Greetings in Righteousness
Romans - Junior Youth • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Passage Reading
Passage Reading
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.
I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.
Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
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 kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
Read:
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea,
Introduction
Introduction
Today as we arrive at the final chapter of the book of Romans, and we see Paul closing his letter to the Romans with a greeting. He commends key people in the church of Rome. What is unusual about this section of scripture is the fact that Paul mentions twenty-seven people by name in a church he has never attended. Nine of them being women. The longest greeting of all the Pauline epistles. So how did Paul know so many people in a church he never attended? The answer is simple. Rome was a capital city that drew people from all across the empire. Paul’s missionary journeys focused on cities that housed large populations, namely: Jerusalem, Syrian Antioch, Philippi, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus. While visiting these regions he would come into contact with a number of people who were either visiting from Rome, or who had moved to Rome after their meeting. With that being said, lets have a look at the different members of the Roman church and what Paul had to say to of each.
A) Commendation and greetings:
A) Commendation and greetings:
Read:
I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.
Phoebe was entrusted by Paul to deliver this letter to Romans. Phoebe’s name means bright or radiant, and her name highlights aspects of her personality. Paul describes her as a servant. The greek word used here for servant is diakonos which can be translated as deacon. It is likely that Phoebe held the official position of deacon in the church of Cenchrea. Within the early church they had a variety of responsibilites, which included the responsibility of instructing both women and children (Titus 2:3-5). Paul encouraged the Roman church to receive Phoebe as she delivered this letter, and to help her wherever she had a need. He said this because she had a reputation of helping others, including Paul. Therefore, they were to return the favor.
Read:
Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Paul first met Pricilla and Aquila on his second missionary journey when he arrived in Corinth. Paul was a tentmaker, and they started working together in the same trade. Pricilla and Aquila were Roman citizens, but fled from Rome to Corinth because of the decree Claudius made that instructed all Jews to leave Rome.
Acts 18:2 “And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.”
When Paul left left Corinth, they travelled with him, and they briefly stayed in Ephesus together. There they met Apollos, and God used them to disciple a young believer who was both zealous and knowledgable on scripture.
Acts 18:26 “So he (Apollos) began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”
However, although being zealous and knowledgable are good things, there were aspects of Apollos understanding of scripture that needed to be corrected. I am of the opinion that he more than likely lacked maturity in his faith, seeing that He jumped straight into teaching God’s Word without an appropiate knowledge of God. This happens to most new believers, because of their zeal and excitement for the things of God. I was one of them. The Bible tells us in James 3:1.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.
However, God loved Apollos and saw his heart. So He used Aquila and Priscilla to come along side Apollos, to disciple him and correct him in gentleness with the purpose of making him a more effective minister of the gospel. It just goes to show that no matter how much of the Bible you think you may know, there is always someone that knows more than you do. Not only that, God values maturity in our faith. He will bring people upon your path that will help you to mature in your faith, and to teach you to rightly divide the Word of truth as 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us. God wants us to rightly divide the word of truth and to do it with the right heart - with the purpose of building up the body of Christ and not breaking them down.
Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
1 Corinthians 8:1–2 “We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”
Knowledge is a good thing, however without sharing things in love it is destructive. The Word of God is a sword, and if it finds itself in the wrong persons hands it can both kill and destroy lives. We will learn more of these types of people in verses 17-20.
Shortly after this Prisca and Aquila moved back to Rome. Paul commends both them, calling them fellow workers in Christ. He mentions that they risked their own lives for the sake of Paul. They were real friends. The bible tells us:
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
This is exactly what Jesus did for us, and through Him - you and I can be called friends of God. Just like Moses was (Exodus 33:11). Moving on.
Read:
Likewise greet the church that is in their house.
Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.
Here we read that Prisca and Aquila had a church in their home, and Paul greets them in this verse. This was common practise for the early church, meeting in homes rather than buildings. Other home churches was mentioned in Colossians 4:15 and Philemon 2.
Epaenetus is named here, and Paul calls him beloved. The NIV and CSB translates beloved as “my dear friend”. He was the first covert in the Roman Province of Asia (which is modern day Turkey).
Read:
Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Here Paul mentions the first of several women. Paul makes a point of recognizing the hard work of the women in the congregation. The wording used here “labored much” suggesting that Mary labored until the point of exhaustion. Other than that we don’t know much about her. We have a lot of women like this at Calvary, women that labor day and night behind the scenes in order that each one of you can enjoy these Sunday school classes. May God bless them richly for their labour in the Lord. Their reward is waiting for them in Heaven.
Andronicus and Junia were more than likely husband and wife that worked together in ministry. They were both Jewish, and they were saved before Paul. The verse points out that they suffered for Jesus, and that they were imprisoned. And its for this reason that the apostles respected them.
Read:
Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.
Again we see Paul calling Amplias and Stachys “my beloved”, which can be translated as “my dear friend”. Urbanus is mentioned and he is referred to as a fellow worker in Christ. These names are mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament.
Read:
Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Apelles is said to have been approved. The Greek used for approved is ton dokimon, meaning that Apelles was one who was approved in Christ through testing. Paul also greets the household of Aristobulus, its believed that this may have been the grandson of Herod the Great and the friend of the Emperor of Claudius.
Paul then also greets Herodian and the household of Narcissus.
Herodian was greeted as, “my countryman”, which indicates that he was more than likely one of Paul’s Jewish relatives. The household of Narcissus is greeted, and there are scholars today that believe that he was the Emperor’s secretary. If this is true, that would mean that the palace in Rome had Christians in them.
Philippians 4:22 “All the saints greet you, but especially those who are of Caesar’s household.”
Read:
Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
Tryphena and Tryphosa were probable twin sisters, and their names meant “delicate” and “dainty”. Paul again acknowledges the diligent work of the women in the congregation, by commending Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis for their hard work at the church of Rome.
Rufus however is an interesting character. Mark 15:21, reads: “Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.”
Whether this Rufus and the Rufus of verse 13 are the same is uncertian. However, if they are the same person He was the son of Simon Cyrene, the North African man who helped carry Jesus cross upon his crucifixion.
Paul also states that Rufus was chosen in the Lord. Paul calls Rufus’ mother his own, and although this was not his biological mother - he acknowledges her for the way in which she cared for him with a motherly affection on his missionary journey.
Read:
Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
We have no further information on these people mentioned in these verses.
Read:
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
Here we see Paul make mention of the common way in which the early church would greet one another. In the Old Testament, it was common for Jews to kiss friends on the forehead, on the cheek or beard. This means of greeting one another was adopted by the Jews of the early church, and it was considered holy. Therefore, there were no erotic or pagan suggestions by it. We see Paul greeting other churches the same way, you can read 1 Cor 16:20 and 1 Thess 5:26.
Warnings about false teachers:
Warnings about false teachers:
Read:
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Now we arrive at the most important part of today’s teachings. Did you know that you can’t trust every church or teacher of the Bible? The Bible makes it clear that there are people in the world that twist the words of the Bible to say things that are not true. The Bible calls them false teachers. They are either a person or a group that mislead others by twisting the truth for their own selfish gain. Examples of these types of groups would be churches that preach the Prosperity gospel, also known as the Word-of-faith movement, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, Catholics and Seventh-Day-Adventists. You will find every single one of these groups in Somerset West, and the world around you.
Now lets look at what Paul has to say about them:
Read:
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
Paul tells us that these false teachers are divisive in nature, and that the put obstacles or offenses in the way of believes. By saying this, he points to the fact that they teach false doctrine. Paul tells the church to both mark these false teachers, and to avoid them. Lets read how Peter, John and Paul describes them:
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.
They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
Its interesting to note that when evaluating the false doctrine of these cults they almost always have these five things in common, namely:
They deny the deity of Christ, meaning they do not believe that Jesus is God.
They deny the Trinity.
They deny that Salvation is by Grace through Faith, and promote a works based salvation.
They almost always have some form of extra-biblical revelation, such as the Book of Mormon, the writings of Ellen G White, and Watchtower Publications etc. Although the Bible explicitly tells us in:
Revelation 22:18–19 “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
And in 2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” You will find everything you need in the Bible. There is no need for additional sources of revelation.
Most of them always have a “prophet” that limits their followers interpretation of the Bible what that prophet or persons says about the Bible.
This clearly contradicts what the Bible explicitly tells us in 2 Peter 1:20 “that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,”
The Bible also tells us in Deuteronomy 18:20
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
Moving on:
Read:
For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
Here Paul explicitly tells us that these false teachers to not serve Jesus Christ, but rather they serve their own bellies.
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
What Paul means by saying this, is that these false teachers are driven by their own self-interests and appetities. They are driven both by material and fleshly desires. And they go after naive, vulnerable and innocent people. They take advantage of these types of people by smooth talk and deceiving words. They can take advantage of these naive people because of they don’t know their bible, or they are new in the faith.
So how can you protect yourself from these false teachers? By reading your Bible for yourself and testing what is being said.
I want to encourage every one of you today to be like the believers of Bereans described in Acts 17:11 “ They received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
Be like these believers. Don’t just blindly trust what people say about the Bible. Read it for yourself, weigh what people are saying and test whether or not it is true. And that also goes for everything I’ve said to you guys. If what I am saying today is true, the Bible will back it up. That’s exactly what Paul encouraged in his listerners, and I encourage you to do the same with me.
Read:
For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
Here we can see that the Christians living in the capital of Rome and their obedience had become well known in the surrounding areas. Paul encouraged the believers to wise to what is good and simple to what is evil. In saying this he means the these believers to remain pure and unstained by the things of the world, to continue to shining their light to the world around them. It is a very powerful witness.
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Read:
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Here Paul make it clear that these false teachers, who are under the influence of Satan, will be crushed by the God Himself. This verse describes both the present victory we enjoy over Satan in Jesus Christ, and the final judgement where God will fulfill that which he promised in Genesis 3:15 and utterly destroy Satan and his work forever.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.””
C) Final Greeting and Doxology:
C) Final Greeting and Doxology:
Read:
Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.
Timothy had been a regular companion of Paul from the beginning of his second missionary journey and he was mentioned ten times in Paul’s letters. He was a close friend of Paul, and the books of first and second Timothy were written to him. Timothy, Lucius, Jason and Sosipater were all Paul’s fellow country men, meaning they were Jewish.
Read:
I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.
Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Tertius was Paul’s scribe, meaning he was the one who wrote down what Paul was saying to the Romans. Gaius, hosted Paul in Corinth and he had a house in his church. He was most likely the Gaius mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:14 who Paul baptized. Erastus had a high official position in the city of Corinth, and Quartus was Paul’s spiritual brother, not his physical brother.
Read:
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 kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.
In closing, Paul makes it clear that the content of this letter contains a comprehensive statement of the message he proclaimed. He makes this clear by drawing attention to his own teaching of the gospel and its power to edify the body fo Christ. This message of the gospel of Christ was hidden in the Old Testament, but is now revealed to us in the New Testament. The predictions made by the Old Testament prophets can now be understood in light of the church age, where Paul shows us the purpose of the gospel was to bring all nations to believe and obey Christ. Paul gives God all the glory, and that He deserves all the credit, praise and worship for the things which He had accomplished through Christ.
Conclusion:
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
