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This is a most fascinating chapter. Paul was a great theologian, but like Christ who knows His sheep by name, Paul knew many believers by name in a city he had not yet visited. Paul loved God’s people. He delighted in the grace that was so evident in their lives. He doesn’t remember them as being great preachers or soul winners or brilliant teachers or visionary leaders. Paul remembers them as servers and workers for the church of Christ. Faithful servants.
Carolyn and I attended Word of Life Bible Institute in Schroon Lake, NY and got to know the head of the institute, Dr. Paul Brownback. When we think of this gentleman today, one thing we remember is a spilled crock pot in someone’s trunk at our first church in North Vernon. He had become President of Citadel Bible College and brought their singing group to our church. One of our young ladies drove into our church parking lot with a crockpot full of stew in her trunk which had fallen over and stew flowed all over her trunk. Before we knew it, Dr. Brownback, author and president of a Bible college, had his hands in that trunk and dripping with stew while helping to clean up the mess.
That’s the kind of people who make up the body of Christ – God’s unknown faithful servants willing to get their hands dirty to clean up messes. The history of the church is a vast multitude of God’s unknown, but beloved, faithful servants. They are the life and strength of the church. People who never wrote a book, never got up to lead, but people who love Jesus, read their Bibles, faithfully attend church, serve where needed, available to help, and give generously as God has blessed them financially. Not Christian celebrities, but people who tell others about Jesus or about how much they love their church. They are those grains of salt and photons of light in this world that Jesus talked about, glorifying their heavenly Father.
GOD’S TROPHIES OF GRACE
There’s a mix of around 27 people in these verses. Jews and Gentiles, women and men, Latin and Greek names, married and single. Free people and slaves, wealthy people and common people eking out of living. Nine are women. This is the church, described as servants, helpers, hard workers, beloved, fellow prisoners, approved in Christ, workers in the Lord, eminent, one serving as a mother to Paul, choice saints. These are the unknown people of God who will shine forth like the stars forever and like the sun in our Father’s kingdom. They are God’s trophies of grace.
IN CHRIST
The differences among these people are striking, but they all have one identity in common. They are in Christ. You see this in verse 3: in Christ Jesus. Verse 7: in Christ. Verse 8: in the Lord. Verse 9: in Christ. Verse 10: in Christ. Verse 11: in the Lord. Verse 12: in the Lord, in the Lord. Verse 13: in the Lord. This is their one identity. These are all people who used to be lost, dead, and condemned in their sin. They were born in Adam, children of wrath, without God in the world. But God had other plans for them. In His sovereign and amazing grace, He had chosen them in eternity past to be His elect people, and now He has called them to Himself through the gospel. Some heard it through Paul. Others in another way, but somehow these people heard about Jesus, how to be saved, and the Spirit of God brought new life into their hearts. They were born again or regenerated. They turned to Christ in repentance and faith and were taken out of Adam and brought into this new position in Christ. That’s what makes them completely different from the lost people around them. They are all trophies of grace in Jesus Christ. This is the big divide between all people. Not economics or skin color or social status but being in Christ. Right here in this church you are either in Christ, or you are still in Adam, dead in your sins, and under God’s wrath. You don’t have to stay in under God’s wrath. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!
And just think, someday we who have believed in Christ will be caught up with all these saints when Jesus comes to rapture His church from the earth. We’ll all get new bodies at the same time and gather around the throne to praise and worship our Lord! And we’ll have all eternity to get to know each one of these trophies of grace.
PHOEBE “Bright and Radiant”
Romans 16:1-2, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; 2 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.
Phoebe means bright or radiant – and was she ever! That’s what ladies like Phoebe are, bright and radiant. The word “servant” is the Greek word “deacon,” and some think she had an official title as a deaconess. We don’t know that for certain, but she was a wonderful server. She was from Cenchrea, which was a seaport a few miles east of Corinth. Most people think, since Paul commends her as he does, that she is the one who carried this letter to the Romans to the church in Rome.
Donald Gray Barnhouse captures the significance of Phoebe’s errand to Rome (listen carefully). “Never was there a greater burden carried by such tender hands. The theological history of the church through the centuries was in the manuscript which she brought with her. The Reformation was in that baggage. The blessing of multitudes in our day was carried in those parchments!” Phoebe carried it all the way from the Aegean Sea up to the city of Rome, at least several hundred miles!
Paul also describes her as a “helper of many.” The word “helper”, prostatis, means standing ready to assist. This radiant woman had devoted her life to serving God’s people in any way needed. The church thrives with people like this. Paul urges them to treat her with utmost care and grace; she’s one of God’s saints! Give her whatever support she needs. I think of our Ladies Bible Study, ladies who study their Bibles, listen to good messages, read good books, develop discernment. Ladies need discernment today as much as ever. I think of ladies who pour their energies into Sunday School, into VBS, lovingly teaching young hearts, noble ladies changing poopy diapers in our nurseries, encouraging one another. Ladies who prepare all this delicious food we’re going to enjoy today, as well as bringing meals to families when needed. Phoebe is someone special; she has proven her worthiness in the Lord. She reminds me of people like Elizabeth Elliot, Edith Schaeffer, Joni Earekson, and of so many of you ladies right here, who have been helpers of many! Your labors are not in vain in the Lord.
PRISCA AND AQUILA
Romans 16:3-5, Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; 5 also greet the church that is in their house.
This amazing couple is mentioned six times in the New Testament: Prisca and Aquila (Aquila means “eagle”). Paul met them on his second missionary journey in Corinth. Here’s the back story in Acts.
Acts 18:1-3, After these things he (Paul) left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a 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. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent makers.
After some time, they left Corinth for Ephesus and that’s where they met Apollos. This is worth reading.
Acts 18:26, and he (Apollos) began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
You’ll notice Luke refers to Priscilla before Aquila. We don’t know why. We do know the Bible limits the eldership and the authoritative teaching of the church to men, but that doesn’t mean women are in any way limited from teaching other women or even giving personal counsel and help to other men like Apollos. Apollos had a humble spirit and must have received what this gracious and knowledgeable couple told him.
Paul was so grateful for this couple, his fellow workers in Christ. Somehow, they laid their lives on the line for him! Plus, he emphasizes that all the churches were thankful for them. By this time, they had made their way back to Rome and had a home large enough to accommodate the gathering church there in Rome (church buildings weren’t built until the third century). Paul’s last reference to this beloved couple is in 2 Timothy 4. Paul was in prison in Rome for a second time and apparently Prisca and Aquila were back in Ephesus. These are some of Paul’s last words before his execution, and he remembers this beloved couple.
2 Timothy 4:19, Greet Prisca and Aquila.
MARY
Romans 16:6, Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you.
Greet Mary, simply Mary. She was probably a single Jewish lady, and what a commendation she receives. She worked hard for you Romans. The word worked here is kopiao – work to the point of weariness. What did she do? Perhaps visit folks, cook, provide food, encourage other single ladies, clean up after the church meets, straighten up stuff, wipe off table crumbs, sweep the floor, take out the trash. We don’t know what she did, but we know she put herself into her service for the Lord and for His people – she “worked hard for you.” Isn’t that good? We’ve got some hard-working ladies around here and we are very thankful for you!
ANDRONICUS AND JUNIAS
Romans 16:7, Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
This is rich! Were they known as Andy and Junie? They were probably a married Jewish couple. They were Paul’s fellow prisoners, so somewhere they spent some jail time. In 2 Corinthians 11:23 Paul says he was in prison frequently. They were well-known and highly regarded among the apostles and were believers before Paul’s Damascus Road conversion.
AMPLIATUS
Romans 16:8, Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord.
Here was a one of Paul’s especially close friends – “my beloved.” I’m guessing there are many here in this room who have someone you have come to know and would call “beloved.” You came to Christ, came to church, and now you have life-long friendships and deep love and respect for them. “My beloved in the Lord.”
URBANUS AND STACHYS
Romans 16:9, Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.
Urbanus means urbane, elegant, polite, but was a common Roman slave name. There were five to ten million slaves in the Roman empire, and many had become believers. This gentleman was another fellow worker and will hear, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.” Paul deeply loved and appreciated Stachys. His name means an “ear of grain.”
APELLES
Romans 16:10, Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ.
Paul sees Apelles as approved or “tried and true.” Approved (dokimon) means he went through the fires of testing and remained faithful and true to his Lord. The word is used in 1 Peter 1:7, “that the proof (dokimon) of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That’s Apelles, tested and found faithful.
SO MANY MORE
Romans 16:10b-15, Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet those of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, workers in the Lord. Greet Persis the beloved, who has worked hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the brethren with them. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.
–Herodion a Jew, servants in Narcissus estate.
–Two gals, Tryphaena and Tryphosa, whose names means “Dainty” and “Delicate,” but they were workers!
–Another hard-working lady was Persis.
–Rufus, aka “Red”, just a dear guy, with a mother who somehow blessed Paul. Red’s father may have been Simon who helped Jesus carry the cross. Mark 15:21, “They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.” Imagine having Simon as your father!
–Philologus means “lover of the word.” He and Julia may have been a married couple. Julia was the most common name of female slaves in the imperial household.
And there were so many more, down to our own day, God’s chosen people, scattered around the world, living for another world. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote shortly after this time and commented that there were a multitude of followers of Christ in Rome. Amazing how Paul was so familiar with all these people in a city he had yet to visit.
THE HOLY KISS
Romans 16:16, Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
Paul ends this section with a reference to kissing one another. It was a sign of love and unity among the believers and mentioned five times in the epistles. But as time went by it got out of hand in the churches. One early church leader commented about the churches resounding with a shameless use of kissing, so people were counseled to kiss with a chaste and closed mouth. Some still give the holy kiss. My uncle Curtis, who was a Mennonite preacher, cornered and kissed me when he heard I was saved! I wasn’t ready for that! Anyway, the handshake or hug is good enough for us.
These are God’s unknown but celebrated people, trophies of grace! These are the strength and life of the local church! I want to conclude with three thoughts.
SO WHAT?
Faithfulness. That’s what God calls us to. Faithful workers you can depend on. The church isn’t a museum or a stadium with seats to spectate. It’s an army of faithful servants like these folks, laboring for Christ shoulder to shoulder, cleaning up the spilled stew when needed.
Females. We could have preached a whole sermon on how God has blessed the church with the members of the fairer sex. You see it right here with Phoebe and Prisca and many more. Some people attack Paul as a woman hater; he’s just the opposite. Some attack Christianity as keeping women down; that’s just the opposite. Biblical Christianity has never been anti-women; just the opposite. Down through the centuries women have been greatly used of God and women have stood strong and faithful to God. I love the story of that cheeky Scottish woman Jenny Geddes who threw her “creepie” folding stool at the Anglican bishop as he read out of the revised Romish prayer book in St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh because the Anglican form of worship was very close to Roman Catholicism. Others in the church joined her throwing sticks and stones at the apostate bishop and so began a full-scale riot. A group of ladies chased him out of the church. Several miles to the north in Brechin the bishop, taking no chances, decided to place two pistols on the pulpit aimed at the congregation (p.168 The Unquenchable Flame).
Francis Ridley Havergal and Fanny Crosby blessed the church with their hymns we still sing, “To God be the Glory” and “Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord to thee!” How about Joni Eareckson Tada? God has used her mightily through her great trials. And more recently Rosaria Butterfield, who repented of her sinful lesbian life and being an activist for the LGBT movement. She exposed the lies and ideology of feminism, homosexuality, and transgenderism in her books, Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and more recently Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age. Thank God for faithful females.
Fires. The fires of Nero’s persecution. On the horizon of this chapter the fires of Nero’s coming persecution flicker like an approaching storm. In a few short years many of these Roman Christians faced horrible persecution. In AD 64 Rome had burned for 7 days and that basest and vilest of tyrants, emperor Nero, needed someone to blame, so he pinned it on the Christians and had them put to death in the most shocking manner. In the words of the church historian Philip Schaff:
Some were crucified, probably in mockery of the punishment of Christ, some sewed up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the voracity of mad dogs in the arena. The satanic tragedy reached its climax at night in the imperial gardens on the slope of the Vatican. Christian men and women, covered with pitch or oil or resin, and nailed to posts of pine, were lighted and burned as torches for the amusement of the mob; while Nero, in fantastical dress, figured in a horse race, and displayed his art as charioteer.
These blood-bought saints were people of another kingdom, God’s kingdom. And though they paid dearly, the moment the pain and agony of death were over they were ushered into the very presence of their Lord and Savior. They are trophies of grace to rejoice forever with the Lord who saved them! Are you one of God’s unknown trophies of grace, faithfully serving God’s people, working hard, even though unnoticed? Are you “in Christ Jesus” like these folks were? Have you submitted your heart to Christ as your Savior from sin and your hope of eternal life?