Note: To download/print the document, click on the
title below.
Psalms 87:1-7 A Psalm of
the Sons of Korah. His
foundation is in the holy
mountains. The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of
Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! "I will make
mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and
Tyre, with Ethiopia: 'This one
was born there.' " And of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish
her." The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: "This one was born there." Both the
singers and the players on instruments say,
"All my springs are in
you." Father God,
we thank you for the Holy Spirit guiding Paul in the writing of this letter to
the Romans. This letter is a Christian’s manual to live by and to come into a
deeper relationship with you and who you are. I ask that your Word travels from
our mind to our heart to enrich our faith in you. We give you all the glory and
praise. Amen!
Romans 16:1-16 NKJV
This
is the last chapter in Romans. I had hopes of covering this whole chapter in
this lesson, but wasn’t able to do so. I will conclude next week and then we
will get into the Book of Revelation which I’m really excited about, especially
since worldly activity points toward many prophetic things. This last chapter
is dealing with Paul sending his letter to Rome and greetings to a number of
people he has come to know in his travels. With just reading chapter 16 one
wouldn’t think there is much to expound on, but read on and you might be
surprised.
1 I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a
servant of the church in Cenchrea,
Paul is commending Phoebe,
meaning that he is giving his stamp of approval and vouching for her as a servant
of the Lord. She is a sister and a servant in the spreading of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. She was very active in the church at Cenchrea. Servant, in Greek
is “diakonos”, our words deacon and deaconess are derived from this Greek word
meaning a Christian teacher, pastor, or minister. It refers to both
genders male and female. This shows scripturally that man and woman can serve
in this gift. She is from the church located at Cenchrea which was about 9
miles from Corinth. It is very possible it was a branch of the church at
Corinth. Paul wrote this letter to the Romans in Corinth and was sent to Rome
by Phoebe. It is recorded by Renan that “Phoebe
carried under the folds of her robe the whole future of Christian Theology.”
2 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.
That
you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints; Paul is introducing Phoebe as a
trustworthy woman that loved the Lord greatly. She was to be accepted in every
spiritual function. How would you like to have a recommendation from the Paul
of such magnitude?
And
assist her in whatever business she has need of you; This phrase is telling us that Phoebe
evidently had some type of business in Rome, which we do not know of. Being the
trustworthy servant that she was and the fact that she needed to go to Rome, is
probably why Paul enlisted her service to carry his letter to the Church in
Rome. He knew he wouldn’t have to worry about it getting there.
For
indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also; With Paul being a minister of the
Gospel we can conclude that Phoebe not only assisted Paul, but other servants
of the Gospel too. How, we don’t really know, but probably with traveling
necessities like food and lodging.
3 Greet
Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
Priscilla and Aquila were
husband and wife. They were exiled from Rome in 52 A.D. because Claudius
commanded all Jews to leave Rome. Aquila was a tent maker by trade as was Paul.
When Paul was in Corinth he work beside Aquila making tents. Priscilla and Aquila
are first mentioned in 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. They
are also mentioned in Acts 18:18, 26;
I Corinthians 16:19; II Timothy 4:19. Paul stayed with this couple in Corinth and when he left
it appears they left with him because of them being mentioned in other areas
from the verses above. At some point in time they must have went back to Rome
after the decree for the expulsion of the Jews was repealed and he was sending
his greetings to them.
4 who
risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also
all the churches of the Gentiles.
Paul was indebted to this
couple because whatever it was they did, they risked their own lives. We don’t
know what the situation was, but we can rest assure that it was for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ to be spread. It is possible that Priscilla and Aquila hid Paul
and nursed him back to health after one of his persecutions. It could have been
somehow related to the uprisings in Ephesus which was approximately 10 years
before Paul was killed. What we can tell though is that it was a life threatening
situation because Paul was thankful for himself, but also for the churches of
the Gentiles. Why would the Gentile churches be thankful? If Paul had been
killed, possibly at Ephesus there would have been churches not started by Paul
and also Paul wouldn’t have been around to continually build up and edify those
in the churches he had already started.
5 Likewise greet the church that is in their
house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.
Likewise
greet the church that is in
their house; We don’t
know who Paul is referring to when he states greet the church that is in their
house. There were no church buildings of that time period. The church
gatherings were in the homes of the true believers. It is possible that the church
moved from house to house due to the persecutions of the Christians.
Greet
my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ; Since Paul is stating the “first
fruits of Achaia to Christ”, it tells us that he was the first to convert to
Christianity.
6 Greet
Mary, who labored much for us. We
don’t know anything about this Mary, with the exception that she must have
helped Paul and the church out in some fashion and he was sending his
greetings. Maybe someday we will know.
7 Greet
Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note
among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Andronicus
and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners; Paul is sending his greetings to
these two individuals and refers to them as countrymen (KJV states kinsman).
From former lessons we know that he is referring to them as fellow Jewish
brothers in Christ and not blood relatives. They too have endured some prison
time due to the Gospel of Jesus, but we don’t know if they and Paul were in
prison together someplace or just that they had shared the same experiences of
being in prison.
Who
are of note among the apostles;
Some say these two people were apostles, but there is no real evidence of that.
Based on how it is stated it would indicate that they were known by the other
12 Apostles and that they were of a notable reputation for the Gospel.
Who
also were in Christ before me;
This just simply stated that they received Jesus as their Saviour before Paul’s
conversion.
8 Greet
Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.
9 Greet
Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.
These individuals were
known by Paul, but to what extent we do not know. Just like Mary above they were
known by Paul, and being mentioned by him, got their name in the greatest book
of all times.
10 Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those
who are of the household of
Aristobulus.
Greet Apelles, approved in Christ; Simply means that Apelles was a
brother in Christ.
Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus; This phrase is referring to slaves of
the household of Aristobulus. At some point in time during Paul’s travels he
had fellowship with them and they probably came to know Jesus from Paul’s
teachings. In those days when slaves were purchased by another master, they
continued to bear the name of their former proprietor.
11 Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who
are of the household of
Narcissus who are in the Lord.
Here again Paul is sending
greetings to a fellow Jew and to the slaves of the house of Narcissus.
12 Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in
the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.
Paul sends greetings to
these 3 women. What or how Paul knew them and what their capacity was for the
Gospel we do not know, but with the mention of their name by Paul we know that
they labored for the glory of God. It is very possible that they were
deaconess. Persis must have been special to Paul and what she did for the
Gospel since he stated beloved and labored much.
13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother
and mine.
Rufus was a fellow
believer and Paul was sending his greetings to him and his mother. The greeting
Paul is giving, one would think Rufus and Paul were brothers and it was their mother.
This love and tenderness is from ones heart. When a person has a Spiritual
birth there is a binding love between believers. When 2 believers meet that
have never met before, within minutes it is as if they had known each other all
their life. The Holy Spirit binds the hearts of all true believer even though
they are complete strangers to one another. This binding by the Holy Spirit embodies
God’s family members with tender ties and special affections for each other. Jesus
declared this bond in Matthew
12:47-49 Then one
said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside,
seeking to speak with You." 48 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?" 49 And He
stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, "Here
are My mother and My brothers!, and
also in John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the
disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" 27 Then He
said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!"
And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
This bond is from the
Spirit of God because when a person gives their heart to Jesus, the Holy Spirit
takes up residence within that person. Our bodies become a temple for the Holy
Spirit to reside in. 1
Corinthians 3:16 Do you not
know that you are the temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in you? As
true believers we also become heirs of God and joint heirs, not co-heirs, but
joint heirs with Jesus. Whatever God has given Jesus we share in that
inheritance with Jesus. We are adopted into the family of God. We become His
children. Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas,
Hermes, and the brethren who are with them.
15 Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his
sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
We don’t know anything
about these individuals, but they must have been a great service to Paul at
some time during his travels. They are important enough for Paul to mention
them and with that they have gotten their names written in God’s Holy Word.
Paul ends verse 15 with “all the saints who are with them”. Do
you know what Paul is referring to when he refers to saints? All Born
Again believers are referred to as “Saints” in the Word of God. Acts 9:13 Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard
from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in
Jerusalem.
Acts 9:32, 41; 26:10 Romans
1:7 To all who are in Rome,
beloved of God, called to be
saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans
8:27; 12:13; 15:25–26, 31; 16:2, 15
1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to
those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: I
Corinthians 6:1–2; 14:33; 16:1, 15; Ephesians 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; Hebrews 6:10, etc. Our modern day saints are viewed as
someone that has done great works in mans opinion. What constitutes a Saint in
God’s eyes is someone that believes in what Jesus did at the Cross, and His
resurrection. When one believes, instantaneously they become Saints in God’s
eyes.
16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches
of Christ greet you.
Greet one another; Greet one another in an affectionate
manner, that is, treat each other with kindness and love, and demonstrate all
proper marks of affection.
With a holy kiss; This mode of greeting
has been practiced at all times, and particularly in eastern nations. It was
even practiced by men. The use of the word “holy” here serves to denote that
Paul intended it as an expression of Christian affection and to guard against
all improper familiarity and scandal. It was common for the early Christians to
practice it in their assemblies. Jesus was betrayed with a kiss and now that
you know a holy kiss is to portray Christian affection, why did Judas use a
kiss. Was it to pretend or hide what was about to happen? Did he think by doing
this his motives would be hidden? Jesus knew because he asked Judas a question
that cut Judas to the bone. Here it is for you to think about. Luke
22:48 But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you
betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" Say what is in red with emphasis like
this; Judas!……are you……betraying……the Son of Man……with a KISS? I don’t know
about you, but it sends goose bumps down my spine.
The churches of Christ greet you; That
is, the churches in the vicinity of where Paul wrote this Epistle.
I will have
to finish this up next week. I’ve run out of room.
Romans 1:16 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Psalms
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Adoniram?
Answer: The superintendant of the levies of
forced laborers during the reigns of David, Solomon, and Rehoboam. Adoniram was
an important person in the ambitious building programs of his masters. The
freedom loving populace resented being drafted as laborers, and hated Adoniram.
He was finally stoned to death in Israel when the northern provinces revolted
during Rehoboam’s reign. 1 Kings Chapters 4 and
5.
This week’s Trivia: Who was Adonizedek?
No comments:
Post a Comment