His Perfect Love

Voiceover: Today on His Perfect Love, we begin the 16th and final chapter of Romans. This is His Perfect Love. The word of God. It's what real love looks like in truth and prayer. This is His Perfect Love.

Guest (Male): It is good to be with you today. Welcome to His Perfect Love. Well, we've just about finished with our study of Romans. In the 16th chapter, Paul makes mention of a number of people he served the Lord with and considered very dear friends. He very much loved and appreciated them, and we'll hear his greeting to them momentarily.

But first, we'll learn about a dear woman that he entrusted this letter to, who also had a need that someone in Rome could help with. Here's Pastor Matt VanderVen.

Matt VanderVen: With that, I'd like to turn our attention to chapter 16. It's a very interesting chapter as you begin to study this and look at this in the book of Romans. Different than we read in Paul's other epistles and letters. There's about six things in specific that I'm going to point out to you hopefully here this morning.

Some of you know that we're concluding in this book, but as we look at this book, many have tried, scholars and even some from seminaries, have come back and said this chapter, we're not sure if it's really even Pauline. And I think if you use textual criticism and what have you, I think it's a very stretch, a very severe stretch to even try to apply that in any way because of not only just the grammar, but the amount of use of reference.

Even the fact that Paul, many times, Tertius is here writing for Paul, even saying, "Hey, I put this letter together." So it's a difficult stretch. But it is interesting because many try to end Romans at chapter 15. And they say, "Well, chapter 16 is simply a benediction. It's simply a closing."

But I would suggest to you this morning, if you've gone through the book of Romans in the past and you've come to that and you've read 16 as though it was sort of just a closing, I'd like to ask you to just sort of take that and set it down for a moment. And let's be Bereans. Let's study the scriptures because God has a lot to say in this particular chapter.

And what's interesting, as I mentioned, there's six things, two of which are very unique to this epistle and this epistle only and Paul's writing compared to anywhere else in the New Testament scripture that Paul's written. So I'd like to go through a list of a few of them with you just so we're all caught up on the six.

And then I'd like us to narrow in on the two. Because the two has everything to do with the purpose of his benediction, the purpose of his closing statements, and what I believe the Holy Spirit wants to communicate to you and I very much today. And it's a very unique way in the way he did this.

I'm not trying to speak in abstracts, we're going to go into specifics. But it's very unique because he's going to warn against false teachers. He's going to wrap this up, but he's going to do it in some generalities. He could have used specifics. He could have gone into legalism. He could have gone into Judaizers that were following him around and trying to unseat what the Holy Spirit had been doing through the churches he was planting.

But he didn't do that. And it's very unique because Paul in other epistles, he calls it out. In Corinthians, he's not shy. He calls right out to Judaizers that's Judaizing, coming and trying to heap a law onto someone that shouldn't have a law placed upon them according to Acts chapter 15.

So because of that, it's unique. And I think if it's unique like that, we need to pay attention to what is Paul trying to tell us. And he more or less is categorizing this, remember, to a group of believers he's never physically met. He's never been to Rome at this point.

He's writing this letter from Corinth. He's been there a year and a half, it's on his second missionary journey. And he closes with this unique letter, this unique closing. So I'd suggest here that you'd write these things down, you pray about these things, you be Bereans.

But I'd like to start with the first one. He entrusts to the Roman Christians a sister in the Lord. One of the few places we ever see Paul do this. Her name's Phoebe. We know nothing else about her in all of the New Testament. But he commends. That word is the word we'd use in the English: "I entrust to you." It speaks of a benefactor. We'll talk more about that. But that's in verses 1 and 2.

Second thing what we see here in these 27 verses, he urges the Roman Christians to greet various of their own flock. Interesting, isn't it? Greet your own flock. Greet these 26 folks, these two family churches, which oh by the way, they reside with you, but I happen to know them as well.

Now we see him do that sort of in Colossians a couple places, but he names a few, but not 26. This is a very exhaustive list. He certainly could not have done this at any other church. Ephesus, he was there three years. Corinth, the list would be the whole book. It'd be chapters upon chapter if you had to list everybody's name out.

But here it's unique that he does that. I don't think that's a coincidence. Please remember with me in chapter 15, where does Paul believe he's going? Paul believes he's on his way to Spain. And on his way to Spain, he's going to stop by Rome. And not only that, but he's already said in chapter 15, we know that where has he already set up his home church?

As we've been reading in the book of Acts and even in Rome, where is he at this point in his home church? His eastern landing ground? Antioch. Antioch, the first church that we read about in the Bible. The first Christian church, if I can say it that way, Antioch.

So clearly that's the supposition that's going on. But he mentions that on his way to Spain, he too would like to set up a place in Rome. That that would be the place that he goes out to Spain and to all these other areas of Europe. And he's going to use that as a ministerial headquarters more on the western hemisphere for what he believes.

Remember, it's not going to go according to Paul's plan. He will actually end up in Rome, but in prison and not exactly the way he thought he was going to get there. And it's often how God works out in our lives where things happen and we get some prophetic understanding or discernment but vastly different than the way we thought it was going to occur.

And praise God for that because many of us would run the other way. Maybe I'm speaking individually here. So that's the second main thing we see here is that he urges these folks. And I think it's because he said to them before that would they be his missionary benefactors? He's asked for that in chapter 15.

So he's going to mention them by name and I think there's a relationship he's building consensus or uniformity that way in his coming. The third thing, he sends greetings to the Roman Christians from others as well. Look at 16 verse 16 and you might say B if it's the second half of the verse, verses 21 through 23.

Number four, he warns the believers in Rome about a false teacher or false teachers. It's very interesting. You get to verse 17 and it's almost like a subject change. I mean that's what he kind of does right as he's going midstream, and then he just says, and how does he do that? By using the term brothers and sisters or brethren.

He says, "Wait a minute, subject change. I want to bring you back to this." He assures the believers of their final spiritual victory. In verse 20 he goes back. We saw it in Genesis chapter 3, when God was proclaiming the judgment on the earth and on humanity. What else happened?

He did promise a victory below there that Satan's head would be crushed under the foot or heel of Messiah, of Jesus. And we see that same thing here. It's also prophetic because in Revelation we're going to read that same thing in chapter 20 verse 10, that it says that one day that Satan himself will be cast into the lake of fire.

Prophetic. It's prophecy. But if we don't know our Bibles, we wouldn't understand eschatologically that he's pulling this all together for us. He's showing this. So that's what I mean. There's a lot going on in this last chapter. It's not simply a, "Hey goodbye, I hope to see you again." He's got a lot going on here.

The sixth thing, he prays that the grace of the Lord Jesus might be with them. A blessing. He prays a blessing upon them that they would be blessed, that the Lord Jesus Christ would be with them. And again, if you've read other Pauline epistles or his other letters, and I hope and pray you have, some of these are not—it wouldn't be odd for us to find combinations of these in the other epistles.

Might be three, four here, one here, two here. But we never see all six. We never see all six anywhere else. And again, I think that's unique. And if I'm being specific, there's two things we see in this one letter that we don't see in any one of Paul's other epistles as a closing and I've already alluded to that in verses 3 through 15, which is this naming it.

This naming all these guys, 26 of them to be specific. And then the other thing, nowhere else does Paul give such a stern warning against false teachers as we read in this chapter at the end. To a church he's never been yet. To not even really aware maybe what's going on on the scene.

He was warning them of what would be, and I believe it very much for you and I today. Because he knew what would be through the Holy Spirit and that's why I said he did it in generalities. And again, many try to conclude this as simply just a benediction, but I think there's so much more here if we would just narrow in and see what God wants to show us and what he wants to do in our hearts today.

Verse 1: "I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church of Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and myself also."

Have you seen anything like this in Paul's previous writings where he specifically commends somebody? He's sent people before, Philemon and different people like that, but have we ever seen something like this? He brings his attention to his readers in Corinthians, we see it in 16; Ephesians chapter 6; Colossians chapter 4; 2 Timothy.

But nothing like this where he specifically names this woman who we don't see any other part of her name or anything else to do with her in all of the New Testament. All of the New Testament. But we're given in just two verses a whole lot about her. A whole lot about this woman.

Very special woman that the Holy Spirit wanted us to see, that he wanted us to take notice of. We have to be Bereans. What do we see? Her name is Phoebe. Again, nowhere else in the New Testament. She's a prominent member of her church in Cenchrea, and she's obviously actively involved in the ministry because she's a servant.

That word there is diakonos or diakonos. Means deacon. She's a deacon, which means 1 Timothy 3 verses 8 and on apply to her in her service in the church. This is who Phoebe is. And who knows, some have suggested that she's been the one that was to carry this letter to Rome.

Why do we say that? Because Cenchrea, where is that? Biblically let's kind of target Middle East for a minute, let's narrow in. Where is Paul again? He's in Corinth. Second missionary journey. How long is he there? He's going to be there a year and a half. So he's in Corinth.

Where is Cenchrea from there? It's about eight miles. It's eight miles away. So here he is. This isn't a woman that he doesn't know. This is a woman he's quite familiar with because eight miles away she's been serving as a servant, as a disciple in her church. A faithful deacon.

Paul's aware of her. Paul's sort of ministering in that area. Clearly she's of someone of prominence, in that she's faithful. But I believe he's also saying that she's coming to them, Rome. And I believe one of the reasons for that is that she is going to be entrusted with this letter.

Now I don't know if you're familiar with the first century church or church history, but when letters were sent from churches to churches, they would be opened and read for the entire fellowship to hear and receive. So it was very commonplace. So she would care for this, this letter would be opened and it would be read for all of us here to hear and what Paul was encouraging or exhorting or in this particular church we're going to read in Corinth, a little bit of rebuking.

But what Paul's going through here, he's trying to exhort them. Now, letters of commendation were common in the ancient world. Why is that? I want us to take ourselves back. Take us 2,000 years back for a minute. There was no Arby's, there's no Starbucks. There's no Denny's, there's no Motel 6, whatever they call themselves.

Marriott, whatever. You have to remember when women—women, men and or women—when women were going to travel, this is a perilous thing. This woman's a very brave woman in Christ. She was willing to travel this great distance to Rome. And not only did she do that because of the leading of the Holy Spirit, but Paul was looking after her welfare, her safety.

He turned around and says, "You know what? I entrust her to you." And this is more than just, "Hey when you see her, say hi, I heard you're from Calvary Chapel such and such." What is he saying here? He's saying, "Take her in as your own." Why is this important?

Because back then again, there was no way, there was no like middle of the road, "Okay I'm going to stop here and I'm going to lay over there until here." You had to rely on people taking you in. You had to rely on people taking you in. And again, I want us to be really honest here, I hope we always are.

If you saw someone on the street right now and they were traveling—so there's going to be a little bit of dirt, they're going to be quite a bit of a distance traveled, there's going to be a little bit sweaty, dirty a little bit—you have children, you have a wife, husbands, wives, okay.

And this person's going to come in your house and you know nothing about them. Now Christ says we're to be the hands and feet. I won't lay any conviction there. I'm just simply saying we're to be hands and feet. But you see this situation, what is the first thing you're thinking?

Is it safe? I mean let's all be real and transparent. Is it safe? Is it safe for these folks, whoever it is, man, woman, whatever, to come into our home? Because you have children, you have other responsibilities. Okay, fine. Remember, very dangerous back then. Again, not like today.

So what is this commendation? This is basically a way that as an individual, if I wanted to send someone from this church to another Calvary Chapel or someone like that and I would write up a letter or an email and I would say, "I know this person and you know this person and it's through our commonality that there's a circle of trust that's established."

Makes sense? So as she's traveling, as she meets people along the way, she can pull out this paper from Paul that says, "Hey I've got a character reference. I'm trusted, I'm known and you can receive me and there's no harm, no foul." Just think about that. That's what Paul—that's a pastor's heart.

That's what an undershepherd does. He loves, feeds, and protects. That's Paul's desire. His desire was to make sure Phoebe as she's making this long journey would have everything that she needed to be cared for financially but also safety-wise. Again, this was not a simple undertaking.

As I mentioned, Phoebe was a servant, the diakonos or diakonos. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 8 through 12, that passage applies here. And what would it mean to be a benefactor when you think about that? That idea, if you look in a lexicon or Greek lexicon, is the idea of caring for, to give aid to.

But there's two things in this passage. Did you see that in verse 2? I see two things here. I don't just see one thing: "that you may receive her in the Lord manner worthy of the saints to assist her in"—what? "Whatever business she has need of you." So something else is going on here.

She has a need from this church in Rome. Some scholars have suggested is it a legal matter that at the church or because they have maybe lawyers, attorneys, something like that, that she was able to go and that they would help her with this legal matter? That's speculation.

And if the Bible is silent, we should be silent too. We don't really know the exact but she had a need and someone there in Rome was able to help with this ministry need, this need of some capacity in her personal life or what have you. Now as we look at verse 3, Paul goes through this oration of "Hey tell Joey, Jimmy, Suzy, Billy, Johnny I said hi."

Isn't that interesting? They're all in the church. It would be like somebody from outside saying, "Hey can you tell all these people in the flock, the 200 plus people in two, can you tell all these people here that I said hi?" Well that's okay Paul, that's a little strange, but alright.

I mean you don't do that in any of your other letters that way. I wonder what you're doing here. So just let that sort of ruminate in the back of your mind for a minute. "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house."

So we see a house church he's also greeting. "Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia"—that's Asia—"to Christ." We'll talk a little bit more about what that means. "Greet Mary, who labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."

"Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus." Why can't it be like Peter, Matt, Luke, John, Jimmy? I'm being lazy, right?

"Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord. Rufus—I'm good with that one—greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

Why can't it be like Rufus 1 and Rufus 2 and Rufus—right? "chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you."

So I mean again, if you're keeping count here, Paul asks the Christians to whom he writes to greet each other with this holy kiss. It comprises 26 individuals, two families, and three house churches if you really add up the list. That's what you'll see here. I'll say it again: 26 individuals, two families, and three house churches.

Where else have you seen Paul do this? He does something similar and you might be thinking in the back of your mind, you Bereans here, some of you are thinking, well wait a minute, Colossians 4:15 he does something similar. He greets a smaller group of lists. Yes, not 26 though.

But had he been to Colossae? No. He hadn't been to Colossae either. Well what about Timothy? You know, Priscilla and Aquila. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 19. Again, a minor list but not like this. Maybe Paul wanted to list every single Christian that he knew in Rome.

Maybe he was going through the list like, I don't know, but I think it would be impractical if he tried to do this at any other church. If he tried to do this at Ephesus or Thessalonica or any of the other churches, hundreds and hundreds. I mean the Bible would be huge.

Some of you have your study Bibles, you'd have to have a cart to carry it. But I think it would be impossible or improbable for him to do that. I believe what he was doing here, again knowing in chapter 15 that he is planning to make his way back to Rome because he's going to Spain and he wants to make this a headquarters.

And in 15 he sort of did a soft ask, can I say it that way in our modern phrasing? He said, "When I come to you that you would be able to help me as I make my way onto Spain." Missionary, would you support me? Basically is what I see. So in some ways knowing that—and that's not a bad thing, I mean missionaries we need to support our missionaries, I understand that—but knowing this, it seems to me that maybe as he was making his way that he remembered these folks that he would like to call upon.

That they would pray maybe in expectation of his coming that when he does arrive that they would be able to be benefactors, they would be able to be helpers in this. Because remember, this is read out loud. So this letter would have been read much like we're reading it here and—I know we don't want to say this—but when our name is called, don't we perk up a little bit?

We kind of, "Oh what?" Or sometimes when the pastor starts going and then all of a sudden a little joke comes out, it's like, "Oh how—what? That was funny, what happened?" It's like, and they're back. You don't want to know what I think of it, but you get what I'm saying. I'm being real.

I'm playing in stereo for you. I just turned mono off, I'm playing in stereo for you. But this is what happens, right? We're being honest with each other, we shouldn't pretend. We shouldn't play church. So I mean at the end of the day, this—I think having that name, hearing that, might have perked up a, "Oh really? What's going on there? Oh they need help. Okay, Paul's coming. Alright."

Again, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he thought that would give him favor in some capacity. I don't know, I don't want to speculate here. Maybe these folks that were mentioned are of reputation or influence in this church in Rome.

Guest (Male): We're making our way through Romans one verse at a time here on His Perfect Love with Pastor Matt VanderVen. You can hear this study again at HisPerfectLove.org. That's HisPerfectLove.org. We're also at OnePlace.com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts.

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And thank you for your prayers and financial support. You can make a donation to this ministry and send us your prayer requests through the website, again at HisPerfectLove.org. Those of you that are in the Mechanicsburg, PA area or will be visiting the area, we want to invite you to join us for a worship service here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek service on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to CCHarrisburg.org for more information. Are you looking for a Christian school that offers a quality education and a nurturing environment for your children?

If so, you might be interested in Calvary Chapel Christian Academy, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Calvary Chapel Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian school that serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The academy's mission is to provide a Christ-centered education that equips students to love God, love others, and serve the world.

The academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum, a variety of extracurricular activities, and a caring and supportive staff. The academy is located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information, please visit our website at CCHarrisburg.org/academy. That's CCHarrisburg.org/academy. There is much more to come in Romans. Don't miss a moment of the journey with Pastor Matt here on His Perfect Love.