As I was studying this out and preparing for this message and then next Sunday's message, I guess reality kind of set in that I'm coming to the end of this book. And I guess we've been preaching through it for about two years now and taking a few breaks here and there as the Lord's led. But it's been a real joy in my own life. I've learned a lot. I've got a lot of help from the study of this book. I hope that you have as well. I hope it strengthened our church as much as it has me. And I hope it'll continue to strengthen us as we carry on. And we think back on all that the Lord has said to us from this amazing book of the Bible. It is one of the great books of the Bible. And it is a book that majors on the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ by grace through faith and thank God for this epistle Lord willing this morning and next Sunday morning will be the last two messages on this epistle and we will have finished the book if you found your place I'll ask you to stand in reverence to the word of God Romans chapter sixteen and we'll begin reading in verse number twenty one Timotheus, my work fellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sospiter, my kinsmen, salute you. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, saluteth you. And Quotus, our brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen father we bow in your presence we thank you Lord for the word of God. And we ask you that as we look at these verses and we just consider some of the names that are mentioned here. That you'd help us to glean from the word of God those things that would be. Applicable to our lives where we are beneficial to our walk with you. Thank you for those that are here today we pray for those that are absent that you might help them. Where they are we ask you now have your perfect will and way in our hearts and in this service. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You can be seated. Well, as we finish up this series through the Book of Romans, we mentioned last Sunday that there are three final amens to this epistle. Only seven times throughout the entire epistle has the Apostle Paul used the word amen. Once in chapter one, when he amened the purpose of this epistle, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then again in chapter nine, and chapter eleven he amens and then again in chapter number I believe it was fourteen or fifteen he amen but when you get the chapter sixteen you find three of them very closely put together we looked last Sunday at an amen to warnings and I want to say just by way of refresher I thank God for people in my life who have warned me People that have helped me, that have pointed out areas of danger in my life that I was perhaps blind to, or ignorant to, or even just straight out rebellious toward. And I can, with the Apostle Paul, say amen. Amen to people that will warn you. Amen to the warnings of Scripture. And we saw that again last time. He said, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them that cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine that we have learned, and avoid them. They are such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, by good words and speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. If your obedience has come abroad in all men, and I am glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. That section, those few verses were concluded the same way our portion of scripture is today. Exact same phrase. uh... that we find in the verse number twenty we find again in verse twenty four the grace of our lord jesus christ we with you all and he says a man and then verse twenty five to twenty seven you'll find a different phrase but the same concluding word inverse twenty seven a man and so we're preaching on these a man's last sunday as i mentioned and a man to warnings and we tried to warn even as the apostle paul did of of those false prophets and teachers that creep in and they try to deceive and lead astray. We talked about how we can identify them. We are to mark them. We are to be able to see them for who they are. And He gives us a description of their characteristics which help us to understand and identify those who mean to cause division, those who are false teachers. We are to mark them. And then we are to avoid them. And the idea is that we are to go out of our way to miss them. We don't entertain them, we don't give them a place, we don't share their memes or retweet their tweets or whatever social media platform you're on. You don't, even if it's something good, because it's not the fact that they may say something right, it's the fact that they're saying a lot of things wrong, and we are to avoid them. That's exactly what the Bible says, and so it's not up for me to explain why. It's up to us to obey the Word of God, even though we have explained why. And then he tells us one of the reasons for doing this is to maintain our innocence. The word simple was used twice. We pointed that out one time. It means to be Naive, unsuspecting. And He didn't want us to be simple to their devices. Naive we are to understand their ways and mark and avoid them. But the second time it was used, He wanted us to be simple toward evil. And that word simple means to be innocent. And I dealt with that thought of maintaining our innocence. As young people, again, I would Echo, maintain your innocence. Don't lose your innocence. And there's many ways you can lose your innocence. You can gain knowledge of things you just don't need to know anything about, ever. And then there's some things you don't need to know anything about until you're older. And you need to maintain that. And so, thank God, I say amen to the warnings of Scripture, and that's what Paul said, and amen to warnings. Well, this morning I want to preach on an amen to workfellows. I say amen to those who labor in the gospel ministry in their various forms and various avenues. as they utilize their various gifts for the glory of God. And then next Sunday, the Lord willing will look at an amen to worship as he closes this epistle beginning in verse 25 of the doxology. And it is three verses of nothing but pure worship unto the Lord. It's as if the Apostle Paul sets aside his pen and he breaks out into a moment of worship and praise and adoration of God for who He is as He is revealed in the Gospel, and then by inspiration pens down those words of worship that God gave him. But this morning as we come to the task at hand, and amen to workfellows, he says in verse number 21, Timotheus, my workfellow. That's where we get the idea for the title. And it wasn't just Timotheus, but he goes on to say, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sospiter, my kinsmen salute you. And then it's if perhaps the Holy Ghost gave the Apostle Paul a break in divine inspiration and began to divinely inspire the man who actually penned this epistle. And in verse 22, I, Curtius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. And then Paul picks back up with inspiration and begins saying, Gaius, my host, and so on and so forth. The book of Romans was given by dictation from the Apostle Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the penman, Tertius. He is a man that is known only by a number. Tertius in the Greek is the number three, and so that's his name, number three. Benny, how would you like to be named number three? You're the third child. Here's my son, number three. How about it? Sterling, you want to be known as number three? Here's our boy, number three. Well, that was who he was. He's not named, he's just given a number. And it's interesting, we'll point out something about that in a few moments, but he is the one who wrote down what Paul the Apostle was given. As the Spirit of God inspired Paul, Paul verbally said it, and this individual must have been very good at transcribing. He may have been the best writer. Maybe he had the best looking handwriting. Maybe he could take it the quickest and most accurately. And so he was the man that had been chosen to actually pen down these words. And then you go on and he speaks of Gaius who had opened up his house to them as a host. And the whole church that was in his house had saluted these saints that were at Rome. And Paul again gives a salutation from those saints that were his work fellows, that were with him. He goes on and speaks of Erastus, the chamberlain of the city. And then, again, another brother by the name of Quartos. And the word Quartos is number four in the Greek. So, we had a brother number three and a brother number four. We don't have a number four in here, I don't think, do we? Except for Natalie. And then we got, would it be, Macy, are you number four? So, here we have number fours. How would you like to be known as number four? But point is, Paul, as he writes this, he recognizes all of these as brethren. All of these were brethren, and all of these got a mention. They were noted in this epistle as giving a salutation to the saints that were there. He's already mentioned 24 people that were in Rome who he has given a salutation or greeting to. Here he mentions eight co-workers, work fellows as the word is in our text. And I just want to emphasize I think here something that's important and that we all need to remember is that no man, no woman can do it by themselves. No one can do it alone. God didn't call any of us as believers to be Lone Ranger Christians. He's called all of us to be dependent one upon the other. And Paul the Apostle, though he was the great preacher and the great missionary that God called him to be, the Apostle to the Gentiles, and started many churches and traveled over many miles and saw many souls saved. Even the Apostle Paul includes these eight individuals and in a sense says, these were my companions, my co-laborers, my work fellows, and without them I could not have done what I have done. He shares that blessing and that commendation with these saints, with these men that have served alongside of Him. And God would have us to remember those with whom we labor and to remember that we cannot do it alone. We need one another just as much as we need our family or our close friends. We need the people of God. God's ordained the Christian life so that we need one another. Hebrews 10 verse 24 and 25, let us consider one another. to provoke unto love and good works. We are to provoke one another to love and good works. How do we do that? Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. See, we have church service not just so we can have a certain time or several times a week that we come aside and meet together because you don't have a busy enough schedule. We do it because we need one another. We provoke one another. We exhort one another. We're not in this thing alone, and we need the help of the brethren. Not only do we see the fellowship here, but I see a humility in the Apostle Paul. The text impresses me that Paul understood that it's not about Paul. Well, a lot of preachers need to learn that lesson. It's not about the preacher. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's about Christ. And in this text, Paul mentions the names of these brothers who were standing by Him, enabling Him to faithfully carry out His ministry. But Paul pauses to acknowledge their invaluable service to the King of Kings. What love and humility and grace for Paul to share the ministry and the recognition and I dare say even the spotlight with these brothers. So we see here, Paul, as he mentions these eight co-laborers, these eight workfellows, he concludes it with a hearty amen. And I say amen to workfellows. Thank God for you, brothers and sisters in Christ, who are my workfellows. And I hope I am your workfellow, and we are laboring together to accomplish the work of God. Well, as we look at these workfellows, I want you to notice that there's several different types of workfellows here. They're not all the same. They're not all apostles. They're not all preachers. They're not all missionaries. Thank God the church is not made up of preachers. Amen. It's made up of preachers. It's made up of writers. It's made up of people that's wealthy, like Brother Larry. And then it's made up of people that's poor. It's made up of all different kinds. You've got people that are hospitable. You've got people that are more to themselves. We find that diversity in this list of names of these workfellows. And thank God for that. The first group that I see mentioned here are a group of preachers. It's a group of men that had the ability of preaching the Word of God and teaching the Word of God. In fact, the first two names mentioned after Timothy, you have there Lucius and Jason. And if you remember those two names, if you're familiar with the book of Acts, Acts 13, the Bible says, and there were certain prophets in the church at Antioch. And you have Lucius of Cyrene that was there, that's Lucius. And you've got other names mentioned, but Lucius was there. And then Jason, he was in Thessalonica. And you'll remember he was the one whose house was assaulted. And he took Paul in and he hid Paul. And he kept Paul from being taken into captivity by the Jewish synagogue. And so these men had been men that had preached and had the ability of helping Paul the Apostle in his missionary journeys. Well, let's start out with this group of misfit preachers, missionaries, pastors and teachers, you've got Timotheus. And when you look at this word, workfellow, it is a word that literally means a co-worker or a co-laborer. And it's a word that carries not just the sense of somebody being in the same kind of work, but somebody having the same kind of heart. having the same kind of spirit. This is what Paul said about Timothy once to the church at Philippi. Philippians chapter 2 verse 19. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded. Did you see that? That word like-minded, that's the sense of our word work-fellow. I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state. In other words, there's nobody going to care for you like me other than Timothy. That's why I'm sending Timothy. For all seek their own, but not the things which are Jesus Christ. But ye know the proof of him, that as a son with a father he hath served with me in the gospel." And through time, Timothy gave forth proof. That is, his life passed the test. He passed the test of proving that he was committed to Christ and to the true doctrine of the Apostle Paul. The thing that so closely knit Timothy and Paul together was that they were like-minded. They had a kindred spirit. Have you ever said that about somebody? Well, we've got kindred spirits. Maybe you have the same sense of humor, or maybe you just have a passion for the same things. You really enjoy something, and so you share a hobby. I know sometimes in church we might say, well, their spirit bears witness with my spirit. In other words, there's just something that's common. There's common ground between you. Well, that's the idea here. And the reason that their spirits were so closely knit together, that they were so like-minded, that as work fellows they were co-laboring together, is that they both deeply loved the Word of God. They both deeply loved the truth of God's Word, the doctrine of God's Word. They were committed to that. And it was truth that united Paul and Timothy. Let me say, there is no unity without truth. People always want to talk about unity, but if you're not standing in the same place, walking in the same direction, believing the same thing, you can't have unity but to a certain degree. And their unity was around truth. If you go and you count, there's at least 12 times that Paul directly spoke to Timothy about sound doctrine. And you can find that in various places, mostly 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. But you find there sound doctrine is mentioned over and over and over. Listen to some of the appeals of Paul to Timothy. 1 Timothy 4.13, Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Same word for sound doctrine. 1 Timothy 1.3, As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went to Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. 1 Timothy 4.6, If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine. 1 Timothy 4.16, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. 1 Timothy 5.17, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they that labor in the word and doctrine. Are you picking up on a theme here? Paul had a lot to say to Timothy about doctrine and about sound doctrine. 2 Timothy 3.10, But thou hast fully known my doctrine. 2 Timothy 3.16, All scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable for, number one, doctrine. And then one of my favorites, 2 Timothy 4, 2-8, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. And he goes on and speaks of the responsibilities of a minister to maintain truth and doctrine in his preaching of the gospel. Over and over and over again, the Apostle pleaded with Timothy to be true to sound doctrine. It cannot be emphasized enough. And as I was studying this out, my bones inside of me began to set afire. I thought about it as even Even as Jeremiah said that the Word of God was shut up in his bosom like a fire, that he had to say it, that you and I ought to be passionate about the truth, passionate about the Word of God, passionate about sharing it. We need to be jealous over doctrine. I am grieved by and large by those who claim the name of Christ but they do not follow in the doctrine of Christ. And we as God's people need to be faithful to live out and to walk out what we say we believe. The great doctrines of the faith are what makes us strong as believers and it sets us apart to God. And as the doctrine of a church goes, so goes the church. If a church compromises on doctrine, that church has compromised on God. And I appeal to us today, my brothers and sisters, let's lay hold of sound doctrine, the sound doctrine of God's Word, and never let it go. Some of the facts about Timothy that I'll share just briefly, and talking about his work fellows here, His name, Timothy, it means honoring God, which he did throughout his life. He was taught the Word of God from a child up, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3.15. He joined Paul on the second missionary journey in Lystra. He was trusted with many assignments on behalf of Paul, and you find that in multiple places. He had two books of the Bible that were addressed to him in his ministry, 1 and 2 Timothy. Paul called Timothy when he was facing death. And at the end of his life, he charged Timothy to remain faithful. He said, what makes a good workfellow? A preacher. A preacher that will co-labor with Christ in the Gospel. One who is rooted and grounded in the truth. One who clings to sound doctrine and doesn't repeat the philosophies, the clichés, or the good one-liners that they've heard all their life, but will commit themselves to being a student of the Word of God and preaching that Word. That's what makes a good workfella. You must be willing to learn. You must be willing to apply the truth of Scripture in every area of your life. Let me say, it's not just true for a preacher, it's true for every believer. You must be willing to learn. Open your mind and open your heart to the Word of God every day and say, Spirit of God, teach me your truth. I want to be a good work fellow. So we see Timothy was a good work fellow as a preacher. He was a pastor of the church at Ephesus. Lucius was a good work fellow. He was a teacher in the church at Antioch. Mentioned there in Acts chapter 13 verse 1. There he's identified as, again I said, Lucius of Cyrene, which is a region of Africa. Here we have an African who was one of the first Christian teachers and evangelist and missionary travelers with Paul. He had an important part in the early days of the church at Antioch and in the beginning of the Christian world mission movement. I think it's amazing, thank God the Gospel tears down all boundaries that are set by men, including racial boundaries. There is no room for bigotry among the people of God. You have Lucius here, a man who was a teacher of the truth. Faithful, the Word of God. You have Jason again. believed to be the same Jason of Acts chapter 17 verses 5-9 when the mob, angry mob in Thessalonica began to assault Paul. And he hid them in their house and they came and they drew Jason out into the city. We find here he was a faithful brother. Here he had rescued Paul at least on one occasion. He had placed himself in certain harm. He had placed himself in danger so that Paul could flee and go on and preach another day. Paul trusted Jason because he had bled for him. He had personally suffered for the cause of Christ. And those that you trust deeply need to be those who have skin in the game, who have shed their own blood, who are involved in the work of Christ. Observers on the sidelines cannot be trusted, but those who are in the trenches with you, serving Christ alongside you, those are the ones you trust. That's why Paul is giving him an honorable mention here. He was a true work fellow because he could be trusted. He was sincere. He had sweat, blood, and tears invested in the gospel ministry. And evidently, Jason had become a man who traveled with the apostle Paul. He was from Thessalonica. But Paul writes to the Romans from the church at Corinth. And there he's traveling with Paul, one of his fellow companions. A man that was trusted. A man that stood up for Paul. A man who had put himself in danger time and time again for him. What makes a good workfellow? Somebody that is committed to truth. Somebody that is willing to learn and teach what they have learned. And somebody who is willing to fight the battles that need to be fought and stand toe-to-toe with the enemy when he comes calling. Then there's Brother Sesospiter. His name means to save one's father. That's the meaning of his name. Many believe this is the same man called Sopater in Acts 20 verse 4 who accompanied Paul into Asia on his final trip into Jerusalem. He would have been with Paul when he was arrested and sent to stand before Caesar. He lived up to his name. He was faithful to Paul. Even as he went into the eye of the storm, he stood with him. This is the kind of man you want around you whenever things get hard. A man that won't cut and run at the sight of trouble, but he was a man that stood the test of time. He was a bulwark of the faith. His personality would have been that of a bull. He would have had the backbone of a saw log. He was strong. He was able to endure under the pressure and carry on even when others would have fallen out. We find these men, and these men, as they're mentioned in this first verse, they were men, again, that were preachers, that were teachers, that were fellow laborers with Paul in his missionary journeys. These were the men along with the Gospel writer of Luke, Luke, the physician who traveled with Paul on many of his journeys. Timothy, Jason, Lucius, and Cisospater. We see these workfellows as they are men of ministry. What makes a good workfellow? Men and women that are committed to ministry. That give of themselves their time, their talents, their ability, hours of study on their personal time, even on their own dime, purchasing that which is necessary to teach their class, to invest in the next generation, and to further the church of the living God. And I say amen to workfellows committed to ministry. Then we see also, A work fellow that was committed to writing. Writing the Word of God. Thank God that the church is made up of all types. You've got a lot of types that are just hard workers and common sense thinkers, but thank God there's also some free thinkers and some artistic people in the church. And those that enjoy literature and writing and art and music and their gifts are lit in that area. Aren't you glad we have a piano player? and others learning, and you ought to learn to play an instrument. That's something that you'll carry with you throughout your life. I stopped throwing a football when I graduated or when I left college. I've not shot a basketball for any good purpose in a long time, but you'll play an instrument till the day you die. Learn something useful with your life. And here's somebody that knew how to write. knew how to put pen to paper, and man alive, their names recorded as being the very person that penned down the words of the Apostle Paul by inspiration in the book of Romans. God may use some of you and your abilities to write one day to put pen to paper and to put Christian literature out there that will help generations to come. Some of you women even. Thank God for Amy Carmichael and the different ones who wrote and have given us some things that we can read as Christians, as ladies, and you can learn and get it from a woman's perspective. And it enables you to carry on and serve the Lord. Men that are writers, that are able to, from a man's perspective, write according to the Word of God in a way that will benefit God's people. Then we're introduced to a hospitable man, a man of gracious hospitality. Gaius or Gaius, however you want to pronounce his name, in verse 23. He was Paul's host. He had opened up his home. It's believed this man's home was attached to the church at Corinth, that part of his house was where that church met. And that's why it says here, my host and the whole church, the whole church met in his house. And there was no doubt they had services together, and many had told him to tell the saints at Rome, we salute them. A man that was hospitable, he'd opened up his home, not only to the church. How many of you would be willing to open up your home to the church? Say, you know what? We can have church service at my house. And everybody show up two or three times a week and have church. I don't see anybody raising their hand. That'd get old real quick. Even for people that like to entertain, that'd get old real quick. Cleaning up your house, making sure everything's tidy. Glad the Lord's blessed us with facilities that He has. But here's a man, he loved to host God's people so much that he hosted the church in his very house. Here he was, a man that loved to host so much he had hosted these missionary travelers. Paul and his band, his company, these four individuals, five men that we know of for sure. He'd opened up his doors. Come, let me be your host. Let me give you a place to stay. Let me serve you. Let me feed you. Let me be a blessing to you. He had done that. You say, what makes a good work fellow? Somebody that's hospitable. Somebody that's willing to open their home. That's willing to go out of their way and serve and be a blessing to others. Hospitality goes beyond just making a meal. But you can start with making a meal. Giving somebody a meal. Inviting them into your home and entertaining them. It's called hospitality and as God's people, we ought to be familiar with it. Paul says amen to good work fellows. Amen to somebody that opened their house, kept us from having to sleep out on the street while we were traveling through Corinth. And then we go on and we're introduced in verse 23 to Erastus. And we're told a little bit about this man. He was the chamberlain of the city. I looked up the word chamberlain. It's a word that means a governor. It's a word that means a treasurer or a steward. It's believed that this man was the steward of the city. He was the treasurer of the city at Corinth. Probably a very wealthy man. A man of influence. Maybe even a politician. And yet he's a believer. And Gaius was so well known that he and Erastus were brethren and they were co-laborers there in Corinth. And no doubt, as the Apostle Paul traveled through, Erastus had come to see the Apostle Paul and to spend time with him. And then notice the next name. Quartos. As I said, quartos means four. Tertos means three. You know what it's believed? It's believed that right here in this area, when these words were being written down, you had both ends of the spectrum. You had the wealthy, and Gaius, and Erastus, and you had slaves. It's believed that these men who had only a number were slaves. That's why they only had a number and no name. In the Roman culture at that time, slaves did not have names, they had numbers. And the numbers they bore usually was a number in importance. A number one slave, if you introduced a slave as number one, that was the head of all the slaves. He was a part of managing your household affairs. He could be trusted. He had been with you the longest. And then number 2 was underneath number 1 and so forth and so on. Here was number 3 and number 4. Slaves possibly in Gaius' house. Or maybe slaves to Erastus. We don't know. But we are given a picture into the church here in the New Testament, and it was made up of rich and wealthy people. It was made up of slaves and servants. But there was no contention between them. They had learned from the writings of the apostles and the truth of the Gospel. that there was a camaraderie and a fellowship even among them, though they were at vast different ends of the spectrum financially and concerning their freedom. I think it's amazing. You say, well, what does that mean? Well, Paul says those are good workfellows that can get along with others even though they may not have all things in common. I see in our church there's a broad spectrum. Nobody here is a slave, but we have people from different backgrounds and different walks with different interests. But thank God for work fellows that can get along in spite of differences, no matter where they find themselves and their lot in life. And that's exactly what was going on here. I think it also speaks volumes that here the Apostle Paul, of number three, he says, this is the man who penned the book of Romans. And of number four, he goes on to say, a brother. He doesn't just say his number, he says a brother. This man God saved, and he may be a number in the eyes of man, but in the eyes of God, he is a saint, and he is a brother in Christ. Thank God there's neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, bond or free in the eyes of God. If you're saved, you're as much a saint of God as anybody that's ever been saved. And so we find Paul, amen, in these workfellows. And I give a hearty amen to work fellows, co-laborers, those that are a part of this church, and even others that are a part of ministries. We support preachers and other saints that we know, and the labor that they do. Thank God for people committed to doctrine, to standing for the truth, and preaching the Word of God, and doing all they can to spread the Gospel. Thank God for those that have abilities in music and writing and art and different things where they express truth to others that might otherwise find it hard to understand. Thank God for men and women that are hospitable within the church that let others feel welcome and they bring them in with a warm embrace. Thank God for those that are able to get along even though they have a vast array of differences that they don't see eye to eye on. But they know this one thing. We're bought by the blood of Jesus. We are brothers in Christ and sisters in Christ. The saints of God. And we can come together and get along. What's Paul doing? He is amening. He's saying truly, verily, this is a good thing to have work fellows that are so different. so vast in their gifts and personalities. Well, in conclusion, I think there's several things that we can draw from this short list of co-laborers. Number one, here we have well-known and obscure people. As I've mentioned, rich and poor, free and slave, influential and totally non-influential. but the dear Holy Spirit knew them all. And truly, God is no respecter of persons, no matter what your lot is. You may think you're the lowest of the low, the feeblest of the feeble, the least of the least, but in God's eyes, you're one of His saints. Number two, praise God. Race did not stand in the way of the Holy Spirit using men. in the gospel ministry. And no matter the color of a man's skin, his ethnicity, his background, his culture, the grace of God is able to use anybody. And there is, as I've already said, no room for racism, bigotry, or prejudice among the people of God. Number three, God will use any saved brother or sister in Christ. All it requires is a willing heart and a surrendered will. And if you'll surrender your life to Christ, He can use even you, even if you feel like you're just a number four. Number four, what is done for one of Christ's servants on behalf of Christ does not, it will not go unnoticed. And here, even the least of the least of these brethren, if you would say it that way, are recognized and their names recorded in the Word of God as giving a salutation to the saints at Rome. Number five, as I've briefly mentioned, it takes many different gifts and skills to make up the ministry of Christ, but all of them are vital. Listen to me. You have a place in this church. You have an important part in the ministry of this church. Know that place. Participate in that part. And don't sell yourself short of what God's called you to do as being a member of this local body. And don't rob this body of your gifts and of your talents, but use them. Don't get so busy that you're not useful for what God has called you to do. And finally, we conclude, We all have something we can serve Christ with. Every one of us, from the youngest to the oldest. It may be a home. It may be a pen. It may be an influential position that God's put you in. But whatever we have, we're to be using it for the glory of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3.23, And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Serve Him. Do what you do for Him. Don't do it for man. But do it for God. And God will take note of it. And God will keep a record. Let's bow our heads this morning. I appreciate your attention. And I hope this has been an encouragement to you. I hope you find yourself somewhere in this list of names, in these categories of believers, of men and women serving the Lord in your respective place that God's called you to. I also hope that if you found that you've fallen short in some area, The Lord and His grace would deal with your heart, you'd repent, and you'd make that right, continue serving the Lord. And as Paul amened all the workfellows in his life, I amen Indian Mission Baptist Church, and I amen the workfellows that God's placed here, and I encourage you to be faithful and be true. And may God continue to use us to reach our community and this world with the gospel. Father, we bow in your presence this morning. We thank you for the Word of God, and we ask you to take and use it, Lord. May it be a help and a blessing to your church.