it says, Priscilla and Aquila, name order. That's cool.
28:12
It's like the Holy Spirit and the Bible writers were going out of their way to put these two in a matrimonial, equal playing ground. Now, there are roles for men and women but what Paul says of greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers, both of em. They are my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Wow. That's great to just be listed.
28:34
Like I said, the women, Phoebe's already said was a hard worker. Now, both Priscilla and Aquila but their fellow workers in Christ Jesus and then Paul goes on to say, who for my life risk their own necks To whom not only do I give thanks but also all of the churches of the Gentiles. Wait a second, Priscilla and Aquila are Jewish background, Jewish flavored Christians and anybody who knows them or knows their names knows that they are. When they hear it, it's like saying Tyrone, right? Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers, who for my life risked their own next.
29:06
Do you all remember that story? It's not in the Bible. We don't get every single picture of everything that happened. In Acts, it does not say that they saved his life. Now, they might have been somebody that helped lower him over that wall.
29:18
I guess, they might have been somebody we see Paul making narrow escapes from time to time, don't we? He's saying for my life, they risk their own necks. They put their selves on the line for me. No greater love than a man lay down his life for his friends or woman. To whom not only do I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles.
29:37
Y'all know me. I'm Paul. I'm the apostle of the Gentiles. I'm fairly famous. Priscilla and Aquila though, all of the Gentile churches out there are thankful for them.
29:46
They don't care that they're Jewish flavored, Romans. Also, and they actually were from Rome but they had been kicked out, right? They've been kicked out of Rome and so they ended up at Ephesus. They had been at Corinth for a while and they helped Paul in both of those places. Also, greet the church that is in their house.
30:03
So, now, they have a house church in their house. Priscilla and Aquila are the host for a large, we think, house church in Corinth at this time. I mean, I'm sorry, in Rome at this time but they had been to Corinth. They'd also been to Ephesus. Greet, Epanidas, my beloved.
30:21
That's good. Paul loves this guy. He's the first convert to Christ from Asia or Asia Minor. He's the first convert to Christ. What in the world?
30:30
Paul goes into a place. He looks in the synagogue and he finds people who know the Old Testament, know Torah, they know the prophets, and when he presents Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the one they've been looking for. This was the first guy to say, I believe that. Yes, I see that hand. He said, come on down, right?
30:49
He's the first convert to Christ from Asia and now, he lives in Rome and y'all could say hey to this fellow. You can meet this guy. Greet Mary who has worked hard for you. There she is. Again, another hardworking woman in the church.
31:03
She's worked very hard for you. I've never been to Rome but I know who Mary is because I've heard from other people how hard a worker she is. Greet Andronicus and Junius, my kinsmen, could be that they're brothers but kinsmen can be men and women. I kind of feel like I'm going to go with it being Junior who's a woman because the early church in one hundred AD believed that this was a married couple. So, since they believed it, I'm going to carry it forward.
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I don't think it matters a whole lot but I like three married couples rather than two. So, Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, meaning they are Jewish background and my fellow prisoners, they actually serve time with Paul at some point in the past who are outstanding among all of the sent out ones, the apostles who also were in Christ before me. The humility of the apostle Paul to say, before my Damascus Road experience, while I was still persecuting the followers of the way, These two already knew Jesus and they
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had walked with him and they knew him.
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They were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved one in the Lord. Greet Urbana, City Slicker, our fellow worker in Christ. Most likely because of the name and because of what we hear about the fellow worker, he was probably according to France and a few others that guy was probably working for the Imperial Roman government in some capacity whether it be military otherwise. The city slicker and Stacus, who is my beloved, that's a Gentile name but he's beloved of Paul, the Jewish flavored Christian.
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Greet Appeles, the approved in Christ. Oh, that that would be our subtitle. Greet Ramon, the approved in Christ. He's been tested and he's been tried and he's survived the test. He's approved.
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Documas in Christ. Amen. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Now, Aristobulus probably was not a believer but a lot of his servants and a lot of his kinfolk probably were and they were known by, you know that guy. He's Aristabuluses, whatever.
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Greet Herodian, my kinsman, probably of the line in some way related to Herod. Herod the great and the other Herods, Agrippa, and others. My kinsmen. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. So, there are others that are not in the Lord but greet those with a holy kiss.
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He'll say at the end. Grab em. Big bear hug, aggressively receive em, get to know them. And evangelize those who don't know Jesus yet. Good witness.
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Greet Trafina, delicate, and Trafosa, dainty, or vice versa. I can't remember which is which. Trafina or Trafosa, delicate and dainty. They're workers in the Lord. Now, don't sound so dainty or delicate, do they?
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They're workers. They're people who put their hands to the plow and they're going after it for the gospel. Greet Persis, this Persian woman, the beloved who has worked hard in the Lord every time. You see, Jesus always elevated women too and Paul is always or here at least is elevating women. There's some discussion about, you know, the deaconess and is she a leader?
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Is she, was this just early? Was she a pastor? It doesn't say that. It says, she was a servant. It says, these all worked hard in the Lord.
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Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord. Mark fifteen twenty one. This is during the crucifixion. You know, they've given Jesus's cross and he is walking Golgotha. He's walking towards, you know, the way of suffering towards Golgotha and it says in 1521 and they pressed into service, a passerby coming from the from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
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To bear his cross. So, the guy that helped Jesus with his cross is Rufus' dad and early church history says, this is the same Rufus. That's cool. Can you imagine the testimony of young Rufus? Or Rufus' mama who's also mentioned in the text next?
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You imagine that Paul who met Jesus on the road to Damascus and had that great personal experience with him and then taken up into the second, third heaven, you know. He's had these experiences but don't you know he was investigating everybody that he knew that had walked with Jesus? And his mother and mine. Paul was really really close to Rufus' mama. So much so that figuratively, he says, it's like my mama too.
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Greet a synchronous flag on Hermes, Patribus, and Hermas, and the brethren with them. Every time, excuse me. Greet these, these six guys, I mean, five guys, and the brethren that are with them, this looks like the leadership of a small gathering of believers. Poorer, the names are slave oriented, either slaves or freedmen, all Gentiles but he's saying, there are brothers and sisters that are with these guys and it looks like that's the leadership team of one of the churches of Rome, the local churches. Greek Philologus and Julia, married couple, most likely.
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Nerus and his sister and Olympus. Again, slave names and all the saints who are with them. This is probably a tenement church in a poor neighborhood. It looks like from what we can tell and it says there, greet one another with a holy kiss. This is a embrace them, aggressively receive them, go after them, and give em a kiss flat on the mouth.
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Really? You love these people. Not even having known them because they're believers in Jesus, you should embrace one another in this way and then he says, and recipients of this letter, all of y'all that are here sitting, listening to this in Rome, all of the rest of the churches in the whole wide world greet you. Amen. That's cool.
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So, that is telling us that people matter. Individual people matter. It's great. Collectively, groups matter. Yes.
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But people individually matter. He looks like he went out of his way to include people of every stripe, right? Men and women, slave and free, maybe old and young. There was one guy in there that Phlegon is actually name of it's a it's usually like Fido or Rover. It's usually a dog's name.
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So, that may have been a nickname. Some people speculate it might have been a dog's name. If it was coming to the letter to Jackson, it might have been a dog. Fido, I mean, it could've just been a nickname. I don't know.
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So, the charge after the grocery list here, the charge is encouragement and exhortation and I think this is cool. Like I said, if you're mining this for a topical sermon, this is probably what you choose. Now, I urge you, brothers and sisters, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned. Keep your eye on em. Jesus, when he was in the garden, now we're going do communion in a minute.
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When Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, he's he instituted this Lord's supper. When he went out to the garden and he prayed, this is part of his high priestly prayer. Just a few verses from it. He prays to God the father, sanctify them these disciples. Lord, that you've given me.
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Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. This is plan A. There is no plan B. Jesus is sending out the people who believe in him.
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To carry the truth of the gospel. For their sakes, I sanctify myself that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth. I do not ask on behalf of these eleven, twelve guys alone but for those also who believe in me through their word. Those who will believe in me through their word. He's praying for you, Christian.
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He's praying right there for you and what does he pray? That they may all be one, unified. Even as you, father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me that, is what Jesus prayed on the night that he was betrayed. Unity. And the advance of the gospel.
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That through our unity and through our love, other people would see and know. So, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances because anyone or anything that breaks down our unity in Christ should be suspicious to us. If they are trying to divide instead of bring together, they should be suspicious to us. And Paul says, turn away from them. They're not believers.
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In fact, he goes on to say that. For such men, if they're causing dissensions and hindrances, such men are slaves, not of the Lord, Christ, but of their own appetites and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. Have you ever been around somebody who had a smooth silver tongue and was able to part people from their good teaching or from their money. That happens too. They're smooth and flattering speech that deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
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That's why you should turn away from them. Anyone or anything that breaks down our unity in Christ should be suspicious. This table, communion is about coming together though we were not righteous, though our sins were as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Jesus Christ gave his blood to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and to bring us together no matter our background. Encouragement.
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Next, 19, for the report of your obedience has reached to all. Amen. Paul has given him an attaboy, a pat on the back and saying, I had never been to Rome but I know 28 people there and I know em because the report of your obedience in Christ has reached to all. I'm rejoicing over you. Before I even get there, I can't wait.
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I'm on my way to Spain. I want to get to Spain but you know what? I can't wait to get there and see you. I'm rejoicing over you but I do. This is exhortation again.
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I do want for you to be wise in what is good. Understand, no, figure out the gospel, the grace of God, figure that and be wise about the grace, the unmerited favor of God but be innocent about what is evil. Don't dig around in that. Stay away from that. Stick to the gospel.
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Stick to the grace of God. Stick to the sanctifying of Jesus blood. And then the encouragement after that is the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Now, in Rome, it was going to get worse before it got better. Claudius was pretty bad and he wrote real bad.
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This is only his third year of his reign. Seven years later, Paul, by church tradition, would be beheaded in Rome. Peter, crucified upside down. Seven years later, he sets Rome on fire and then blames it on the Christians. But the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet is an encouragement for them.
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Continues the encouragement with the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Now, that is the end of the charge section right there and we'll go for the team here. 21 through 24 is describing who it was that was with Paul serving at that point in Corinth and here they are. Timothy, my fellow worker greets you. Now, we met Timothy in Acts, right?
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Around Listra, Derby. We saw him. Was he Gentile or Jewish? Gentile, uncircumcised Timothy, right? Timothy, my fellow worker greets you, my true son in the faith.
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He calls him elsewhere and so do Lucius and Jason and Sossip Potter. Now, Lucius, Jason, and Sossip Potter, he calls my kinsmen. They're what? Jewish or Gentile? Jewish.
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Sausage Potter got his fanny kicked at some point. Do y'all remember that little scene? Was it Ephesus or was it current? Alright, Ephesus. Sausage Potter took a beating for the gospel.
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Lucius and Jason and Sasapotter, my kinsman. So, then he goes there and I, Tertius, who write this letter, literally, physically, graphite. He he's writing the letter. He's the one who is Paul's scribe or his amanuensis is the big seminary term for that. I, Tertius, who am physically writing down this letter as Paul dictates what the Holy Spirit is giving him.
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I, Tertius, greet you in the Lord because I'm a believer and I love y'all too. Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greet you. So, Gaius' house was the house where they met in Corinth to do their Bible studies and to do their their meetings. Gaius was the host of the whole church and he's greeting Rome too and excited about it from Corinth to Rome. As Phoebe carries this letter, Erastus, the city treasurer, greets you.
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There's actually archaeological evidence of this inscription of Erastus, the city manager and treasurer of the city of Corinth. Erastus is a believer. The city treasurer of Corinth. Now, that was a big time deal. Money was very important to the city of Corinth.
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Sports was very important. Entertainment was incredibly important also with Nero. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you. Cool. And Cortus, the brother.
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Now, that's the most non descript description we have. He's just a brother but he's a brother. He believes in Jesus. Praise God for Cortus. Doesn't say he was a hard worker but at least he's a brother.
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If he'd been a sister, he probably would said he was a hard worker. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And actually, look up there. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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That's second person plural too. That's a y'all and then he says it again down at the bottom. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. People matter.
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Not just the people in Rome but the people of the team, the people who are serving, people matter and he mentions them and he gives them the shout out as we say today. People matter. And then the benediction which is incredibly rich. It's a whole sermon unto itself. I'm not going to preach that sermon in four minutes but I will go over it with you, okay?
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I want you this week, if you're going to study something from this week, these three verses will blow your mind if you get it. Now, to him who is able to establish you, that's God almighty, right? He's the one that's able to establish. How does he establish? According to this gospel, Paul says, my gospel.
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I got this from God. The grace of God through the blood of Jesus. His perfect life, well lived, never sinned, no sin debt is able to die that perfect death that pays the price for unrighteousness that pays the price for sin and all of us have sinned. All of us do. But he's able to establish us in righteousness according to the gospel and the proclamation or preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past.
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Oh, the prophets and all those early believers in Yahweh, those early believers in God that never saw the promise. It was a mystery to them. They put their faith out there in God but they did not know how he was going to accomplish salvation. They looked forward to Messiah. It was a mystery to them.
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It's been kept secret for long ages past but now, Paul says, has been made manifest. It's manifested. It is shown. It is come to light and by the scriptures of the prophets, you can tell it's true because the things that they said would happen have happened according to the commandment of eternal God because he said so. And now has been made known to all the nations.
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As evidenced by his list of people. These folks are from everywhere. It's been made known to all the nations leading what? To the obedience of faith. True faith in Jesus will work.
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What you believe matters because what you believe changes who you are and when you it changes who you are, it changes what you do and how you do. Doing follows being and not the other way around. So, leading to the obedience that comes from faith to the only wise God through Jesus Christ be the glory forever. Amen. And that's the end of the book of Romans right there.
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Now, we've been through these five now. The messenger is a helpful servant, leader, patroness, a hardworking female, the messenger. The grocery list points to incredible diversity. The charge points to unity in the midst of that diversity. And then the team, again, shows diversity.
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God will and can use anyone of you who will just believe. He'll use you. He'll sanctify you as Jesus prayed by his truth, by his gospel. People matter, unity matters, and obedience matters. Those are the takeaways for me for today and then, it leads us right to communion.
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And I'm going to invite the frontline team if you would come forward. A little Romanian man over here is going to play the piano. We have a brother who is from a Quaker background. We have a brother who is from a background. We have a bald headed man and a sweet, sweet, sweet lady and we're here and we are celebrating communion together because the blood of Jesus has made us righteous where there was no righteousness.
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So, would you pray with me? Lord, would you please? Would you bring us to a place of incredible unity so that we would see that there is nothing within us of our own that is good, lord. That you are the one who makes righteous, that you are the one who justifies by faith, who sanctifies by faith, who gets your will done on this earth by the obedience of your servants. So, God, would you right now bless each one that receives the bread and I pray that you'd bless this little cracker, gluten free or not, that you would bless this representation of your body, That perfect life well lived.
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Thank you, Jesus, for following out. The father's plan and the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray that you'd empower us by that same Holy Spirit to live a holy and righteous life. That we'd yield to righteousness and not to our flesh. God, would you bless this as we distribute it?
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In Jesus name, amen. Betrayed, he took bread after supper and he broke it and after he had blessed it, he said, this is my body which is given for you Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Lord God, I thank you for that perfect life well lived. Every step, a step of surrender, every step, a step of grace. Your grace given through Jesus to us.
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By his blood. And so right now as we distribute this cup, Lord, this little representation, this grape juice. It's representing the blood of Jesus, the innocent lamb of God. His blood given is a ransom for many. God, would you impress it upon us, those who believe?
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Lord, that this is what brings us together and anything that tears us apart is not to be trusted. It's to be suspicious. Would you bring us together? Around this cup, your blood in Jesus name, Lord, would you bless it as we distribute it? Amen.
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Where God would remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. He'd write his law on their hearts that we would know that we'd have an indwelling presence of what we now know to be the Holy Spirit. That new covenant in Jesus blood, he described to his disciples and he said, take this and drink and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.
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Amen.
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Paul says, that as often as we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again and so, that's what we're doing and you see how he's able to establish his by his gospel, by the proclamation of Jesus Christ. So, the way that we live our lives, proclaim Jesus with your words and with your life. Proclaim Jesus. Would you stand with me and we're just going
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to close with a song benediction of the doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
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Amen.
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