This is God's word, Romans 16, verses one through 16. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Sencreia, 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 Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who rest 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 Eponetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. Greet Adronikos and Junia, my kinsmen and 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 Stachys. Greet Apellas, 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, Tryphena and Tryphosa. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who's been a mother to me as well. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nerys, 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. Father, we thank You for Your Word this morning. It's a privilege to gather together as Your body and praise Jesus the Messiah. The Lord of all. Lord, I pray that you would fill us this morning with wonder at the nature of the assembly, the nature of the local church, and the universal church. And Lord, help us to foster this kind of ethos that we see here in our passage. This is a rich passage. Lord, bless the preaching of your word, we ask in the name of your Son, who is Lord over all, Jesus the Messiah. Amen. A number of years ago, I traveled to Kenya, Africa, with one of my best buds. He was in my wedding, great guy. He's a great preacher. He actually preached here about 17 years ago. When I first came on full-time, he's a native Kenyan. Well, when we got off the plane, we were greeted by his friends and family. Now, there was a really large entourage waiting for us in the airport lobby. And when I say large group, we're talking the Nairobi airport was there for my buddy. It's a massive welcoming party. It was a long line. To my surprise, a rather large African woman grabbed my head and kissed my cheek and then kissed my other cheek. At least that's how I remember it. And I thought, wow, well, this is a new greeting. We never did this in Southwest Minnesota. And I'm trying to think quick on my feet as a little missionary here. Well, when in Rome, do what the Romans do. And so one by one, I went down the long line, awkwardly, very much against my will. and nature kissing the cheek of each man, woman, and child in this long welcoming committee line. I didn't want to be rude. It was a new experience. My lips were chapped by the end of it. Well, later the next day, I commented to a few people who greeted us the day before. I said, you know, that was a new experience for me. A kiss on the cheek, kiss on the other cheek. I'd never done that before. And to my shock and horror, they all started laughing and said, neither have we. We did it because you were doing it. It's a greeting I'll never forget. Well, in our passage this morning, it's all about greetings. Paul says the word greet, I think, 18 times. He ends it by saying, greet one another with a holy kiss. This might sound weird, but this is one of my favorite passages in Romans. It's really unique, and it gives us a window into the persona, the life of the Apostle Paul and the early church. It's really an incredible passage. He mentions 26 people. In fact, this section contains more personal greetings than all of Paul's other letters combined. Keep in mind, this is what strikes me, Paul has never been to Rome. At a minimum, he's highly relational. This whole section is a sociological goldmine. There's so much to learn about Paul, lots to learn about women in ministry, lots to learn about the life of the local church. the love in the local church, the greeting and care in the local church, the koinonia, the fellowship, partnership in the local church, the camaraderie, the work ethic in the church. This section really tells us a lot about early Christianity. That's the title of this message. It's a remarkable and really a highly applicable passage. even if I can't pronounce half the names. I want to make five observations about Paul and the church in Rome. Observation number one, Paul included women as key participants in his ministry. Nine out of the 27 people mentioned are women, but the first one, the most prominent in the list is this woman, Phoebe. Look at verse one. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Sancreia, 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's been a patron of many and of myself as well." So Paul commends her. She's a servant. The word is diakonos. which we'll come back to, he insists that they welcome her in a way worthy of the saints, help her, give her whatever she needs. She's been a patron of Paul, she's been a patron of many, possibly she's independently wealthy, but she's been a great blessing to Paul and the church, she's been a key part of the ministry, key part of the church, her along with eight other women who worked hard in the Lord. Paul isn't the male chauvinist or misogynist that some contemporary critics think he is. And I want you to see how integral and significant and important these women were in the life of the church. If you look at the New Testament, you see women involved in very instrumental and vital ways, using their gifts. serving the Lord, serving the church. We see examples of women actively studying and learning the doctrines of Scripture. They're instructed to be able to defend their beliefs. at any time to instruct others in the faith. We see women actively involved in evangelism. We see women actively involved in mercy ministries to needy people, involved in teaching domestic skills to other women. In Titus we see this, showing hospitality, praying and prophesying. Women in the Bible are tremendous evangelists, prayer warriors, generation builders, mercy ministers, caregivers, dispensers of wisdom, lovers of the Lord. Many women we see in the early church were martyred for the gospel. In both the home and the church, women are to be honored and prized. By the way, no one honored women more than Jesus. Jesus loved women, many women followed Him, ministered to Him out of their own personal resources. At the cross, women are prominent. Three days later, they're the first to witness and announce the resurrected Lord. But as close as Jesus was to these dear ladies, He didn't make them apostles or elders. Jesus held to the creation account which affirmed the equality and the differences in men and women. So even though women are extremely involved in the work of the ministry, the principle of male headship does not diminish the significance and necessity of a woman's active involvement in the Lord's work. The question that comes up is, was Phoebe a deacon? Paul uses that word diakonos. which is a word used to describe all Christians, by the way. It means servant or minister. It's used elsewhere to describe all Christians. John Collins is a New Testament scholar who's done seminal work on the word diakonos. He did his PhD on this. He looked at over 770 examples of this word diakonos. The word can mean attendant or courier. A servant minister, as I mentioned. Well, Phoebe is literally the courier of this letter to the Romans. So Collins, again, the leading world expert on this word, takes this view that she's a courier. In fact, his work was so influential that BDAG, basically the Webster's Dictionary of the Greek Language, changed their definition according to Collins' work. But some people still try to argue Phoebe is an example of a female holding the office of deacon. I think it's important we look at this just for a minute. The question really is, what is a deacon? Our own Alex Strauch, as many of you know, has written a very fine, really technical book and popular book on this question. I know that's not new to most of you, but I mentioned John Collins' massive book on the word study of deacon. He basically said that the word deacon, and this is the view Alex takes, this word deacon carries both the idea of being in authority and under authority. So if Phoebe is a deacon, as in she has the office of the deacon, like an office of elder, then an obvious problem exists. Paul taught about elders and deacons in 1 Timothy, and he seems to say something else. In fact, turn your Bibles to 1 Timothy with me just for a minute. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul is explaining the qualifications for elders and deacons, and starting in verse 8 of 1 Timothy 3, starts talking about deacons who are paired with the elders. And he lists the qualifications, and then he says in verse 11, wives likewise must be dignified. Okay, what does this mean exactly? There's a debate, and it's a good debate, it's a fair debate, over whether Paul is referring to women deacons, women helpers of the deacons, or wives of The deacons. Grammatically, to be fair, it could be any one of those possibilities. Our view is that it refers to wives of deacons who assist their husbands. I'll explain why, but let me just make a couple of comments here. Whether or not this passage addresses women deacons or not, we know, as I just got done mentioning, women are actively involved in the, quote, work of ministry for building up the body of Christ, Ephesians 4. That's not debatable. Again, just reread our passage. Women are in ministry, and that's patently obvious, with vital roles to perform. But second, whether Paul's talking about women deacons or wives of male deacons, this issue is way less of an issue compared to female pastors, female elders. That issue is extremely clear. You've got to do gymnastics to get around that. So back to this question, was Phoebe a deaconess? Well, remember, they are assistants to the elders. They're simultaneously in authority and under authority. That's what the word means. They're under the authority of the elders, but they also have authority over the congregation to carry out various responsibilities. Okay, with that in mind, if deacons have authority in the local church, does it make sense that deacons would be women in verse 11? To say it differently, If the women of verse 11 are understood as formal assistance to the overseers, then an obvious problem exists. The idea of women assistance to the overseers elders conflicts with the preceding passage. Look back at chapter 2 of 1st Timothy, in particular verse 12. where Paul says something, I don't even have to comment on this to be offensive, I just have to read it. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Paul is very serious, and I'll just say far more serious than people seem to understand or appreciate. very serious about proper roles the Creator has assigned to godly men and godly women in the family and in the Church. Men and women are equal, yet different. Our culture, and this could not be more contemporary, our culture could not be more confused about this. In some ways, they couldn't care less. In some ways, they couldn't care more. Our culture thinks that gender is fluid, but not the Creator. And it matters to the Creator, and it matters to the Apostle Paul. So with that in mind, with that context in mind, it seems doubtful that in the very next chapter, Paul has in mind women deacons. It seems doubtful that Phoebe is a deacon in the 1 Timothy 3 sense of the word. There's another controversy in our passage, though, and in fact, it's probably more controversial. Look down at verse 7 in Romans 16. Paul says, greet Adronikos and Junia, My fellow kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, they are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me." To be fair, there's a different way you could translate this that would sound like Junia is an apostle, and you would not believe the amount of material on this top, on this verse. The amount of sermons and messages that try to make Junia an apostle in the same sense as the 12 other apostles. And it becomes, if I can just say it, this verse actually becomes a classic text for feminists to grasp straws to try to find an egalitarian reading of the Bible. People have had just incredible sermons on what a wonderful apostle Junia was. I guess I think what's going on is that people actually hate the complementarian roles taught in Scripture. They hate that Jesus chose 12 men to be apostles. They hate that Paul instructs elders to be men. There is, I think, an internal rebellion against God's created order. And by the way, the ESV, which I'm preaching out of, I think gets it right. They are well known to the apostles is really the way to translate this. They're well known to the apostles. They're not apostles. Certainly not. An apostle could mean, you know, a traveling missionary, something like that. It's possible that that's what it's referring to, but they're certainly not apostles in the 12 apostles sense. Here's a bigger issue, and this is why I spent a little time on this. You might be thinking, why are we talking about this? It has to do with the authority of the Bible. Mark Dever, I want to quote him here, he says it well. Of course there are issues more central to the gospel than gender issues. However, there may be no way the authority of Scripture is being undermined more quickly or more thoroughly in our day than through the hermeneutics of egalitarian readings of the Bible. When the authority of Scripture is undermined, the gospel will not long be acknowledged." It's not that people who hold that view are false teachers. They're not. But I think Devor is right. This is about the authority of Scripture. I could not possibly agree with him more. The reason is if you can make the Bible say the exact opposite of what it says, you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. That being said, I want to punctuate Paul's inclusion of women again. Just because women are not apostles or don't hold the office of deacon or elder doesn't mean they're not intimately involved in the life and service of the church. As we've just heard in the reading, they are. Within the bounds laid down by Jesus and the apostles, the sky is the limit for women in ministry. Another aspect I want to highlight of these women in ministry is the team effort by a number of husbands and wives. I think there's three pairs that are mentioned, husband and wife team. Most well-known are Priscilla, or Prisca as she's called, and Aquila. They're what you might call a power couple. a dynamic duo. They're mentioned five other times or four other times in the New Testament. They were probably tent makers like Paul, business folks, but also workers in Christ Jesus. Paul says they not only risked life and limb for him, but they also made a huge impact on many of the Gentile churches. I'll close with one comment here by John MacArthur. on this passage. He said, during the first few centuries of the Church, the role of a woman's servant, Diakonos, was to care for fellow believers passing through and for the imprisoned. They were also responsible for helping baptize and disciple new women converts and to instruct children and other women. I want to just say again, women, there are so many opportunities to serve. We need you. We want you. It's a free market economy, you could say, of ministry. Come and use your gifts. The second observation I want to make from our passage is Paul desired a local church of affection. I think this is my favorite part of this passage, Romans 16. Paul displayed affection. He was not the stoic Brainiac genius that we might think of him in this ivory tower of academics. Paul is warm. He's friendly. He's affectionate. Just picture the scene in Acts 20. This has always been marvelous to me. Acts 20, when he had said these things to the Ephesian elders, he's getting ready to depart. He knelt down and prayed with them all. And there was much weeping on the part of all. And they embraced Paul and kissed him. What a scene. They love this Paul. Ask yourself, what causes such a response? They love Paul. He was affectionate. He wants the church. Paul wants the church to be a body that is warm, friendly, affectionate. It is, I think, impossible to overstate how important this is. It's impossible to overstate how significant this is. I can't emphasize it enough. The church needs to cultivate this, reflect this. It's not acceptable for the church to be a place that is cold and mechanical and corporate. Unacceptable. It's unacceptable. The church needs to look more like the Thanksgiving table and less like Target. One of my professors at Denver Seminary, we'll get together every so often, he told me years ago the story that stuck with me. I always think of it when I come to Romans 16. But he was on sabbatical, and so he wanted to visit a number of preachers in the Denver area. I think he said he visited somewhere around 17. Of the 17 churches he visited, he's told me only in two churches was he greeted. That just blew my mind. Only in two churches did someone have a conversation with him, talk with him. Church, this is not a warning like, oh, those bad churches out there. This is a warning for us. We need to think about this. Now, I think we have a very friendly church. I want to commend you in this. But there's a warning for us to never outgrow the family aspects of the New Testament church. This is one of the obvious advantages of having a smaller church. This is why we want to plant more churches, not just have a big mega church. A building we could all fit together in one service might be nice, but you get my point. Paul fosters a culture of affection and a family aspect. The family metaphor is, I think, the most predominant metaphor Paul uses to describe the church of all the many metaphors he uses. And he greeted people. Paul greeted 17 times. I think he says, greet. He ends with, greet one another with a holy kiss, which he says five other times in his letters. Which, by the way, I was reading Tom Schreiner this week, and Schreiner pointed out, this was a new thing. This is not found anywhere in the Greek culture. The Hellenistic culture did not greet with a holy kiss. Now, this is unique to Paul's writings. In all his letters, he takes time and greets people. He is friendly. He's affectionate. He practiced what he preached. And I just want to say this again. We need to cultivate. There's a measure of it, praise the Lord, by His grace. We've got a lot of it, I think. We want to continue to foster that. We want to continue to increase and abound and welcome, have a welcoming culture, which, by the way, should not be confused with the Call it a leftism in liberal churches that seek to welcome all people with no call to repentance. I'm not talking about that. Jesus welcomes all people, but he loves us out of our sin. He loves us into repentance. He doesn't welcome our rebellion. Doesn't welcome our sin. That's not what Paul's saying here. This is about affection between church members in Christ. He's speaking to Jews and Gentiles who've bent the knee to Jesus as Lord. Jesus has welcomed us. Look at chapter 15 with me just for a minute, verse seven. Chapter 15, verse seven, therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. This is an outflow of that. God has welcomed us, we're to welcome one another. And the verb here is not just, you know, say hello. This isn't perfunctory. This isn't mechanical. The word literally means wrap your arms around someone. Embrace them, show affection. Again, he couldn't be more clear in verse 16. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Now look, I know not everyone in here is Italian. Most Sundays, we've got two handsome Italians downstairs. They greet us. They make all the Germans and Scandinavians uncomfortable as we try to go through. But we love them. They love this sermon. They've been waiting all their whole life for this sermon. Tim Odo has been waiting his whole life. He loves this passage. Now, I'm not saying we need to resurrect the Holy Kiss, which, by the way, is popular in much of the world, maybe most of the world. I was in Hungary years ago speaking at a conference, and I had the opportunity to go to this little house church, and the host I was with, he kind of brought me aside or just said to me, hey, we've got a really great fellowship, but just to warn you, we've got a new couple, they just got saved, they just finished reading the New Testament, and they came to this verse on greeting one another with a holy kiss, and they do it, and just a heads up, be prepared. And so, there again, I saw them, we made eye contact, they came in for the kiss, and then last minute, they switched to a hug, and I thought, oh man, did I break them somehow? I mean, are they backsliding, did I cause them to backslide? Listen to this, by the time of Justin Martyr in the mid-second century, the holy kiss was part of the liturgy. He said, at the conclusion of the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then the bread and the chalice containing wine mixed with water are presented for the Lord's Supper. Chrysostom said this, This kiss mollifies and equalizes everyone, banishing grievances and jealousy. Paul not only directs them to kiss one another in this way, but he also sends them the kiss of greeting from all the churches. I love that statement, though. The holy kiss was a way of banishing grievances, banishing jealousy, Chris Sostom says. This made me think of, and maybe you've heard this, this Peruvian tribe that once a year settles grievances with a fist fight. Have you ever heard of this? True story, every year, still do it. The ladies fist fight. They wait all year and then for whatever reason, it's on December 25th of all days. They go to blows and they start tossing punches. New York Post had an article on it. They said, most Christmas ceremonies would be ruined if attendees threw a punch. But in Peru's mountainous south, participants on December 25th Festival have exactly that in mind. On Christmas Day, hundreds of residents gather to take part in an ancient fighting ritual aimed at settling scores and, quote, revolving conflict before the year's end. Like, you've been bothering me all year. Let's go. We're going today. If I could just quote Christosom again, this kiss mollifies and equalizes everyone, banishing grievances and jealousy. And I thought maybe the women's ministry could organize some kind of Peruvian ceremony, maybe combine it with the pie night. Or we just stick to something like a holy kiss. Or you just don't leave the side door on the way out, mild rebuke. Or you meet someone new and go to church. Or go to lunch with them. Or just stick with the side hug. But do something to show affection. The local church should be a place of affection and care and concern. And not just on Sunday mornings. You know this. Gang members don't say, let's go to gang. We are a gang. We don't go to church. We are the church. This is not just Sunday morning instructions. We really do have a welcoming church, by the way. One time there were some neighbors of ours, friends of ours who wanted to visit LBC. And the husband had late stage Alzheimer's and was getting close to the end, but they both came and they came through the gauntlet of our front door. And he was so taken up with the greeting, his wife told me later that when he finally got upstairs, he started greeting people and welcoming people to the church. Thanks for coming to LBC, I love that story. Alex told me a story this week of S. Louis Johnson was preaching. It was a long, long aisle, and this man came through the front door, and he started greeting people on this aisle, that aisle, all the way down, saying hi to everyone. And then he came to S. Louis Johnson and said, this is the most friendly church I've ever been to. You get the point. Look, I don't think Paul is being prescriptive. I think he's being descriptive. Maybe it's not a kiss. Maybe it's a hug, maybe a handshake. We can stick with a handshake for you Scandinavians. But I think the principle is this. We don't want to be weird, but we don't want to be cold. I think the best way to understand is how would you treat a close member of your family? How would you show affection to someone in your family? The church is the family. Church is the family. In holiness and in purity, treat the church as if they're close members of your family. A text, a visit, a call, an email. Show affection. All right, leads to the next observation. Paul desired a local church of encouragement, gratitude, and love. Paul's relationships are governed by encouragement. I just went through the descriptions in our passage. Listen to these. Verse one, servant of the church. Verse three, fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Verse six, worked hard in the Lord. Verse eight, beloved in the Lord. Verse nine, beloved. Verse 12, workers in the Lord. Verse 12, beloved. Verse 12, worked hard in the Lord. Verse 13, chosen in the Lord. Many of these descriptions are inherently encouraging. Just take the word beloved. You are beloved. He starts off his letter in Romans with that, to the beloved in Rome. You're loved by God. The God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who gave, who loved the world and gave his son, that God loves you. He loves you. You are beloved. We need this. We need to hear this. You need to know the height, the depth, the width, the breadth of the love of the Messiah, Paul. That's his prayer in Ephesians 3, that you would know the love of Christ so much. The dimensions are so vast. And his prayer is experientially that you would know it, not just like a theology textbook, that you would know it, emotionally know it, experientially know it. You are beloved, he says. Paul's relationships were governed by encouragement, governed by letting people know they are beloved in Jesus the Messiah. To say it negatively, Paul was not a critic. He didn't tear people down. He didn't constantly criticize and critique. He used his words to build up, be an encourager. He was bringing life with the power of the tongue. You can bring death or life with your tongue. The tongue of the wise brings healing, Proverbs says. This is the same apostle who said, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. That's Paul's ethos. This is what he does in his epistles. In Corinth, there's a church discipline issue that had happened. It's really hard, really discouraging for the church. But then he says, I have great pride in you. I'm filled with comfort in all our affliction. I'm overflowing with joy. I rejoice because I have perfect confidence in you. These are words of life, words of encouragement to a discouraged church. Baseline, life is hard. Life is cursed. The fingerprints of the curse are on everything. Life is jacked up. People are in pain. Nobody in here is exempt from this. We live in a broken, messed up world, and that filters into every life, every family, every church. Lots of tears, lots of pain, lots of discouragement. People need encouragement. Everyone you meet needs encouragement. Paul was a liberal with encouragement. You know, there might be a temptation in us to think, well, I don't want to encourage her too much. She might get a big head. You know, he doesn't need encouragement. He needs to be taken down a notch. We try to manage it. Don't manage it. God can figure that out. Be liberal with your encouragement. Encouragement as a general rule is helpful, not hurtful. Be a thanker. Wives, encourage your husband. He needs it. Husband, encourage your wife. She needs it. Parents, encourage your children. They need it. So here's some Pauline Roman 16 application. Think of people you can encourage. Think of people you can thank. Think of people you can give a verse to. Maybe it's anonymous. The sound guy, the singers, the musicians, Sunday school teachers. There's a story. I know I've told it before, but I don't care. If it's a good story, I don't mind reusing it. It's a story from the movie Blindside, or rather the book that the couple portrayed about the couple portrayed in that movie. Sean and Leah Ann Toohey, the real-life couple portrayed in the movie Blindside, tell the story. There's a little-known congressional program that awards internships to young people who have aged out of the foster care system. These kids who were never adopted and are no longer eligible for state support. A senator we've met employed one such man as an intern. One morning, the senator breezed in for a meeting and discovered that this intern was already in the office reorganizing the entire mailroom. The senator said to the intern, this is amazing. The mailrooms never looked so clean. You did a great job. A few minutes later, the senator saw the intern had tears streaming down his face. He said, son, are you OK? Yes, the intern answered quietly. Did I say something to offend you? No, sir. Well, what's wrong? And the young man said, that's the first time in my life anyone's told me I did something good. People are hurting all around us. They need encouragement. Gracious words are like a honeycomb. Sweetness to the soul and health to the body. So be liberal, like Paul. Be generous with thanking people, encouraging people. Why not? Why wouldn't you? Paul's relations were governed by attitudes. The next thing I want you to notice, he's clearly thankful. Came upon a story from the Wall Street Journal that reported, had a report that being appreciated as one of the great motivators on the job, even better than money. Researchers at the London School of Economics analyzed more than 50 studies that looked at what gets people charged up at work. And they concluded that we give our best effort if work gets us interested and excited, if we feel that it's providing meaning and purpose, and if others appreciate what we're doing. Two business professors designed a study in which they asked professionals to advise students about their cover letters they were using to apply for jobs. After receiving the suggestions, the students asked for help with another letter. Some 32% of the professionals agreed. But when students added a single line to their notes about the first feedback, quote, thank you so much, I'm really grateful, a full 66% of the advisors agreed to help again. A simple expression of gratitude doubled the response. There's medical benefits, if I could just say this, to gratitude. Professor researcher Robert Emmons put it this way, clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person's life, can lower blood pressure, improve immune function, facilitate more efficient sleep. They said adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections, more happiness than those who don't. They're less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy, or alcoholics. They earn more money, they sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly, and have greater resistance to viral infections. We could go on, but there you have it. The Bible is right again. Don't just be thankful at Thanksgiving. Show appreciation, be grateful. The third thing I wanna highlight here is his relationships were governed by love. This whole section is like a case study on love. He's preached about love, think about that. He has taught them to love, but here the apostle actually displays love. He practices what he preaches. This is the same Paul who's already said in this letter, let love be genuine. Owe no one anything except to love one another. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. For he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law. Love your neighbor as yourself. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. This is Paul who is teaching about love, now modeling it. I think of that famous quote from the English Puritan Richard Baxter who said, it's one thing to love preaching, it's another thing to love those whom you're preaching to. Well, it's one thing in Paul's case to write the most incredible theological letter ever written, and another thing to love the people whom you're writing to. He's loving the people he's writing to. Observation number four, Paul encourages the local church to work hard in the Lord. It's noteworthy to me how much Paul values the work that these people have done. He says, fellow workers in Christ Jesus. worked hard in the Lord, workers in the Lord, worked hard in the Lord. He recognizes Mary as one who has worked hard in the Lord. Again, Chrysostom commenting on this verse said, the women of those days were more spirited than lions, sharing with the apostles their labors for the gospel's sake. In this way they went traveling with them and also performed all other ministries. Let me just say that all work has been sanctified in Christ. There's no longer sacred work and secular work for the Christian. All work can be done for the glory of God. That's a great truth. Many of you are busy. You work long hours. This is not an indictment. You're honoring the Lord in your work. Many of you are moms. Your full-time job is keeping humans alive. You are working for the Lord. The most important job there is. You shouldn't feel guilty about not doing more for the Lord. You're serving the Lord, but nevertheless, I want to just highlight, I don't want to neuter what Paul highlights here. He seems to highlight, and these women in particular, maybe because some of them didn't have full-time jobs, or maybe they had more time, I don't know, it doesn't say, but it's at least something worth considering that Paul's appreciative of their work in the Lord, their gospel work, specifically for the cause of the gospel. So this is not a guilt trip. We're not saved by working hard for the Lord like Mary, but it's at least something to appreciate along with Paul. And I hesitate to even name names, but I think of our own Cindy Harrison, Kim Pellegrino, Marilee, Cheryl, Patty, our junior high leaders, our high school leaders, our Sunday school teachers, deacons, elders, so many laboring in the Lord here. It's amazing. Last one, just very briefly, Paul wanted his life to be imitated. A number of times he says this, he says, I urge you to imitate me, which is an astounding thing to say. I certainly wouldn't feel great confidence in proclaiming that message. But Paul influenced people, he acknowledged people, he was genuinely concerned with people. He's saying, follow my manner of life. Follow me in my priorities. And one of the main applications of this passage is to imitate the apostle Paul who imitated his Lord, our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Church, the message from God's word for us is to really foster this, cultivate this, do this, be doers of the word, imitators. of the Apostle Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a message that gives us a vision for what the New Testament church should aim to be. So let us, church, on the authority of God's word, let us, church, continue to foster affection, encouragement, gratitude, and love. There's a lot of it, praise the Lord, a lot of evidence of His grace, but as Paul would say, let us increase and abound in these things. Amen? Let me pray for us. Father, we thank You for Your Word. I think of anyone here maybe who's new to Christianity. Lord, we just want to proclaim Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, over heaven and earth, all authority are His. And Lord, would there be people even this day, this hour, who would bend the knee to Jesus, who is Lord and King, and is coming back to rule as Lord and King on this earth as He does in heaven? Lord, help us as a church to imitate the Apostle Paul in these things. Lord, help us not to rest in a measure of these things. but help us to strive, crane our necks as it were, to cultivate this kind of ethos and attitude more and more. May we be notorious as an encouraging people, notorious as a grateful and thankful people. May we be known for our generosity with our words, our tongues, and how we live with our love towards one another. Lord, this is our heart's desire. Clearly, this is your will. So may it happen, Lord, by your grace. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.