By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 15 – 33 of chapter 15.
1.1.1. We
saw that Paul is wrapping up his teaching and admonishments to the church in
1.1.2. Paul
tried to explain himself and his motives in life in general, as well as why he
has written to the Romans in the manner he chose in this epistle.
1.1.3. Paul
told us that he has reason to boast, but only to boast in God, of those things
that the Lord had done through his life.
1.1.4. Paul
explained his heart’s desire in ministry is to go and to preach in those
regions of the world where no one has heard the gospel message before.
1.1.5. Paul
told the Roman church why he had not yet visited them and then tells them of
his plans to soon come and visit them.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look
at verses 1 – 27 of chapter 16.
1.2.1. We
will see that through correspondence that Paul has made many close friendships
with the leaders in the church in
1.2.2. Writing
this epistle from the city of
1.2.3. Paul
commends some to the church in
1.2.4. Paul
gives some final words of encouragement to the church in
2. VS
16:1-2 - “16:1 I commend to
you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; 2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner
worthy of the saints, and 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.” - Paul commends to the church
in
2.1.
The first greeting that Paul makes at the end of this
letter is actually a commendation for a woman named Phoebe. He describes her as being a ‘servant,’
and this word that is used for ‘servant’ is the same word as that used
for ‘deacon.’ It appears that in
the early church there were deaconesses.
The early church fathers wrote about deaconesses who prayed for the
sick, helped the poor and people with needs, etc.
2.2.
It is good to take a minute to consider the fact that
women serve in a huge way in ministries in the body of Christ. I don’t know the ratio but from my experience
in the church I believe that there are many more women serving in various
ministries in churches around the world than there are men, and we are deeply
indebted to these women for their tireless and many times thankless service to
us.
2.3.
Phoebe is evidently a woman of some means for it
states here that she was a ‘helper’ which in the Greek means a “patron.”
So, we infer that she had helped many financially many through her means. She also financially supported Paul himself
he writes. Phoebe was most likely on a
business trip headed to
2.4.
Paul requests that the church in
2.5.
As was mentioned, in this chapter we observe many
friendships that Paul had made. This was
one of the secrets of the success of his church-planting ministry. He always won friends for Christ. We Christians should be people who
concentrate on reaching out to people, building bridges to them, and winning
their friendship. As we do so, God will
use us in a mighty way as people will be drawn to us, and remain loyal to us.
2.6.
God has made Himself a friend to us and we ought also
to make friends for in so doing we will be like God. In fact, Jesus told His disciples that He was
not only their Savior and Lord but also their friend.
3. VS
16:3-5 - “3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who
for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also
all the churches of the Gentiles; 5 also greet the church that is in their
house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first
convert to Christ from
3.1.
Priscilla and Aquila were won to the Lord by Paul in
3.2.
When Paul finally left the city of
3.3.
Priscilla and
3.4.
Evidently the wife, Priscilla, was more gifted
spiritually than her husband and thus whenever their names are listed she is
always placed first.
3.5.
Paul writes in verse 4 that Priscilla and
3.6.
Paul writes for the church to greet ‘Epaenetus’ who was Paul’s first convert from
4. VS 16:6 - “6 Greet Mary, who has worked
hard for you.” - Paul tells
the church in
4.1.
This Mary was a hard-worker, one who just rolled up her
sleeves and got to work for the Lord.
5. VS 16:7 - “7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are
outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.” - Paul tells the church in
5.1.
There has been debate down through history concerning
a couple of points in this verse. First
of all, is Paul saying here that these ones mentioned are apostles or simply
that they are “of note among the apostles.” The language permits either.
5.2.
Secondly, there is speculation that the name ‘Junias’ is a female name. Though the name is almost non-existent in
ancient history and in the early church writings some referred to ‘Junias’ as being a woman and some to being a
man. If these ones were being considered
by Paul to be apostles, they would be the lower case ‘a’ apostles, meaning that
they had been sent out but were not considered to be on the same level as the
12 capital ‘A’ apostles. Could Paul have
been referring to a woman as being an apostle?
Perhaps not only did the church recognize deaconesses, but also that a
woman could be sent out by the church and thus be considered as a small “A”
apostle? That fact would conflict
however with Paul’s teaching that he did not allow a woman to teach or exercise
authority over a man (1 Tim. 2:11-15).
5.3.
Paul writes that these two are his ‘kinsmen,’
which may mean that they are Jews as well as being his fellow workers.
5.4.
We don’t know if Andronicus and Junias
had been imprisoned with Paul but he writes here that they had been imprisoned
for the gospel and calls them ‘fellow prisoners.’
6. VS
16:8-9 - “8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.” -
Paul tells the church in
6.1.
Again we see Paul greeting which great affection those
who had served with him in the Lord.
Paul was one who knew how to make friends in the Lord everywhere he
went, and thus he was able to be a superb church-planter. These people were ‘beloved’ by Paul.
6.2.
Most of those who have been used greatly by the Lord
are people who have the ability to make friends in the Lord, winning people’s
love. If we Christians would try to
reach out and to love people, building bridges of friendship to them, then we
would be used greatly by the Lord.
7. VS
16:10 - “10 Greet Apelles, the
approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.” - Paul tells the church in
7.1.
Paul tells the church to greet Apelles, a brother who
had the apostolic approval over his life and ministry.
7.2.
Aristobulus is believed
to be the grandson of Herod the Great, the man who order all of the males age
two and under to be murdered when he had heard about the birth of Christ in
8. VS
16:11-12 - “11 Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of
Narcissus, who are in the Lord. 12 Greet Tryphaena
and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord.” - Paul tells the church in
8.1.
Again with each of these whom Paul sends his
greetings, we see the great love and special friendships which he had built
with them.
8.2.
Sometimes ministry can just be hard work, and Paul
notes here that Persis ‘has worked hard in the
Lord.’
9. VS
16:13 - “13 Greet Rufus, a
choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.” -
Paul tells the church in
9.1.
Rufus is believed to be the son of Simon of
9.2.
Paul writes that he much admired Rufus as a Christian
and fellow laborer for he calls him ‘a choice man in the Lord.’
9.3.
Paul felt so close to Rufus’ mother that it was just
as if she was his own mother.
10.
VS 16:14-15 - “14
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon,
Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas
and the brethren with them. 15 Greet Philologus and
Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas,
and all the saints who are with them.” -
Paul tells the church to greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with him, Philologus
and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all of the saints that are with him
10.1.
More greetings to fellow-laborers in Christ.
11.
VS 16:16 - “16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.” - Paul tells the church in
11.1.
The custom in those days was to greet a person with a
kiss, therefore Paul tells them to give the proper greeting expected per their
customs. In
11.2.
When visiting different countries there are different
customs which we Christians should
practice in order to show proper respect and affection, and not to offend
anyone.
12.
VS 16:17-18 - “17
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and
hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites;
and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the
unsuspecting.” - Paul tells
the church to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances
contrary to the teaching which they had learned, and to turn away from those
people
12.1.
Paul writes in these verse that the Christians should
mark those in their midst who ‘cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to
the teaching which you learned.’
12.2.
It is always the case that the Devil, the enemy of our
soul, is wanting to come into our church and our lives and hinder the great
work that the Lord is doing. We have an
“adversary” in the Devil and we need to realize that he is going to try
to send people into our midst to disrupt God’s work. The New Testament is filled with admonitions
concerning the need to beware of deceivers in the church:
12.2.1.
Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 7:15 to beware of
these type of people, “15 “Beware of the
false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous
wolves.””
12.2.2.
Paul told the Ephesian
elders in Acts 20:29-31 about the fact that after he left that salvage wolves
would come in among them, “29 “I know that after my departure
savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and
from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw
away the disciples after them. 31 “Therefore be on the alert...”
12.2.3.
In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul warned the Corinthians
about such men who might come in among them in the church, “13 For
such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as
apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will
be according to their deeds.”
12.2.4.
Jude, the brother of Jesus, wrote in Jude 19 about
deceivers who would come in among the church, “19 These are the
ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.”
12.2.5.
Titus 3:10-11, “10 Reject a divisive man
after the first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a person
is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.”
12.3.
In the church, when people are always rocking the boat
by back-biting the leadership and opposing what the leaders feel that the Lord
is leading the church to do, then those people should be marked and watched in
order that that they might not have opportunity for doing greater harm. If they go too far and cause the boat to be
rocked too much then they should be asked to leave the fellowship.
12.4.
Those who oppose and hinder the work of the church do
so for selfish and self-gratifying reasons.
They see the church as their opportunity to be able to carry out their
own agendas, and they see this as being much easier to do in a small
fellowship. Paul writes that such men
and women as this are enslaved not to God but to their own lusts.
12.5.
Paul describes the ones who cause trouble as being
those who speak with ‘smooth and flattering’ words as they are using
deception to cause others to become deceived and to follow after them.
12.6.
One bad apple spoils the whole barrel, so we in the
church must not let those who cause dissensions and hindrances continue to
fellowship with us after they go beyond a certain point or continue on
unrepentant for too long. Otherwise,
people will be infected by their lies and hurtful gossip.
12.7.
Its been my experience in the church that people who
come into the church that are disruptive and cause dissensions should be dealt
with quickly before they can build a support group and following within the
church. If people like this are allowed to
stay then the longer they stay the more people they will take with them when
they finally do leave (and they are going to leave).
12.8.
This exhortation is not just for the pastor and church
leaders, all of us in the church need to keep our antennas up and look for
those who might cause trouble down the road for the church.
13.
VS 16:19 - “19
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing
over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is
evil.” - Paul tells the church that
the report of their obedience has reached to all and that he is rejoicing over
them, but that he wants them to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is
evil
13.1.
Paul commends the fellowship in
13.2.
Paul exhorts the church in verse 19 to ‘be wise in
what is good, and innocent in what is evil.’ This is an exhortation to search out God’s
Word diligently and prayerfully every day seeking to know what He does and does
not approve of. It is also an
exhortation not to do research in ‘what is evil.’ It is best to just avoid thinking about
sinful and evil ways as much as is possible.
Those types of thoughts are not worth our time.
13.3.
Jesus admonished His disciples in Matthew 10:16 to do
exactly what Paul refers to here, “16 “Behold,
I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and
innocent as doves.””
13.4.
Practical Example #1:
I know of a pastor who got a program for his staff that would block out
anything on the internet that would be offensive to good morals, such as
X-rated pictures and pornography, etc.
Then, he decided to try to search the web in order to make sure that the
program was fail-safe. After many hours
of finding out the inadequacies of the program he found himself having to
repent to his wife and the church for getting involved in pornography.
13.5.
Practical Example #2:
We do not need to go to the bars in order to find out what kind of
sinful life people lead there so that we will be better able to know how to
present the gospel to them so that they will accept Christ.
13.6.
The reason we Christians must be innocent concerning
evil, not researching sin, etc., is because we may not be able to handle what
we find when we do, plus the fact that doing so will not in one way help us to
be able to reach anyone who is lost for Christ.
We need to seek the Lord and get close to Him, then our light will shine
so brightly that those in the dark will either flee because they love sin, or
they will ask us what is different about our lives.
14.
VS 16:20 - “20
And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” - Paul tells the Roman church that God would
soon crush Satan under their feet and then invokes a blessing of the grace of
our Lord Jesus to be with them
14.1.
As a Christian is practicing being wise regarding
those things that are good and holy (the things of God) and being innocent
concerning evil, God (whom God calls the God of peace because He brings us
peace with Himself when we accept His Son for salvation) will ‘crush Satan
under’ his feet. God will do a great
work through the Christian’s life who lives this way.
14.2.
Assurance of victory over our enemies is promised to God’s
people as they are faithfully serving Him, just as when Joshua told the people
in Joshua 1:3 when they prepared to go in and take the land of Canaan that the
Lord had given to them, “3 “Every place on which the sole of your
foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.”
14.3.
In the New Testament era we are likewise guaranteed
victory over our enemy the Devil when we are serving the Lord faithfully, just
as Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “14 But
thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests
through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”
14.4.
It is important for us to always remember that God’s
people always battle their enemies from the position of victory.
15.
VS 16:21 - “21
Timothy my fellow worker greets you, and so do Lucius
and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.” - Paul tells the church in
15.1.
Those with Paul who are ministering to and with him
send their greetings to the Romans.
15.2.
Timothy had a special place in Paul’s heart unlike any
other. A son of a Jewess whose father
was a Greek (Acts 16:1), Timothy was a young pastor who served with Paul and
was like a “son” to him. Timothy
is mentioned in the book of Acts as well as several of the epistles.
15.3.
1 Tim. 1:3 tells us that Timothy was the pastor of the
church at
15.4.
Paul wrote two epistles to this young pastor to impart
some wisdom to him as well as to encourage him in his ministry. The two epistles to Timothy along with the
epistle to Titus are considered Paul’s pastoral epistles as they are written
specifically for the edification of these two pastors.
16.
VS 16:22 - “22
I, Tertius, who write this letter, greet you in the
Lord.” - Tertius
greets the church in
16.1.
Most of Paul’s letters were actually written by
someone else as Paul dictated. Tertius wrote this one, and now he sends his own greeting.
17.
VS 16:23-24 - “23
Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city
treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother. 24
[The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.]” - Paul tells the church in
17.1.
Others in the city where Paul wrote this letter sent
their greetings to the Romans through Paul’s writing.
17.2.
Paul invokes the blessing of God’s grace to be with
all of them.
18.
VS 16:25-27 - “25
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching
of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept
secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of
the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made
known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise
God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.” - Paul declares that all of the glory be to God
forever, to Him who is able to establish us according to the preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret
for long ages past
18.1.
Paul wrote this last closing statement to the church
in his own hand writing, as was often his custom in his writings.
18.2.
God is the God who ‘is able to establish you
according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ.’ The church had been established in
18.3.
Paul speaks of the ‘mystery’ of the gospel in
verses 25-26, the ‘mystery’ which had been revealed to him and for which
he became the apostle to the Gentiles, the ‘mystery’ which he has
revealed to us in this book of Romans.
This book that we have studied contains everything that is foundational
in the Christian life.
18.4.
In the last verse, Paul describes God as ‘the only
wise God.’ The gods of the heathens
are stupid and have no intelligence at all.
If they fall over they can’t pick themselves up again. They can’t speak. They are mere creations made from the
imagination of men. The God whom Paul
served is “omniscient,” or “all knowing.”
18.5.
Paul ends the letter by saying ‘to God be the glory
forever.’ Paul claimed no credit
whatsoever for the work that God had done through his life.
18.6.
We Christians should always give God all the glory for
everything good that happens, for in that way He can exalt us as He sees fit.
19.
CONCLUSIONS :
19.1.
Just as Paul did, remember that ministry for the Lord
involves the building of close relationships in the Lord.
19.2.
As Paul was appreciative and grateful to those who
ministered to him and to others, so we also should show appreciation to those
who lay down their lives for others in Christ’s Name.
19.3.
Keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and
hindrances in the church.
19.4.
Always remember to give all of the glory to God.