Please turn again in your Bible to Romans chapter 16. You can find Romans 16 on page 950, there in the Pew Bible. Romans 16, I'm going to read from verse 8 to verse 20. Romans 16, reading from 8 to 20, as you can see, we've approached the end of the book. In a couple weeks we will finish it and go on to the book of Daniel. But not yet. Romans 16, beginning at verse 8. Please give your attention to the Word of God. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. Greet Apellas, who was approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus, Greet my kinsmen, Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphena and Tryphosa. 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 Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Pachobos, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Greet Philologos, 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. I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles Contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught, avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise as to what is good, and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. So do you think that list is a pointless text? Christendom says the gold miner picks up every flake. If the gold miner is so concerned to get rich, How can you not be concerned to become rich with wisdom in God's Word? Not a word is wasted. Not a word is superfluous or it would not be written in God's Word. He is saying, first of all, to greet one another. A little comment on who is being greeted. Christendom again asks, why doesn't he call one Lord and another Master? Because, he says, it is better to have your character praised than to have a high title. Better that they are beloved in the Lord than that they are sir, or lord, or doctor. But you know, some more modern commentators say, certainly that is true, Mr. Chrysostom, but we have another reason why he doesn't call any lord or master. We don't think there were any lords or masters on this list. Because the classicists today are pretty sure that in the Roman world, the name that was given to you or imposed on you was meant to signal your social class. There were high class names that went to high class people. And there were slave names that were given to slaves. Now, the slaves might continue with the name once they were freed. And their children might bear the same names. You can't necessarily tell that they're still slaves from the name, but you can tell that somewhere in the not too distant past, somewhere in that family line was a slave. And so the most detailed study here says you got four names that are definitely not slave names. You got nine that definitely are slaves or freedmen or descendants of the same. And you got 11 where you can't tell. And if that's correct, that matches the society of the time. In other words, the church was as diverse as Rome, which was a mighty diverse place, being the capital of a great and diverse empire that had gone out and conquered everybody around. So think about this church beyond the fact that they had to have Jews and Gentiles get along. And beyond the fact that they had to have those who were strong in conscience and weak in conscience get along, you also had to have those who were high, a few of them maybe, and many who were low in status, in a very status conscious society. All of them had to get along. And so what does Paul do? He first has told them, welcome one another. It's back in 15.7. He said, sort of completing almost his discussion of the gospel, he said, 15-7, so welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. Notice, he's saying, don't be concerned with your own glory, that I'm not going to embrace you because that would lower me because of who you are. Say, no, no, no, no. Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you. What do you think his status is? And do it for the glory of God. We have the great motivator here, the glory of God. Not our own little petty status where we try to puff ourselves up so that we can look down an inch on somebody else. No, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, the one who is infinitely above all of us. So first he said, concretely, here's the principle, welcome one another, and then, like a good leader, he gives them a concrete way to start doing it. He does not say, I greet, I greet, I greet. No, these are commands. They're, you greet on my behalf. You greet. You greet. In other words, he's trying to make them do what they're supposed to do, to go welcome one another. Go around and greet. each other. And it's a little bit harder than you might think. They didn't have any church buildings yet. And so as you read carefully, there are different house churches being mentioned here, because you couldn't get more than 50 people into a house. And so to actually do what he's telling you, some people had to leave their own house church, then go greet the people in the other house church, the neighborhood over. He's really trying to knit people together in love. Leaders might learn that it's good to not only give a principle, welcome one another, but also give a concrete way to start doing it. Do that by greeting all these people. But we all should learn that we are to relate in Christ. He mentions a couple times here when someone's actually related to him, but that's secondary. The main tie that he keeps stressing is greet them in Christ. They're beloved in Christ. They're hard workers of Christ. That is the tie. Greet them. And of course, he says, greet one another with actual knowledge. And so even though he has never been to Rome, and even though we may be moving into the people that he doesn't know as well as the first couple, he still has something particular to say in almost every case. He says, greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. What a good thing to be loved by fault, and better to be loved by God. He says, greet Urbanus. The first one sounds like a Greek slave name. This one sounds like a Latin slave name. Our fellow worker in Christ. Yes. And that is more noble, you could say, to work for the kingdom of God. And my beloved Stachys. He may have had nothing else to say, but he's still his beloved. Greet Apellas, who is approved in Christ. You wonder what Apellas' background was. that this should be what is said of him, that he is approved in Christ. But you can't think of a more comforting way to be labeled. If you are approved in Christ, you are safe for all time. You are in God's hands. No one can take you out of God's hands if you are approved in Christ. Here you have some of the highest and most dear compliments you could possibly have. We strive, perhaps, to be first in class or first in race, or whatever it may be, our field of endeavor. But here we have things that are more important, beloved in the Lord, fellow worker in Christ, approved in Christ. Then he says, greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. That's a little bit different here. Aristobulus was the brother of Herod Agrippa, and they had gone to Rome a few years before. And it doesn't say greet Aristobulus, Because he probably wasn't a believer. But so greet those of his family. You think, oh, that means his kids. Yeah, it might mean that. It probably means his household servants and slaves. And perhaps his kids. That would be the whole household of this guy's better known. But he's also not a church. Greet those from this household. And some of them would be the Jewish Christians. Most of the names are Gentile. Greet my kinsmen, Herodion. Again, notice how the name's got Herod in it. But this guy's not probably one of the Herods. He's one of the servants of the Herods. Greet those of the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. The Roman historians know about a Narcissus who had just committed suicide at this time. And some of his family, which again means probably servants and slaves as much as children, are believers in the early church. And now you're done with the names that can be understood outside. The rest of these people you only know from right here. Because they are, you could say, not many mighty, not many noble. They're regular people. Greet those workers in the Lord, Trifina and Trifosa. Both women, both probably servants or slaves. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Now with a name like Persis, probably a Persian. And so here's a Persian-Iranian woman, probably a slave, a long way from Iran by the time you're in Rome. She's had a hard life, perhaps, probably. And she is someone who has believed the gospel and has worked hard in the Lord. Greek Rufus, chosen in the Lord. We don't know if it's the same Rufus, But there is a Rufus who is the son of Simon of Cyrene. When Jesus was coming out with his cross and was so beat up that he could not bear his cross, they made Simon of Cyrene carry it the rest of the way. And we're told he had a son named Rufus, which perhaps is what this means here. But in particular, as you could say, shows it out for a special mark. Greet his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. That is, she has showed me hospitality, says Paul, in all of my travels. And he goes on, and he says, greet the whole list of people and the brothers who are with them. Again, he takes it for granted that the church is growing. And so he's only heard a few names, and there have to be more brothers with them. So don't stop your greeting at the people who've been around long enough for their names to get to Paul and another country, as we would call it. But greet the brothers with them. And greet also the sisters, Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. He's saying, greet one another, and not a generic greeting, but greet one another with knowledge. Kids, you should work to learn people's names. I think I mentioned this last week, so I won't belabor it, but it's important to get to know people's names. New people, old people, everybody who's here, you ought to be getting to know each other's names. It's OK if you write it down. It's all right. It's all right. This actually shows that you want to remember it. when you write it down. Yes, you want to write. By the way, you have nine women here among those who are listed. Now, do you know what Christendom did at this point in his sermon? Christendom did something I did not expect. He said, you notice that the compliments are not all the same. And that is because while everyone who believes in Jesus Christ is secure for eternity, it does appear that there are differing rewards that the Lord Jesus will give out. Now, if there's differing rewards among the righteous, how much more is there a difference, he says, between the righteous and sinners? If the Lord takes this careful note of us, does he not take careful note of the evils that are done by unbelievers? So he says, be assured that there is a hell. Be assured that the Lord who hands out rewards also hands out punishments. that he knows us very well indeed. And don't be cowed by those who fault God for a hell. The same people will fault God for not dealing with evil in this world. Oh, so you want him to deal with it now, but not later? You see the unfairness of the objection. So he says, God knows us very well. Let us be warned. Let us be on the alert. Let us greet one another with actual knowledge, Let us greet one another with equality and affection. One of my oldest and dearest friends grew up in the Apostolic Christian Church. The Apostolic Christian Church is a lot like us, a small American Protestant denomination with roots back to Europe. Our roots are part of the Reformed wing of the Reformation. The Apostolic Christians are from, you could say, the Anabaptist wing, sort of like kind of Mennonites. And in that church, what happens is that the men greet the men with a holy kiss, and the women greet the women with a holy kiss. And if you ask them why, they have four different texts in the New Testament that they can point to. Four. Three in Paul, and one in Peter. Not only that, but they have ancient church evidence that this became part of the liturgy. After the sermon and before the Lord's Supper, you would greet one another with a holy kiss. You get that in Justin, and in Origen, and in Tertullian, and in the apostolic constitutions. Now, if you go to an apostolic Christian church, you don't feel like you'll have to do it. They're smart. They know this is different. And if they don't know you by face, they won't impose this on you. Furthermore, they'll know the women if you have makeup on. If you have the makeup on, then you don't go to that church. Now, how do you respond when you go to another church that does something so odd? Well, first of all, realize it is not so odd. I've been to church in Cyprus. And my only question, I had to get straight, was whether we were doing one, two, or three kisses. I mean, are we just doing this one, or this one, and then this one, or like a back and forth? So it's not so odd. Furthermore, bear in mind, they are trying to obey what God said. And we should never despise someone trying to do what they believe God told them to do. In fact, notice the point of this. You could say this is a way to enforce equality. You can't enforce affection. But to try to enforce equality. Who are you supposed to be kissing? Everyone else of the same sex. There you go. And we're talking about on the cheeks again. You can't say, well, I'm a doctor and you're homeless, so no kiss for you. No. It's a way to enforce equality. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Now, if you haven't been here before, just so you know, we don't follow this practice. And why not? Like I said, four times in the New Testament, tucked in at the end, you can have greet one another with a holy kiss. Well, we read this, and then we notice that this was part of Jewish culture and part of Mediterranean culture, thus Cyprus to this day. And so it was their culture's way of giving a friendly greeting. And so we understand them to be saying, the word of God to be saying, not that we have to imitate the customs of that culture, but rather that we must give our culture's hearty and genuine greeting, which in America is hard to define because we're all from everywhere. But in general, that's what it means. It means give everyone, without distinction, without setting things off and saying you're below me, give everyone that culturally appropriate hearty greeting that shows that you have affection and that you view them as equals. And so, whether that's a one-hand handshake for you, or maybe it's a two-hander, or there's causes against you, whatever. But that is what we are called to do here. It is the more enforcing affection and equality to say, greet one another. Greet one another with actual knowledge. Greet one another with equality and affection. Now, what can threaten this happy picture? I heard a new one this week. How does a chicken eat a slice of bread? I must say I was a little nonplussed. But here is how a chicken eats a slice of bread. He can't bite the bread, but he can peck it to bits. And once it's in bits, then he can eat it. Our discussion was about nation-states. But the devil takes the same strategy. If a church is knit solidly together in love and affection, the devil has a hard time getting in. But if the church tears itself apart. Well, then the devil, he just has to pick which door he wants to go in. And so he goes on, after going through all the greetings, to give the negative side of it. I appeal to you to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles. Watch out for those who grumble and start cliques. Is that a real problem? Yup. Has it happened in this congregation? Yes. Has it happened in this congregation during the time that I have served as pastor? Yes. It's a continual danger. It's a continual possible problem. We're never immune to such a thing. And it's always a grief and a stumbling block. Those older ones who grumble and complain and start cliques should remember the younger ones are watching and drawing conclusions about who is worth listening to and whether a church is worth being part of. We're to be alert to those who grumble and start cliques. And particularly, he points out the doctrinal errors, because with that, you poison, you could say, the very well. Create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. You might be thinking about those who create the obstacles of saying, after then, you must be circumcised. Well, there's an obstacle. And he's saying it's an obstacle contrary to what you have been taught. There can be all kinds of obstacles. Those who would say, well, you know, to really be a believer, you must... Let me pick any pet issue. I don't want to pick on the pet issue by naming one. You pick the pet issue that people have. to say that my pet issue is essential. It has to create an obstacle. Now, what does he want us to do with those who grumble and create conflict? He says, mark them and avoid them. Watch out for them, that is. Identify them. Now, you might say, well, why not correct? Priscilla and Aquila corrected Apollos when they saw that he knew a lot but didn't know everything. Yes, you have to sort of have a quick assessment. You could say, is this person making a mistake in ignorance? Well, the answer to ignorance is knowledge. Is this person making an innocent error? Well, again, they can be corrected. But there are some who want to get it wrong. And he tells us why. Watch out for those who teach contrary, for such do not serve our Lord Christ. That's the basis of our unity, that we have the same Master. And so, since we have the same Master, we walk in the same direction, on the same road, because He's told us to walk this way. And so, if someone does not have that same Master, you may go together for a little while, because their Master tells them for a little while the same routes, but eventually you won't be going to the same place. You don't have the same Master sitting in the same destination. And who is the Master? describes the mastery of these other people in two ways. One, he says, their own appetites. Do you know? Their own appetites. Some people like to be central. Some people like to have things the way it was when they were younger. You can, of course, always make money in the God business. Some people make a lot of money in the God business. And so what is good news for us today is that none of this is a new phenomenon. Almost all of the New Testament letters include a warning against false teachers, which tells you they must have had a big problem all over the place with false teachers, so you wouldn't have to keep saying it in every letter. It's not a new phenomenon. That doesn't, however, make it any less serious. We need to be on the guard for those who rumble and start clicks, and one marker Now, this is not a guaranteed marker, but one marker you could say is smooth talk and flattery that deceives the naive. Yes, if you're going to be a deceiver, it helps if you talk well. It doesn't mean everyone who talks well deceives, but it helps to talk well if you wish to deceive. And so I have seen this. It's always a grief when you see somebody captured by a smooth, talker. And once they're captured, it's very hard to do anything for them. You try to reason with them, but maybe you don't talk as smooth. Maybe you are not willing to flatter. I remember seeing a Christian school wolf assemble his team, recruiting highly credentialed, oblivious types. Because once you get enough of them in your school, then you can leave the treasury. Yes, the absent-minded professor types can be very helpful to those who want to go through the checking accounts, because they're absent-minded. So what do you do with such a person? Well, he does not say to have a meeting and a brawl. He says to avoid them. Now, in Corinth, where he had been himself, he says something different. Put the immoral person out, he says. And in Titus. where Titus is his younger colleague, a pastor. He says, one infectious person once or twice, and then put them out. But here in Rome, they're in an early state of organization. You'll notice he never addresses a pastor or an elder as such in Rome. He says, since you are in early state of organization, the best thing for you to do is to avoid. Elsewhere, leaders are told to be shepherds. Leaders are told to evaluate, instruct, rebuke, and, if necessary, excommunicate. So it's a job for the regular Christian, you could say, to identify, to notify the elders, and then to avoid. Now, what does it take to be able to identify what is false teaching? Well, we have to become wise to what is good. He says, your obedience is known to all. Notice the word obedience. Sometimes, with the Protestant-Catholic argument about works, we start talking as if obedience doesn't matter. Of course it matters. Your obedience is known to all. Paul is sent out so that the Gentiles will exhibit the obedience of faith. So of course we are to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. That's kind of the point of calling him Lord and Christ, that he is to be obeyed. Though he praises them, your obedience is known to all, and that is good as far as it goes. It's known that you obey Jesus, and so you obey your leaders, and there is a danger in that. You better make sure you get the right leaders. And so he implies that perhaps there is a potential problem here. I want you to be wise to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. He switches the word from naive to innocent. to remind them that Jesus said, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. That we ought to be, as one said, we ought to be too good to deceive and too wise to be deceived. That is a good goal to have. Too good to deceive, too wise to be deceived. And so, perhaps an echo of Eve here, with good and evil and wanting to know it. And saying, yeah, try to know the good really well. If you know the good really well, you'll be able to identify what is off base and avoid it. And gain wisdom. How are we to gain wisdom? We gain our wisdom from the Word of God. The Word as Jesus has interpreted it. There you have all the treasures of wisdom in Christ. And He gives it to us in the Bible. But we're to get it in the Bible together with others. It says, as one man sharpens another, so here, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. You know, your knife, it gets dull with use, it needs to be sharpened. And so as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. But if we are not ever with other people, if we're not reading the Word of God with other people, then we become dull. to read together, together with the Church. As it says, it is not good to be alone. We're to become wise to what is good through the Word of God in fellowship with our fellow believers. And we're to maintain the unity of the Church until Christ returns. He finishes with a comforting promise. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Now, there's no question, we're talking Genesis chapter 3 here. And that's what he has in mind here. Genesis 3.15, where God promises the devil that the descendant of the woman will crush his head. And we say that's about Jesus, and it is. Jesus is the descendant of the woman, not the man, virgin birth, and he crushes Satan's head. But here it says, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. How is Jesus' victory transferred to our feet? Well, first of all, because we are in Christ. And so what is His is ours. Secondly, by His Spirit, we are enabled more and more to die to sin and live to righteousness. More and more we are to become wise to what is good and innocent to what is evil. And in this way, the devil is crushed. as he loses his footholds, and it's as he is driven out. And there could be a mindset that says, oh, this is terribly violent. The God of Peace crushing Satan under feet. How can we want to have such a thing? A peaceful person doesn't crush. But we have to remember that for the good to be safe and secure, the evil must be done away with. And God will convert some false teachers, like the man who wrote this letter. But others will not be converted, for they will serve their own bellies. They do follow the father of lies. And so we have this assurance that God will take care of the instigator, the devil. And he will take care of all those who persist in false teaching. So we're to strive to maintain the unity of the Church. We're to greet one another with love and affection and equality. For there is in Christ neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male and female. We are to greet one another with affection and equality. We're to greet believers in other churches, as they had to go down the street because they could not all meet together. And we're to watch out for those who cause divisions, mark them, and avoid them. We want to grow in wisdom, so that we can know what the correct teaching is, and lay hold of it, and maintain the unity of the Church in the teaching that Jesus has entrusted to us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You. We thank You and we praise You for Your blessings to us, that You call us from many places, and You knit us together in Christ, that you adopt us, and then that you tell us that now we are brothers and sisters, and we are to act like it. Help us, Lord, to be sister and brother to one another. Help us to maintain this unity. And help us, Lord, to strive together for the advancement of your kingdom. Help us, Lord, to be wise, to be discerning, and to seek your glory and the good glory of the little ones in your church. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.