Romans and chapter 16, is this little thing working here? It's not. Romans chapter 16, as far as I can see, it's not muted and the battery is okay. So it's there. That's where the problem is. All right. Thank you very much. So it's good to know that it's the young people failing us. It comes to technology. OK. We've ended the last chapter, brethren, of the book of Romans. And as we are doing so, I've been saying before, I want to say it again. that we are in what we call the concluding remarks. In the Bible version that I have, chapter 16 is headed, personal greetings. And it's fairly easy for us to have that kind of attitude. Oh, it's now personal. Let's move on. And really, we make a big mistake when we do that. Just crossed my mind. I was supposed to re-emphasize one or two things before we get into that. So all right. Thank you very much. One is, please, registering online. Registering online. We really need to emphasize this. especially for our morning services, but even for the evening, since once you register, you can also register for the evening. What we have noticed is that our morning services, we are really being crammed at the door there primarily because even those of us who are church members are registering at the door when we could have easily done it between Monday and Friday. So let's as much as possible leave the registration at the doors for our visitors. And that's easier done when we ourselves register in the course of the week. And it also helps because our first service, this morning we're almost 200 in our first service, which is by the sealing that we're given, We're trying to push for further numbers, but the ceiling we're given, we're almost 50 beyond that. Now, if we were registering online, it was going to be easy to realize it, because the moment it's 150, it closes on its own. So you're able to know, OK, it's full. Let me register for the evening service. So please, brethren, let's help the deacons. and let's help the ushers. These are difficult times for all of us, all of us. Let's help out. And then the other are these journals that I almost forgot again and that's to do with the fact that I would like to encourage members to always be reading. The bookshop is about to reopen. But one of the things that we are supporting are these periodicals that are produced by Central Africa Baptist University. It used to be called Baptist College. It's now a university. It produces a journal. And the last one that was produced in December 2019 was on spiritual discernment and charismatic issues. Do we still have more issues of this remaining? Okay, so there's still a few. In the morning, I think there'll be about 10. There may be maybe another five or four. And so you can see the subheadings on all the screens. Signs and Wonders, Deliverance Movement, Demons, Spirit Husband and Wife, Wives, and also what I referred to as the Lightning Road, new Calvinism, all that is in that issue. And then the one that's just come out, there. For July 2020, it's on the subject of the trinity and it covers why this doctrine is important, the trinity in the gospel, the trinity in scripture, the trinity and African traditional religions and I've also contributed an article, something along the lines of the trinity in our practice of worship and so on. They are available with our brother Francis Kaunda, the ministry assistant. I think I saw him carrying quite a lot into this place here, so I think at the end of the service you should be able to see him and purchase your copy from him. Now, the latest one is going for 50 kwacha. The one for last year is going for 30 kwacha. I don't know why I think there's a third announcement. I think that's all, isn't it? Just those two. Oh, yes, the interns who are leaving us. But they've been prayed for, so you wouldn't miss that announcement. OK, let's quickly get back to Romans and chapter 16. Last time we looked at it, we were seeing how often gospel preachers, because they are itinerant by virtue of their calling, end up cementing the relationships between individuals and churches as those individuals by virtue of their calling, end up moving from one city to another, from one church to another. And that's what we saw the Apostle Paul doing for Phoebe in Romans chapter 16, verse one and verse two. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Sinclair, 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. So the commendation is not simply because someone is traveling and then you're sort of filling in things, but it's real. I know this person, I know a number of people in that church, leaders there, and therefore I can commend this person in a very real way to the church over there. so that there might be a real connection and starting with that information already in place, the way in which that person has been serving the Lord. Today, we move on in these final greetings to the actual greetings. And we notice that the very first greeting goes to Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla is normally referred to by the Apostle Paul as Prisca, and then by Dr. Luke as Priscilla. But it's really the same person. One is a shortened form of the other. And as the Apostle Paul greets them, he says at least three things about them, which works out fairly well for my three-pointed sermon. He says there, greet Priscilla, Opriska, and Aquila. The first thing he says about them is this, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. The second thing he says about them is, who risked their necks for my life. And then the third thing he says about them is this, to whom Not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. That's the greeting that the Apostle Paul gives to this couple. This married couple is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. I would count perhaps about six times that they are mentioned. And what is evident is that they are always mentioned together. Hence the title of my sermon, We Need Couples. who save Christ together. And even when that happens, they are in action, they are serving. I just mentioned on a list of names, it's always them saving the Lord together. And I really feel that In Paul's appreciation of this couple, we have an indirect appeal that we need such couples today. We need to have a husband and a wife serving the Lord together. What tends to happen, and I'll hopefully mention it again at the end, is that before individuals get married, you have a very zealous young man and an equally very zealous young lady in the life of the church. But the moment they get married, it's as if they've gone on to spiritual retirement. Basically, you lose them, apart from the fact that they still come to church. But instead of adding their strengths together to become even more powerful in their service, I guess it's the bickering that takes place in the home that leaves them so exhausted that they no longer have any energy to really give to Christian work. And therefore, when you have an example of a couple like Priscilla or Prisca and Aquila, your heart just goes, oh Lord, for more such couples in the life of the church. Because as we will go on to see, there's nothing there that suggests that, for instance, that Aquila was a gospel preacher. There's nothing like that in all the passages that we see of them. But somehow, we find that they served the Lord, and they served together. So, let's quickly look at this greeting and draw a few challenges for ourselves concerning serving the Lord together as couples. First of all, we need couples in our churches that can be called fellow workers in Christ Jesus. that can be called fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Great Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Paul first met this couple in Corinth. Let's go to the book of Acts and see this. He first met this couple in Corinth and it is in Acts 18. Acts 18 and verse 2. And even there it is clear that they were already in the church in Rome, because when we first meet them in Acts 18, they had been kicked out of Rome. And that's how they have found themselves in Corinth. The Bible says there, after this Paul left Athens, and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Prisca. Notice, recently come from Italy with his wife Prisca. And here it is because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And when he went to see them, rather and he went to see them and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for they were tent makers by trade so Paul was continuing to preach as the following verse says and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks but while he was doing that The Apostle Paul was benefiting from the hospitality of this couple. One of the elements that soon becomes fairly evident in this same chapter about this couple was their doctrinal knowledge. They were doctrinally knowledgeable, and I'm speaking there about Christian knowledge. And so we see in verse 26 a well-known verse that they helped to fix the theology of Apollos. Verse 26 Maybe let's just start a little further up in verse 24. Here they are now in Ephesus. They've moved from Corinth into Ephesus. We'll come back to that in a moment. Verse 24. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. Verse 26, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila, notice the way those names are put together, Priscilla being first, heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him. and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. So it's fairly evident that part of the strength they had was that they immersed themselves in Christian doctrine. It's a matter that we need to emphasize because often our Christian homes tend to be spent around the television set, just watching people acting. And the truth about acting is that it's pretending. That's what they're doing. And you spend an entire evening watching people pretending. And that's a lot of time that is being wasted when in actual fact time could be spent immersing ourselves in Christian truth so that we may be better instruments in God's hands to save others. The other aspect of this couple that we learned while they were fellow workers with Paul is that they used their home as a venue for God's people to meet in. We've already seen them doing so with Apollos here. We are told that they took him aside and most likely that would have involved the use of their home rather than simply outside the meeting and then beginning to have doctrinal discussions. They would have taken him home, while perhaps the wife was preparing a meal, the husband began the subject, and while they were eating together, they went a little further, clarifying Christian truth. until this man was in a better position doctrinally. However, as we go on in our text, the following verse, that is Romans 16 and verse 6, the Bible says, So reverse five, the Bible says, greet also the church in their home. Greet also the church, which is in their home. Now it's fairly clear. that their home was used as a venue for church activities. The church was meeting in their home. We see exactly the same when they were in Ephesus. We see this in 1 Corinthians and chapter 16. Towards the end, we read in verse 19, 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 19, the churches of Asia send you greetings. And then we read Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. This is one of two situations where Aquila comes first in their being described out of the six situations where they are named. But notice that while they were in Ephesus, now you must be wondering how do we know that they are in Ephesus here. Don't worry, we'll come back to that under my second point. But for now, just take it. that Paul was writing this letter from Ephesus and he's able to say the church that meets in the home of Priscilla and Aquila. Again it only makes sense, you know you often hear the phrase that a bachelor's house is really just a house until he marries, until he becomes a home. And although we laugh about it often when we hear it, it's actually true that wives become domestic reformers. There's a way in which God has prepared them, wired them, that a wife together with her husband turns the physical structure into a home and consequently you are better enabled to minister to others. And that's what is true concerning Priscilla and Aquila. So they use their home in order to provide a meeting place for people. And more than that, preachers that would hence be coming into town like the Apostle Paul would often find their home to be a place which was readily open to host them while they were in town. So the Apostle Paul is able to look at this couple as he's sending greetings to Rome, he puts them as the number one couple to be greeted and he greets them as fellow workers in Christ. And let me say again, churches need such couples. Couples who give their lives to the work of the gospel, even when they themselves don't have such a calling upon their lives. And therefore, gospel work flourishes because men and women who are Christians have come together in marriage. Well, secondly, we need couples in our churches who love God's work enough to take risks for others, who love God's work enough to take risks for others. And that's how Priscilla or Prisca and Aquila are referred to. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, these four who risked their necks for my life. The phrase the Apostle Paul uses there is one that pictures a person whose neck has been put on a chopping block. And then somebody has an axe in their hands, waiting to bring it down upon their necks. Now it's that moment before the axe comes down, but a person has put his neck on the block on your behalf. That's the picture that the Apostle Paul is referring to here when he says, who risked their necks for my life. Now, strictly speaking, there's nowhere, whether it's in the book of Acts or in the epistles, where we are given the exact details about all this, the risking of their lives. And consequently, we have to do some amount of cooking. And let me try and lead you through that. And we'll still say that we are assuming, because it's not in black and white. So let me first of all give it to you, and then we'll prove it from a number of scriptures. And it is this. Paul would have been staying with Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus and as he was preaching He conjured up, he brought against himself a lot of animosity, real hatred against him and his ministry that there was an actual civil uproar in the whole city, the city of Ephesus. The individuals behind the civil uproar wanted Paul dead. and inevitably the place where he was staying, they were risking their lives because of him. Okay, so that's the theory. Let's try and piece that together very quickly. Let's begin with 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 32. And what I want you to notice there is the way in which the Apostle Paul is speaking about the resurrection and speaking about it in terms of a reason why he's willing to risk his own life. He says in verse 32, what do I gain if humanly speaking I fought with beasts at Ephesus, okay, if the dead are not raised. So the point he's making there is I risked my life in fighting with beasts. Now he's obviously using beasts in allegorical form. He's talking about individuals whose real hatred for him was no longer reasonable. It was like being thrown into the same room with a lion. You don't start reasoning with a lion. You know that he's thirsting for your blood. And then if we go to chapter 16 verse 9, remember I was talking in terms of where he was writing from. chapter 16 and verse 9, the apostle Paul there is speaking about wanting to move on to even reach Corinth, but says in verse 8, but I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and listen to this, and there are many adversaries Okay, so that ties in with chapter 15. There's many adversaries, many enemies, and yet a door for ministry has really opened up here. And that's where he is currently. That's why he refers to Ephesus in chapter 15. And he's repeating here in chapter 16. And then of course, there is the greeting that we saw in verse 19. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings. Still talking about the animosity, the attacks that were upon Paul, let's quickly peep into 2 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 1. I begin from verse 8. The apostle Paul writes, For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. Now, he's since moved on, but he's referring back again to that experience in Asia, because Corinth is in Europe, it's not in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. In other words, we were sure we're going to die now. We're going to die. That's how terrible the situation was. Verse 9. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. They were sure that this was now the end, but they simply, as it were, called upon the Lord and were praying to the Lord in the midst of what was happening. And so we read in verse 10, he, referring to God, delivered us from such a deadly peril and he would deliver us. On him we've set our hope that he will deliver us again. Okay, so you get the picture of what the Apostle Paul was going through. Now let's go to the book of Acts and see what was happening when he was in Ephesus. Beginning with chapter 18 verse 18 and 19, Acts 18 verse 18 and 19, this is what we read. This is Paul moving from Corinth and going to Ephesus. We read, after this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria and with him Priscilla and Aquila. Okay, so we have Priscilla first mentioned there this time. At Sencria, He had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. And they came to Ephesus. So there he is. He's with Priscilla and Aquila. They arrive in Ephesus. And the Bible says, and he left them there. But he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. And that's how he moved on. Verse 22 tells us, will be end of this 21. He set sail from Ephesus when he had landed at Caesarea and so on and so forth. So he moved from Corinth together with Priscilla and Aquila, arrived in Ephesus, ministered there shortly, left Priscilla and Aquila and moved on. Apollos comes preaches there they help him in his preaching and so forth and then wherever it was that the Apostle Paul went he comes back to Ephesus chapter 19 and verse 1 chapter 19 and verse 1 and it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth remember after he was helped he went to Corinth Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. And the whole of chapter 19 is about Paul in Ephesus. Let's skip to verse 23. We read there, about that time, there arose no little disturbance concerning the way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little, notice this emphasis, okay, no little disturbance, now brought no little business to the craftsmen. that is the businessmen in that town. These he gathered together with the workmen in similar trade and said, men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there's danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess and so on. Verse 28, when they heard this, they were enraged. And we're crying out, great is Artemis of the Ephesians. So the city was filled with confusion. And they rushed together into the theater, dragged with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's companions in travel, and so forth. So the whole city went up in uproar. Verse 30 and verse 31 tells us this. Verse 30 and verse 31. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiats, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. I mean, the situation was bad. These people were saying, Paul, if you go there, you are a dead man. But he suffered while he was there. And the point that Paul is making is in the midst of this entire crisis, Priscilla and Aquila stood by him. Stood by him. Now, I remember a situation many years ago when I was at UNSA. And I was leading the Christian group. And I upset the Marxists by what I was teaching. And I've never forgotten how they challenged me to go into a meeting because of false accusations that they had come up against me. I've never forgotten meeting with a number of Christians and praying together that the Lord would preserve me because I needed to go into this meeting. There were false accusations. They were claiming I had stolen money that belonged to the students. And when I went into this meeting, I've never forgotten. They were drunk. They obviously had gone drinking deliberately to come and make life difficult. And what I particularly recall was that as soon as I began speaking, they began shouting from all corners, saying, ah, just lying, what, what, no answer, money. So the whole place became completely unmanageable. And of course, they then began to come towards me. They were two brothers. of the entire group that we prayed together with, only two. One of them is now a lecturer in America. and the other one is still one of the leaders at Lusaka Baptist Church who came and stood between me and everybody else. Now, they're still trying to reach out and so I got a bit hurt on the sides, but they stood in such a way that they then moved me out of the meeting and still remained between me and these drunken individuals who obviously still meant to harm me. Now remember, this is almost 40 years later. But the point is, I still have never forgotten these two brothers who risked their lives. I mean, these guys were not gentlemen. They had crossed over into Kalinga, drunk opaque beer. They knew what they wanted. And it wasn't so much the money stolen, it was the gospel that had been hurting their consciences. And of course, they are businesses. So they wanted to harm me. But it's this gratitude towards these two brothers in such a situation. And that's something of how Paul felt concerning this couple. Because in the midst of such a situation, the last thing you want to do is to be identified with the red herring, that individual, that enmity. is all about. Sadly, there are very few Christians who are willing to do this. As I said on that occasion, we prayed, many of us, but only two felt, let's get into the fray and stand with this man. But we're still, after they marry, the numbers even go lower. which again is understandable because you are mindful of the family. It's not just you as an individual taking a risk out there. It is the family that you are with. Let's quickly hurry on because the Apostle Paul ends by saying that such couples are ones that churches thank God for. Great Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their necks for my life. to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. I won't spend much time there but really simply to emphasize that the Apostle Paul begins with himself thanking God for this couple himself. I'm speaking for myself. They they've been good fellow workers. They have been individuals that have risked their lives for me. But he also includes all the churches of the Gentiles. Amazing. All the churches of the Gentiles. Why would he say so? Well, I because they were in the tent making business, wherever they went, they always served the Lord and served the Lord's people in those churches. And not only that, their own doctrinal knowledge, which was then passed on to the people that they were hosting, those preachers went on to preach in other places among the Gentiles, and they profited from all that. Consequently, all the churches of the Gentiles would be able to say thank you that there's such a couple, there's such a couple, Priscilla and Aquila. At this point, the couple were now back in Rome. So they had been in Rome, they were kicked out. They found themselves in Corinth. From Corinth, they went to Ephesus. We don't know where else they went, but finally, they are back in Rome, and as they are in Rome, they are again saving the Lord, their own being, a place where the Christian church is profiting. They saved the Lord faithfully. Thankfully, there are couples like this. And anyone who is an itinerant preacher, thanks God for such couples. Because as you move around, those are the homes where you profit the most. But here's something else. As you talk with other preachers, you discover that they also are saying, yes, in that church and in that church and in that church, these couples have been the bedrock for them. Well, brethren, we have seen this married couple always mentioned together. and saving Christ together. Paul's gratitude to this couple is indeed an indirect appeal for our own couples to learn to work and serve together. Paul had disappointments with great individuals. Remember Peter, whom he rebuked publicly. Remember Barnabas with whom they had sharp differences. Remember Mark. who abandoned him in the midst of a missionary journey and literally went back to Antioch. Remember Demas, who was in the apostolic team, who also abandoned him because of love for the world. Paul had his fair share of disappointments from people that at one time they were part of the team. but not Pisgah and Aquila. There's no mention anywhere in the whole of the New Testament that there was such a disappointment. In fact, when Paul was about to die in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he sends greetings to Ephesus. Not to Rome, to Ephesus. And guess who's greeting in Ephesus? Let's quickly go there. He says, I'm sure I have it somewhere here. Chapter four, yes, verse 19. Greet Prisca and Aquila. The man is now about to die. He said his last words. He still says, I know where they are now. They are not in Rome. They are in Ephesus again. Timothy, greet them for me. Well, brethren, I want to end by saying what I said at the beginning. Sadly, in most cases, It's our young men and women who are saving the Lord faithfully at great cost and sacrifice to themselves, working right into the night to keep systems going. In the ministries, that's what you find. Sometimes an entire ministry hasn't got a single or maybe they just have one married couple in the whole ministry. Everybody else are single young people saving the Lord faithfully. In song leading, single young people. You look elsewhere, it's single young people who are saving the Lord. Until they marry, then we lose them too. It's sad. Because I ask myself the question, isn't Christ worth living for, even in marriage? Isn't he worth serving, even in marriage? Isn't he worth risking death for, even in marriage? I mean, after all, died for us. He didn't just live for us and serve us. He actually died. Why then do we feel that when we have married we have just been given a retirement package? Why? Why aren't our homes centers of real spiritual activity? so that the hospitality of those homes are indeed blessing the church in ways beyond that which we can count. Surely, marriage should enable us to join hands, to bring our talents, our gifts, our finances our everything together and say, let's do it. I suggested at the beginning that I think the main reason is that we're often so busy bickering in our own marriages that the energy is spent trying to survive instead of the energy being combined into a synergy that enables us to save the Lord. And I want to plead that we address that, and we address it with Christian doctrine, that we lend together the strength of what makes the Christian faith what it is. And therefore, as we are centering all our efforts and all our energies on that which matters the most, Christ, Christ, and Christ, the energy coming out of that enables us to put all our efforts behind blessing the Christian church. The song we'll be singing in the end is a question. Who is on the Lord's side? Who will save the King? And I pray that each time a stanza finishes, we might mean those words, that we are on the Lord's side. Savior, we are thine. And we want to prove it by being couples that save the Lord together. Amen.