[MUSIC PLAYING] [CHEERING] Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Wouldn't miss that
for the world. It's been so long, I think
I've forgotten how to preach. [LAUGHTER] Hey, listen-- let not your
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Peace, I give to you-- My peace I leave with you,
not as the world gives, do I give to you. Those are words,
those are promises from your Savior and mine,
the Lord Jesus Christ. [APPLAUSE] Hey, do you think-- do you think that there's enough
fear being dispensed out there? I think we need words
of faith, don't you? So let's do this. Let's turn in our Bibles to
the book of Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. We have been in a
series in this book. We're going to be touching a
little bit on the issue at hand as we go through
this message tonight. My year so far has
been very interesting. I seem to go from one
crisis to another. And just when I get out
of the hospital, the ICU, I am met with a coronavirus-- not personally,
but it's out there, and people are
living in fear of it. But somebody once put it this
way-- a happy family is but an earlier heaven. And I've learned that. I've learned the value of my own
family during a time of crisis, and I have learned the value of
this family during a crisis-- the spiritual family,
the brothers and sisters, the men and women of God who
pray and walk through and work through crises together. Now we find ourselves in another
one, called the coronavirus. Everybody in the world, I
think, knows that word now, and it didn't take long
for them to learn it. So what do we do during
a crisis like this? Well, we act like a family. We act like family should act. We should be careful, yes, but
we should be caring, certainly. We should take precautions,
but we should never panic. We should never
give over to fear. [APPLAUSE] It takes the same
amount of energy to pray as it does to worry. One leads to peace,
one leads to panic. Do you ever wonder
during this crisis-- I wonder what the churches
in Wuhan, China are doing? Would you like to know? Many of them have decided
to act like a family. Many of them have decided to
go to the streets and minister to the emergency care workers-- the medical workers--
to take meals to those who are quarantined
because of this disaster. They see it as an
opportunity to share the love of their
Heavenly Father and their Savior in
very, very tangible ways. And there's something else-- this is not
unfamiliar territory. Plagues have happened
before in times past. Epidemics have
happened in the world. Pandemics have happened
before in the world. And there were Christians. For example, in Europe during
the time of Martin Luther, there was a horrible
pandemic that was called the bubonic plague
that killed 50 million people in Europe alone. 50 million souls died because
of that plague in Europe. And that's just Europe. If you were to add up
North Africa and Asia and other countries
around, estimates are between 75 and 200 million
people lost their lives. It was a crisis. And people were asking,
what should Christians do during those times? Martin Luther was asked,
what should Christians do? What should churches do? What should pastors do
in the bubonic plague? And the biggest question he
got is, should Christians run? Should they flee? And he was very careful
in how he answered it as far as a response. Of course, they had
closed the university where he lived in
Wittenberg-- sound familiar? They closed the university. The year was 1527. Cases of the plague hit
the town Luther was in. The people in charge urged
Martin Luther to leave town. He would not leave town. He told them to
attend to the sick-- their sick neighbors, if
they had a family certainly stay at home, he said, and
attend to your sick family, much like the protocol you
and I have heard recently. He said follow the
practical advice of the powers that are over you
as they give their mandates. But he was also vying for taking
the sick people out of homes and isolating them to treat them
medically so the people could fumigate their homes from
some of these problems that they were facing. But then he gave what I think
is the most practical piece of advice you could give to
any human being at any time, certainly during a crisis. He said, prepare
for your own death. Be ready to face
eternity with God. It is appointed, and
a man wants to die after this, the judgment. He said, how do you prepare? By listening to sermons, by
getting the word of God in you, by taking the sacraments,
he called it-- gathering together and taking
the Lord's Supper, et cetera. Now, we are in a very
lengthy chapter-- chapter 16 of the
book of Romans. Just put your eyes
over that chapter and see how much territory
we have to cover. This is a family chapter. It is filled with
family language. Verse 1, he mentions
Phoebe our sister. He's speaking
spiritually, of course. Down in verse 17, I
urge you, brethren-- that's a family term. Down to verse 23, Paul writes
about Quartus, a brother. All of these are family terms--
brother, sister, brethren. And then there's
also a common thread that runs through this
chapter, a phrase that tells us what kind of family
Paul was speaking about. I want you to notice in verse
2 that you may receive her in the Lord. Verse 3-- greet Priscilla and
Aquilla, my fellow workers, in Christ Jesus. Skip down to verse 7-- greet Andronicus and
Junia, my countrymen, fellow prisoners who are
of note among the apostles, who also were in
Christ before me. Verse 8-- greet Amplius,
my beloved, in the Lord. Verse 9-- greet Urbanus, our
fellow worker, in Christ. I'll stop there-- 11 times
in this chapter, in Christ, in the Lord. So I draw that to your attention
so that we are dealing here with a spiritual family. That is the thrust and
the theme of this chapter. Paul ends this incredibly
doctrinally rich epistle filled with
justification by faith, filled with so many great
theological nuggets. He ends it with the
spiritual family in mind. That's why I've
called this message How to Treat Your Family-- the family of God. In this chapter,
Paul lists 26 people that he names by name and
two people that are unnamed-- so a list of roughly
28 individuals this chapter includes, which is
why many people ignore chapter 16 of the book of Romans. My heart just didn't
resonate with a genealogy. I'm not going to get much out
of a whole bunch of names. What do I care about names? Well, if your name's
in it, you care. [LAUGHTER] But I submit to you that it
should gladden our heart, and here's why. What this chapter shows
us is that Paul was not a lone ranger. He didn't operate alone. He always had a team. He always had a group. He always had a
collaborative around him. He spoke to people that way. He ministered that way. Which brings up sort
of an umbrella issue-- how connected are you
to people in church? How connected are you
to the spiritual family? One author puts it this way--
who's holding your trampoline? I'm referencing a book that
was put out some years ago by Donald Joy. He was an expert
on relationships, and he wrote a book. And the very first
chapter was called, "Who's Holding Your Trampoline?" And the way he
sets this book off is that you need
individuals in your life when you're bouncing up and down
and there's viruses floating around and you don't know
where you're going to land and you've had brain
surgeries and back surgeries, you just don't know what's
going to happen in your future. [LAUGHTER] When you come
bouncing up and down, who's holding your trampoline? What Donald Joy says
is every individual needs four groups of people. Think of it as a
four-sided trampoline. You need a group on this
side, this side, this side, and this side. He calls them four groups--
family, relatives, friends, acquaintances. Family, relatives,
friends, acquaintances. Let me explain. Your family, of course,
is your immediate family-- parents, children,
spouses-- spouse. [LAUGHTER] Brothers and sisters. If you're in the Old
Testament, I could say spouses. So family-- number
two, relatives. Those are also
part of your family but they're a little
more distant-- uncles, aunts, grandparents. Third group-- friends, those
are your growing, solid, active collection of friends that
you have in your life. And finally, number
four, associates-- people you work with,
people you work out with, people in your church. All four groups,
says Donald Joy, represent a person's support
system in any crisis. So just think-- you
don't have to take a test or write it down-- but
how many people can you count in your life that are
holding your trampoline? Paul counts 28, and
that's just this letter. According to Donald Joy and
according to researchers, a healthy system has at
least 12 people holding you. Most of them know each other. That's a healthy system. A neurotic system--
somebody who's neurotic-- has about 10 or
11, maybe 10 to 12, and they don't necessarily
know each other-- about a third of them do. A psychotic individual,
only about four or five. Now, I have divided chapter
16 into three sections, each of them with a directive. How do you treat your family? You treat them this way. Be welcoming, be
honoring, be discerning. Be welcoming, be honoring,
and be discerning. Now, let me just say that I wish
I had more time on chapter 16. I know I say that in every
chapter of the Bible, but I discovered I could do-- and I'd love to do--
an entire series just on the 16th chapter. I'm only going to touch
on some issues tonight. So be welcoming, be
honoring, be discerning. First of all, be welcoming. Verse 1-- I commend to you
Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the
church in Cenchreae, that you may receive
her or welcome her in the Lord in a 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 and of myself also. What I love among a lot
of things of this chapter is the very first person on
Paul's list in chapter 16 is a woman. Now, this is huge
if you realize this was written in antiquity
2,000 years ago in a Greco-Roman culture. First on his list was
a woman named Phoebe. In fact, in this
list, chapter 16, nine of the 26 people that are
named are women's names. And four of those
women are described as being laborers in the Lord
or hard workers for Christ. I love that. I love it because it
destroys the notion that Paul is a chauvinist, that the
Bible is misogynistic, and Paul wasn't very
friendly to women. Listen, the Bible
honors the role of women over and over again. If you compare biblical
culture to prevailing culture, huge difference. In the Greco-Roman culture,
which was male-dominant-- ancient cultures
were male-dominant-- Jewish men could
divorce their wives, Jewish women could not
divorce their husbands. In the Greco-Roman culture,
when a baby was born, everyone hoped it was a boy. It had a better
chance of survival. Girls were regarded
as a financial burden in one's future. At least boys could
contribute to the family. That's how they saw it. So we have a little snippet
of that in a letter from 1-- the year 1-- BC, where a man writes his wife. He's a Greek laborer. I think he's writing in Egypt. And he writes his wife
because he found out that she's pregnant. She's going to
deliver a child soon. So he writes a letter and says,
quote, "if, good luck to you, you have another child, if it
is a male child, let it live. If it is a female, cast it out." Close quote. Now, what he was
referring to in the letter was a common practice
in Greco-Roman culture where people could
take their babies and toss them out
on the garbage dump. And if they survived,
they were usually picked up by people
who would make them slaves and/or prostitutes. How different women are
treated on the pages of the New Testament. Jesus welcomed women. There were a group of
women around Jesus, not just his disciples. They followed him in
his Galilean ministry. Luke chapter 8 tells
us 12 were with him-- those are the Twelve
Apostles-- and certain women-- and they're named Mary called
Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Then there was a
group of women that followed Jesus all
the way to the Cross, and they were there
in those final moments as our Lord was
hanging on that cross. You ever think about the
role of women in the Bible? Deliverance of the children
of Israel from Egypt began with a woman
obedient to God named Jochebed, the
mother of Moses, who put that little baby
down stream in that river. The story of the
line of King David includes a faithful Gentile
woman by the name of Ruth. The preservation of
the Jews in Persia were due to a woman named
Esther, who saw such a time as this to speak up. And the New Testament
story of salvation by faith through Jesus
Christ begins, in part, by a virgin woman named Mary. And now, Paul begins his
list in Romans chapter 16-- his list of helpers with
Phoebe, first mentioned a woman. Now, three things
are said of Phoebe. Number one, she is our sister. That describes her
relationship spiritually. Second, she is called a servant. This describes her
role ministerially. And third, she is
called a helper. That describes her
activity practically. She is our sister. She is a servant. She is a helper. Here's what's interesting. The word "servant" used
here is the same word used in Acts chapter
six for a group of men that the early church
identified deachonoy. The word here is deaconos
a deacon, a deaconess, somebody who serves the church
in a very practical way. And there were deaconesses,
history tells us, in the earlier
years of the church who were dispatched to
do a number of things like visit the sick and help the
poor and many things like that. Paul says that she has
been a Helper of many and of myself also, verse 2. Now, you see that word helper? Best translation--
patroness, benefactress. So because he uses this word, we
can infer that she was probably a wealthy woman, some
kind of a business woman who gave support to
Paul the Apostle. Maybe she owned property. Maybe she owned a business. Maybe she was a merchant. Perhaps her husband died
and left that to her. We don't know,
but she had means. And it seems that
she was the one who carried the Epistle of
Romans to the Church at Rome on behalf of Paul-- and
paid for that journey. And she went along with the
people who went along with her. Paul says when she
comes, receive her. Welcome her. So how do you treat your family? Be welcoming. Be welcoming. The New Testament word
would be, be hospitable. Hospitality. Hospitality's a word used
in the New Testament-- Greek word is philinexia,
and it literally means the love of strangers. Be hospitable. Be welcoming. Love people. Love strangers. Somebody once said, if the world
seems cold to you, light fires to warm it. I think that's a
good word right now. I think during this
crisis that we face, the world seems very
cold, very fearful. How many people do
you know freaked out? And isolation, which
we're told to do-- and I understand that's
part of being responsible-- makes people feel colder. If it feels colder to you,
light fires to warm it. World is so scary
right now for people. And one thing we're
seeing is people's fears coming to the surface. Act like a family. Be welcoming. Introduce the fearful,
freaked out people to the peace and love
and hope of Jesus Christ. [APPLAUSE] That's an opportunity. Our hope is not found in staying
healthy this side of heaven. We want that. Trust me, after what I've
been through, I want that. They asked me in the hospital,
what is your goal for the day? My goal, I said, is to get out
of here and never come back. [LAUGHTER] That's my goal. But I realize our hope
is not found in staying healthy this side of heaven. I have hope beyond this earth. So be welcoming. Second big theme
here is be honoring. Now, after verse 2,
beginning in verse 3, for the next several verses,
Paul is being honoring. He's sending regards
to people by name. Greet this guy, greet
that guy, greet that gal. Hey, people here, say hi. Let's get a flavor
of that verse 3. Greet Priscilla and
Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked
their own necks for my life, to whom not only I
give thanks, but also the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church
that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epenetus,
who is the first fruits of a Achaya to Christ. Greet Mary, who
labored much for us. Greet Andronicus and
Junia, my countrymen, my fellow prisoners, who are
of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplius, my
beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our
fellow worker and Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Greed Apelles,
approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the
household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodian, my countryman. Greet those who are of the
household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa,
who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis,
who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus-- anybody named
Rufus, I'm going to greet, because that just sounds
like he's a mean guy. Greet Rufus-- hey,
Rufus, what's up? Chosen in the Lord, and
his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon,
Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers
who are with them. Greet Philoligus and Julia,
Narius and his sister, and Olympas and all the
saints who are with them. Greet one another
with a holy kiss. The churches of
Christ greet you. Go down to verse 21-- Timothy, my fellow worker, and
Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen. Greet you. I, Tertius, who
wrote this epistle-- he's the secretary
or emmanuencus here-- greet you in the Lord. Gaius, my host, and the
host of the whole church, greet you Erastus, the
treasurer of the city greet you, and Quartus, a brother the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. What these names in this
list, these greetings, this honor-- what
this shows us is that Paul was a friend-maker,
not just a soul-winner. You know, we usually
picture Paul as sort of austere, maybe to
himself, very intense, nose to the grindstone. I'm going to write letters and
I'm going to build churches and I'm going to win souls. But he also made friends. He knows a lot of people. I mean, it's hard for
me to say these names. He knew these names. They were friends of his. He was not a one-man show. He was not a one-man band. He was not so isolated that
he didn't involve himself with other people. Paul was a friendly person. One of my favorite
Proverbs, Proverbs 18:24, says a man who has friends-- do you know this verse-- must himself be friendly. How come I don't
have any friends? Maybe you're just,
like, a curmudgeon. Maybe you need to be friendly. A man who has friends
must, himself, be friendly. What does that mean? A friendly person operates
on the basis of supply, not on the basis of need. You can operate two
different levels. You can operate on
the basis of need. I need this. People better give this to me. I hope somebody is
there to do this for me. Or you could be
the kind of person who operates on the
basis of supply. That's a friendly person. You give. You minister. You share. We remember Philippians
chapter 2, do we not? Let nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not
only for his own interests, but also for the
interests of others. Paul made friends. He was a friendly person. Now, I read a lot of names
that are listed here, and let me cheat a little bit by
saying, when you get to heaven, you'll meet them all. And you'll learn who they are. And you'll get their full story. I'm not going to give
you their full story. I don't have the time. That would require a
series in this chapter. But indulge me a
little bit, I want to get acquainted
with a few with you. First, notice this
great couple in verse 3. Greet Priscilla and Aquila. How cute is that? That's a husband and wife
team, and their names rhyme. Hi, I'm Aquila. Hi, I'm Priscilla. I mean, I could just sort
of picture them, right? They were a great team. They were from Rome originally. They were from Italy. They were kicked out of Italy
when the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews in 49 AD. And so they moved. And Corinth was a
great spot to move, because it was a
commercial hotspot. They were tent-makers,
so they came to Corinth and they set up their
business in Corinth. They were Jews. They went to the synagogue. When Paul comes to
Corinth to visit Corinth, first thing he does is
go to the synagogue. Now, let me give
you a little trivia. I think this is fun. In ancient times,
synagogues were divided. Men sat on one side,
women sat on the other. So wives did not sit
with their husbands like we are afforded today. So they were separated
male and female. But also, the men, on
their side of the room, sat in groups according to
their trades or professions. So Paul comes into the
synagogue visiting Corinth and sits in the section
where tent-makers are, because he is a tent-maker. And who does he bump into? Not Priscilla, Aquila. And they start talking, because
they are both tent-makers. Paul gets to lead both
of them to Christ. They become very dear
to Paul the Apostle. Paul sends them to
Ephesus later on, and now they're back in
Rome where they are from. So that's Aquila and Priscilla. She is mentioned first-- Priscilla and Aquila here. But go down to
verse 5, and here's something very interesting. Likewise, greet the church
that is in their house. So we have a couple that had
a church now in their home. They opened their
heart to the gospel, then they opened their home for
the gospel and with the gospel. Now, you should know
that churches operated in the earliest years of
Christianity from private homes until about 200 AD. In 200 AD, the persecution
in that part of the world was so fierce that they
had to abandon their home. They had to go underground,
meet in homes privately. Often in the city of Rome, they
would meet in the catacombs-- the burial chambers
underneath the earth. But they met in
homes for 200 years. Justin Martyr, who was
on trial during this time in the third century-- when he was on trial,
the Roman prefect-- that is the Roman official-- said to him, where do
you Christians assemble? Justin Martyr said, we do
not, as you suppose, meet in one place, for our God
fills the heaven and the earth, and therefore he is
present anywhere. We can meet any place and
have communion and fellowship with him. When I go to Rome, I have a
home where I go and remain. And those Christians who
desire to hear me teach will come into that home. So they met in homes. And there was now a
church in the home of Aquila and Priscilla. Now, using that as
the springboard, we, depending on what happens
with this crazy coronavirus, must be prepared to
do the same thing. If we need to, thank
God for technology. If we need to, we can operate,
and this feed right now is being seen by
people who are meeting in homes, people
around the country, people around the world. And if we need to close
down the public assemblies, and that is mandated, we
will certainly do that. And we're prepared
to live stream. Now, some people question that--
why would Christians do that? Here's why. Love may require that
we do that for a season. That is not being fearful. That is being responsible. It is a way to
love our neighbor. And how do we show that
we love our neighbor? We give up certain
privileges that we have, and we use the
technology available. And I guarantee you-- it's pretty obvious that enough
Christians are freaked out. Imagine your
unbelieving neighbors. You think they're freaked out? Because they don't
have the hope you have. And you've invited
them to church, I bet-- some of you have. And they haven't come. How about now bringing
church to them? How about meeting in the
home, inviting them over-- I'll feed you a meal, we're
going to watch something on TV. It's live-streamed. It could be an opportunity. So be useful, be purposeful,
be available during this time. That's being honoring. So be welcoming. Be honoring. But we're not done. Go down to verse 9. There's a couple of
names I can't pass up. Greet Urbanus, our
fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Who are they? I have no clue. But actually, I do have a clue. Urbanus was a common
name for slaves. Urbanus-- do you
recognize the word? Urban. Our word urban comes from
Urbanus-- it means city. And so the word Urbanus
actually means city-bred-- or we call it a city slicker. What it probably means
is he was a slave who was raised and worked in
a city, probably Rome. It was a very common
name for slaves. The next name, Stachys,
is an uncommon Greek name, but there is one
listing in antiquity that mentions a guy
named Stachys found in the royal household in Rome. What I think is significant
is in the same sentence, Paul mentions somebody who
is a slave and somebody who is noble-- somebody who's a servant and
somebody who is royalty-- not a respecter of persons. Which, by the way, this
virus, we have discovered, is no respecter of persons. The virus doesn't care
if you're poor or rich. It doesn't seem to care
where you live, doesn't seem to care your skin color, doesn't
seem to care how much education or how important you
are in the community. You could be poor
or you could be Tom Hanks and his
wife down in Australia shooting a movie
about Elvis Presley and are now quarantined,
or an NBA player who is positive with this, or the
wife of the Canadian Prime Minister-- doesn't matter. In this regard, the coronavirus
is very much like sin. The only thing is, we're
all infected with sin. And it is far more lethal. And sin, like the virus, is
not a respecter of persons. But that's where the Cross
comes in, because neither is the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the great bulldozer
that levels everyone. God has no favorites. You can Urbanus,
you can be Stachys, but if you're in the
Lord, you're part of us. No respecter of persons. Billy Graham used
to say the ground is always level at
the foot of the Cross. And Paul demonstrates
that in verse 9 by using these two
names together. Go down to verse 10. Don't worry, we're
going to finish. 10 and 11. Greet Apelles, approved in
Christ, greet the household. Those who are of the
household of Aristobulus. Mark that name. Greet Herodian, mark
that name, my countryman. Greet those who are of the
household of Narcissus-- mark that name--
who are in the Lord. Now, Aristobulus, we
believe-- scholars believe-- was none other than the
brother of Herod Agrippa I and also the grandson
of Herod the Great. Herodian, who is mentioned
here, is related, obviously, to the Herod family, and perhaps
is associated with Aristobulus. Narcissus, named here, happened
to be very well-known in Rome. He was rich, very influential,
and a real creep-- very ungodly, profligate. And he was well known. He was the Secretary
of the Roman Emperor Claudius for a while. But what Paul is doing
is greeting members of the household of these
people who have obviously come to faith in Christ--
employees, slaves-- but they came to know Jesus. That's noteworthy. Then again verse
13, greet Rufus. Now, I made a joke about
Rufus a minute ago, but let me get a
little more serious. When we read this,
we go, I don't know who Rufus is any
more than I know who Phlegon is in the next verse. It's just a name. It doesn't mean anything. But we actually get
insight into who Rufus was by reading the gospel of Mark. Incidentally, guess where the
gospel of Mark, we believe, was written-- Rome. Now, in the gospel
of Mark chapter 15, you'll know this story,
you'll know the reference, Jesus is carrying His cross
to Golgotha, and at one point, it gets so heavy,
He falls, right? And somebody is
compelled to carry it. Remember his name? Simon from Sirene. Mark 15-- they compelled a
certain man, Simon, a Sirenian, the Father of Alexander
and Rufus, as he was coming out of the
country and passing by, to bear His Cross. Now, there would be no
reason for the gospel writer to mention Rufus and Alexander
to the church in Rome unless they knew
Alexander and Rufus. Here, he mentions
him in this story. And the fact that Simon
was his father, let's put the story together. Obviously, Simon,
who carried the Cross of Jesus Christ, and
Mrs. Simon, according now to the text in
this chapter, both came to know Jesus
Christ, probably because of that encounter, and
maybe even going to the Cross and watching the Savior die. That's probably what happened. Then, they had kids, and they
raised them to be believers, and now they are in
the church at Rome. I'm sort of belaboring all this,
because I want to make a point. There is a common thread that
runs through this chapter, and here it is. Out of great calamity
comes great opportunity. Whether it's the
calamity of getting kicked out of Rome if
you're Aquila and Priscilla and you have to move and you
happen to end up in Corinth and you sit next to a guy
named Paul in the synagogue who leads you to Christ-- bam, that's good. Hallelujah for that--
calamity, opportunity. Or there's persecution and
you have to go underground-- whatever it is-- or you're
Jesus and you get crucified, but that atones for
the sins of the world, and a guy named Simon
who bore the Cross comes to know that Savior, and there's
that trickle-down opportunity. I say that, because
in this crisis, we should start
viewing it-- yes, responsibly, yes, protectively,
but, yes, as an opportunity. Do you think this
took God by surprise? The Bible says even the
winds and the sea obey him. God could stop this in
a heartbeat if he chose. But here it is. God's people can use
this as an opportunity. Now, in verse 16, it says, greet
one another with a holy kiss. I would have to
get this text right in the middle of coronavirus. [LAUGHTER] Right? It says greet one
another with a holy kiss. And let me just say,
don't do that tonight. And I'll tell you why. First of all, in
ancient times, this was a custom to kiss a family
member or a relative that was not a close family member,
maybe even a close friend, if you hadn't seen that
person for a long time-- especially you kiss them on
the forehead or both cheeks. Justin Martyr in
the second century said when we finish
our prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Tertullian called
this a kiss of peace. You know why it was important
to the early church? By the way, five times
in the New Testament, by both Paul and
Peter, we are told to greet one another
with a holy kiss. Here's why-- it's
a family gesture. And he's writing to people
who have been kicked out of their families. Their families
have disowned them because they know Jesus now. So Paul is saying,
treat them like family. Greet one another
with a holy kiss. They're not getting
that from their family. You be their family. That's what this is about. But I love how the Phillips
translation translates it. Give one another a hearty
handshake all around for my sake. Now, I'm going to say don't
do that either tonight. Don't kiss each
other on the cheek, don't give each
other a handshake. Now, let me read this
to you in the NSV-- the New Skip Version. Greet one another with
an enthusiastic, hello. [LAUGHTER] Do that. Maybe I should call it the
new coronavirus version. Just say hello for right now. No handshakes, no
hugs, no fist bumps. Viruses can get passed this way. Just hi. God bless you. I love you. Consider yourself hugged. Don't kiss each
other on the cheek. Don't even blow a kiss. Just-- you got it. Now, I want to bring
this to a close. Be welcoming, be honoring,
third, be discerning. How do you treat one
another in a family? You be discerning. That is you love people enough
who watch out for people who come in and don't love them. That's called being
discerning, verse 17. Now I urge you, brethren,
note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to
the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them, for
those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ
but their own belly-- that is their own appetite,
it's all about them-- 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-- I love this, love this,
love this-- the God of peace will crush Satan under
your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all, amen. This paragraph, to some
people, seems out of place, but it is not. Here's why. Any dad, any
husband, any man who loves his family is going to
want to protect his family. Love will do that. Paul was their
father in the faith. Paul knew God had done
a great work in Rome. He did not want division
to destroy that work. It is not unlike Paul at
all to say things like this. 1 Corinthians 13:6-- love
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. When Paul left the
church of Ephesus on the shores of
Miletus he said, I know that after my
departure, savage wolves will come in not sparing the sheep. Even people from
among your own flock will come in and draw
disciples under themselves. I've warned you
of this, he said. I wept for years about this,
and I warned you about it. That's a good shepherd. A good shepherd
protects his sheep. A good shepherd used to
carry a staff and a rod. The staff was to direct the
sheep, gently lead them. A rod was to beat not
sheep, but wolves. A wolf would come in, he'd take
out that club, bam, bam, bam. You want a shepherd like that. That's a good shepherd. I love that when the
conversation the Pharisees were once having with
the disciples of Jesus, Jesus sort of walked over to
them and said to the Pharisees, what are you talking
to my disciples about? Not that he didn't know what
they were talking about, he was God, but he just
sort of got in their grill-- their little Pharisaic face and
was a good shepherd to them. Any time there's a
work of God, there's going to be a
counter-work of Satan. That's the way it is. If God is on the
move, so is the devil. Light always attracts bugs. And so you need a
fly-swatter, and Paul provides that in this paragraph. So notice what Paul says--
bringing this to an end now. I should sound more like
Paul-- finally, my brethren. Of course, he said
that then he kept going in several of
his letters, but I want you to notice the way
to handle divisive people. He says, first of
all, you've got to be aware of who they are. Now I urge you,
verse 17, brethren, note those who cause
divisions and offenses. Obviously, people wormed
their way into the church in Rome, sowing
seeds of disunity, making it about themselves. So it says note who they are. And then look at the
end of verse 17-- and avoid them. What do you do with
a divisive person? What do you do a person
who wants to argue? Don't. Walk away. Ignore them. Because when you ignore
a person like this, you're not giving them
what they want the most, and that is attention. They want to control
the narrative. Don't let them. They want to make it about them. Don't let it be. Walk away. Don't post something
nasty on your Instagram. Don't tweet something really
bad in response to their tweet. Just move on. Reject what they
say and move on. So in short, this is how
you treat your family. Welcome them, honor
them, protect them. As we close, in
the next few weeks, we may have to give
up certain privileges. We'll see how this goes
day by day, week by week. We are prepared if we needed
to stop the mass assembly and get this out
to you via phone and Roku and Apple TV
and computer, et cetera. We may have to
give up a privilege to protect the vulnerable. But-- but, hope is
better than fear. And prayer is better than panic. And that's what we're
demonstrating here. And let me just say this-- marching forward together
is way better than marching into the future alone. I'm happy to march into
the future with you, no matter if we do it
online for a few weeks only and get back together. But we want to honor the Lord. We're going to close in prayer. I'm going to ask a few people
to come up and pray-- three to be exact. That's because our
president wisely decreed this weekend, tomorrow,
to be a National Day of Prayer. And that's where this
nation should be. So I'm going to have
three individuals that represent our church
to close us in prayer. Would you all stand? Good evening, everybody. My name is Vince. I just want to lift up in
prayer our public safety and our medical personnel
across the country. In 2 Timothy 1:7,
it says God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of
power, love, and a sound mind. So I want to rest on that. Father God, we just
thank you, Lord, that we can come to
you humbly and ask for prayers for our country. Lord, just like Skip
said, Lord, it's an honor to come
before you always, and we focus on that, Father. We thank you for the Cross. Lord, we ask for
special protection on those public servants
across the country, Lord, that are
working tirelessly in the ERs and the urgent
cares, the firemen, the rescue, the police officers,
the Sheriff's deputies, the firemen. We ask for a special
blessing and protection. Lord, we ask special
wisdom for our leaders across the country at the
federal level, the state level, and the local level. We ask this in your
precious, holy name, amen. Hi, I'm Roxie Sharpe. I'm director over at Calvary
Kids here at Calvary, and we'll be praying for
the families and the kids. Lord God, just thank
you and praise you for who you are
in our lives, God, that you are a God
that loves us so much, that we can call out
to you as our father-- and you are a good, good father. Families, God, just a
special blessing on them, on their children, not
just here at Calvary, but in our community
and worldwide, God. God, I just pray for
little hearts that may be scared right
now, the unknown, changes in their schedule, God-- I just pray that You hold them
oh so tight in Your loving hands. God, I just pray for
these next few weeks when kids are out of school,
just that families would be knit together,
that there would be just precious,
precious family time, and that you would be
the center of it, God. So just lift all this
up to you and, God, just that you would show
us how to be your hands and your feet during this time-- how we can be a light
in the darkness, God. I thank you also for
the New Mexico kids and for some of the things
that have been put through in the school districts
so some of these kids that will be out of school
will have food, they'll have lunch
and breakfast. So, God, I just pray
for all those provisions that are being made,
God, and that you would be forests in all of this, God. We love you, we praise you,
and it's in your Son's name we pray. Amen. Well, my name is
Neil, and we're going to pray for God to redeem and to
work uniquely during this very interesting season of life. Would you please pray with me? God, we thank you that we
can pray praise echoing the word of the
Psalmist who said that he who dwells in the
secret place of the most high shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty. We will say of the
Lord, He is our refuge and our Fortress, our God-- in Him we will trust. God, we pause to
thank You that we have safety in Your
abiding presence, no matter what
life might contain. And, Lord, You, and
often uniquely You through your people,
can shine the brightest in the darkest of times. And so, God, we thank
You that You have not ceased to be on the throne,
that You are at work, You're fully in the
know, and we trust, we ask that You would
redeem to the fullest extent this disruption to the
normal flow of life. And, God, that men and
women around the globe and in our city would
come to know You-- for those that have
been running from You, they would turned
towards You, God. Lord, that you would capitalize
by Your Holy Spirit on peoples' fresh thoughts and
perhaps, even their fears-- and just like You so
goodly and awesomely have done for so many of
us even gathered now, You met us in our
darkest hours on the wave of our greatest fears. And so, God, around this globe,
we pray for revival, Lord, for You to work in and
through people's lives-- that their spiritual health,
Lord, would be brought to life, that it would be preserved,
that it would grow. And yet, God, we also
pray for the many around the globe that
are currently sick and that are in
the grip of fear. Please, Lord, meet those who are
sick with healing, with health. Please, Lord, meet those who are
fearful with the great gospel of Your salvation, God. So Lord, we join
with our brethren from all across this
nation and the globe asking for You to shine brightly
against the dark backdrop of this trouble,
and that, Lord, You would be the Prince of Peace
and the God of salvation-- radically, powerfully,
freshly throughout the globe and in our city. We ask all of this
gratefully, confidently in the name of our great
Redeemer, our great Rescuer, the ultimate Healer,
Jesus Christ. And if you agree, say amen. Amen. How will you put the truths
that you learned into action in your life? Let us know. Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church. And just a reminder-- you can
support this ministry with a financial gift at
calvarynm.church/give. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary Church.
