Care for the church

REVIEW QUESTIONS

QUESTION: What should ministers of the gospel desire most to see in people? (v 18)

ANSWER: Obedience to God

QUESTION: How do/should churches support each other and missions?

ANSWER: By giving to those in need, contributing to state and national conventions

QUESTION: What does the NT teach about giving? Should we give and how much should we give?

ANSWER: Yes we should give. Giving brings the promise of God to take care fo all our needs and provide enough for us to continue giving.

INTRODUCTION

This evening we are going to wrap up the book of Romans.

Chapter 16 ends the book with a series of greetings, a few concluding principles.

And it is easy to read a chapter like this and say well theres nothing here for me, but there are a few things we can glean from these verses tonight that will bless us.

The list of all those serve faithfully (v 1-16)

Romans 16:1–6 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; 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. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.”

Now I didn’t read all these verses mainly because I did not want to stumble over all of these names publicly.

But I do want to point out all these commendations listed here of people who work often behind the scenes in Paul’s ministry.

Most often we only think about Paul and that he did everything himself. But here we read over and over: fellow worker, and those “who worked hard in the Lord.”

He was commending these people because of their labor, their effort, their involvement, their risks for the gospel of Jesus Christ!

QUESTION: Would your name be in that list if Paul was writing a letter in the 21 century?

Women in ministry?

Phoebe was a woman who is described as a “servant of the church”. And on down in verse 3: “Prisca (pricilla) and Aquila (husband and wife) are described as fellow workers in the church. Mary who has worked hard for you.

These two women are often used as an example in Scripture of women serving in leadership positions and as a defense for women serving as pastors/preachers/ overseers in churches today.

And there are more things like Mary who was the first to see the risen Jesus was told to go and tell the other disciples He was alive

Or that Deborah was a judge and leader in Israel

Question: What are your beliefs/convictions about the roles of women in churches?

There are a lot of people who believe and push for female pastors, preachers, and teachers.

And this was a huge issue in our national convention this year, lots of controversy, and divisions over this.

Some common arguments for women serving in pulpit ministry:

Phoebe held a position/office/some would even say pastor of a church

Deborah was a judge of Israel which was a leadership position

Prisca (Pricilla) taught Apollos the way of God more accurately

Mary was the first to see the risen Jesus and was sent to tell the apostles He was alive

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

And I’m sure there are more.

Principle: Prescription holds more weight that description.

What that means is if there is a story about a man who had two wives (Jacob) and yet the Bible teaches that a man should have one wife then what holds more weight.

If the Bible gives a command to not lie and there is a story in the OT that involves a man like David lying. What holds more weight?

Here is the prescription about the position of pastor/overseer

1 Timothy 2:11–12 “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.”

1 Timothy 3:1–2 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,”

What are we to make of Phoebe?

At most she was a deaconess. It is also very possible she was simply a servant in the church

What about Deborah?

Deborah was a judge, not a pastor.

What about pricilla explaining the way of God to Apollos?

She did so along with her husband Aquila. Nothing wrong with a married couple telling another person about the Lord. But that is not pastoring

What about Mary?

It is the call of all God’s people to tell others about Jesus…that is called evangelism, not pastoring

Does God have a place for women in ministry?

You better believe it!

They are to be evangelists such as the Samaritan woman at the well. (John 4)

They are to be prayer warriors as the women in the upper room in Acts 1

They are to be servants of the church such as Phoebe was in Rom 16:1

They are to teach other women in the church, and be an example of godliness (Titus 2:3-4)

They are to assist widows (1 Tim 5:16)

They are involved in planning, and participating in everything the church does AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT STEP INTO THE ROLE OF THE PASTOR.

Why can they not be the pastor??

1 Timothy 2:12–14 “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”

It has nothing to do with culture, with Paul’s view of women, with male dominance…it is rooted in theology and it goes all the way back to the beginning.

2) Be on alert for divisive people and false teachers

Romans 16:17–20 “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. 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. 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. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eyes on those who cause dissensions and hindrances”

This is a plea of urgency for the whole church to keep watch. Keep our eyes open. Do not be the church doormat and ignorant of the fact that there are some people who come in to a church just to cause problems.

Dissensions = to divide. Some people will come into a church simply to try to divide it.

They may try to divide it over secondary theological issues, they gossip, they may promote legalism, they are prideful, a desire to be first, a desire for power, a desire to be right.

The point is that the whole church must be onboard and guard the unity of the church.

Hindrances = stumbling blocks

They may also do things and try to teach others to do things that would violate their consciences and cause them to stumble or sin

Make no mistake church: there will be people juts like this who will show up at this church at some point in time.

Or they may already be here and simply rise up one day and begin to cause problems

What do we do with people like these? “avoid them”

And I think this is the one of the most overlooked and difficult things for the church to do today: avoid people such as these.

The Bible teaches that there are times when we are to avoid certain people. And that does not just mean on Sunday mornings, but all the time.

And this is hard for us because we have been taught our whole christian life to never turn anyone away and accept everyone regardless of what they do

And that is how pedophiles, and bullies, and abusive people, and stumbling blocks make their way into the church and destroy them

Paul says here that we are to AVOID divisive people and AVOID people who cause hindrances.

Titus 3:10–11 “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”

1 Corinthians 5:11 “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.”

Its is 100% biblical at times for us to remove people from our lives and not even associate with them.

verse 18 “For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly”

The reason divisive people are so dangerous is because they are not of the faith.

They do so because they are self-serving people led by Satan

And if Satan can fill the church with lost, evil, and religious but spiritually dead people, he will gain control of that church.

How do they come into a church and gain a foothold? “by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple”

I want to give you a principle tonight and I hope you never forget it

I learned this early on and I have seen it for my own eyes. Never trust a man with flattery lips.

Proverbs 29:5 NASB95

A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.

If someone comes up to me and begins to flatter me, immediately this verse comes to mind, and the reminder to not trust them

People will flattery lips have an underlying agenda

I was serving as a deacon in my first church. And I was asked to teach one Wed night. The pastor of that church had just left and we were looking for a pastor.

After I finished teaching this guy came up to me and told me how great it was and I would be a good preacher and people would listen to me

It felt good

I thought yeah I like that!

My wife said he is building you up for something

What does he want

A couple weeks later he came up to me and asked me if he could be the interim pastor

And my wife’s words rung true

He didn’t get the position

And I learned a great lesson

“Be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil”

This is essentially what he is saying: know how to discern good and evil

There is a difference between a person who is being kind and trying to encourage you and another who is using flattering speech because he has some underlying motives

There is a difference between someone who is teaching what is right and true, and someone who is teaching things that could become a stumbling block

The call to the church is to use discernment here!

Not everyone is pro-Jesus

And not everyone is pro-Satan

Keep your eyes open and use discernment

3) The Promise of Victory for the church (v 20)

Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

Notice the victor in this verse: The God of Peace

He will soon crush Satan under your feet. That is the promise of God being victorious over the devil.

And that promise goes all the way back to the beginning in the book of Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

From the very beginning when sin and evil manifested in this world, God has made a promise that He will be victorious.

And we are to never forget that.

I am telling you that ministry can be so hard and so discouraging. And it seems like more times than not, someone begins to move toward Jesus, Satan pulls them back in some way or another. And the church seems to be defeated.

But thats not true. We have the promise of victory and we should have attitudes that reflect that promise!

False teachers come? They will be crushed under our feet

People who cause divisions in the church? They will soon be crushed under our feet

God will prevail and conquer! Let us live like it!

The great enemy of the church is Satan

Who is behind false teachers, people who become stumbling blocks, people who stir up strife? Satan

He is the real enemy of the church. All people who serve him are just his pawns in his plans.

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

And we are to keep that in mind always, Satan is the enemy.