God appreciates those who work for him

Romans 16

Good morning. Last week, in chapter 15, Jesus did not please himself but took up all our shame and insults upon him to please us. Also he accepted us as we are and now he wants us to bear with the weak, endure and encourage one another, and accept each other. Today, chapter 16 is the last chapter of the Romans. Thank God for blessing us to study the book of Romans for last several months. Next week, we will have a special message by Pastor Jacob Lee, and then we will go to the book of Matthew to know about Jesus. In today’s passage, there are two parts in this chapter: the first part is that Paul greeted and appreciated his co-workers who worked for God. The second part is to warn the believers against false teachers. These days, many countries in Afghanistan have tried to take some Afghanistan people out of the country. They used to work for other countries and now since Taliban took over the country (expected to arrest and kill them), many countries did not forget their hard work, appreciated them, and tried to save their lives. Similarly, in chapter 16, Paul named his coworkers one by one and appreciated their works. Actually, through the mouth of Paul, God appreciated their hard works for him. As God appreciated those who worked for him in the 1st century, today, in the 21st century, God appreciates those who work for him. Theses days, living as a Christian and working for God in America are not easy. We do not see often that a Christian prays or studies the Bible or shares the gospel on campus. Going to church is like old-fashioned school type. One statistics says only 20% of college students go to church while 80% live like the Gentiles. In such an environment, doing the bible study, praying, attending SWS are great in God’s sight. And working for the kingdom of God is even greater in his sight. God appreciates those who are faithful to him. Today, Andrew and Grace attend our SWS to encourage us and pray for Delaware UBF ministry from Maryland. I appreciate them and I think God must have appreciated them too. Through this passage, I pray we may learn about God who appreciates those who work for him and how we can be his faithful coworkers.

  1. Paul’s coworkers

Look at verse 1 and 2. “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deaconof the church in Cenchreae.I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.“ Paul mentioned Phoebe first. Why? Because she was the one who carried Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome. As you know, at that time, there was no US mail system or no internet. Cenchreae is 16 miles away from Corinth. The distance from Corinth to Rome is around 620 miles long. Paul had to find someone trustworthy to carry his Romans letter. He thought about whom I should ask. Then, Phoebe was chosen for this important task. Who is she? According to verse 1 and 2, she was a deacon of the church and the benefactor. At that time, a deacon played a role in taking care of church matters. It was an important position in the church. It means she was faithful to God and to the church. The church acknowledged her and appointed her as a deacon. As you know, in the 1st century, women did not have their own rights or own voices. Also in Roman history, when a boy was born, they were well taken care of. But when a girl was born, they were thrown out on streets. In such a society, God used her to carry the letter to Rome. This shows that God appreciates any women in any society when they are faithful to God. also either woman or man, whoever is faithful to God, God uses such a faithful person for his glory. When Jesus did his ministry, around him, there were many faithful women. In John 4, when Jesus approached to a Samaritan woman, she was very cold against him. But he endured her and gave her what she really needed: the living water. Because of him, she became a precious co-worker of Jesus. She went to her hometown and invited people to Jesus. Mary Magdalene was faithful to Jesus and God used her for God’s kingdom too. In the past, she was possessed with seven demons. We do not know what kind of demons she was caught. But Jesus saved her from the power of the seven demons. After that, she was royal to Jesus. Even though Jesus called the twelve and focused on raising them up, she did not leave Jesus but supported him like Phoebe did to Paul. In the Bible, many pages described what she and other women did for Jesus when Jesus was crucified on the cross. When Jesu was on the cross, all his disciples fled, but the women stayed near to him. When Jesus was buried in his tomb, it was the women who visited the tomb early in the morning. God did not forget their work for Jesus. The Bible recorded what they did to teach us today, God appreciates what we are doing for him, especially what women are doing for him, and all our good works for him will be recorded in the book of life.

Look at verse 3 – 5a. “ Greet Priscillaand Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Priscillaand Aquila are married couple. Priscillais a wife and Aquila is a husband. Why did Paul mention Priscillafirst? In our culture, we say “lady 1st” or “ladies and gentlemen”. But mentioning a woman’ name in front of a husband’s name was not normal at that time. I think Paul respected women but at the same time probably Priscilla might be more mature than her husband spiritually. She also must have been wise yet humble. She helped her husband Aquila to live for God’s glory. She was a good helper. But also Aquila was a devout believer and good husband. When the letter of the Romans was delivered to Rome later, he must have heard Paul mentioned his wife’s name first. Yet, he was not upset. It did not hurt his pride at all. Rather he was thankful that God sent Priscillaas his wife and used her and him for God’s salvation work.

How could they become Paul’s coworkers? Based on Acts 18, they used to live in Rome. But when Roman Emperor Claudius evicted all Jews out of Rome in AD 49, they settled down in Corinth. They seemed to run their tent-making business. At that time, Paul went to Corinth and seemed to be hired as a tent maker at their store. Paul preached the gospel to them. Though majority of the Jews refused the gospel, surprisingly they accepted Paul’s teachings. They became Paul’s faithful coworkers. One thing impressed me here is in today’s term, Paul shared the gospel to his boss. It is not easy for an employee to talk about Jesus to his boss: like students talk about Jesus to his professors. Yet, Paul went one-step further: He might be looking for a best time to share the good news with them. When there was a chance, he boldly preached the gospel. I heard a story from Belize UBF. Dyllion, just a regular employee, shared the gospel with his boss. Surprisingly, his boss accepted 1:1 bible study and now growing as a disciple of Jesus. He has become a faithful co-worker of Belize UBF ministry. Since I came to Delaware, I have prayed for sharing the gospel not only to students but also to faculties and staffs on campus. May God give me courage, the spirit of God to talk about Jesus with them whenever there is a chance so that they may believe Jesus and become faithful coworkers for our campus ministry.

Back to verse 4, Paul appreciated Priscillaand Aquila because they risked their lives for Paul. Wow! How could they risk their lives for Paul? Honestly, I envy them but at the same time, I am very burdened. I wish there might be one family coworkers who risk their lives for Delaware ministry. But to be honest, do I want to risk my life for them or the ministry? If I have to, am I willing to risk my life for Jesus? I am not ready for it yet at this time. Then, how could Priscillaand Aquila risk their lives for Paul? Were they exceptional? Were they special? It is said “the student has become the teacher”. So probably, they saw how Paul did not risk his life for Jesus. In fact, Paul risked his life for Jesus. He said in 1 Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Romans 14:8 says “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Then, another following question is how Paul could risk his life for Jesus? Because Jesus risked his life for God. Because he gave up his life for us like sinners. He said in John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.“ Jesus loved Phoebe, Priscillaand Aquila, Paul, and us. He loved sinners so much that he laid down his life on the cross. In Mark 3, there was a man with a shriveled hand. It was on the Sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders carefully watched if Jesus would violate the Sabbath law and heal him or not. Jesus knew their evil intention. Yet, he chose to heal the shriveled man. He said “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?“ According to Mark 3, through this event, the religious leaders made up their mind to kill Jesus. Thank you Jesus for risking your life for us. You gave up your life for us. We are so thankful that we have someone who loves us so much and willing to risk his life for us. I pray I may have the same attitude of risking my life for Jesus and the sheep.

Look at verse 5. Priscillaand Aquila are now in Rome. Probably Paul shared his plan of going Rome with them. They went back to Rome to prepare for spiritual environment. In Rome, they opened their house as the church: called a house church. Opening home is not easy. In general, at home, you relax, take off shocks, wear comfortable clothes, lie down on couches, and watch TV or phones. But if there are any visitors in your home, you need to clean bathroom, toilet, vacuuming, shopping, and cooking, lots of works. Yet, they opened their house for bible study, prayer, and SWS. That is a tough job. God appreciated them. In the bible, how did God reward them? In Acts 18, there was a man named Apollos. He knew about Jesus very little. God entrusted him to them. He became their bible student. They invited him to their home. They taught him about Jesus. Then, he became a great bible speaker and a pastor of the Corinth church. When they worked hard for Paul, even though Paul could not reward them much, but God saw them and blessed them so much.

We often hear if we believe Jesus or if we commit ourselves to God, we may be behind in this world. That is a lie from our enemy Satan. But the problem is that we are easily deceived that we are unwilling to commit ourselves to God. But God clearly promised, “If we seek first his kingdom and his righteous, all these things will be given to us as well”. In the bible, look at Abraham or David or Daniel. When they were faithful to God, they did not fail but they were blessed by God. But look at Lot or Judas. When they were not faithful to God, they ended up in miserable lives. So like Priscillaand Aquila, let us seek first God and become faithful coworkers to Jesus.

Look at verse 5b. “Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.” Paul greeted Epenetus. Who is he? He was the first convert to Christ Jesus in the province of Asia. When Paul came to that area, he did not have a church building. He did not any coworkers. He did not have any bible students yet. But when he shared the gospel, Epenetus accepted his invitation and became a believer later. From the point of Epenetus, it was not easy to accept Paul’s invitation. Yet, he studied the Bible with Paul and he became the first convert in the province of Asia. It was God’s grace upon him. Through him, Paul might be very comforted and encouraged that God would work in the Gentile areas. Tia is the first female student and Dre is the first male student attending in our worship service. By God’s grace, they have a great title. But also through them, God comforts and encourages Ruth and me.

Look at verse 6 – 24, Paul named one by one and greeted them. Especially, in verse 24, there is a man named Erastus. Who is he? He is the city’s director of public works, (Soren Fajeau: Newark). He is a high government official, yet he believed Jesus and became faithful coworker of Paul. Like him, how nice it will be, anyone who is in the high position, in companies, government, schools, fear God and work for the church faithfully. One of my prayers is that many UBF church members are successful in their careers and sit in the high position that they might spread the aroma of Jesus around people. Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States. He is known to be a devout Christian. In many cases, people in such a high position try to hide their Christians identity, worrying about their careers, but he boldly identified himself as a Christian. He served America as a president, he is 96 years old now yet has served Sunday school teacher, created a program called “habitat” which builds a house for the poor all over the world. He is a living Christian model that any successful people can still be faithful to God and be faithful coworkers in the church.

  • Paul’ warnings

Look at verse 17. Paul is very kind, gentle, and enduring. But related to the false teachers, he is very strict. He even called them “dogs”. Why? Look at 17 and 18. “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” Paul warned the believers to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in the church. They came with smooth talk and flattery, but their intention is not to serve God but to serve their own evil purpose. Especially they deceived naïve believers. Like little children, naïve believers do know what is right and what is wrong. Since they do not have deep bible knowledge, they are easily deceived. In Paul’s time, one of the false teachings was Agnostics. They argued how a holy Jesus could dwell in the sinful body? No way. So they denied Jesus’ physical crucifixion as well as his physical resurrection. In history, because of their teachings, many naïve believers left the church. This shows how important biblical bible study is to us. When we are equipped with sound bible knowledge, we can discern if this is correct or wrong based on the Bible. It saves our soul and our life from false teachings. Today, what can be false teachings? Recently I happened to hear a bible message while I was driving. The Pastor talked about hope in the middle of the Pandemic. He talked about many good things about hope, but I was wandering why he did not talk about our true hope Jesus. Where does true hope come from? Where does true rest come from? Where does true blessing come from? It is from Jesus who was crucified on the cross for our sins. We need to watch out for those false teachers. We need to study the Bible regularly.

Now look at verse 25-27. This is the conclusion of the Romans. Let us read together.  “Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes fromfaith—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”  Paul praised God who revealed the hidden mystery through Christ Jesus. He also praised the wisdom of God. For last several months, we have studied the book of Romans to know about the gospel. The gospel is like the hidden mystery. What is the gospel? The gospel is about Jesus. Also the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. The Bible says no one (either the Jews or the Gentiles) is righteous not even one. All are under the wrath of God. However, God so loved the world that his son Jesus became a sin offering. Now if anyone believes in him, they will be saved and they will become righteous in God’s sight. That is Romans 1:17 says “the righteous will live by faith”. Also once we know the gospel, Romans 12:1,2 says “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice to God and renew our mind”. Thank God for teaching us the gospel through the book of the Romans. Two weeks from now on, we are going to study the book of Matthew to know about Jesus deeply.

As a conclusion, God appreciates those who work for him. He does not forget them. He rewards them in his way and in his time. So let us be faithful to him and encourage each other to become good coworkers.