Romans 16

The Body of Christ - Part 1
Romans 16
by Dr. Wayne Barber

I cannot believe that we’re in chapter 16. We’re going to begin a series that will run down through verse 16 of this chapter entitled "The Body of Christ." If you’ve ever seen how different individuals fit in the body of Christ and how God works through each and every one of them to accomplish this work, you can really see this in Romans 16:1-16.

When you come to chapter 16 and you realize that he’s sending his greetings, the temptation is to skip it and go on to something else. When I got to it, I thought, "Oh me! Are we going to wade through all of this?" Oh! Thank the Lord for His forgiveness. The more I got into it the more I realized some of the greatest truths and the summation of so much truth that we’ve seen in Romans is found right here in the verses that close out Romans.

Paul’s going to point out some folks who were the unsung heroes, you could say, of that time. God uses a lot of people to get His work done. We see the people who were out front like the Apostle Paul and others. In today’s time, they would have the Billy Graham’s, etc. The people who work behind the scenes are so clearly important to what God is doing. Never forget that. Man tends to push people and pump them up, but God sees it all as one great big work that He’s doing and He has many who have a smaller piece of the pie. He has others who have a larger piece of the pie that we talked about in Romans 12. But He uses them all to accomplish His will and His work.

Have you ever sat by a campfire or a fire at home in your fireplace and watch it burn and just get mesmerized by the flames? Every now and then something in the fire just flares up. It’s like it just gets brighter for a few seconds. Then it just sort of disappears. You don’t see it again. The fire has to be at a certain point before that happens. Well, to me, it’s kind of like that in Romans 16. These are some of the precious people you haven’t heard of before and you’ll never hear of again in the New Testament. But because of the Holy Spirit working through Paul, Paul just brings them to the surface. They light up. You see them and then they disappear on the pages of time. They were so important to the work that God was doing in His kingdom. In their willingness they were just as faithful as the Apostle Paul, but they were not seen or heard from like he was. We’re going to be surprised one day when we get to Glory at the ones who are up front and what they’re going to be rewarded. We think of the ones that are seen down here. But the ones behind the scenes are so very important to what God is doing.

When I played ball in college, I had a friend who was a scorer in basketball and averaged about twenty-eight points a game. He was six-five. He used to walk by my room and say, "Well, Barber, have you been reading my clippings lately?" He was just doing that to goad us. I would always point to my nose. My nose sits over on the side of my face. There’s a huge hump right in the middle. My nose has been broken five times; four times in basketball. I would be under the boards getting the ball out to my friend who got all the glory. So every time he’d walk by the room and say, "Hey, Wayne, been reading my clippings lately?" I’d always point to my nose which was sideways on my face and he’d leave me alone and walk on down the hall. Why? Because he might have gotten the points and been the center of attention, but if there hadn’t been four other guys out there on the floor getting their heads knocked around, he would have never gotten the points that he had gotten.

That’s exactly what we’re seeing here, the team effort, the family effort, the body of Christ that is working together. Well, when a believer lives the surrendered life, Romans 12:1-2, that’s the well out of which all of this flows. If they’re living a surrendered life, "Lord, I present my body as a loving offering to you," then God’s going to take them and use them. They’re going to get to test for themselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It’s the will of God that determines if we will be involved in what He’s up to in these days. It doesn’t matter if it’s man, woman, boy or girl. It does not matter. It doesn’t matter if they are educated or uneducated. It doesn’t matter if they’re tall or short, young or old. God is looking for surrendered people. Some will be more known about than others. But all of us are instrumental and important in the purposes that God has.

Remember, Romans 12:4-5 says, "For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." And so it is. We need each other. God uses us all to accomplish His work while we’re here on this earth.

Now, one of the things that you’re going to notice here in chapter 16 is the mention of the women who are being used for Christ. Sometimes women just feel like, "We just have to stay at home and take care of kids. Can’t ever do anything. We’re just not usable to God at all." That’s not right and what we’re going to see in this list are particularly the women that God uses.

We’re going to begin the list with a lady named Phoebe, a woman who said, "God, I present my body a living sacrifice." God used this woman in His kingdom’s work. We must remember God will take anyone who will surrender themselves to Him and make them a part of His eternal work. If you feel like you’re not usable then that’s just a lie of the devil. You get surrendered to Christ. You say, "Here am I, God. Use me." And God will use you if it’s nothing more than having a prayer meeting in your house, if it’s nothing more than being hospitable to the saints. Whatever it is, it all pays a role to effect the work that God is doing.

Okay. My points will be the people God mentions all the way down through verse 16. Point one, first of all, Paul mentions Phoebe. Look at verse 1 of Romans 16. "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church with us at Cenchrea;..." Now the word "commend" comes from two words, sun, together with, and histemi, which means to stand. Paul says, "I take my stand with her." In other words, I commend her. I’m right alongside her. I give all of my recommendation to her. When the Apostle Paul, the bondservant of Christ, the great man of God, puts his stamp of approval on somebody sit up and take notice. There’s something about their life.

The word "Phoebe" is the word in the Greek that means radiant, even has the sense of being pure. So we have a radiant person here, a person who is pure in her walk with the Lord God. She is called a servant of the church of Cenchrea. Now where in the world is Cenchrea? Remember Paul wrote the book of Romans from Corinth. Corinth was like an isthmus. It stuck out into the water. It had a seaport on one side and a seaport on the other side. On the eastern side towards Asia was the little seaport of Cenchrea, about seven miles from the main city of Corinth. The church that would have been there would probably have been the daughter church of the main church that was at Corinth.

The term "servant" has been the cause of much confusion in Christianity because many people say that since she was a servant of the church of Cenchrea, then evidently a deaconess was an official position of women in the church in that particular century. I can understand why people see that. Is that what Paul is saying? The word that is used there that makes it more confusing is the word diakonos. In 1 Timothy diakonos refers to the office of deacon, but the word also means servant. A diakonos is simply a menial servant. It’s still not a position of honor. It’s a position of service. The word means a menial servant. I’m at the restaurant and my tea glass gets empty, somebody walks by and says, "Hey, do you need another glass of tea?" "Thank you. Can you bring some ice?" "Is there anything else you need?" That’s what the word means.

So therefore, the thing that causes confusion is you can use it either way. Whether it’s in an official position or not, if a position is a servant, that’s the word you’re going to use for them. It’s a menial servant. It’s someone who wants to do for somebody else. Now when you try to make it so that a woman, a deaconess, a woman servant, was in an official position in the church the ground is very shaky that you’re standing on. I’m not going to fight anybody over it. We have the elder system, and I believe that is exactly right. You have women who serve. You have men who serve. But I want to show you that it’s the men who are put in the official position of service, not the women. I didn’t make this up. This is from God’s word.

Let’s go back to the original pattern of deacons. Where did they come from? What is the whole purpose of having these people alongside in official positions anyway? Go to Acts 6. The seven men who were chosen in Acts 6 were not official deacons as they became later on. But this is the very beginning of the early church and the pattern that was set. The apostles, of course, were the ones in official positions. Later on there were elders of the church, etc. But here’s the pattern in Acts 6:1. It says, "Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. And the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, ‘It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. But select from among you, brethren, seven women of good reputation.’" Is that what your scripture says? No! Seven men. Okay, "’seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.’ And the statement found approval with the whole congregation."

Now, two of the most noteworthy of these original seven men who were appointed to come along side the apostles were Stephen and Philip. Later on they became evangelists in the work of the ministry that God had assigned. The day by day care of the churches fell upon the deacons as the helpers to the elders who held the distinct office. The actual office of deacon came later on as the church began to grow and is found in 1 Timothy 3:8-12. This is when they became an official servant of the church, appointed as such to come alongside the elders who were in the positions of leadership.

Nowhere can you find that the deacon had anything to do with leadership in the church. It was the servanthood of the church. It’s not a position of honor even here in 1Timothy 3:8-12. It’s a position of service. We must understand that. I tell you what, when you’re working against the grain of what people traditionally have understood it’s very difficult to tear that down. It’s not a position of honor in that sense. It’s a position of service, an official position of service. First Timothy 3:8 begins, "Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain, but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach."

In verse 8 the word for deacons is the word diakonos. All the adjectives that describe diakonos are in the masculine form, never in the feminine. That gives you a good reason to understand that these are men and not women.

There’s some confusion that comes in verse 11: "Women must likewise be dignified, not malicious gossips, but temperate, faithful in all things." Some people use the King James Version of this which says "the wives of deacons." It says, "Even so must their wives be grave." You must be very careful here. The King James does not translate that from the Greek. It gives an interpretation with that, and that’s why a lot of people have gotten confused. They read into the fact that the word used there must mean wives of deacons because of the context and they stake their whole point upon that.

The New International Version has the translation, "Women likewise grave." That’s exact Greek. If you go over to the New American Standard as we read from, "Women must likewise be dignified or grave." It’s impossible to determine is he talking about the wives of the deacons or about women in general. It’s impossible to determine. If somebody’s going to stake the fact that they believe women were official deacons in the church on this statement, then they really don’t have much to stand on. I guess you could bring that up, but that’s the only place you can bring it up. And it’s shaky waters all around it. So my personal conclusion is women did not have an official position as deaconesses within the church at that time.

Now you say, "Wayne, thanks a lot. I’m a woman. I just think that’s not right. Does God not approve of women?" You see, this attitude is absolutely of the flesh. It’s not of the Spirit at all. Just because they were not in an official position as a deaconess did not mean they were not usable and needed and critical to the work that God was doing. I’ve always believed that if a man or a women is seeking a position, is seeking an office, there’s something wrong with them. It does say in Scripture, "If anyone desires to be an elder." But that does not mean to be seen on a platform and to be built up but to desire the shepherding work of the elder and all the things that go along with that.

You see, when you start desiring to be recognized you’ve completely gone against the grain of the context of chapter 15. Paul says in chapter 15, "I can only boast of the things that Christ has done through me, not what I’ve done for me, not what position I have as an apostle." He says in 12:3, "It’s only by the grace of God that I can write these things to you." He didn’t boast in his position. So, the whole attitude of the woman is key here. Women were very critical to the work of the ministry.

I want to walk through with you the women who were critically used in the New Testament to show you that just because they were not in an official position of deaconess did not mean they were not deaconesses, servants in the church. They were so used by God. As a matter of fact, one of the first places you find them is associated with prayer. Women and prayer have gone together for as long as I can remember. We’re going to walk our way through Acts, and I want to show you some of these people who God used mightily. Acts 1:14 says, "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." Women were always there. As a matter of fact, there are many times that the women were there when the men were not even there.

You say, "Well, Wayne, that’s not a great ministry." What do you mean, not a great ministry? There are some people that if they ever prayed for me to die, I’m going to crawl in the box. You talk about important to the body of Christ. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Ms. Bertha Smith. She died when she was one hundred years old. You talk about a lady of prayer. She had a place over in Cowpens, South Carolina, called "Penial" which means a place of prayer. She’d bring people over to teach them to pray. It wasn’t a seminar. She didn’t get out a pencil and a great big board. She got you down on your face before God.

She was a part of the great revival over in China. One of their missionaries, a man, was going blind. Back then very few men were going into missions and they were critically needed on the field. Here was one of their main missionaries about to go blind. Miss Bertha believed in prayer. She’s enjoying heaven right now because that’s one lady that just transitioned right over. It’s kind of like God said, "You know, Miss Bertha, you’re closer to Me than you are to them. Come on over." That’s when she died. She walked with God.

But they walked in to pray for this man who was losing his eyesight, and they laid hands on him. When they did immediately they were all convicted of sin in their life. She said, "For three weeks I was confessing sin, things I had borrowed and never returned, things that I had done and never repented of. Finally one day we came back together, and when we began to pray God fell. God moved upon those women praying for that one man. The man’s eyesight was restored and remained restored until the day he died."

Tell me that prayer is not important. Just because a woman is not up in front teaching, just because a woman is not traveling, just because a woman’s face is not on a magazine, doesn’t mean that God can’t use you. God needs vessels. Men, women, boys, girls, it doesn’t matter to Him. He just wants people who are surrendered to Him, and women are just as critically needed as men are critically needed. They played a very important role in the early church as we can see in the book of Acts. Just because they didn’t have an official position, so what.

I remember when I was ordained years ago they asked me, "Wayne, what are you going to do if we don’t ordain you?" I said, "I’m going to do exactly what God’s called me to do. I know you don’t really ordain me, because the scripture says you just set me free to do what God’s already ordained me to do." What’s wrong with us sometimes? Wanting to be recognized. That’s not the heart of the servant.

Well, the scriptures point out that there were multitudes of women who were converted in the early church. Look over in Acts 5:14. It says, "And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number." It wasn’t a man thing. It was whoever would respond by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, and multitudes of women were constantly added to the number.

Boy, a beautiful story occurs in Acts 9. This is a wonderful story about a lady by the name of Tabitha. It describes her in Acts 9:36: "Now in Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity, which she continually did." There was a consistency in her life of kindness and charity, helping to those who were down and out. Well, she died, but look in verse 40 at what Peter does: "But Peter sent them all out, and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, ‘Tabitha, arise.’ And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up."

Now, I get fired up when I see stuff like that. Do you know what I believe about that? Don’t get hung up in the miracle. It’s God saying, "I’m not through with you yet, Tabitha. I like what you’re doing. I need you doing what you’re doing. Come on, sit up." And she sat up. God raised her from the dead.

Look over in Acts 12:11-12. It was in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, that a prayer meeting was going on when Peter was miraculously freed by an angel from prison. It says, "And when Peter came to himself, he said, ‘Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’ And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying." Once again, prayer and the women were together. Her house was an open place for those to come to pray.

The first convert Paul saw in Macedonia and Philipi was Lydia. Look in Acts 16:14. Lydia was a religious woman, but she was not a believer. She came to know Christ as a result of the gospel being preached there. Acts 16:14 reads, "And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Now, once she’s saved she immediately opens up her house, showing her hospitality to the believers. Acts 16:15 continues, "And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.’ And she prevailed upon us." I want to tell you, people who open up their houses, women who are hospitable, are so important in the body of Christ. You say, "Well, but I don’t get to teach and I don’t get to do all these other things." So what! You’re still performing a very strong function in the body of Christ.

There’s a family over in Ft. Worth, Texas who had a prophet’s room built onto their house. As a matter of fact, when I got there I was overwhelmed because the prophet’s room was nicer than any other rooms in their house. They did that by intention. One time I was speaking in Grand Prairie, Texas on the other side of Dallas, and they called me and said, "Wayne, you’re going to be in the area. Would you come and stay in our prophet’s room?" I said, "Sure, I’ll go." I want you to know, it was better than any motel I’d ever stayed in. It is a great big room which was built strictly for one thing, for people who are preaching the Word and doing the work. By offering this room they are saying, "Come alongside. Come to my house. Stay with us."

They had a prophet’s room and anybody who came through there could stay in that house. You say, "Wayne, is that ministry?" What do you mean? Ask someone who has gone overseas about the hospitality of the saints. I guarantee you it’s not the man. It’s the woman every single time who will say, "Hey, come to my house. Come to my house. We’ll feed you. We’ll take care of you." Do you think that was not important to what Paul did? Paul’s not going to stand alone for the ministry to the Gentiles. There are going to be a mass of people you’ve never heard of that are going to be right there beside him. God used everyone of them to accomplish His work among the Gentile people, especially the women who were surrendered to Him.

When Paul preached to the Greeks in Athens at the Areopagus over in Acts 17:34, a woman named Damaris was saved. Anytime someone is mentioned in scripture, the most holy book we have, God’s word, that must signify something about them. God put her into the Word of God. Acts 17:34 says, "But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them."

When Paul got to Corinth, where this book was written, he ran into a couple. As a matter of fact, the man was a tent maker just like Paul. Here was a couple who said, "Lord, use us." Their names were Priscilla and Aquila. Look in Acts 18:2 when he gets in Corinth who he runs into. Most of these people were associated with him in Corinth. "And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome." Priscilla’s name is usually mentioned first which probably meant she was more prominent for one reason or another, maybe spiritually or whatever. I think it’s significant that Priscilla normally appears first before Aquila. You say, "Well, that’s not a put down to women is it?" No, it’s not a put down to women. God wants to use women.

In Philippians 4:2-3 Euodia and Syntyche are spoken of as fellow laborers of the apostle Paul. The funny thing about these two ladies is the way they were fighting with each other. I mean, a lot of the time there was contention between these women. Philippians 4:2 reads, "I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord." Come on, folks! He’s saying, "Settle down." Verse 3 goes on, "Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life."

Paul says, "Hey, they’re a little bit of a problem here but get with them and help them. These are fellow laborers. These women have helped me."

Then look over in 1 Corinthians 1:11 at Chloe. "For I have been informed concerning you [This is a lady he trusted so much to bring him information concerning the church], my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you."

You can go on and on and on. There are going to be several more mentioned in this chapter that we’ll talk about. But in none of these instances, not a single one, is it said that an individual woman was an official deaconess in the church. The only place you can find anywhere that a woman’s name is associated with a church and being a deaconess is Phoebe in Romans 16:1.

Speaking of Phoebe, we kind of left her, didn’t we? Go back to verse 2. Welcome back Phoebe. Here’s what it says about her: "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." The word "receive" is prosdechomai. Dechomai is the word that means to eagerly receive. "Don’t just take her in. Look forward to taking her in," the Apostle Paul says. It means to receive and take care of whatever need she has.

He says, "in a manner worthy of the saints." "Saints" is the word hagios. It means now you measure up what a saint ought to be. You take care of this woman. Why? Because she’s taken care of us. He goes on to say, "and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you." "Help her" is paristemi), you come along side her. The word for "matter" is pragma, which could be a business matter. Nobody knows really who she is other than what scripture tells us. Some people think she’s the very bearer of the epistle of Romans to the church at Rome. Could be. Paul doesn’t tell us for sure. Is she a business woman, a very wealthy woman like Lydia who was over in Macedonia? Could be. Paul says, "Whatever matter she has, you get along beside her and help her out."

Then he goes on and says, "for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well." That word "helper" is prostatis. She’s done more than just help. The idea is that this is a wealthy woman and she has taken her money and been a tremendous help to many. Paul’s not honoring a rich lady. That’s not what he’s saying. She has sacrificially given and she has gone the route in being a minister to the saints. Paul says, "You stand beside her and you measure up in the way you take care of her."

Man, woman, boy or girl, God wants to use you. It doesn’t matter whether you can teach or you can’t teach. We have really done a disservice over the years of telling people that if you’re really called to minister, you’ve got to either lead the singing or you’ve got to be able to teach or preach. That’s ridiculous. We’ve studied chapter 12. The gifts are in many areas. You can serve, mercy, exhort. You don’t have to be out front. God uses those people who are surrendered to Him. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how young you are or how smart you are. God uses me. That qualifies that one. It doesn’t matter. What He’s looking for is a heart that is totally bankrupt unto Him, surrendered unto Him.

I know this is difficult passage for some of us. But I want to share something with you. I think it will help you. Maybe you’re not being used and you know you’re not being used. You’re frustrated. You’re a believer. You’re about the will of God. You have gotten about everything else but you’re not about the will of God. It’s sin in your life. It may not be the gross sin of something but it’s sin. It’s missing the mark of what God’s will is in your life. And you’re saying to me, "I want to be free to be what God wants me to be. Something’s imprisoning me. Something’s holding me back. What’s wrong with me?"

I don’t know specifically, but I think generally I can give you a picture here. As you know from Romans 7 and 8 you’re already free. You’re already free. Do we understand that? You have been set free from the penalty of sin and you have been set free from the power of sin. You are already free. What does free mean? Not the right to do as you please, but the right to do as God wills. You now have the power under grace. "Well, what’s wrong with me? I’m not being used. I come to church every week. Nobody’s asked me to teach a class. I’m not used in anything." Hold it, hold it, hold it. You mean you’re only used when man asks you? I thought you were used when God said something to your heart. God’s the one who initiates ministry, not man. We just come along to facilitate. God initiates it. "Well then, what’s wrong with me?"

Let me give you an illustration which might draw a picture for you. "If I’m free, how come I’m bound?" Good question. Do you know how they catch monkeys over in Africa?

We were over there on the Zambezi River by Zambia in Zimbabwe. We were in a hotel and when I woke up I was so hot. I looked out the window and I saw all of these things in the trees, and I was just sort of foggy. I was looking out the window, and I said to my travel companion, "Man that’s the biggest squirrel I’ve ever seen in my life." I’d hunted down in Louisiana and Mississippi and I’ve seen fox squirrels. Fox squirrels can be about four feet long from tail to nose. I’m thinking, "Man, that’s the biggest fox squirrel I’ve ever seen." I kept looking and Bill said, "Dummy, they’re not squirrels. They’re monkeys."

There were thousands of them. You can see them in zoos and stuff but that’s nothing compared to the ones just roaming free. Now they’re mean too. You have to watch them. But they told us how they catch them. I thought this was the most interesting thing. They have a chain on a pole that is welded to a container. The container is bigger at the bottom and had sort of a bottle neck at the top. They put candy in it because monkeys love candy, anything sweet. So the monkey comes and sticks his hand in through that opening and grabs the candy in his fist. But there’s a problem here. Once he gets his fist clenched, he can’t get it back outside of the container. Now, the only thing that’s keeping him from enjoying the freedom he has is the unwillingness to open his hand and let go.

Put that in a Christian context and to me it preaches volumes. What are you holding onto? "I want to be used. God, I want to be used." God says, "You do not. Look at what you’re holding on to." Is it your money? Is that what you’re holding on to? You’re free, but you’ve imprisoned yourself. Turn it loose. Are you holding on to your pride? What are you holding on to? Bitterness? Is there something in your life that happened years ago that you will not forgive and ask God to forgive you? God says, "You’ve imprisoned yourself. I set you free but you won’t let go." Just let go. Just give it up and watch what happens. God begins to take your life and make you into a brand new person and uses you like you could not possibly believe.

You see, the will of God is good. It’s acceptable. It’s perfect. Why would you want to stick your hand back in there and grab hold of that which is the will of the flesh? Do you know what? That’s not ignorance, folks. That’s just flat out stupidity for a believer not to be willing to just let go of the sick, ugly flesh that he’s holding on to and enjoy the freedom of being what God wants him to be. Open handed, I think that’s what Paul was talking about when he said, "Lift up holy hands." He wasn’t talking about raising your hands in church. He’s talking about raising hands that are empty and devoid of self. Holy and set apart that God can use to do His good work.

How does God want to use you? Well, you may never have your name written in the Bible, but oh, friend, it’s written down up there. One day when we stand before Him, all the Billy Graham’s, yes they’ll be there, but I guarantee you there’s going some old fellows down in the swamps of Louisiana who said, "God, use me." They’re going to be right alongside them. There are going to be some folks over in Moldavia and Russia and Romania and India and Israel, places we’ll never see or hear from them down here but, buddy, we’ll see and hear from them up there because they just came to God empty handed. "God, I want to enjoy the freedom I have in Jesus Christ. Use me. Use me."

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The Body of Christ - Part 2
Romans 16

Paul made some hard choices. Look over in 1 Corinthians 9:23 at some of the commitment that the Apostle Paul had. You’ve got to remember that you can imprison yourself when you start pursuing the desires of your flesh. But when you only pursue the desires of the Spirit, you are free then to be what God wants you to be and a part of the will that He has for you on this earth. In 1 Corinthians 9:23-24 Paul says of himself, "And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win."

Now he’s not saying there’s only one prize and we’re competing with each other to get it. He’s giving an illustration. He’s saying that in a race that’s the way they run – they run to get that prize. There’s a prize for all of us, folks. He’s saying you live the Christian life the same way. He says in verses 25-26, "And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim [I know exactly where I’m headed]; I box in such a way, as not beating the air."

Now you ought to understand that. Do you know what he’s saying? "I don’t shadowbox." Do you know what shadowboxing is? That’s when a person gets in a ring and there’s nobody else there and he’ll just go through the motions. The Apostle Paul says, "Don’t waste that kind of energy. All the energy that I have is not in shadowboxing, but it is in buffeting my flesh."

He says in verse 27, "But I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified." Not kicked out of the kingdom. We have a word in athletics that fits that perfectly. It means to be benched. When I played basketball in college, I sat on the bench a lot because there was a player who was much better than I was and two inches taller. Every game I wanted to play but I was sitting on the bench. All of us know what it means to sit on the bench. We want to be out there in the action. The Apostle Paul says, "You can be out there in the action. You can, as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, be a part of what God’s doing, but you’ve got to learn to turn loose of whatever it is your flesh desires. Come to God with an open hand and God will use you in a powerful way."

Paul did not allow his flesh to hinder what God was doing through him. He had his priorities and he had his persistence that kept him focused on those priorities. Now we know that about the Apostle Paul. It’s very clear in the book of Romans.

But we’re seeing in chapter 16 that there are some other people who lived exactly the same way. This was encouraging to me. We know Paul lived that way. Some people can say, "Yes, he was an apostle." But we’re going down a list right now of common, everyday, ordinary people just like you and me, and they were as much a part of what God was doing to reach the Gentile world as Paul was himself. This is the encouragement. This is what I want you to see. The emphasis is not on your being a woman or a man. The emphasis is on Romans 12:1-2 and you and me being a servant to Jesus Christ. Then God gets hold of that and will use you in His eternal plan of reaching this world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God had others to come alongside Paul, and Paul begins to mention them in verses 1-16. We’ve only seen one so far and that’s a precious lady by the name of Phoebe. She possibly could have even been the one who took the letter of Romans to the people. We don’t know that. That’s speculation. But she was a very precious person who was very needed in the work that God had assigned to the Apostle Paul.

We’re going to pick up there and move on. Now we’re going to see a couple. We saw Phoebe in verses 1 and 2. Look at verses 3-5a: "Greet Prisca [and that’s short for Priscilla] and Aquila, my fellow workers 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."

Now I wonder if you’re a couple and want to be used by the Lord God. We know what the formula is, if there are formulas or such a thing. Back in Romans 12:1-2, when the two of you come, you could be a Priscilla and an Aquila because God took an ordinary couple and used them in an incredible way to aid Paul in the ministry to the Gentile world. They were an integral part.

We learned earlier that Priscilla’s name was put before Aquila’s in this passage and in Acts 18:18 and 2 Timothy 4:19. Why would somebody put her name first? Well, some say that she could have been more prominent socially. We don’t know that, but that’s what some say. Some say she could have been more prominent spiritually. Maybe her gifts were more outstanding perhaps as far as her personality and aggressiveness or those kinds of things. But that again is all speculation. Don’t get too hung up in the fact that Priscilla’s name is put before Aquila because you don’t want to push either one of these two out of the sight of the fact that they were servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aquila was a Jew, a native of Pontus, and like Paul, a tent-maker by trade. Look in Acts 18:1-3 and you find out when he met these folks over in Corinth. What a couple these people were and how they let God use them in the ministry that Paul had been assigned. Acts 18:1-3 reads, "After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth (that’s where he writes the book of Romans). And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome." So they used to live in Rome, were driven out by the Emperor Claudius. "He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers."

According to one source I read, when they would go to the synagogue, the people would separate, the men on one side and the women on the other. If you’ve been in any of the Eastern European countries, you’ll know that’s the way they also sit, the men on one side, women on the other. But not only that, many times the men would sit by trade. It could just be that Paul sat down beside Aquila in the synagogue right there. Paul was also a tent-maker. Perhaps that’s the way they got to know one another. But just think for a second. Just a tent-maker and yet he’s mentioned about six times in the New Testament, he and his wife. A tent-maker and his wife said, "God, here we are. Use us. We come to You open handed. We just want what You want. God use us." And God powerfully worked through this ordinary tent-maker and his wife.

Now, when Paul left Corinth they accompanied him down to Ephesus. When they got to Ephesus, they kind of did the spade work and when Paul returned to Ephesus, the place was right for revival because of the work that this couple had done. Now they’re back in Rome. Claudius, you remember, had died. Now they’re back in Rome, and their home is once again a center for evangelism.

Notice three things that Paul said about Priscilla and Aquila, this precious tent-maker and his wife. First of all, in verse 3 he says that they were fellow workers. "Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus." The term fellow workers is sunergos. It means to work together. The word comes from sun, that intimate together and the word ergos, to work. So it means to work together intimately to help share the load in something.

Here’s Paul. He’s called. He knows exactly what his assignment is. But here’s a couple who comes alongside him to help share the load. They’re fellow workers with him. Whatever he needs they’re there to be servants of the Lord Jesus.

Then secondly, he says that they risked their own necks. That’s an interesting phrase, by the way. Romans 16:4 says, "who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Now, we don’t know much about this. The scriptures are silent as what is it he’s talking about exactly. But the term "themselves" seem to indicate that they put themselves in danger many times for Paul’s sake and for the sake of other believers in the churches there in the area. The phrase "risked their own necks" actually is two Greek words. One, hupotithemi, means to put yourself under the sword or the ax of the executioner. Then the word trachelos is the word for "neck." We get the word "trachea" from that. That’s just used as a picture here that many, many times they were in extreme danger for the sake of protecting Paul or other believers who were in the church. So not only does Paul thank them, but all of the churches benefited. They all give thanks for the precious lives of these two people.

Thirdly, their home was where a church met in Rome. Romans 16:5 says, "Also greet the church that is in their house." Meeting in homes was part of the norm of that day and something we don’t understand now in our country. If we don’t have a church, we don’t think we can meet. They met in homes, and their house was a place, a gathering, where many of the believers could come.

In my study I came across a statement from the Acts of Martyrdom of St. Justin. It seems that Justin Martyr was asked the question of a man named Rusticus, "Where do you assemble?", speaking to the Christian. And the answer from Justin Martyr exactly corresponds to the genuine Christian spirit that we’re seeing in these people. His answer was, "Where each one can and where each one will." He says to the man who asked the question, "You believe, no doubt, that we all meet together in one place but it is not so. For the God of the Christians is not shut up in a room but, being invisible, He fills both heaven and earth and is honored everywhere by the faithful."

I love that statement. And of course a home is just as important as any place else. Wherever they will, wherever they can is where they met during that time. And in the home, there in Rome, of Priscilla and Aquila a church met. Their home was open to the believers there. What a picture of how God wants to use a couple and will use a couple if they’ll just come to Romans 12:1-2 and say, "God, here we are. Use us. We’re not holding on to our flesh. We’re coming empty handed. Use us."

I keep thinking of how God wants to shake our church. Missionaries are just going this place and that place. Couples are so geared right now to doing the things of the world, but God is saying to them, "I want you to be a part of my will. I want you to come and help Me reach the world for the Lord Jesus Christ." And I tell you, again, when you let loose of that which the flesh desires, there’s no telling how God could use you.

What does God want to do in you as a couple? I guarantee you, there are couples who one day will be on the mission field. There are couples who one day will be great supporters of missions. There are couples who God wants to speak to and I think is speaking to as we go through Romans.

Well thirdly, Paul mentions Epaenetus. He says, "Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia." The New American Standard says "Asia." The King James says "Achaia." Now that’s interesting to me. Why would there be a difference? I can’t answer that. I’m not theologically trained enough to answer that. However, it presents a problem if it’s Achaia, if that’s where it really is. Let me show you something. Look over in 1 Corinthians 16:15. If Epaenetus is the first convert in Achaia, that’s real interesting. In 1 Corinthians 16:15 they’re two different localities all together. It says, "Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints)." Well that’s interesting. I thought Epaenetus was.

Now there are different answers for that. Some say that Epaenetus might have been saved at the same time Stephanas was, therefore, shared in being the first convert there in Achaia. Others say that it says his household. Maybe he was a member of the household and therefore could qualify in saying he’s one of the first converts in Achaia. I don’t know. Let’s just say it’s Asia, like the New American Standard says. The capital of pro-consular Asia was Ephesus. Ephesus was the area where Paul spent three years in. And if it was in Ephesus, this would have been very tender and special to Paul because this would’ve been the first convert to come to know Christ in the time that he spent there for three years in Ephesus. You don’t get the first convert that comes along.

Well, we don’t know who he is. Was he from Achaia? Was he from Asia? That is really not the point. The point is that Paul calls him his beloved. The word for "beloved" is agapetos. It’s the word that means dear to somebody, somebody who is especially dear to someone. I’ll tell you what, if the Apostle Paul says that this man was beloved to him, then take it to the bank. This man was a quality individual, unknown, a nobody, but Paul says that this man is a dear, dear brother. Somehow God had used him in all that God had assigned to the Apostle Paul.

Well, fourthly, he mentions Mary. Look in verse 6. He says, "Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you." There are two problems we’ve got with the name "Mary." First of all, there are just so many Marys in the New Testament. We’ve got Mary, the mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene; the sister of Lazarus; Mary the wife of Clopus; Mary, the mother of John Mark. Here’s a Mary who is unknown in Rome. There’s another problem. Is she Gentile or is she Jewish? The Gentile name is Maria. The Jewish name is Miriam. There’s a lot of debate. Is she a Jew or is she a Gentile? We don’t really know. The opinions vary. The one thing we know about this unknown lady named Mary in Rome is that she wore herself out for the saints there in Rome. Look at the word, "Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you." "Worked hard" comes from two different words. One word means much and the other word, kopiao, means fatigue. In other words, she had labored to the point of fatigue.

This is the same word that is used in John 4:6 when it says of the Lord Jesus, "being wearied from His journey, He sat down by the well." It’s the same word for the disciples in Luke 5:5 when it says, "They toiled all night long and caught nothing." The term means to work or to labor until the point that you are literally worn out. The Apostle Paul, in giving this list of people he wants to send greetings to, people who were so important in the body of Christ who said, "Yes, Lord. We’ll do whatever You tell us to do," mentions this little precious lady. We don’t know anything else about her. She’s the Mary of Rome. But we do know she wore herself out for the saints.

There are a lot of people like this even today who have come empty handed before the Lord and literally worn themselves out. You know, I hear a lot of people say, "Well, that must be flesh." Wait a minute! When you get in touch with what God wants in your life, He does energize you, and He’ll burn you out. You’ll work to the end; but listen, it’s the best burn-out you ever had in your life. God takes you right down to where He takes you on in to Glory. There’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of sweat. There’s a lot of effort that goes into serving the Lord Jesus Christ and that’s not carnal. That’s not flesh. That just goes along with it.

We use the analogy of a runner. You know the effort that goes into running a race. We know that goes along with it. Here’s a precious lady who has literally worn herself out for the saints. When I was studying this, people just started popping in my mind. Of course I think of people who are close. I think immediately of Mia Oglechia. I want to tell you something, Mia never has a day to sit down and rest. I’ve never seen a woman quite like that in all my life. I’ve traveled with her, and I have seen her go until three and four in the morning, fall in the bed, get back up at seven and go all day long. That’s all she does. Then she comes home and you’d think she would have time to rest. No. Their house becomes the center for everyone. Her phone rings off the wall. They want to stay at her house. She fixes them meals. She fixes and prepares whatever it is they need. A woman who has literally worn herself out for the saints. I think it’s absolutely marvelous that we still have people like that in the body of Christ.

You say, "Well, if I wear myself out in serving the saints, will I get a position in the church?" No, and you don’t want it. What happens is God will honor you in a marvelous way one day when you stand before Him. Who is this Mary? We just don’t know. But she wore herself out for the saints.

Next Paul mentions Andronicus and Junias. Who in the world are these people? "Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me." Now if you’ll look at that verse very carefully, it tells you a lot about them even though it doesn’t completely, specifically define who they are. Junias may be a woman. We don’t know. It’s hard to tell from the name. We don’t know if it’s a couple or not. It could be another couple. It could be another Priscilla and Aquila, but we cannot say that for sure. The word "kinsmen" probably does not refer to blood relatives, and there are several reasons for this. You may pick up a commentary and it says they are his relatives but there are some real questions about this.

First of all, the phrase "kinsman" was used back in Romans 9:3. Paul uses it not for personal blood kin, but for those who are his countrymen, those who are Jews, even those who perhaps could be of the same tribe. Romans 9:3 says, "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

Secondly, the only relatives of the Apostle Paul that we know about are his sister and his nephew. Look in Acts 23:16. These are the only relatives that we know about that scripture records. Andronicus and Junias are not in that list. Acts 23:16 says, "But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul…." That’s when they were plotting against him over there. Remember, that was his sister and her son. That’s his nephew. They are the only two relatives that we know about.

Thirdly, they are known as Paul’s fellow prisoners. In verse 7 he says, "Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners." They shared prison with him at some point. They may have shared it with him over in Acts 16 when he was put in prison. We don’t know. It is possible, however, they were not in prison together, but because they had been in prison and Paul had been in prison he calls them his fellow prisoners. There’s no note here that this could possibly be his kinsmen.

Fourthly, they are described as those "who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me." Now we don’t mean that they were in the office of an apostle. That’s not what he’s saying. But somehow he was well known to the apostles, and they were saved before Paul was. In my study the thought came to me that perhaps they might have prayed for Paul to get saved. But all this speculation doesn’t get you anywhere. The key is that they’re two servants of Christ. That’s all that really matters. As you go through all of this it doesn’t matter if it’s a woman who nobody knows of, or if it’s a couple who were prominent. It doesn’t matter. Being servants to Jesus Christ is what matters as you go through this list. That’s why God the Holy Spirit even led Paul to put them on the list.

Sixthly, he mentions a man by the name Ampliatus in verse 8. "Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord." Now, we know absolutely nothing about this man from scripture. There’s not one thing that you can say. However, in my study I found in archeology we do know something about him. Ampliatus was a popular name among slaves. In fact, in Rome most of the Romans who were prominent had three names, but there’s a tomb there in Rome even today that very clearly has one name on it. It has this man’s name on that tomb, giving the idea that he possibly could have been a slave. Now the question goes through my mind. I wonder if he’s part of Caesar’s household that Paul talks about in Philippians 4:22. Remember the verse? Let me read it for you. "All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household." I wonder if he was not a slave in the household of somebody who was in Caesar’s company.

Well, again, free Romans always had three names and this man only has one. It is definitely marked on one of the tombs there in Rome even today. You know the Apostle Paul just blows me away. He’s a man who says in another place that in Christ there’s no male or female. As you go down his list, it’s just random, women, men, it doesn’t really matter. In Christ there’s no Jew or Greek. As you go down the list you find some Gentiles, you find some of the Jewish nationality. But in Christ also there’s no free man and no slave. He sees them all as one in Jesus Christ. I just love that. There’s just something about the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul as he lists these people. They’re in no order. They’re in no rank or file. They’re just people, people who have come to the Lord Jesus and said, "God, will you use me?"

If you had to sit back and look back over your life, is God using you? Now remember, the qualifications are back also in chapter 15. The Apostle Paul says, "I only boast of the things that Christ is doing through me." So unless you have an empty hand, your boasting may be pointing more to yourself than it is to Christ. Is Christ using you? It’s so simple. Turn loose of whatever it is that flesh wants to hold on to and enter into the freedom of being what God wants you to be.

Young people always pumps me up because of their potential. We might have another Billy Graham sitting right in the congregation, and if God tarries, we don’t know what God might do through a young person who makes up his mind. Daniel was a teenager when they took him out of his land over into Babylon, and Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not sin against his God. He was a man God could use as a teenager. Think about the potential. All that God’s waiting on is for us to turn loose and to come to Him with an empty hand.

Look at the list. A prominent lady named Phoebe. Who is she? We don’t know. A tent-maker and his wife, Aquila and Priscilla. A nobody named Epaenetus. A lady named Mary who literally wore herself out for the saints. Two saints who perhaps prayed even for Paul’s salvation, we don’t know that, but two saints, Andronicus and Junias. A slave who loved Jesus. Look at the list. I think of 1 Corinthians 2 when God did not choose the wise but He chose the foolish to confound the wise. He chose the things that were not to confound the things that are. Not many noble, not many mighty are chosen. Why? Because people who are mighty and noble have their hand in the vase. They’ve got things they’re pursuing other than God, therefore, they’ve imprisoned themselves and shut down God’s using them.

People of a humble character are people who have bankrupted themselves before God and said, "God, here I am. Send me. Use me. I don’t have to have a position. I don’t have to be recognized. God, just use me so that one day when all of the economy of what you have done, I’ll somehow be included as being a servant, one who gave himself to whatever You wanted in my life."

Before you can be used you’ve got to be a part of the kingdom of God. Is that not correct? We’ve been doing a youth camp for many years. Recently, I had the precious opportunity of just sharing about the Apostle Paul and being a servant to the Lord Jesus to all these kids who were out there, but I was really speaking to their counselors, folks. Because I had a deep conviction in my heart that when you go and try to water it down to reach a kid, you’ve just missed the whole point of what God has you there for.

We’ve been doing this for years. We don’t sacrifice anything, we just set the table. Eat from it if you won’t to. If you don’t, that’s not our responsibility. When I gave the invitation Thursday night, a man about forty years old walked up. I have never seen a man more emotionally moved in all my. He stood up in front of the kids there. He was one of their counselors from Mississippi. He said, "I just want you to know that for years I’ve been teaching Sunday School. I’ve had head knowledge. Oh, I have had head knowledge! But I have never bowed my knee to the Lord Jesus Christ." Weeping he said, "Tonight, I come in repentance and bow before my Lord Jesus Christ and salvation."

Well, that went on for a while. The invitation was about over. A man stood up, and when I saw him walk across the stage I recognized him. He’s been with us six years, one of my dear friends, a pastor down in Louisiana. He walked up and began to weep and said, "I have to come tonight to say I have never bowed before my Lord Jesus Christ in repentance of my sins, never. I’ve known what to say for years but I’ve never bowed my will before Him."

Do you know why a lot of people aren’t getting involved in what we’re talking about? It’s because they don’t even know Jesus. That’s why. Now there’s a lot of people in church who can get involved in church work. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about in what Jesus and Jesus alone can do through you and gives you the right to boast about. Not what you’ve done for Him but what He’s done through you. You might have even joined a church, but you’ve never bowed to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. Maybe that’s the whole problem. I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this, God wants to use every breathing individual who knows Jesus Christ. He wants to use you. And if you’re not being used, it’s not Him. It’s you holding on to what flesh wants, trying to live in two worlds and you just can’t do it. God uses the body of Christ to accomplish His work.

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The Body of Christ - Part 3
Romans 16:9-12

We talk about freedom, but freedom is not the right to do as you please. Freedom is the power to do as you should. So often we misunderstand that. We think that because we’re free we can do whatever. But that’s not what the real meaning of freedom is. As a matter of fact, in Romans 8:2 it talks about what real freedom is. It says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." We’ve been set free from the law of sin and death that continues to reside in our flesh. We’re free from the penalty of sin. We’re free from t