Paul's Personal Greetings
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Paul’s Personal Greetings
Rick Blount
When you begin to read down through that 16th chapter of the book of Romans, at first glance, it looks like one of those rather dull and uninteresting chapters in the Bible where you have a long list of names given to you. You will find several of these as you study through your Bible. In the Old Testament there are a couple of books that will absolutely beat you to death if you try to read all those names. So, at first glance when you look at you say, “o, my goodness, here is a chapter that is filled with all of these names. What in the world does this have to do with life in 2019? Why would we bother to spend our time when we have the kind of problems we have today reading and studying about a long list of names of people who lived a long, long time ago. I am not interested in names. I am not interested in people who are listed like this.”
Of course, a list of names is really according to your perspective. I am told that there are a lot of people in Los Angeles who were very interested in the names of prospective jurors that came out for the O.J. Simpson case. It’s according to where your interest in. There are those who go to Washington and go to the Viet Nam Memorial. There are thousands of names listed and they read intently and carefully and then some stop and with tears they dwell upon a name that is very important to them. So, a listing of names is relative to what your concern might be as it relates to those particular names.
There are some very important lessons for us to learn today about these names. One of the things we learn about them is the importance of Christian friends. Paul is writing here, and he is greeting some people who had become friends of his because of his relationship to them through the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was a wonderful man. He showed great appreciation for Christian friends. I’m grateful to God for my friends. I’m thankful to God for my brothers and sisters in the faith who fellowship with me in the fellowship of First Baptist Church of Jacinto City. So, Paul was never too busy to take time out to give a word of gratitude and a word of appreciation to friends. I think it might be good for all of us sometimes to make out a list of friends—people who have encouraged us, people who have been a blessing to us. Maybe drop a note of greeting and a note of appreciation to them. Paul shows us the importance of friends. Another thing this list of names will do for us is to show us that the people of the New Testament were real people. These were people who actually lived. We read them on the dusty pages of history so far as the listing of their names go, but in those days, they were real people. When we read these names that mean really nothing to us, they are the names of people who existed. They got up in the morning just like we do. They ate breakfast and went to jobs just like we do. They struggled and they had hardships, the failed, just like we do. They prayed, the claimed promises of Christ, they came to great victories in their lives as believers just like we do. The Christian faith is a faith that is real to people in life wherever they may be and at whatever period of time. I don’t know what your address in Houston is, but God is real wherever you live. I don’t care what your name is, I don’t care what you do, I don’t care how old you may be, the same God who was real to these people centuries ago is real to people in the 2019 age as well. So, there are going to be some wonderful surprises as we read down through this chapter and as we consider some of these people of ancient times.
The first person I want to spend a little time with is an unusual lady who is mentioned to us in verse 1. Paul says, “I commend unto you Phoebe.” He is talking there about a Christian woman. Her name means bright or radiant. It is commonly believed that Phoebe was the one that Paul gave the scroll of the book of Romans to and she became the one who delivered that book of Romans to its first readers. She is what we would call today a courier, someone who delivers a message. I’m calling her this morning —
I. The Lady COURIER.
I. The Lady COURIER.
Phoebe was one who had come to know the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior and now she is singled out for special attention by the apostle Paul. Paul says, “I commend her unto you.” This has application to us today because it touches on the whole area of the role of women in the life of the church today. It touches on the whole area of the liberation of women. That’s one of the current issues of our time, one of the hot burning issues we are reading about in current affairs. This lady courier, Phoebe, was assigned by Paul the responsibility of delivering this book and she shows us the importance of Christian womanhood and what real women’s liberation is.
One writer said about her, “She carried under the folds of her robe the whole future of Christian theology.” That shows us the importance of this woman, Phoebe.
There are three words that are used about her I want to just touch on briefly. In
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
she is called our sister, in verse 1 again she is called a servant. In verse 2 she is called a succorer — an encourager, a helper. These three words describe this wonderful Christian woman, Phoebe. Our sister says Paul. That touches on her position in the church. She is a sister. Christians characteristically refer to one another as brothers and sisters.
You have noticed we say brother and sister around here,
It’s because we’re a family and we love each one dear. Those who know Christ as their Savior are brothers and sisters in the Lord. This means she had a relationship to the heavenly Father. She had become a child of God. Evidently brought up in paganism. Evidently brought up in heathen darkness. Somewhere along the way she had evidently meet this great preacher Paul and Paul had led her to faith in Jesus Christ. When she was saved, she was born into God’s family. God became her heavenly father; she became a child of God. The most liberating, the most elevating experience that can ever happen to any woman or man for that matter is to be born again and to become a child of God. If you are a child of God, you are important. If you have been born again and you are in God’s family, you are a very important person. So, she is in the family.
She is not only a child of the heavenly Father, but she is a sister to all of the other brothers and sisters in the family of God. Here is Paul, a Jew, who is commending
Phoebe, a Greek, to his readers who were Romans. When you are saved, we all become one family in the Lord. That’s why I love our fellowship here. There are no barriers in our fellowship. Both men and women are in fellowship in good standing in the family of God. All races are accepted here in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want you to turn over to
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
want to read you a verse of Scripture that will be a blessing to you. That’s a marvelous statement. An experience with Jesus Christ brings oneness. It makes us one in the Lord. That’s what real liberation is all about. Real liberation is being elevated into the family of God.
It is the Christian faith that ultimately broke down every barrier and ultimately addressed all of the injustices and abuses that were done to women in the ancient world. It is the Christian faith today that puts woman on the pedestal where she belongs and teaches her what here real liberty and freedom is all about. Phoebe, our sister.
Look at the second word. A servant of the church. I want to point out the fact that he uses the little phrase “of the church.” That means that whatever this woman Phoebe did, she did it in the authority of the church. A lot of people misunderstand what liberty is all about. A lot of people today are talking about freedom. They are clamoring for liberty, but their idea of liberty is some kind of unrestricted right to do anything they want to do. You hear people say, “I’ve got to be free; I’m going to be me, I’m going to do it just like I want to do it.” You misunderstand liberty if you think liberty has no authority over it whatsoever. Real liberty in the Lord is a liberty which is exercised under the Son of God, according to the teachings of the Word of God and through the ministry of the Church of God. “She is a servant of the church.”
If you have a modern translation your translation might say in verse 1 that she is a deaconess of the church. It is the word that is translated in other places about men in the church as deacons. So, some people say this means she had an official position as a deaconess in the church. But you have to keep in mind she is not talking here about an official position; she is talking about her place in the church in terms of service. As far as position is concerned, we all have the same position in the Lord. We are all the children of God, but we all also have our individual places in the work of the Lord.
I want to thank the Lord publicly for the role of women. The Lord Jesus Christ had women who tended His ministry and provided many important ministries in his ministry. It was women who were the last at the cross. Its women who were first at the tomb. I thank God today for the wonderful Christian servant women in our fellowship here at the First Baptist Church. We have a Women’s Department. My what an exciting place that is. We have wonderful women Sunday School teachers, wonderful women directors in our women’s division. They have just gone into brand new classes and new departments. They are committed to reaching women in Jacinto City for Jesus Christ. The most formidable, the most powerful force for reaching women in the city of Jacinto City, is the women in the Women’s Ministry of the First Baptist Church right here in Jacinto City.
Women can do some things that the men just can’t do. I thank the Lord for the men who work with our children and our preschoolers. But we all know that the women just have a touch that we old boys don’t have. WE all understand that, don’t we? Women have a tenderness about them that we just don’t have. Women have a compassion about them. They have that sweet touch that we old knot heads don’t have. You men don’t sit there so pious this morning. You know I’m telling the truth. So, Paul says I commend unto you our sister, a servant of the church.
The third word he uses is that word “a succorer of many.” That refers to her performance in the church. That word was used to refer to a patroness in the city of Athens who would assist those who were needy, providing if necessary, even monetary assistance. The word I would use today to describe this is a helper. She had a ministry of helping. She had a ministry of assisting others. So, Paul says in
2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
— “Receive her in the Lord.” That word means welcome her with open arms when she comes. Receive her as a child and as a servant of God. He said, “assist her in whatever business she has need of.” That word means, stand by her side. Dear man, if you have a Christian wife who loves Jesus and wants to serve Jesus in and through the fellowship of First Baptist Church of Jacinto City, you make it possible for her to do that. You just clear the way for her to do that. Christian women let me encourage you to use your gifts to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. oh, the untapped resources of Christian women. oh, the ministry that Christian women can have in God’s work today. Let me encourage you to dedicate your gifts and your talent and your time to the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, Paul has this word of commendation for the lady courier, the lovely Phoebe.
II. The Lovely COUPLE.
II. The Lovely COUPLE.
In
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
he says ““greet Priscilla and Aquila. ..“ Priscilla is the wife and Aquila is the man. This is one of the loveliest couples you will find in all the Bible. I refer to them as the lovely couple. As you read through your New Testament you will find that this couple just pops up at several significant places along the way. You will find that this is one of the most dedicated, one of the most beautiful Christian couples mentioned in all of the Bible. Christianity ought to be a family affair. This matter of living for Jesus ought to be something that the whole family is involved in.
In
31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.” You can claim a household salvation. You can claim for every member of the family to be saved. Legion wanted to travel with the Lord Jesus. Jesus said to him, “No, you go home and tell your friends what great things the Lord hath done for thee.” If your faith won’t work at home, it won’t work anywhere else. Don’t try to export it. Faith must work right where you live. Living for Jesus Christ needs to be a family matter. It needs to be a matter that the husband and wife agree together. They agree to bring up their boys and girls in the fellowship of the Lord’s family together. He says, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila.” It’s interesting to study what he says about them here. He says first of all, “they are my helpers in Christ Jesus.” He’s talking about the cooperation that they gave. As you peace the story together as it weaves it’s way through the New Testament, you will find a beautiful picture about this family that became the helpers cooperating in the ministry of Paul. Evidently, they were from the city of Rome. Aquila was evidently Jewish. Priscilla was evidently Roman. In the six times they are mentioned in the New Testament, four times she is mentioned first. That may mean that she is stronger in spiritual matters or most people believe it may mean she was of noble birth. In the city of Rome until this very day there is a church of St. Prisca which was named after Priscilla. So, they lived in the city of Rome. The New Testament tells us that a persecution arose in Rome against the Jews and so they were driven from the City of Rome. They came to the city of Corinth and along the way there came a man to Corinth who had the same occupation they had. Paul was a tentmaker and they were tentmakers. The Bible doesn’t say this but you can put two and two together. Evidently as they worked together in the tent making and as they would be cutting those skins getting ready to make the tents, Paul would be talking about a man who lived in Palestine whose name was Jesus. Who died on a Roman cross and in his death he paid the price for the sins of the whole world and whoever would come to Him repenting of sin and invite him into their heart would be saved? The result of it was Paul led Aquila and Priscilla to faith in Jesus Christ. So, they became companions of Paul. They were sent on journeys for Paul. They moved a great deal. Have you had to move a great deal? The average American family moves about every five years. Some of you have to move more than that. Moving can be a traumatic time, can’t it? Some of you have just moved. I visit a lot of newcomers who come to our city. It’s not an easy thing to move. It’s a real time of tension very often. Rough on the children getting adjusted to a new school. You are moved into a new community. This matter of living for Jesus is not a matter that is restricted to one locality. You will find Jesus Christ is anywhere you are and anywhere you move. Living for Jesus is not a matter of locality; it’s a matter of just living for Jesus wherever you are. Jesus is just as real in Houston as He was where you moved. God has a reason for bringing you to Houston. Probably to move your letter this morning to First Baptist Church of Jacinto City. Come on down and get it over with. “We’re not sure we’re going to live here.” I’ve heard that line before. I’ve had people say, “Well, preacher we would join the church but we’re not sure we’re going to live here.” I asked, “How long have you been living here?” “0, twenty years.” Come on. You moved your furniture, didn’t you? You moved your wardrobe, didn’t you? Just go ahead and move your letter. Just join the First Baptist Church. Some of the most wonderful things in all of this life have taken place when people moved. It’s happened right here in Houston. We’ve had people move to Houston and they moved next door to some folks who belonged to the First Baptist Church. Those neighbors introduced them to Jesus and they were saved. They are so glad they moved to Houston.
There are some folks who have moved here and hardly got their furniture in and some folks came knocking on the door and said, “We’re from First Baptist Church, we’re here to tell you about Jesus.” They were saved. They are so glad they moved to Houston.
They are cooperating. Everywhere they went they are telling the story of Jesus, working with the apostle Paul. In verse 4 he said, “Who for my life laid down their own necks.” This was a Christian couple of courage. This lovely couple was courageous. In fact, they risked their life to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the things that is so refreshing and appealing about the New Testament believers is there was a kind of reckless abandonment about them. They were willing to lay it all on the line for Jesus.
I love to see athletes that way. Just put it all out to win the game for their team. I love to see Christians who have a holy boldness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Courage for Jesus Christ. Their cooperation. Their courage.
“Likewise greet the church that is in their house.” They had a church in their house. This gives us a little insight into the early church. It was not until the third century that we have any record that they had church buildings like we have today. Evidently the church met in their house. You do understand that this building is not the church. This wonderful, magnificent building is not the First Baptist Church. Don’t ever get hung up on a building. It’s not the building; it’s the people who gather in the building. It’s not the building; it’s the Savior who said, “where two or three are gathered together in my name will I be in the midst.” You can worship the Lord Jesus in any kind of old building. You can worship the Lord knee deep in carpet or you can worship the Lord on sawdust, that really doesn’t matter. It’s who is in that building. It’s what goes on in that building.
So, in those days they had churches in the homes. Evidently Aquila and Priscilla were a wonderful couple that were a great encouragement to the Christians who gathered. By the way you do a person a disservice if you lead them to Christ and don’t get them into the fellowship of a church. One of the things we say to our missionaries who go out to other places is when you win people to Christ scripturally the Bible says you are to gather them in churches. If you don’t ever get Christians gathered together in churches they can’t mature and grow the way the Lord wants them to mature and grow.
You soul winners, as you go out into this city through the week, and you win people to faith in Jesus, then fulfill the New Testament Great Commission when it said, “Not only make disciples, but baptize the and teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded unto you says the Lord.” Aquila and Priscilla were wonderful church people.
There is a beautiful little store about them I want to share with you. Turn to
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
. This shows you just what wonderful people this lovely couple were. In that chapter it tells you a little about the work of this lovely couple. There’s a beautiful little passage here, a little snapshot I want you to see that tells you about them. It says in verse 24, “a certain Jew named Apollos, born Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.” A young preacher.
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
says, “this man was instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord knowing only the baptism of John.” He was a young preacher, he was eloquent, he had great potential. But he was young in the things of the Lord, not fully instructed.
26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—
- “And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took him unto them and expounded unto them the way of God more perfectly.” How did that go about? Aquila and Priscilla were mature believers. Apollos
was a young immature preacher who had great potential. When they heard him preach they were aware of the fact that he was an eloquent man but were also aware that he wasn’t fully instructed in the things of the Lord in the Word. Aquila and Priscilla were like some of you. They were deep in the Word. You don’t have to go to a seminary to be deep in the Word. If you are a born—again child of God you can enroll in the Jesus seminary and you can learn a whole lot about the Bible. Some of the greatest Bible scholars I ever knew never went to college or seminary. That’s not to say you ought not to. If you are a young man out here today and you’ve been called to preach you ought to go and get all the education you possibly can. I believe the Lord would expect you to do that. But, if you are a member of this fellowship and you didn’t get to go to school, you can go to the Jesus school. They were deep in the word. There sat, mature Christians, listening to Apollos and he wasn’t too deep. How did they handle that situation?
One of the dangers of spiritual maturity is that is you are not careful you can become a spiritual snob. You can get spiritual pride. “I know so much about the Bible nobody can bless me anymore. Nobody can teach me anymore, I know so much about the Bible.”
How did they deal with this young preacher? Did they criticize him? Did they make fun of him? Did they go home on Sunday and have roast preacher in front of their children? No. I want to use a little of my Louisiana imagination. Here’s what I think when it says they expounded unto him the way of the Lord more perfectly.” I think after the service one Sunday morning, Sister Priscilla walked up and said, “Brother Apollos, thank you for that wonderful message this morning. We’re having dinner at the house and have some folks coming over, I wonder if you would like to come and eat with us?”
Apollos said, “Well, I’m watching my diet, what you got?” She said, “Fried chicken.” He said, “I can come.” So, Apollos goes over there and she has fried chicken and cathead biscuits. You country boys know what I’m talking about. She has thick white gravy. She has candied yams. Revival is on the way. You talk about a meal. That young preacher just sits there and he puts many a bird in the ministry. He’s chowing down. Then, when the meal is over they are all sitting around together and just as sweetly and just as lovingly and kindly they just teach him the things of the Lord that he didn’t know.
When I was a young preacher….Bro Carlton and Russel McDonald…Things that help me. In fact, I got to wondering why didn’t I walk to church with him instead from church with him. He blessed me. That’s the kind of couple these people were. They had a church in their house.
Do you have a church in your house? I don’t mean the kind they had. We have buildings now where we gather for the services. But do you have a church in the house. Have you
turned your house into a center for evangelism —— a center of Christian fellowship.
You ought to have your family in everything going on in this church — Sunday morning for Sunday School and preaching service. Sunday night for church training and preaching service. Wednesday night for all of the activities. Let there be a church in your house and get your house in the church.
Phoebe, the lady courier.
Aquila and Priscilla the lovely couple.
Here’s the tough part. The rest of the verses
III. The Loyal Christians.
III. The Loyal Christians.
He just begins to name them. I won’t hit on all of them. There are 35 individuals in this chapter. 33 of them are named. Two households, two families are mentioned, three churches are mentioned. Could I just hit some high spots and show you Paul commending these different, loyal Christians who had been a blessing to him.
5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.
Verse 5 - Salute my well beloved Epaenetus who was the first fruits of Achia unto Christ.” Paul is saying that’s the first man I led to Jesus in Corinth. Do you remember the first time you ever led somebody to the Lord? I covet for you the first time of leading somebody to Jesus. You will never forget it. It will build a fire in your heart that you will never get over.
- Salute my well beloved Epaenetus who was the first fruits of Achia unto Christ.” Paul is saying that’s the first man I led to Jesus in Corinth. Do you remember the first time you ever led somebody to the Lord? I covet for you the first time of leading somebody to Jesus. You will never forget it. It will build a fire in your heart that you will never get over.
6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
Verse 6 — “Greet Mary.” Some sweet Christian Mary, “who bestowed much labor on us.” She worked to the point of exhaustion. Verse 7 — “Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen.” (evidently related to Paul) “My fellow prisoners.” (Evidently they were in jail with him) “Who are of note among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.” They were saved before he was. What a wonderful fellowship here.
Verse 6 — “Greet Mary.” Some sweet Christian Mary, “who bestowed much labor on us.” She worked to the point of exhaustion.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.
Verse 7 — “Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen.” (evidently related to Paul) “My fellow prisoners.” (Evidently they were in jail with him) “Who are of note among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me.” They were saved before he was. What a wonderful fellowship here.
“Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.” So special he’s beloved.
9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys.
Romans 16:9 — “Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.” Urbane means city bred and Stachys means corn. What I see here is a city slicker and a hayseed. Town and country. Both in the same church, sitting together in church. Don’t you like that? In our churches right here on one pew you can have an executive of a corporation and a factory worker. You can have an educator and somebody on welfare on one pew. When people come to know the Lord Jesus God brings town and country together. God brings educated and uneducated together. He makes us all one in the Lord Jesus Christ. I like that.
— “Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.” Urbane means city bred and Stachys means corn. What I see here is a city slicker and a hayseed. Town and country. Both in the same church, sitting together in church. Don’t you like that? In our churches right here on one pew you can have an executive of a corporation and a factory worker. You can have an educator and somebody on welfare on one pew. When people come to know the Lord Jesus God brings town and country together. God brings educated and uneducated together. He makes us all one in the Lord Jesus Christ. I like that.
12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
Verse 12 - “Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa.” You girls thought you had a bad name. They were evidently twin sisters. I guess for short they called them Pheny and Phosy. Their names mean dainty and delicate. These two sweet Christian twins, dainty and delicate, “who labor in the Lord.” They weren’t too dainty and too delicate to get their hands dirty working for Jesus. Isn’t that great?
- “Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa.” You girls thought you had a bad name. They were evidently twin sisters. I guess for short they called them Pheny and Phosy. Their names mean dainty and delicate. These two sweet Christian twins, dainty and delicate, “who labor in the Lord.” They weren’t too dainty and too delicate to get their hands dirty working for Jesus. Isn’t that great?
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
Verse 13 — “salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord.” Rufus means redhead. I think there is a real blessing right here. Turn to . They are taking the Lord Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem to die on that old cross for the sins of the whole world. Our Lord Jesus falls under the load of that cross. In Mark l5; 2l it says, “and they compelled one Simon, a syreanan (evidently a black man) who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross.” Why did Mark mention Simon and say he was the father of Alexander and Rufus? Evidently Alexander and Rufus were well known in the church. The picture is this. Here was Simon who was compelled to bear the cross of the Lord Jesus. As he took that cross on up Calvary’s hill and stood there and watched as they drove the nails into the hands of the Lord Jesus and as they lifted that cross between heaven and hearth and dropped it into the hole prepared and Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died for the sins of the world, God got hold of the heart of Simon and Simon was saved. The result of Simon being saved was that his two sons Alexander and Rufus got saved. See what it might mean today, Dad, if you would come to Jesus. Mom, see what it might mean if you give your life to Christ. Your sons and daughters might get saved.
— “salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord.” Rufus means redhead. I think there is a real blessing right here.
Turn to
21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
. They are taking the Lord Jesus outside the city of Jerusalem to die on that old cross for the sins of the whole world. Our Lord Jesus falls under the load of that cross. In Mark l5; 2l it says, “and they compelled one Simon, a syreanan (evidently a black man) who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross.” Why did Mark mention Simon and say he was the father of Alexander and Rufus? Evidently Alexander and Rufus were well known in the church. The picture is this. Here was Simon who was compelled to bear the cross of the Lord Jesus. As he took that cross on up Calvary’s hill and stood there and watched as they drove the nails into the hands of the Lord Jesus and as they lifted that cross between heaven and hearth and dropped it into the hole prepared and Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died for the sins of the world, God got hold of the heart of Simon and Simon was saved. The result of Simon being saved was that his two sons Alexander and Rufus got saved. See what it might mean today, Dad, if you would come to Jesus. Mom, see what it might mean if you give your life to Christ. Your sons and daughters might get saved.
I’m not going to touch on all the rest of the names. Drop down to
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
in closing. “Salute one another with a holy kiss.” That was evidently something that was done in the New Testament day. In it’s called a kiss of love. In those days they would greet one another with a holy kiss. Evidently similar to oriental customs today of kissing on each cheek. In later years the custom fell into disuse because of abuse so they changed the way they did it somewhat. To cut through a whole lot of background historical information, today the equivalent of that today is what I call a holy hug or a holy handshake. The point I’m trying to make is these loyal Christians had a fellowship and a love for one another. That’s one of the beautiful things about our fellowship here. I see it before and after the service. I see Christians hugging one another in the Lord. See Christians shaking one another’s hands in the Lord. I see Christians ministering to one another. There’s somebody sitting around you who has a broken heart. There is somebody sitting around you that’s having a tough time. They need a holy handshake. They need a holy hug. They need a Christian brother and sister in the Lord to say, “Friend, I just want you to know I’m praying for you. I love you.”
That’s what this list is all about. It’s real people who love Jesus and who love one another. One of these days we are going to meet these people because they are in God’s list of mighty men and women who occurred in Scriptures. He who does the will of God abides forever. You make up your mind to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and you are in God’s Hall of Fame. But your name and my name may not be on this list today but there is another list that is even more important. The Bible talks about the Lamb’s book of Life. Though my name is not in this Bible, my name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life I’m listed up there. I’m on the roll up there. Is your name on the list in Heaven? Have you ever been recorded in the Lamb’s book of life?