where Paul seems to come to an end of this great book. He has a number of times when he says it, doesn't he? He's like a great preacher who intends to come to the end, but then remembers something else that is important to say and has more to say. So we can carry on and on, standing in good shoes. Anyway, he comes to this end here and he's talking about those who have been laboring in the Lord. We're talking, he's been referring to our reasonable service, hasn't he? What is our reasonable service? And he has held himself up, and he's giving himself as an example of that reasonable service for the Lord Jesus Christ. Not in the sense of holding himself up, but in the sense of what he is doing, and how he is serving the Lord. And here, we have this raw call of honor, first of all, don't we? From chapter 1, verses 1 to 16. This role call of honor, 25 names that Paul lists for us here, of people who he thinks are truly serving the Lord, who are meeting that reasonable service of the Lord, that what the Lord has called them to, they are being faithful in, and they are serving the Lord in. Well, there are 25 names here, and of those 25 names, we also have five churches. They may be brethren, they may be saints, but they are people from the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know their names. They are the other saints that Paul wants to greet. But only two of them, that is, Priscilla and Aquila, are mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament. That's in Acts chapter 18. The rest we only know of from here. And even Phoebe, who he tells us is a sister, who is a servant of the Christ of St. Crea, that you may receive her in the Lord in the manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has been a helper of many of us, many and of myself also. Only mentioned here. So what is, what can we learn from this? What can we understand from this? Well, just before we look at that, let me just point out one or two things. Firstly, Phoebe is a servant. She is not a deaconess, as some people try and make out. And the word deacon means a servant, doesn't it? And the same Greek word can be used in many different contexts, meaning different things. But we know that Phoebe is not a deaconess, because they didn't have deaconesses, did they? Women weren't allowed, as Paul teaches, to teach or have authority in the church. A deacon has to have authority, the authority that allows him. to do his work and to manage the work of the church and to look after the needs of the flock of the Lord Jesus Christ. So a deacon has to have authority in the church and that authority has to be recognized by us. So we know that Phoebe is not a deaconess. There are no deaconesses. So the word is correctly interpreted here as a servant. She is a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see her service here. The service here is not one of a deacon, is it? She is a receiver in the Lord, in the manner worthy of the saints, and a sister in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has been a helper of many, and of myself. She is a helper. She is one who has got a long sight. Paul and helped Paul in his needs and been able to facilitate his work for the Lord Jesus Christ. And she has helped others as the Lord has given her the ability to do. The second thing I just want to point out comes right at the end of verse 16 where it said, Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you. Now, a holy kiss. When I was charismatic, I found it very uncomfortable because they were practicing holy kissing. And it was a kiss on the cheek when I was a young Christian, but I have heard other people kissing on the lips and it becoming very uncomfortable for people in the way that they are embraced in some churches. Is that what is being spoken of here? Well, no, it's not, friends. What is being spoken of here is the custom that they used to greet each other with a kiss, like the French do, and other countries do. They peck each other on the cheek, or they just kiss the air by the side of somebody's cheek, don't they? And it's a sign of affection. It's a sign that somebody is warmly accepted by you. We tend to be a bit colder, don't we? We tend to shake each other's hands. But the point is, that Paul is making here, is not the kiss. It's how we greet one another. We should greet one another with true affection. There shouldn't be any hypocrisy in us. There shouldn't be any putting on a face. We should have affection for one another. And if there's not that affection, then there's something wrong because Paul says, we should be able to greet each other with a holy kiss. Greet each other with a holy kiss. If that was the form of greeting that we would have, that affectionate form of greeting that we have. But we don't, do we? So a warm handshake and the true words of affection is how we greet one another. And Paul is encouraging us here to have that true affection for one another. Okay, so let's go back to those 25 names. Why are they here then? Why is Paul listed them out here? Why is the scripture made a point of having them in the Holy Word? After all, all these words, these names, are given by inspiration of God, aren't they? They're not just Paul reciting people, names of people that he remembers and are important to him. Why are they here? Well, two reasons, two main reasons. There are other reasons, but two main reasons. The first one is this, that we should learn that nobody is forgotten by the Lord. The Lord knows all his servants. It's not just the apostle Paul or Phoebe or Aquila and Priscilla that the Lord knows. He knows us all and he loves us all and he cares for us all. He knows us by name. It's not, we're not just members of the church, but he knows each one of us with great affection. And he knows those who do great things for him, like a cribber and a pursuer who risk their own necks, Paul says, for Paul, for Paul's safety. Phoebe, who labored and helped Paul and facilitated Paul, the great apostle, in his work is not just those people who laboured much, who were fellow prisoners with Paul, it's the others too, those whom he calls beloved, approved of by the Lord, chosen, brethren, saints. those whom he can look at and say, yes, they are faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. They may be just doing something in their local church that is not known of by anybody else whatsoever and will never be known of by anybody else. But the Lord knows them, and the Lord cares for them, and the Lord is appreciative of what they are doing. And what a great lesson that is for us, isn't it friends? 25 names here, 23 of them not mentioned anywhere else, but mentioned here. of the Lord Jesus Christ if we are faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are on that role of honor. It doesn't matter how small our work seems to be or insignificant our work seems to be, we are on that role of honor if we are faithful and true to our calling in the Lord Jesus Christ. The second thing is What a lesson they are in our reasonable service. We have helpers, people who helped to facilitate the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have fellow workers, those who worked alongside Paul, those whose work contributed to the ministry of the great apostle Paul. They may not have been where Paul was, but what they did made it possible for Paul to do his work. Those who were chosen, those who have been marked out by God as servants of His. Those who risked their lives for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ continued. Those who were prisoners for the Lord Jesus Christ and for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course there were those who were noted amongst the apostles. You see, the apostles took note of their ministry and of their work. It wasn't only the Lord who noticed their work and appreciated their work, it was the It was the other apostles who appreciated their work and noted that they were faithful servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was those who were beloved because of their love for the Lord and their love for the brethren. Those who were approved of. because of the work that they did. Those who were chosen to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great lesson that is. How these things ought to be common amongst us. These things ought to be the things that are of note amongst us, shouldn't they? All right, we may not be prisoners, that we should be those people who are willing to lay down our lives for the Lord Jesus Christ and to suffer for Him, if that is our calling in the Lord Jesus Christ. None is forgotten. Everybody is appreciated who serves the Lord Jesus Christ. And we should want to be in that role of honor of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Well, the second thing here is from verse 17 to verse 20, we have a role of honour. Now we have a note about those who bring dishonor upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have to be aware of both. We have to greet those who are on that roll of honor, those who are truly serving the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to help them. We have to receive them. We have to assist them in their work. We have to make sure that we are not part of the problem, but we are part of the solution. We are part of the work. We are serving the Lord alongside them and make sure that the work can continue. And part of that work, obviously, is helping missionaries with giving and things like that. making sure the elders and deacons can do their work effectively and we're not in the way of them, making sure that we are playing our part in the church, that we are doing what we are called to do in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not just passing it off to others, but we are there when we are needed to be there, that we are faithful in the work that the Lord Jesus Christ has called us to, that we're not creating a burden for other people, and more work for other people because we're not willing to do the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to greet, we have to help, we have to receive, we have to assist. But for those who are bringing dishonor upon the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we have to treat them very differently. And this is what Paul says. Now I urge you, verse 17, brethren, note those who cause division and offense, contrary to the doctrines which you have learned, and avoid them. For those who are of such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all, therefore I am glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So we have to treat them very differently. And this is very important. Paul is trying to end this letter with things that are important for the saints to take note of. It's very important they take note of what a reasonable service for the Lord Jesus Christ is. But it is also equally very important that they take note of those things that can damage the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and bring dishonor upon the name and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Very important that they are warned of those people and that they are ready and prepared to deal with those people in an appropriate way. Now we, churches who stand for the truth and who are vocally against those who are not standing for the truth and who are teaching false things, we're often accused of causing division. We are the ones who are causing the division. We're often accused of not loving our brethren as the Lord Jesus Christ has exhorted us to. We're often accused of not trying to get along with people and wanting to stand separate and to be isolationists. and we're often accused of creating a bad example to those outside the church. Well, Paul tells us here that the opposite is true. Let's see what Paul tells us. There's eight things that Paul tells us here that I want you to take note of. Verse 17. Those who peddle false teaching are the ones who cause division. Those are the ones that cause offense in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, not those who stand for the truth. Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offense, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. You see, Paul is very clear. The division, we are not causing the division by standing away from them and not having fellowship with them so that they will learn not to blaspheme the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and not to teach false teaching. We are not causing division. They are causing the division by going away from the truth and by not serving the Lord Jesus Christ as they should, by only looking after their own interests. The division is not created by us, but it's created by them. Verse 17 also, we are to stand by the truth and avoid fellowship with those who teach false teachings. Now I urge you brethren, note those who cause division, take special notes of them and contrary to the doctrines which you have learned and avoid them. Avoid them. We're not to have fellowship with them. We're not to allow them into our pulpits. We're not to encourage people to read their books, but we're to make sure that people know what they are about. Avoid them and make sure everybody else in our church and our fellowship avoids them. So they are to be excommunicated from our fellowships and not allowed to peddle their false doctrines and their false teachings. Thirdly, verse 18, for those who are of such do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own village. So the third thing we learn here is, it is not they who do the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not interested in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, nor are they interested in loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Their concern is about themselves. Paul said, puts it very craftily, doesn't he? They're only interested in their own bidders. They're only interested in what? What? will benefit themselves. They're not interested in sacrificing for the Lord Jesus Christ and standing for the truth. They want to make a name for themselves. And they do that by smooth words and flattering speech, seeking to deceive the hearts of the simple. So there are people who come over as very flattering, very kind, very loving, very generous, very genuine people. Smooth words, flattering speech. They're good speakers. They can persuade people with their words, but we're to note that and to note that and to make sure that we are not taken in by such people who teach and preach falsehoods. Again, number four, it is they who do not love the brethren either. What do they love? Verse 18, for those who are of such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies. It's by smooth words and flattering speech to soothe the hearts of the simple. You see, they're not interested in really teaching truth to people and encouraging people to stand by the truth. They're only interested in themselves. What benefits themselves? They're not interested in you and I. We're a means to the end as far as they are concerned. but they have no love for the Lord Jesus Christ or for his people. Verse 19, number five, it is our obedience to the truth that commends us. Verse 19, for our obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf. You see? People say, well, you know, what a bad example this is to the other churches, and what a bad name you create by standing for the truth so diligently, so firmly, that you are willing to excommunicate or to preach and to teach against such people. But Paul says here, again, that the opposite is true. It's our obedience. that commends us, our obedience to the truth. We ought to be those people who commend the Lord Jesus Christ and commend his truth wherever it is, wherever we can. And we cannot do that if we're also standing with those who are false and teaching the opposite to what we teach. How can we stand with somebody who preaches that salvation is through works and through grace? How can we do that? When we're preaching that no, it's solely by grace and solely by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're undermining our own gospel and our own words by doing that. And people take note of these things and understand and see these things clearer than we do sometimes. So we commend ourselves by obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Number six, verse 19 to 13 again. We are exhorted to know what is good and to understand what is good. That's what's important to us. What is good? What is right? What is true? We're not to dabble with the things of our faults, never be seeking to, by having itching ears, listening to falsehoods. and truth. There's some of us who experience enough so that we can we can tell what's what's going on there. But we're not we're not being, we don't want benefit from it. We want benefit from books that are teaching the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And also he says here, be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And he means two things here. The word simple here means innocent. Innocent concerning evil. We must not be those who have dabbled with these things and have trifled with these things. Neither should we be those who are playing the devil's advocate. We are to be people of the truth. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. We are not to have any countenance, any contact with evil. Now obviously we have to understand it. Obviously we have to appreciate where it's coming from. But we have to understand it and appreciate it from The point of the truth. This is one of the great problems. The vast majority of Bible colleges teach truth alongside error. And it's left up to the students to make up their own mind what is true and what is false. Now, Paul is saying the opposite here. He's saying, no, we should always come from what is good and understand evil from what is good. We have to be simple concerning things that are evil. That means simple, we have to be those who are innocent of it ourselves, but also we have to have a simple view of it. It is not the truth and therefore it is false, and therefore it's evil, and therefore it is not of God. We can also understand it this way, that to understand what is wrong, we have to come at it from the simple truths of the scripture. And the simple truths of the scripture often, 99% of the time, sort out all the complexities of false error. If we stand by the truth, then we can see the error straight away. Take Child baptism for instance. That is a grievous error that undermines the gospel of justification by faith alone. Undermines it, takes the feet away from it completely. Because there are now some people who come into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as they bring their babies when they cannot have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So they make up a lie. They make up this lie that you can come through the faith of your parents. But no, when you read the New Testament it is always based on personal faith. Your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Philip said to the Ethiopian, you've got to believe with all your heart. How can a baby believe with all their heart? They cannot. It has to be a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now once we understand that, child baptism cannot have any grounds or any substance in our churches. It cannot be countenanced in our churches, can it? And people who come and say that they have been baptized as children, and that is their basis for saying that they should have church membership, but they can't, can they? The basis has to be personal faith. See, how simple that is, isn't it? Once we grasp that it's justification by faith alone, by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever else they say about child baptism, It can't be true. It cannot be true. So the simple things are the things that we need to understand. We need to cross those things, hold them true, and so often it will give us clarity to see the error. Now, I think it's number seven now, verse 20. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. Note this, that's how God deals with people who teach error. That's how God deals with those who cause division and offense, contrary to sound doctrine. He deals with them by crushing them under his feet. The Lord does not have any compassion for these people. He deals with them very firmly, doesn't he? And we must understand that that is how the Lord works in these people's hearts and lives. And lastly, the grace of the Lord is with us in this. You see, what Paul says there, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. You see, if we stand for the truth, If we stand loyal to Him, if we show our love to Him, and our love to the Brethren by standing by the truth, then the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ will be with us. He will commend us, He will uphold us, and He will put us on that road of honor in Heaven. Well, the last application here is to love our Lord Jesus Christ is to keep His commandments. To love our Lord Jesus Christ is to keep true to Him, faithful to Him. And our love for the Lord Jesus Christ must be paramount in everything. We may have friends, we may have relatives, we may have people who are very dear to us, who are not standing by the truth. But if they are not standing by the truth, they are not standing by the Lord Jesus Christ. And our faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his name must come first. Second thing, our love for the brethren means that we will guard them and we will want the best for them. And if they have fallen into error, we will want to pluck them out, out of those errors, so that they will be able to stand for the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ too, and be commended by the Lord Jesus Christ, and glorify our Savior in heaven with us. And as far as outsiders are concerned, our love for them means that we must stand by the truth, that we must commend ourselves by our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the reasons that the church has been marginalized in our day, one of the reasons why people outside the church no longer listen to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is because the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is compromised. and is willing to compromise the truth for the sake of fellowship, for the sake of appearances, for the sake of being accepted by the world, for the sake of anything, they're willing to compromise the truth. They will not stand. And we have not stood by the truth. And we have not called those who preach error, heretics. And we have not stood firm by the truth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We've allowed the things of God to appear to those outside as though they do not have any importance. Because we don't see them as important. People outside now see truth as though it is relative. Why? Because the church of the Lord Jesus Christ has dealt with it as though it's relative. Oh, well, you can believe this. I'll believe that. But we're brothers, aren't we? No, friends, we must stand by the truth. We must stand by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that is how we show love to the brethren. And that is how we show love for our Lord and Savior. Well, let's pray.