Okay, we're trying it again. If you can hear me, text Gina and tell her that we have sound. I'm going to go ahead and let's unless nobody can hear me and we'll stop again. So greetings from Faith Bible Church in Reno, Nevada. As you can tell, this is our very first video and we've been having trouble. I'm hunkered down here in my bunker. Actually, it's my office, but I'm just waiting out this COVID-19 pandemic and praying that it will end soon. Welcome, Faith Bible Church members. I'm glad that you made it here today. And welcome to any guests that might be listening in. I pray that everyone will be encouraged through our time in God's Word today. And also, please give me some feedback on Facebook Live. As I said, it's our first attempt at video and any help in improving it would be greatly appreciated. So let's pray before we start the sermon today. Lord, as you overlooked Jerusalem, you grieved in your heart, and you just bring them under your protection as the protection gives her chicks under her wings. Lord, I pray that during this scary time, during this time of fear and this time of suffering, that you would draw many to yourself and bring them under your protection. Lord, that you would use your church, use your people to offer that invitation, that whoever is weary and heavy laden could come to you and receive your rest. Lord, we ask that you take this time today, that you would be glorified in it and that We, your people, would be edified and encouraged. And we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, we continue in our study of the Book of Romans today. And we've titled this study that we've been in for about a year now, The Gospel of God's Grace. The last time we met, we learned of Paul's plans for his future ministry. He planned to go to Rome, but first he needed to go to Jerusalem to drop off a gift for the poor and suffering in Jerusalem, a gift that was given by the other churches. And then he planned on going from Rome into Spain and preach the gospel there where it had not been preached before. But we saw in the book of Acts and through church history that things didn't go exactly the way Paul had planned. He did go to Jerusalem, but he was arrested there. And then he did go to Rome, but he spent a few years in jail before he did that. And then he was transported as a prisoner to Rome in order to stand trial. he did eventually make it to Spain. And the principle that we believe is that God is sovereign over the lives of his people and he accomplishes his will in spite of our plans. Proverbs 16, 9 says, the mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. So today we begin Paul's final and very personal greetings to several believers in the church at Rome. It's a long list of greetings. It's the longest one in all of his letters. There's 26 individuals named, along with two families and three house churches. It would be easy to skip over this section after we've been through such rich and deep theology in this book, but it would be a mistake. because there are some significant lessons that we can learn from this list of names. The first one is that they're all recorded here. The Spirit of God could have preserved the doctrine and left out these greetings, but He didn't do that. They're a part of the Bible for a reason. And the first and foremost reason, I believe, is that they are very personal. Paul names names. Have you ever felt an anonymous face in the crowd? Do you feel like no one really knows you? Well, that's not the way God intends it to be. We've all got a name. Next slide. Our name is important to us. One of the first things that a salesman learns is that he has to learn and use the names of his clients. We all have this deep-seated need to know and to be known, to be valued by other people. So I titled this sermon after the 70s song by Jim Croce with the ungrammatic title of I Got a Name. Like the pine trees winding, lining the winding road, I got a name, I got a name. Like a singing bird and a croaking toad, I got a name, I got a name. Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway, moving ahead so life won't pass me by. So I don't know about the croaking toad, but In the three verses of this song, Croce has a name, a song to sing, and a dream to live for. He wants his life to count. He wants to fulfill this great journey that he's on. And that desire is at the core of every human heart. And that's what this passage in Romans can point us to today. So let's begin by reading this whole section from verses 1-16 in Romans chapter 16 from the English Standard Version. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the Church of Synchria, 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. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risk their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles. and they were in Christ before me. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stychus. Greet Appellus, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. Greet my kinsman Herodian. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Trophina and Trophosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. Greet Asyncretus, Phlegon, Hermes, Petrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss, all the churches of Christ, greet you. This is the Word of God. So, we don't have a lot of information about the majority of these folks, but we can glean several important facts from what we've read here. I said that this is a list of greetings, but the first one here is actually a letter of recommendation for a woman named Phoebe. In the ancient world, travelers needed to carry a letter of introduction or commendation with them in order to be welcomed into homes along their way. There were very few public accommodations in that day. And it's very likely that Phoebe was the one who carried this letter to Rome. She belonged to a sister church of the Corinthian church from where Paul wrote this epistle to the Romans. So look at verses 1 and 2 again. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the Church of Synchria, that you may welcome her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many, and of myself as well." So we see here several important facts about Phoebe. First, she's a believer, a saint. Second, she's a servant of her church. The word servant is a name is a title in the church. It's the same word that is translated deacon at times. And I believe that she had the office of a deaconess in her church at Syncria. There's differences of opinion over the roles of women in church today. Some say that women shouldn't be able to do any leadership in the church. Some say that women should be able to fill any role that a man fills. Those who would restrict leadership say that this term is just describing who she is, a servant. But I don't think that's the case. Why mention her church if she's just a servant? When Paul gives instructions for choosing men for the office of deacon in 1 Timothy, he lists qualifications for deacons. And then, in many of the English translations, it says their wives also must be dignified, not gossips, temperate, and faithful. But the Greek doesn't use the word wives there. It's the word for women. And I believe it means the women deacons must have these characteristics. And the reason I'm confident in this interpretation is that Paul had just given the qualifications for elders and didn't mention their wives at all. So why would elders and deacons not be held to the same standard? And just to make it clear what we believe here at Faith Bible Church concerning this issue, we believe that women can serve in many roles in the church and roles of leadership such as deacon, But we're convinced that the eldership is reserved for men. In 1 Timothy, Paul says that a woman is not to teach or to have authority over a man. So we take that to mean that women cannot be placed in the formal role of teaching in the congregation. And just as the headship of the family is reserved for the husband, the headship of the church is reserved for men, who meet the qualifications of elder. So two more points about Themy. Paul instructs the Romans to help her with whatever she needs. She's obviously on a mission. I'm sure that she didn't make that long trip just to deliver this letter. So Paul is asking for the church to support her in the work of the ministry that she's doing. And he notes that she is a patron who has helped many, including he himself. That word patron means protectress. It's a term of dignity. She is most likely a woman of great means, and she uses her influence to support and to watch out for God's people. So next, Paul greets a couple with whom we are very familiar, and who Paul was very familiar with. It says in verse three, Greek, Prisca and Aquila. my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risk their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. This is a couple, Priscilla and Aquila. Prisca is just a shortened form of Priscilla. And we know a great deal about them from the Book of Acts, where Luke mentions them six different times. Paul mentions them three times in his letter. In 52 AD, the Emperor Claudius kicked all the Jews out of Jerusalem. So this Jewish couple fled to Corinth, and that's where they met Paul. And they became fellow workers with him, both in their secular professions as tent makers and in their roles as missionaries and leaders. After Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila moved on to Ephesus, and they met a guy named Apollos, a young man, and they discipled him. And Apollos went on to become a very important leader in the early church. And then it says here that they risked their necks for Paul. And we don't have any details on that incident, but we know that it was dangerous to be a Christian in the early church, and that this couple fearlessly served the Lord in spite of that danger. Now, in the next verse, we learn something about the organization of the early church. It says in the first part of verse 5, There was a church that met in the house of Aquila and Priscilla. There were no church buildings in the first century. There weren't any until the second century, and those were scarce. So believers met in homes. We don't know how many Christians there were in Rome, The population of the city at that time is estimated to have been between 400,000 and 500,000 people. So we're going to see two more of these house churches farther down this list in verse 14 and 15. So this letter must have been copied as soon as Phoebe got to Rome and distributed to all the various churches around the city. So now we need to move a little quicker so that we can get through this list. We're not going to spend a whole lot of time on most of these names. Verse 5, second part of verse 5, greet my beloved Eponidas, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who worked hard for you. Apparently Paul led Eponidas to the Lord during his early ministry in Asia Minor. Mary, he may or may not have known personally, but he knew of her good reputation. We have three more names in verses 7 and 8. Andronicus, Junia, and Ampliatus. So Andronicus and Junia were probably a married couple. And they were definitely Jewish. Paul's kinsmen, it says. And they'd spent time with him in jail. And I'm sure it was because of their faith. In the ESV it says that they were well known among the apostles. But that could just as well be translated, and is in other versions, as well known among the apostles. It says in ESV well known to the apostles, others say well known among the apostles. And so some people have interpreted that to mean that they were also apostles. Well, Paul used this term apostle for people other than the 12 apostles many times. It is used to refer to people who are doing missionary work. It just simply means a sent one. There are no apostles today equivalent to the first 12, even though there are some who claim that authority today, like those in the so-called New Apostolic Reformation Movement, which is neither new, nor is it apostolic, nor is it a Reformation movement. In fact, those guys are actually preaching heretical doctrine. If you want to know a little more about that, join us for our Wolves in Sheep's Clothing series that we are doing in our adult Bible study hour at 9.30, as soon as we start meeting again. So the next name is Ampliatus, and Paul knew and loved him. Ampliatus was a common name for slaves in that day. And here's something cool that I found that I thought you'd like. This is some artwork from a grave for a guy named Ampliatus. And you can go and see that today in the catacombs of Domitia in Rome. So next he mentions three more guys and one more group. Urbanus, Stachys, Appellus, and the family of Aristobulus. These guys are known to Paul and they're active in the church. Notice that Aristobulus himself is not greeted though. It was those who was in his household who were greeted. He may have been a rich landowner and he had family members who were Christians or slaves. And those believers may have constituted a house church. We can't know that one for sure. We continue with verses 11 and 12. So Herodian is another Jewish convert. and was probably a freed slave from the house of King Herod, hence his name Herodian. Narcissus is probably another one of these unbelieving rich landowners who had believers in his household. There was a supporter of Claudius, the emperor in Rome at that time, who had this name, a famous man, and this Narcissus committed suicide over some political intrigue. And then we have three ladies mentioned, who were all in the ministry, Trophina, Trophosa, and the beloved Persis. Verse 13 says, Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. Greet Asyncretus, Phlegon, Hermes, Protavus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. So Rufus may be the son of Simon of Cyrene, the guy who carried Jesus' cross, mentioned in Mark 15.21. And Mark mentions the names of two of his sons. And he wouldn't mention his son's names if they hadn't been known among the early church. So Paul also mentions Rufus' mother and says that she was a mother to him. So Paul must have spent time with them in one of the churches that he ministered in. And finally, we have one last group of believers representing yet another house church. I won't read all of them, but there's one name of interest here. Nereus was the name of a chamberlain to a royal lady named Flavia Domitia. I just mentioned the catacombs that are named after her empress grandmother, Domitia the Elder. She was the wife of the Emperor Vespasian. Well, this younger Domitia and her husband, who was a politician, they both became Christians. And Domitia's uncle then at the time was the Emperor Domitian, and he had her husband executed for being a Christian, and he banished her to an island. So who knows, maybe this Nereus introduced that couple to Jesus. So we can see that Christianity was spreading throughout Rome into all kinds of households. Now Paul wraps up this section with a characteristic command. He says, greet one another with a holy kiss. All of the churches of Christ greet you. You know, kissing has been a common expression of familial affection throughout history. And it certainly was among both Jews and Romans. When I think of Italians kissing each other, I can't help but think of Michael Corleone kissing his brother in Godfather 2. I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. Anyway, kissing is an intimate greeting, usually reserved for family. And that's what the church is. We're family. For many of us, the church has become a much closer family than our families of origin. But of course, right now, it's not a time to begin practicing holy kissing. So we can do holy elbow bumps instead. So what are some of the things that we can take away from this passage today? The first one, that we notice is Rome, the church at Rome was a radically socially diverse group of people. We saw that they were both rich and poor. There were slaves and free. There were a full third of the names listed here are women and they had significant roles in the church And something that I didn't have time to go into was the ethnic diversity of the church. Each name here indicated an ethnic background. And there were people from all over the Roman world who lived in Rome, and they lived in harmony with one another in the church at Rome. Second thing I noticed is the organization of the church. It was a collection of house churches. Within another 40 years, we have historical evidence of a lead pastor called the Bishop of Rome. But the day-to-day operations of the church was through these little groups of believers who gathered in homes on a regular basis. There weren't any denominations. They saw themselves as one church with many different expressions. So this should be our attitude today. There's one church in this valley with many different expressions. And as long as we confess Jesus as Lord, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. And we should not let secondary issues divide us. There's only one entrance requirement into this organization. You have to be born into it. Jesus said, unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of God. His first words upon entering his ministry were repent. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repentance is an acknowledgment and a turning away from our sin. So Jesus died on the cross to pay for that sin. But we have to accept it as a free gift in order for it to benefit us. I said it clearly in Romans 10, 9 and 10. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. If you've done that, you belong to the family of God. You are a child of God, and your Father knows your name. But what is the purpose of that family? We also see that in this passage. Did you notice Paul's most common description of the people in this list? It's that they were workers in the Lord. We're all called to participate in this family business. And that business is to advance his kingdom by drawing lost sinners in. And the primary way we do that is through loving one another. If we love one another, then all men will know that we're His disciples. And if He's lifted up, then He will draw all men to Himself, and He calls each one of them by name. Let's pray. That You know every one of us, every individual intimately. You know us better than we know ourselves, Lord. You know us each by name. Father, we ask that you would give us that intimate knowledge as we continue through this time of trial. Lord, that we might look to you as our comfort and our strength. And Father, that we might display the hope that you give us to the world, that they might also come to know you. So Father, we take this time and we commit it to you. We thank you and praise you for all that you will accomplish in the name above all names, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Our benediction today is from 1 Corinthians 15 58. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Go in peace and serve your king. Until next time, see you later. Stick.