Be Watchful

Romans 16:17-27

July 29, 2007 Pastor Harpold

At the end of Romans the gospel walks in shoe leather in the first century of the Roman Empire. It’s exciting to know there were Christians, witnesses for Christ, walking the streets with the joy of the Lord in their hearts. Paul has left the mountain peaks of doctrine to come down to the pavements of Rome. Here the gospel was translated into life and reality in the people Paul worked with who entered into his Gospel ministry?

The Church at Rome was a diverse group with people from many nations and races.

Thirty-five persons are mentioned, believers in Rome or with the apostle, likely in Corinth as he wrote this letter. Here is a mutual love and tender affection, which was a contradiction of Roman philosophy and practice. The Christians were different. Little wonder Rome marveled and exclaimed, "My, how these Christians love each other!"

With all the differences, the church experienced a great unity.

First is a commendation of Phoebe, who brought this letter to Rome. Her name indicates she was a Gentile. Many believers adopted new names at baptism, but Phoebe kept her heathen name for some reason. Paul refers to her as "Phoebe our sister," not by blood but a spiritual relationship in the Body of Christ. Paul was a son of God, and Phoebe was a daughter of God, thus Phoebe was Paul's sister in the faith.

She is called a "servant of the church in Cenchrea." Likely she never had any important position in the Church of Christ, but she was a servant. When a menial task was to be performed, Paul could count on Phoebe. When there was a job to be done that others despised and considered beneath their status, and their social standing, the church could always count upon this sister in Christ for the performance of the duty.

We have a long list of other friendships in the life of the Apostle Paul and with a few exquisite words he gives the virtues of these friends.

Undoubtedly, the greatest messenger of the Cross was the Apostle Paul. We know something about his background - a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin – but we know very little about his personal life following his conversion. He was utterly and completely devoted to the propagation of the Gospel. Anything else we know about Paul is revealed by his friendships. There was a common bound of love which is seen in the way they tirelessly worked together for the kingdom.

Paul introduces us to another couple saying as it were, "Now that ye have met my sister Phoebe, I would like to introduce to you Priscilla and Aquila of Corinth."

Paul met them in Corinth when he arrived to preach the Gospel. They were likely his first converts. He arrived without a penny to buy food for himself and his co-workers in Christ. As he walked through the heathen city, looking for opportunity to preach the Gospel, he realized if he could not eat he could not preach. With no church to supply funds, Paul looked for opportunity for work in his trade, tent making. He was directed to Priscilla and Aquila, local tent makers. He found employment with them. As he busily worked at his trade his life radiated Jesus Christ. We cannot help but believe that along with the weaving of cloth and the sewing of material in the form of tents, Paul at the same time was weaving into the fabric of the character and lives of Priscilla and Aquila the glorious Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation.

While Paul was at one time their helper making tents, by the power of the Gospel, conditions were reversed. They became his helpers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now Paul sends his greetings to quite a list of Christian folk. The church at Rome was largely gentile, made up of many races, but it was also integrated. Priscilla and Aquila were Jewish. Epenetus is a Greek name meaning "praised." Evidently he was Paul's first convert in the Roman province of Achaia. Mary is a Jewish name, the same as Miriam meaning “rebelliousness.” She "bestowed much labor on us" means she labored to the point of exhaustion. What a change! Before becoming a believer, she was in rebellion, but now she "knocks herself out" for the sake of other believers, because she is now obedient to Christ.

Andronicus is a Greek name, and the name has been identified with a slave. Junia is a Roman name. Paul says, they were "my fellow prisoners." Evidently Paul had met them in one of the numerous prisons of the Roman Empire.

Amplias is a common slave name. Urbane means "city bred." In other words, his name means "city-slicker." This was also a common slave name, and it may mean that he was brought up in the city rather than in the country. He is identified as a real worker among believers. Stachys has been found listed in the royal household. He was beloved not only to Paul but to the church.

Herodion was evidently a Jew, as Paul calls him his relative. The name suggests the Herod family, perhaps a slave who adopted the family name to which he belonged.

Notice Paul's greeting includes the mother of Rufus. "Salute Rufus and his mother and mine." While we know nothing of the Paul’s parents, we learn of a godly woman in Jerusalem, the wife of Simon the Cyrenian, who was like a mother to the apostle Paul.

These are all just names to us, but Paul knew them and likely led many to Christ.

Paul closes in verse 16 with the admonition to greet the brethren with a holy kiss. The early Christians loved one another, and they expressed their inward love with an outward kiss. The fact that the holy kiss is no longer generally practiced in the church is an indication that the church has lost its first love.

Even with this bond of love Paul was compelled to give a warning.

Paul puts in this word of warning and we would do well to heed this warning also. “Watch out for those who cause division.” Faith is manifested in obedience to the Word. Paul said, “I want you to be wise about what is good" - instructed in the Word of God. "Innocent about what is evil" means without admixture of evil.

Be careful of those who attempt to teach another way than that which you have already learned. Let me illustrate it this way. (Use the Coca Cola illustration)

There is one gospel - let no one deceive with smooth talk and flattery. We are instructed to be careful about false teachers. The devil is the source of false teaching and he is the author of division among Christians. But we are not to get discouraged; God's people are still on the winning side. Satan's doom will come quickly and sharply. It is "the God of peace" who will put down Satan shortly. The devil will lose out in the end. In the meantime we are to resist the Devil, be sober and vigilant.

We are at the end of our study in Romans. The Bible is such a rich treasure of spiritual wealth that even one who reads it a thousand times, will always find something new and helpful. It is my prayer that our minds may have been instructed, and our hearts uplifted and as a result we might be better established in the Christian faith.

The Lord Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Obedience is the work and fruit of faith.

Now to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

All these beloved people of the Church of Christ, who are spoken of in Romans 16, became what they were almost entirely through the life, example and ministry of the Apostle Paul. The children in your home, the people with whom you work, those who know you and those who love you, will become what you make them by your example, by your Christian life and conversation, and by your testimony.

Is your life exerting an influence like the Apostle Paul's - an influence that falls as a sweet benediction upon the lives that are blasted by sin, and that raises them to heights of Godliness and devotion to the Gospel of Christ? May God help us to be the kind of parents, the type of Christian, that, as others look upon us, they may see Christ in us, the hope of glory.

In closing, we would ask everyone this question: Are you acquainted with the Apostle Paul's Christ? Is He who transformed Paul's life, and transformed the lives of these other characters we read about in Romans, your Savior and Lord? Have you opened your heart and received him as your personal Savior? Remember that only His Blood can cleanse your heart from sin. Only His power can give you victory over evil. Only His grace can make you what you ought to be. Open your heart to Him, will you?