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OK, we're in Romans chapter 15 and we were finishing up verse 19 actually and there Paul said that his ministry was confirmed by signs and wonders done through the power of the Holy Spirit, which confirmed that he had apostolic authority, and he said that he had preached the gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum, which is the region northwest of Macedonia and northeast of Italy. Now, if you have a Bible handy, and you should, we are going through the Book of Romans, which is a book in the Bible, so you should have This is supposed to be a Bible college and you should own your own Bible. If not, check one out of the library. But look at your maps in the back of the Bible and you should get some type of map here. Here is the Roman world in the time of Caesar, 60 to 44 B.C. That's a little early. Paul's third missionary journey in the New American Standard Bible. But look on the map there and you'll find Illyricum to the, as I mentioned, to the northwest of Macedonia. At the same time it's to the northeast of Italy. Well, it's actually east of Italy But the way it's situated, a portion of it does go to the north of Italy. And so there's a waterway in between the two. But just look on the map and you'll find it. That'll show that Paul preached the gospel message from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum, which was almost Italy. And Rome, of course, was in Italy. Now Paul gives his reason in verses 20 to 25, in verses 20 to 25 of Romans 15, Paul gives his reason for not yet visiting Rome. Obviously it was the work of God that he had not yet visited Rome because he wouldn't have given his gospel message in such depth as he did within the book of Romans if he had visited there already. But take a look at verses 20 to 21 first. Paul's desire. He desired to preach the gospel where no one had yet heard it. 20 and 21 of Romans 15. And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build upon another man's foundation. But as it is written, they who had no news of him shall see, and they who had not heard shall understand. And so Paul's desire was to preach the gospel where no one had heard it. So as not to build on another man's work. So he wanted to preach the gospel where it was not yet preached. Paul sought to fulfill Old Testament prophecies of people in faraway lands, Gentile nations hearing the good news. Passages such as Isaiah, 52.15, which he quotes here in verse 21, and Isaiah 42.4, which he quoted earlier in this chapter. But the Romans had already heard the gospel, verse 22. For this reason I have often been hindered from coming to you. So they already heard the gospel message. So, you know, he was boldly going where the preachers had never been. And, you know, why go to Rome? They heard the gospel message already. But still, Paul desired to visit the Romans. Look at verses 23 to 25. But now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you, whenever I go to Spain, for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while, but now I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. So Paul still desired to preach, to visit Rome, even though they already had a church established there and had heard the gospel message. But Paul was saying that there was no new place left in these regions for Paul to preach. He had preached everywhere else. And so he had always longed to visit Rome. Rome was the city that was the capital of the Roman Empire, which ruled the world. So therefore he had to go all the way over to Spain to preach the gospel somewhere new where it hadn't been preached before. And so he thought, you know, hey, I desired to visit Rome on my way to Spain. And Paul said that the Roman believers would greatly help him go to Spain. This probably speaks of both spiritual strength, the fellowship he would receive, and financial assistance as well. Still at this point, Paul says he is going to Jerusalem to serve the believers there. He is going to bring donations to the Jerusalem church from the Gentile converts. Now, when Paul would greet his readers in his letters, he would say, Grace to you and peace from God. Well, Grace, Charis, was the common Gentile. greeting and peace, Irenae in the Greek but actually Shalom in the Jewish dialect, the Hebrew tongue, that was the Jewish greeting and so even when Paul would start out his letters he would greet in the gentile and jewish way of greeting and he would pull both greetings together and much of Paul's ministry since he was the apostle to the gentiles and the other apostles primarily were preaching to the jews although later on they did go out to the gentiles as well Paul spent a lot of time uniting the Jew and Gentile and reminding them that they have one faith and there's one baptism and one Lord and one church, one body and so in the book of Romans he gives the gospel message but it's a secondary theme is that the Jew and Gentile make one church, one body of believers and Paul by bringing donations from the Gentile churches to the Jerusalem church was also a sign showing that the church was one united church in verses 26 and 27 Paul talks about Macedonia and Achaia verses 26 and 27. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. So Macedonia and Achaia were two Gentile regions that combined refer to all Greece. So a portion of Greece is made up of Macedonia, a portion of it was Achaia. Achaia is south on the Greek peninsula and Macedonia is north of Achaia. Now again, just take a look at one of your maps of Paul's missionary journeys in one of your Bibles there most modern Bibles have these maps and if it goes far enough to show Spain which is going to be to the east well to the east of Italy where Rome was you can see well Paul wanted to go all the way to Spain and visit Rome on his way to Spain but you'll also see Illyricum which was as far as Paul had preached up to that point but you'll also see Macedonia and Achaia in basically the area of Greece and all these regions are spelled out real clearly on these maps that you would find in most Bibles today so we don't need to spend too much time on that This was a class where we had all the students present and stuff. I would probably break out some of my maps and that type of thing. But I think you could just look at one of your Bibles and you'll see that that is real self-explanatory. Well, the churches in these two regions made a contribution for the poor Jerusalem saints. And Paul says they were pleased to do so. Just as in 2 Corinthians 9 verses 6 and 7, Paul says that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. He wants us to give from the heart. John 3.16 tells us that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Because God loved us, he gave. Love causes us to give. We should give from the heart. But they recognized, these churches recognized their debt to the Jerusalem church. Look at verse 27, talking about Macedonia and Achaia. Yes, they were pleased to do so. They were pleased to give to the Jerusalem church, to the poor saints there. Yes, they were pleased to do so and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, They are indebted to minister to them also in material things. So they recognized their debt to the Jerusalem church. The gospel had been spread from Jerusalem, from the twelve apostles. And the Gentiles had shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jews. Remember Genesis 12, 1-3 God promised to raise a mighty nation from Abraham and told them that all the nations on earth, the Gentile nations, would be blessed on account of Abraham's seed and this piece of the salvation that came from Messiah both salvation for the individuals that would trust in the Jewish Messiah for salvation they would be saved from eternal death but also the salvation of the planet the deliverance of the redemption of the planet the Messiah would bring peace on earth and so the Gentiles shared in the spiritual blessings of the Jews and therefore these Gentile converts in Macedonia and Achaia they owe the Jerusalem church material blessings look at first Corinthians 1 Corinthians 9, verses 11 and 12, Paul says this, If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you? Verse 12, If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Paul is saying that he was preaching the gospel message to the Corinthians, therefore they should give him material things in return. At the same time, he didn't exercise that right over them, because he didn't want it to be a stumbling block to them, He figured that they just weren't mature enough in the Lord to support his ministry. Whereas the other churches like in the region of Macedonia and Achaia, they were mature enough to contribute to not only Paul's ministry but to the poor saints in Jerusalem. Paul's reaching a point where he's thinking, okay, now the Corinthians are reaching, maybe they are mature enough in the faith to where they can make a contribution. So he mentions this to them in 1 Corinthians 16, verses 1-4. And this, by the way, is the same collection that Paul is talking about in Romans. In fact, Paul probably wrote Romans from Corinth, when he was there, to not only visit the Corinthians, but also collect the funds that he's talking about here. 1 Corinthians 16, 1-4. Now, considering the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week, that's when believers gathered on Sunday, let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come. And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem. And if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me." And so Paul also talks about going through Macedonia. But this all seems to be the same collection for the saints that he was making as he was revisiting many of the places where he had preached the gospel and established churches and he was making a collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. But the Gentiles owe the Jerusalem church material blessings. Philippians chapter 4 verses 14 to 19, we don't have time to turn there, but that also talks about the fact that the Philippians supported Paul's ministry and because of that Paul promised them that God would take care of all their needs. Paul's plan to visit Rome, mentioned in verses 28 and 29 of Romans 15, look at verse 28, therefore when I have finished this, that's collecting the Gentile, the donations, the funds from Macedonia and Achaia, therefore when I have finished this and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, He's going to collect this money and then he's going to go to Jerusalem to give it to the core saints in Jerusalem to show the unity between the Gentile and the Jewish believers. He says, after doing this, I will go on by way of you to Spain. So then he's going to say, OK, I'm going to go to Jerusalem. give this money, the donations from the Gentiles for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Then I'm going to go to Spain, but I'm going to stop off in Italy and in Rome first. So after he delivers the contributions to Jerusalem, Paul plans to visit Rome on the way to Spain. Now the seal that Paul mentions here in verse 28 have put his seal on this fruit of theirs. The seal is Paul's approval. He puts his seal of approval on the fruit, the Gentile donations. But after he delivers the contributions to Jerusalem, Paul plans to visit Rome on the way to Spain. Now Paul talks about the fullness of the blessing of Christ in verse 29. And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ." Paul knew he would come to Rome with God's approval. However, he did not apparently know that he would come to Rome as a prisoner. And we'll talk about that a little bit more as we go on in the study of the next few verses. Paul asks for prayer in verses 30 to 33 from the Roman believers. Look at verse 30. Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." Even apostles need prayer. He asked the Roman believers to strive in prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5.17 tells us to pray without ceasing. So he asks them to strive, or to work hard, or to exhaust themselves in prayer for him. Paul urges the Roman believers to pray for him, and in this verse he mentions the Trinity. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of the Spirit, and strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Usually when God is mentioned alone, either it's the triune God, all three persons of the Trinity, or it's God the Father. And in this usage where Jesus is mentioned, the Spirit is mentioned, and then God is mentioned, that's usually God the Father. So the Trinity seems to be alluded to in this passage. In verse 31, Paul says that he desires God's protection. He asks for prayer and then he says, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea. And that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints. Paul understood that he had enemies in Jerusalem. Paul desired God's protection from the anti-Christians in Jerusalem. Look at Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. And verses 22. to 24 and that reads, and now behold bound in spirit I am on my way to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions await me but I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself in order that I may finish my course in the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. I believe it was Agabus the prophet that had predicted to Paul that his hands and his feet would be bound when he preaches the word in Jerusalem, when he goes to Jerusalem, and in fact, I believe it's foretold in Acts 21, verses 10 to 14, And as we were staying there for some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, this is what the Holy Spirit says, in this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when he had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And since he would not be persuaded, he fell silent, remarking, The will of the Lord be done." You see, Paul was saying, Okay, God's forewarning me that I'm going to be bound in Jerusalem, but I still believe God's calling me to go there. He's just preparing me for the trials ahead. He's not telling me not to go. But Paul desired God's protection. He asked for prayer. He desired God's protection from the anti-Christians in Jerusalem. He wanted the Jerusalem believers to accept his work for Christ and the donations from the Gentiles would help unify Jewish and Gentile saints. Still, Paul knew he would be arrested in Jerusalem but he understood that it was God's will for him to go to Jerusalem anyway and so he completed the collection in Corinth and I'm not sure if he completed it in Corinth so you might want to put a question mark by that particular note but he probably wrote this letter while in Corinth Most scholars agree on that and the argumentation is kind of a big maze that we don't have time to go into right now. But he probably wrote this letter in Corinth. For Paul's wish was to come to Rome. Look at verse 32. So that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Paul's wish was to come to Rome in joy. And you can experience joy despite the trials. James 1.2, James tells us to consider it all joy when we encounter various trials. So Paul could experience joy even being in prison. But Paul says, by the will of God, Paul recognized that God's will must come first. And so he desired to go to Rome, but he prayed that it would be God's will. He desired to find rest in Rome, probably speaking about fellowship. Paul did come to Rome, but when he came to Rome, he came as a prisoner. Look at Acts chapter 28. Final chapter of Acts. Acts 28. And verses... 11 to 16 and at the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island and which had the twin brothers for its figurehead. Now, by the way, Paul has already been arrested in Jerusalem and he's now on a ship and he eventually goes to Rome. but keep in mind he is a prisoner of the Roman authorities at this time and after we put in at Syracuse we stayed there for three days and from there we sailed around and arrived at Regium and a day later a south wind sprang up and on the second day we came to... Pataoli, that's good enough, that's about all the time I want to spend on that word right now. There we found some brethren and were invited to stay with them for seven days and thus we came to Rome. And the brethren when they heard about us came from there as far as from the market of Appius and three inns to meet us. And when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage. And when we entered Rome Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who was guarding him. So Paul did arrive in Rome, he did come to Rome, but as a prisoner. Look at verses 30 and 31, which close the book of Acts. Acts 28 verses 30 and 31. And he, that's Paul, stayed two full years in his own rented quarters. See, he was under house arrest. Where he would be in his own rented quarters, but with a Roman guard. And he stayed full two years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. And so Paul did eventually come to Rome, but he came to Rome as a prisoner, he came to Rome in chains. Paul asks for God's blessing to be on the Romans in verse 33 of Romans chapter 15. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. Now the God of peace, true peace, comes only from God. Whether it's peace with God, which comes only from God through Jesus Christ, or peace with other men, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, Isaiah 9.6, only through Jesus Christ will this world experience true and lasting peace. Until Christ returns there will be no world peace. Isaiah 9.6 and 7 talks about the fact that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace and that he'll reign from sea to sea and Daniel 9.26 tells us that even to the end there will be war. So until Christ returns there will be no world peace. Man is in rebellion against God and as an effect of that he cannot even have peace with other men. But Paul's enemies were rebelling against God and so the God of peace was something very important to Paul. Paul wanted peace and harmony, he wanted rest, but he was going to preach the gospel even if it meant butting heads with those who were rebelling against God and suffering persecution. But Paul asks for God's blessing on the Romans that the God of peace be with you all. Paul desires the Roman church to experience the peace of God. Now the peace of God is mentioned in Philippians chapter 4 verses 4 to 7. Look at Paul's letter to the Philippians chapter 4. And verses 4 to 7, Paul says this, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And so we are to rejoice in the Lord always. Anytime something goes bad, rather than suffering anxiety, we should turn our requests over to the Lord, and then God's peace, which surpasses all understanding, we will experience God's peace. In conclusion of this chapter, Romans 15, Paul desired to visit Rome, but he planned to do so on his way to Spain. Still, Paul knew that God's will as sovereign is a privilege. Paul also mentioned that it is a privilege to finance the work of God, it is a blessing to help the needy, and we should repay spiritual blessings with material ones. Okay, closing remarks to Paul's letter to the Romans are in Romans 16 verses 1 to 27, the entire chapter. Remember the first 11 chapters of Romans, Paul gave his version of the gospel, the first 8 chapters, his version of the gospel. Chapters 9, 10, and 11, Paul talked about He answered the question, well what about the nation of Israel, God's chosen nation? Chapters 12 to 15, Paul discussed practical issues and now Paul brings his letter to a close by discussing personal matters with the Roman believers. He discussed some already in the latter part of Romans 15, continues to do so in Romans 16. Paul mentions a lady named Phoebe, a sister in the Lord, in verses 1 and 2 of Romans 16. I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the Church, which is at Sincreia. that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you, for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well." You can imagine this lady She probably, by the way, delivered this letter to the Romans. But you can imagine, they probably treated her like a queen. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul, now this isn't a Corinthian church, a bunch of babes in Christ who actually questioned Paul's authority. These were mature believers in Rome who considered Paul one of the authoritative apostles and leaders of the early church and held him in as high regard as the apostle Peter and John. And he says, hey, Phoebe's coming, she's gonna be bringing the letter that I wrote to you guys, and you better treat her good. So, you can just imagine how well they probably treated her. Her name is Phoebe, she is a sister in the Lord, she is a woman. Ladies are important in the churches. They cannot have the role of a senior pastor in a church, but ladies do perform tremendous works of service for the Lord. In fact, many of the ladies, many of the believers mentioned in Romans 16 are females. She is a servant. The word is Diakonon in the Greek. We get our word deacon from it, so she's a deaconess. She's a servant from the church that's in Korea. It's located in Greece to the south of Corinth. And so Paul was probably writing this, as we mentioned before, from Corinth. and she probably delivered this letter to the Romans and she had helped Paul and many other believers and now Paul asked the Roman believers to assist her And then mentioned are Priscilla and Aquila in verses 3 to 5 of Romans 16. Greek Prissa and Aquila. So Priscilla and Aquila, their names are mentioned, spelled, Prissa's name is spelled a little differently in other passages of the New Testament. Greek Prissa and Aquila, my fellow servants in Christ Jesus. who, for my life, risked their own necks to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles also greet the church that is in their house. Then he says, greet Eponetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia. But Priscilla and Aquila greet them, so therefore they were in Rome. Paul's asking them Paul is asking the Roman believers to greet Priscilla and Aquila who were with him in Rome at that time. They are a husband and wife team. Every time that either one of them is mentioned in scripture, the other one is mentioned as well. So they are always mentioned together. They are very hospitable. They allowed Paul to stay with them for over a year in Acts chapter 18. verses 1 to 3 and then verses 18 and 19 as well. They were willing to die for their friends, they were willing to die for Paul. They had also in Acts 18 verses 24 to 28, they had enlightened Apollos into a better understanding of the gospel. Apollos argued from the scriptures very eloquently that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. but he was only aware of the teachings of John the Baptist Aquila and Priscilla took him aside and gave him even more information about the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Aquila and Priscilla had a church in their house and this was common in the early church you find that in Acts chapter 12 verse 12 and Colossians chapter 4 verse 15 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 19, Philemon verse 2 and verses 14 and 15, and 2 John verse 10. Very common in the early church, home churches. Eponinus was the first convert to Christianity in Asia. And Paul asks that he be greeted as well, and so he is in Rome at this time. Paul says in verses 6 to 15 that the Roman believers are to greet others who are in Rome at the time of this writing as well. So let's take a look at verses 6 to 15. Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. greet Andronicus and Junius, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners who are outstanding 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 Apellas, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my kinsmen, greet those of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Greet Asencretus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brethren with them. Greet Philologus, and Julia, and Nerus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them. So, verses 6 to 15, Paul tells them to greet others who are in Rome. Mary, who is a common Jewish name, many of the faithful helpers of Jesus Paul and the other apostles were women, so there were many women who were strategic to the backing of the ministry. In fact, we don't have time to turn there, but in Luke chapter 8, verses 1 to 3, it's mentioned in that gospel that there were many wealthy women who were apparently the primary supporters of the ministry of Jesus. Adronikos and Junius were a couple possibly related to Paul, but I think more likely fellow countrymen. In other words, they were Jewish, they had Jewish blood. And so Paul calls them kinsmen. And it's mentioned that they were in Christ before Paul, so they were saved before Paul was even saved. And it says that they were outstanding among the apostles. There's two possibilities here. It could mean that they were considered outstanding among the apostles. In other words, the apostles themselves held them in high esteem. That is a possibility, but it does seem to really read rough in the Greek if that is the case. The other possibility is that it is saying that they are outstanding apostles. Among the apostles, these are standing head and shoulders above many, many apostles. If that is the case, now one of these is a lady. And if only men can be senior pastors, as is clear in the writings of Paul, how can a lady be an apostle? Well, here are Different types of apostles mentioned in the New Testament. If you do a study on the word apostle, throughout the New Testament you will find that you had the 12 original apostles and Judas betrayed Christ, so that dropped it to 11. Mattathias replaced him, so that brought the number to 12 once again. Peter listed as a credential there in Acts chapter 1, that they had to have seen the risen Lord and been with Him through His ministry, but basically they had to be commissioned directly by the Lord. Well, using that qualification, you could see James, the brother of Jesus, and Jude, the brother of Jesus, who are referred to as apostles in the scriptures, You could see them having the same authority as the original apostles. Even though they weren't believers, they grew up with Jesus and they knew his teachings. They just didn't accept them. Then when they saw their brother risen, they accepted them. Paul was commissioned directly by Christ. In Galatians, he made it very clear that he got a gospel message directly from Jesus, not from Peter and James. and John, but they just confirmed, they gave him the right hand of fellowship and admitted that he was preaching the same gospel message. So Paul, James and Jude you could see are the same level of apostleship as the original apostles, the same authority. But beyond that it's pretty tough. People like Barnabas, people like Timothy, Apollos, they are also referred to as apostles, yet, they do not seem to hold the same authority. They would not say, as Paul said, that, you know, I am not lesser than any of the eminent apostles. And so, it would appear that there was some sort of... The apostles, in the fullest sense of the word, were the apostles directly chosen and commissioned by Christ. Then, these apostles turned around and commissioned some people who also were called apostles because they served the same role. They had the office of apostleship. At the same time, they did not have the authority of the original apostles. A missionary today that plants churches in foreign lands also has the office of an apostle, but he does not have the authority of the original apostles. So this is not teaching apostolic succession, but it is teaching that there is an apostolic office. And just as there are female missionaries, You could have a female apostle in that sense, but she would not have the apostolic authority. She would not be able to exercise authority over other people in a church, but she may accompany her husband and help plant churches, much like Priscilla and Aquila. would do in their ministries as well. So keep that in mind, they're outstanding among the apostles, either it means they had a good reputation among the apostles or they were apostles, but it would be kind of the second class apostles. These are still apostles of that second class today, but they would not have the authority of the original apostles. The original twelve was Paul, James, and Jude. Ampletus and Urbanus, they were both common slave names. Remember Matthew 19, 23, 24, Jesus said it was very hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Slave people recognized, you know, they couldn't pay their bills, and they were in debt, and because of the trials they were going through, it was a lot easier for them to not trust in themselves. and to, in their moment of despair, turn to the Lord. And that's why the gospel always seems more popular among the poor than among the rich. It's not a sin to be rich, but when you're sick and you're rich, you go to the doctors and you pay for it in cash. When you're poor and you're sick, you may die in your own bed if you're not so poor that you don't own a bed. Stachys, there's nothing that I found on him in all the commentaries I read. Apollos, some say it's possibly a different spelling for Apollos, but most commentaries say probably not. The household of Aristobulus, tradition said, early church tradition said he was one of the 70 disciples, remember the 12 apostles, then there were 70 disciples, a group of 70 that Jesus sent out, and that he preached in Rome. Also, it's possible that he is identified as the Aristobulus who was the grandson of Herod the Great, so it's possible. Herodion could be a relative of Herod the Great, again doubtful though. Paul says he's a kinsman so it could be a relative of Paul, more likely it's a fellow countryman, a fellow Israelite. The household of Narcissus and possibly a freed slave of Claudius the Emperor. There's some evidence for that. Now, Philippians chapter 1 verse 13, Philippians chapter 1 verse 13, Paul's under arrest by the Romans, and he says, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else. See, Paul's preaching the gospel while he's arrested. Look at Philippians 4, verse 22. And all the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. So, many of Caesar's slaves, the Roman Emperor's slaves, were being led to Christ by Paul. and possibly even some of them before Paul got there, so it is possible that Aristobulus and Herodion and Narcissus could be either freed slaves or relatives of either a freed slave of a Roman emperor or people that were relatives of Herod who was friendly with the emperor. Paul was making some inroads with some very powerful people very early in the history of Christianity. Trifena and Trifosa were probably sisters. Persis was a woman. Paul says she was a hard worker for Christ. Rufus, it's possible, when you look at Mark 15, 21, it's possible that Rufus is Simon Cyrene Simon Cyrene's son, remember Simon Cyrene was the one who helped Jesus carry the cross when Christ was going out to be crucified and Paul says they share the same mother so this could be Paul's literal physical brother then again It just could be that Rufus' mother could be very close to Paul enough to where he referred to her as his mother, though she may not have actually been. But in Mark 15, verse 21, it says, Simon Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.
Advanced Romans #31
Series Advanced Romans
Sermon ID | 522066440 |
Duration | 45:30 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday Service |
Language | English |
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