WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.519 Let's go ahead and take out your copy of God's Word. Turn to Romans chapter 16. While you're doing that, I really appreciate the musical talent in this church. 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:23.760 It's so nice that Wes and Liz can take off for a vacation and we have others that can fill in for them and that care about content driven music the way all of us have so come to love and appreciate. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:31.220 And I even appreciate sometimes when the songs get stripped down like that and you really have to think about the words that you're singing. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:38.280 What a blessing. So last week we continued our work through Romans and we began in chapter 16. 00:00:38.859 --> 00:00:48.500 We kind of got this epilogue now. Paul's beginning to wind the letter down and we're beginning to have to really take a look at these texts because there's not explicit teaching any longer. 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:59.799 His intention here in chapter 16 is not to say to the church at Rome anything overtly. He's not saying, now learn this thing. I want you to be sure you understand this thing. 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:06.019 But yet, it's included in our scriptures and it's inspired and there's much for us to glean from it. 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:19.379 So we looked kind of in a broad way at verses 1 through 16 last week at all of the Christ-centered, love-saturated relationships that Paul had with the saints in Rome and we applied that to our own living together. 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:31.019 And as I told you last week, I hoped and Lord willing would and I believe what he is pleased for us to do today, wanted to go back and look at chapter 16 verses 1 through 5a. 00:01:31.019 --> 00:01:36.579 So we're going to look at these three characters that are at the very beginning of chapter 16. 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:38.719 So let's read that together and then we'll pray. 00:02:01.019 --> 00:02:06.119 Let's pray together. 00:02:07.379 --> 00:02:16.979 Father, we thank you and we praise you for our great salvation that you have worked in our hearts and changed us from haters of God to lovers of God. 00:02:17.300 --> 00:02:20.419 Certainly a miraculous activity in our lives. 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:38.039 And we thank you also for the guide and rule of scripture handed down to us through the spirit, through faithful writers, through much martyr's blood, through the faithful work of translators from the original language that we might hold it in our hands today. 00:02:38.099 --> 00:02:41.039 And I pray that all of us this day count it as precious. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:03:00.099 Even these verses, this, this wind down, this epilogue, so to speak, to Paul's great doctrinal treatise to the church in Rome, that we might learn from it and glean from it, that we might peer into what it might have to say to each of our lives individually as well as corporately. 00:03:00.620 --> 00:03:03.060 And we pray this in Christ's precious and holy name. 00:03:04.019 --> 00:03:04.299 Amen. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:04.460 Amen. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:15.320 So, before we take a look at these three characters, let me just ask you for a moment to kind of try to put yourself in their shoes. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:21.800 We don't know exactly when the letter to the Romans was written, but roughly between 55 and 57 AD. 00:03:22.380 --> 00:03:25.260 The first gospels had not yet been recorded at this point. 00:03:25.700 --> 00:03:30.939 We don't know if it's Matthew or Mark first, but around the year 60 AD is when they were penned. 00:03:30.939 --> 00:03:37.859 So, just imagine being in this early church and what you have is probably one copy of the Old Testament scriptures. 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:38.340 Right? 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.060 Those first 39 books of our Holy Bible. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:44.859 And then you have the teaching of the apostles that's being passed around by word of mouth. 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:48.259 So, just consider that as you see the lives of these people. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:52.099 And yet, we have so much more. 00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:54.360 We have the canonized scripture. 00:03:54.360 --> 00:04:04.020 We know now this is the inspired word of God handed down to us, which gives so much clearer explanation of the things in those first 39 books. 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:11.940 But just imagine that as they're living these sacrificial lives, these great examples of lives lived to the glory of God, 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:14.920 that they may have had scriptures like this in their minds. 00:04:15.100 --> 00:04:16.360 Psalm 37, 28. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:18.620 For the Lord loves justice. 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:20.520 He will not forsake his saints. 00:04:20.900 --> 00:04:22.560 They are preserved forever. 00:04:23.020 --> 00:04:25.319 But the children of the wicked shall be cut off. 00:04:26.020 --> 00:04:28.639 Or Isaiah chapter 1, verse 16 and 17. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:30.000 Wash yourselves. 00:04:30.580 --> 00:04:31.680 Make yourselves clean. 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:34.860 Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes. 00:04:35.379 --> 00:04:36.340 Cease to do evil. 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:37.600 Learn to do good. 00:04:38.020 --> 00:04:38.759 Seek justice. 00:04:38.939 --> 00:04:39.720 Correct oppression. 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:41.680 Bring justice to the fatherless. 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:43.439 Plead the widow's cause. 00:04:44.080 --> 00:04:45.900 Or Amos 5, 24. 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:48.799 But let justice roll down like waters. 00:04:49.219 --> 00:04:52.359 And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:57.379 These things may have been working around in their minds as they begin to live in this way. 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:04.239 But remember that where we've come through Romans, beginning in chapter 12, Paul has ceased talking doctrine. 00:05:04.379 --> 00:05:07.000 He's ceased saying, this is the gospel. 00:05:07.799 --> 00:05:12.719 And he's begun to say, in light of that, this is now how you should live. 00:05:12.779 --> 00:05:15.079 It should be the natural outflow. 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.879 It should be the obvious response to what Christ has worked in you. 00:05:20.419 --> 00:05:23.379 This, then, should be working out of you. 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.899 So note, not only may they have had these things in their minds. 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:32.439 Here we have, as I'll present to you, Phoebe probably was spending time with Paul at this time. 00:05:33.019 --> 00:05:34.500 He's teaching these things. 00:05:34.759 --> 00:05:35.779 They've got these scriptures. 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:42.019 But more importantly, to have the Spirit of God abiding within them, moving them to work in these ways. 00:05:42.979 --> 00:05:44.299 So let's look at those ways. 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:46.879 Let's look at how it was that they lived their lives. 00:05:47.039 --> 00:05:51.159 And I hope that as we're doing this, you can kind of hold your life up to theirs. 00:05:51.159 --> 00:05:55.539 Not that you're necessarily called to do the exact things they were called to do. 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:59.360 But we are meant to live in this type of way. 00:05:59.760 --> 00:06:01.260 So let's look first at Phoebe. 00:06:02.100 --> 00:06:07.060 Now, it's likely that Phoebe was the one that was delivering Paul's letter to the Romans. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:09.860 We can't say for sure that that's the case. 00:06:10.080 --> 00:06:12.860 But there's enough evidence to assume that that is. 00:06:12.980 --> 00:06:14.780 And I'll give you three evidences of that. 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:16.600 First, she's from the church at Kincray. 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.560 We can see that here, which is the east port of Corinth. 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:22.680 It's kind of a province of Corinth, so to speak. 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:26.220 So she is where it was likely that Paul was wintering. 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:29.220 He was there, and that's where they proposed that he actually wrote this letter. 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:31.959 There's a good bit of evidence that says that. 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:33.759 So that's where she lived. 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:37.960 She's the only one in the list who's commended to them. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:43.540 He's giving a forward example of who she is. 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:47.579 He's saying to them, accept her as one in Christ. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.379 So she's the only one that's commended. 00:06:49.379 --> 00:06:53.659 And there's also no suggestion that she is coming along after the letter. 00:06:53.800 --> 00:06:59.360 He doesn't say, our sister Phoebe, who will be coming after you've read this letter, anticipate her. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:00.079 She's on her way. 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:03.000 But it seems to actually be accompanying the letter itself. 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:06.139 And additionally, she appears to be a woman of means. 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:12.100 We see in the text that she's a patron to many, which had some financial implication to it. 00:07:12.159 --> 00:07:15.699 So it's also likely that she was able to make this journey. 00:07:15.699 --> 00:07:18.279 In fact, she may have regularly made this journey. 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:24.719 She may have been a businesswoman and traveled as she would go through Corinth to the western port and take a ship to Italy. 00:07:24.860 --> 00:07:26.199 She may have actually made this journey regularly. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:30.159 That may be why she's the one carrying the letter to the church at Rome. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:32.019 So it's likely that. 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:32.860 And I think it's safe. 00:07:32.919 --> 00:07:39.319 And most scholars agree with me, who's not a scholar, that that is what's happening in this case. 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:44.719 So Paul, as he commends her to the church at Rome, he gives her three titles. 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:49.839 The first is sister, but more specifically, our sister. 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:54.420 He doesn't just call her his sister, but he says that she is our sister. 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:59.100 Meaning that she is one of the beloved. 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:00.259 She is a saint. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.240 She is part of the church. 00:08:02.300 --> 00:08:04.819 And he's certainly giving the theological reason there. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:06.180 That's certainly part of it, right? 00:08:06.180 --> 00:08:12.579 In Matthew 12, 50, Jesus said, whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:15.639 There's definitely a theological practicality there. 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.460 That she is, in fact, one of us, is what he's saying. 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.340 But there's also a much more immediately practical reason. 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:26.340 It was dangerous to travel in these days. 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:27.639 It wasn't a safe thing. 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:30.860 And it wasn't a safe thing to be in a city that you didn't know. 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:37.080 And therefore, he was looking for them to accept her and welcome her in as part of the family. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.600 To provide for her needs, just as she had been providing for his needs. 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.060 To openly, armed, welcome her. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:49.120 We talked last week about verse 16, where he says, greet one another with a holy kiss. 00:08:49.259 --> 00:08:53.960 And I shared with you that that was a common practice amongst families back in these days. 00:08:54.019 --> 00:08:57.019 That they would kiss, both on greeting and on departure. 00:08:57.019 --> 00:09:03.319 And the church had taken on the practice, and they called it a holy kiss, because they were a family in Christ, 00:09:03.319 --> 00:09:09.439 to say to people who were being disowned by their families, who were being completely cast out from everything that they knew, 00:09:09.939 --> 00:09:10.799 you're one of us. 00:09:10.899 --> 00:09:12.519 Welcome to our family, right? 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:14.279 You belong here. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:19.899 And this is the same thing that he's getting at as he says that Phoebe is our sister. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.159 Also recognize that that has other implications, right? 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:31.600 As she is traveling to a strange place, more than likely as a single woman, able to travel in this way. 00:09:31.699 --> 00:09:34.740 She has no family holding her down in Corinth. 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:38.459 1 Timothy 5, 1-2. 00:09:39.079 --> 00:09:39.879 Paul instructs Timothy, 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:43.019 Do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:44.699 Younger men as brothers. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:46.600 Older women as mothers. 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:48.959 Younger women as sisters. 00:09:49.379 --> 00:09:50.439 In all purity. 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:59.780 So recognize that what Paul here is saying to Timothy is that watch how you function with the women in the church, 00:09:59.780 --> 00:10:01.700 because they're your sisters. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:05.080 Recognize what he's saying, young men. 00:10:05.380 --> 00:10:12.620 He's saying it would be incestual to do anything with these young women until they are your wife. 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:17.240 So he's also practically saying, treat her with purity. 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:21.100 As you welcome her into your homes, watch yourself. 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.759 Secondly, calls her a servant. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.679 The term here, the Greek is diakonos. 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.240 A diakonos of the church at Kincre. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:36.539 A deacon. 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:38.240 It's where we get that word from. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.080 A deacon of the church at Kincre. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:47.940 This text is one of the primary places that we pull our belief, the Christ Family Church, 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:52.060 that it is acceptable for women to serve in that role in the church. 00:10:52.560 --> 00:10:56.840 Now this morning I don't have time to completely unfold and unwrap that for you, 00:10:56.860 --> 00:10:58.120 but I just want to give you some brief. 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:02.100 As I say that, I don't want to leave you there and have you go, well, I don't know. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.840 Let me give you some brief explanation to that point. 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:14.480 I am adamantly against a church having female deacons when the role of deacon is not clearly defined and it's actually not a biblical role. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:22.740 Many churches have deacons that are really elders, or maybe we could say quasi-elders. 00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:26.500 They do some of the things that scriptural elders are meant to do. 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:27.940 So hear me clearly. 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.920 In many churches here in the southeast, I would say, oh, not in your church a woman shouldn't be a deacon. 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:40.199 But in ours, because we properly define the role of deacon, I believe it's entirely acceptable. 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.740 So take, for example, 1 Timothy 3, 8-13. 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:48.419 We see verse 12, a little bit maybe troubling language for you, 00:11:48.659 --> 00:11:51.539 says that a deacon should be a husband of one wife. 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:55.120 But I don't believe that that necessarily implies that a deacon must be married. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:03.120 But that if they are a male and married, that they ought to have only one wife, and they ought not be a womanizer. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:11.700 Otherwise, we would say then that no single man could ever serve in the church, be given the task to serve in the church. 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:17.919 You back up to verse 11, and probably most of our translations, I think most of you are using ESV, 00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:20.480 will say their wives likewise. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:25.240 This is more properly rendered, women likewise. 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:31.300 Those of you who are holding out with your NASVs out there, for good reason, right? 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:38.480 It says women likewise, and gives another case in point for how it is that we ought to conduct ourselves. 00:12:38.920 --> 00:12:47.600 So those things in the church that are the practical serving, the carrying out, the physical service to the saints, 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.000 we believe it's acceptable. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.179 And here we see Phoebe as an example of that. 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:54.100 She's not the only one in the scriptures. 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:59.279 We see many other examples of women called diakonos, right? 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:02.159 People want to call that deaconess, female deacon, whatever. 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:03.360 It doesn't really matter, right? 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:08.179 The noun itself is gender neutral, right? 00:13:08.779 --> 00:13:09.919 Diakonos, right? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:11.120 So we stand in that. 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:13.039 However, we have to carefully define. 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:15.899 You start going around saying, our church has women deacons. 00:13:15.899 --> 00:13:18.379 You better explain what that means to people, right? 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:20.379 It gives us all kinds of trouble. 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:26.259 But here she is as a servant of the church, and more than likely one who's been granted that position, 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:30.779 who's actually been given that role in the church officially at King Cray. 00:13:32.779 --> 00:13:35.600 Thirdly, she is a patron. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.120 It's an interesting word. 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:42.279 And not just a patron, but a patron of many. 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:45.779 And this was a term, this in fact is a feminine noun. 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:49.300 So this would be a female guardian or protector. 00:13:49.659 --> 00:13:51.080 It was a very honored title. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:57.300 To bestow on somebody the title of patron in this time meant that you had a deep respect for what they were doing for you. 00:13:57.299 --> 00:14:01.199 Paul himself says that she was a patron to him. 00:14:01.979 --> 00:14:06.679 A patron would have cared for the affairs of another and helped them with their resources. 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:08.599 Served them in that way. 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:14.620 So it's very possible that Paul, being put up here in Corinth, that she was looking out for his good, his well-being. 00:14:14.839 --> 00:14:17.639 Looking out for his financial well-being. 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:19.419 That she was providing for him. 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:23.659 That she was being sure that all those little things were cared for. 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:30.659 However, I was reminded as I was looking at that, when Daniel Gentry and I traveled to Nicaragua here at the beginning of the year. 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:33.759 We stayed at a little bed and breakfast. 00:14:34.339 --> 00:14:35.240 They called it a hotel. 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:36.240 It was kind of a bed and breakfast. 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:39.039 And a sweet lady who owned it named Miss Dell. 00:14:39.500 --> 00:14:42.819 And a title of honor down there is to call somebody Mama. 00:14:42.959 --> 00:14:45.639 So we called her Mama Dell the whole time we were down there. 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:47.159 And I would have given her this title. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.100 She really looked out for us. 00:14:49.419 --> 00:14:51.039 Every morning they served us food. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:51.899 They did those types of things. 00:14:51.899 --> 00:14:53.980 And she would ask, what are you guys planning on doing today? 00:14:54.019 --> 00:14:54.639 And we would tell her. 00:14:54.699 --> 00:14:56.559 And she would give us the tips, right? 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:58.000 Well, don't go here. 00:14:58.439 --> 00:15:00.000 Make sure you talk to this guy. 00:15:00.079 --> 00:15:01.639 Make sure you do this thing. 00:15:02.079 --> 00:15:06.019 She was the one that took us all over town and introduced us to all the pastors in town. 00:15:06.079 --> 00:15:07.840 And make sure we were able to connect with them. 00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.179 She really looked out for us when we were there. 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:15.539 When we were in her presence, we felt much safer than when we weren't, right? 00:15:15.539 --> 00:15:17.500 She really had our back in this way. 00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:18.759 And she was influential. 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:22.580 And she was looking out for our well-being in this regard. 00:15:23.460 --> 00:15:25.539 And so Phoebe was a patron. 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:27.220 Not just to Paul. 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:28.779 Not just of a couple of others. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:30.740 But of many. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:34.759 We see then also a married couple. 00:15:35.159 --> 00:15:37.279 We see Prissa and Akilah. 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:39.340 Now last week I misspoke. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.019 So I just want to clear that up for you. 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:45.759 Last week I said we'll see Prissa's name other places as Priscilla. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.179 And I gave you the example of being kind of like William and Will. 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:49.980 I was wrong, right? 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:53.360 Priscilla is actually the diminutive form of Prissa. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.879 It'd be like the more endearing version of her name. 00:15:57.259 --> 00:16:00.600 So maybe Will and Willie, right? 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:08.960 You would add that suffix on there to show that you had an extra endearing heart towards her. 00:16:09.059 --> 00:16:11.179 Kind of like my little Prissa, right? 00:16:11.220 --> 00:16:13.100 Would be the way that would be read. 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:16.080 But anytime you see those two, they're interchangeable. 00:16:16.180 --> 00:16:19.700 And that's the case with most Greek names at the time. 00:16:20.300 --> 00:16:20.379 Right? 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:24.720 And Paul doesn't expressly give to this married couple specific titles. 00:16:24.820 --> 00:16:27.019 But we can certainly gather a few from the text. 00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:30.879 As he explains who they are to him in Christ. 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:31.659 Excuse me. 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:39.180 Anybody else been sick from this pollen? 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:41.599 So thankful for rain. 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.339 So three titles for them as well. 00:16:45.479 --> 00:16:48.139 Firstly, they were movers. 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:55.019 If you begin to actually take a look at Prissa and Achilla throughout the New Testament, 00:16:55.219 --> 00:16:58.479 they show up all over the place. 00:16:58.979 --> 00:16:59.939 They were mobile. 00:17:00.199 --> 00:17:01.059 They moved. 00:17:01.059 --> 00:17:05.480 And it would seem that the great thing that we can gather from this is not that we should 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:06.899 necessarily be movers. 00:17:06.899 --> 00:17:09.700 That we should pick up every couple of years and move someplace else. 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:16.960 But Prissa and Achilla, as a married couple, as workers, they were tent makers, probably had 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:18.919 the temptation to put down roots. 00:17:19.460 --> 00:17:20.159 We are married. 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:21.099 We should buy a house. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:22.059 We should start a family. 00:17:22.139 --> 00:17:23.119 We should do these things. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:26.960 But they seem to hold very loosely to the things of this world. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:33.220 They seem to care very little about their own kingdom, but cared much about God's kingdom 00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:36.039 as he moved them around the region. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:39.880 So let me just show you where they went, how this came about. 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.380 In Acts 18.2, we see them for the first time. 00:17:43.360 --> 00:17:50.259 And Achilla is described as being a native of Pontius, who moved to Corinth from Rome when 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:51.640 Claudius forced the Jews to leave. 00:17:51.860 --> 00:17:56.519 So already we have he's in Pontius, then he's in Rome, and then he's forced to move to Corinth. 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.099 And this is where Paul first meets them. 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:03.579 In Acts 18.18 and 19, Paul takes them to Ephesus and leaves them there. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:04.460 Right? 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:07.079 They reason with Apollos in Acts 18.26. 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:12.359 Some of the correction that was brought to Apollos was brought by way of Prissa and Achilla. 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:12.900 All right? 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.079 So here we have them going from Pontius to Rome to Corinth. 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:17.299 Now they're in Ephesus. 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:22.059 But here we find them once again being greeted in Paul's letter to the Romans. 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:27.019 So it appears that they then moved back to Rome for a period of time once again. 00:18:28.099 --> 00:18:33.319 But we also see evidence in 2 Timothy 4.19 that they've returned to Ephesus. 00:18:34.159 --> 00:18:34.259 Right? 00:18:34.619 --> 00:18:35.460 So catch this. 00:18:35.539 --> 00:18:36.179 Married couple. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:42.579 They go from Pontius to Rome to Corinth to Ephesus, back to Rome, and then back to Ephesus again. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:44.279 They were movers. 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:48.679 They recognized that they were sojourning in this world. 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:50.980 They didn't have to put down deep roots. 00:18:51.120 --> 00:18:55.380 They knew that they had a greater kingdom that they were headed to. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:02.600 A further very cool note is even though they were movers this way, even though they probably knew, 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:05.519 established a pattern in their life that they would be temporary, 00:19:05.840 --> 00:19:08.940 you could just see Prissa getting to a town and thinking, 00:19:09.060 --> 00:19:11.880 I'm not hanging anything on these walls because you're just going to have me pack it up again. 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:12.660 Right? 00:19:13.120 --> 00:19:16.940 After they met Paul, they always had a church in their home. 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:19.120 You can find record of that. 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:23.240 If you're trying to work it out in their time in Ephesus, 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:26.259 you can find it in 1 Corinthians 16.19. 00:19:26.600 --> 00:19:29.940 They had churches that met in their homes. 00:19:30.840 --> 00:19:35.519 So they went to a place, they established themselves, and they allowed a church to meet. 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:38.759 Maybe even started that very church in their home. 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:39.660 Right? 00:19:39.840 --> 00:19:43.759 They didn't say, well, we're just here for a time, college students. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:46.839 This is an in-between time. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:52.519 Four years is a long, five, six maybe years is a long time. 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:52.980 Right? 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.500 And you're up here nine months out of the year. 00:19:56.819 --> 00:19:57.000 Right? 00:19:57.420 --> 00:19:58.440 You live here. 00:19:58.920 --> 00:19:59.039 Right? 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:00.480 Establish yourself. 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:04.900 Begin working out your salvation here in this place. 00:20:05.500 --> 00:20:06.779 Secondly, there were workers. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:07.460 Right? 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:11.019 Paul calls them fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 00:20:11.019 --> 00:20:13.839 So we're not talking here about their physical work. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.180 We're talking about the spiritual work that they did. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:17.139 They got busy. 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:19.139 They were active in this way. 00:20:19.500 --> 00:20:19.599 Right? 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:21.759 They were not vocational missionaries. 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:26.720 In fact, we see in Acts chapter 18 verse 3 that they were tent makers like Paul. 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:28.059 Paul stayed with them for a while. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:32.359 Worked with them for a while because they carried out the same trade. 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:33.039 Right? 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:33.179 Right? 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:39.519 So they recognized as they were called in Christ that they were also called to make disciples 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:40.659 of Christ. 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:46.279 And as they went, as they bought from town to town, they had churches that met and they ministered 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:46.599 to people. 00:20:46.679 --> 00:20:48.959 They were workers in Christ. 00:20:50.379 --> 00:20:52.399 Achilla didn't say, I'm not a worker in Christ. 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:53.319 I'm a tent maker. 00:20:54.199 --> 00:20:54.799 Praise Jesus. 00:20:54.879 --> 00:20:55.579 He saved my soul. 00:20:55.659 --> 00:20:56.759 But I've got tents to make. 00:20:56.819 --> 00:20:58.459 I don't have time for the kingdom. 00:20:59.219 --> 00:21:00.599 He wasn't about his kingdom. 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:03.339 He made tents so he could put food on the table. 00:21:03.980 --> 00:21:04.059 Right? 00:21:04.279 --> 00:21:08.579 He spent the rest of his time feeding people from the word of God. 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:16.740 There's an invasive term that's worked its way into our churches. 00:21:16.899 --> 00:21:19.599 And I probably could spend a whole hour talking about this. 00:21:19.639 --> 00:21:20.480 So just in brief. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:25.679 It's this little term, feel called. 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:29.000 I feel called too. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.440 I'm feeling called too. 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:36.259 It's worked its way into the Christian vernacular in a great degree. 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.059 What does it mean to feel called? 00:21:40.299 --> 00:21:43.779 How does it even feel when you're feel called? 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:47.299 People ask me that question often as I pastor the church. 00:21:47.400 --> 00:21:51.519 I think typically because I'm, well, I am young, but also because I look so young. 00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:53.299 I don't look nearly 33. 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:53.740 Right? 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:54.139 Right? 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:57.099 So people say, when did you feel called to ministry? 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:01.700 And I think they're actually waiting for me to say, well, there was this mountain. 00:22:02.180 --> 00:22:04.220 And I hiked to the top of the mountain. 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:06.259 And a cloud descended. 00:22:06.399 --> 00:22:09.279 And God met with me in the midst of the cloud. 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:10.559 And he said to me out of the cloud. 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.079 Like, I think that's actually the kind of story that they're waiting for. 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:15.200 Which isn't to say that those things can't happen. 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.380 But I don't think it's the way things typically happen. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:20.559 I actually backed into this. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:21.440 Right? 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:23.220 I was just doing some preaching. 00:22:23.620 --> 00:22:28.319 And literally, if you can imagine me backing into it, and suddenly I stopped and went, I'm a pastor. 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:29.559 Right? 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:33.840 Should I feel called to it? 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:34.640 I don't. 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:35.779 I love this. 00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:37.160 I desire to do it. 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:38.319 I want to be here. 00:22:38.580 --> 00:22:40.180 There's nothing else I would rather do. 00:22:40.340 --> 00:22:42.039 But I need to feel called. 00:22:42.080 --> 00:22:44.019 There's no finger writing on the wall for me. 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:45.220 There's no burning bush. 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:47.440 What does that even mean? 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:56.819 If we look throughout the scriptures, that object of calling, that language is used in two ways. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.619 We've all been called to be Christians. 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:05.299 And we've all been called to be like Christ. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:07.460 Two things. 00:23:07.539 --> 00:23:10.879 If you want to put it differently, we've all been called to be disciples. 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:11.080 Disciples. 00:23:11.860 --> 00:23:14.300 And we've all been called to make disciples. 00:23:14.540 --> 00:23:16.680 To be disciple-making disciples. 00:23:16.980 --> 00:23:19.820 That's the calling on all of our lives. 00:23:20.680 --> 00:23:22.960 It's going to work its way out in different ways, certainly. 00:23:23.620 --> 00:23:23.780 Right? 00:23:23.860 --> 00:23:27.220 Not all of you are meant to stand at a podium and preach on a Sunday morning. 00:23:27.300 --> 00:23:27.960 And that's okay. 00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:33.800 Not all of you are meant to go overseas and spend your life vocationally ministering to people. 00:23:34.100 --> 00:23:34.980 That's okay. 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:35.460 Right? 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:35.779 Right? 00:23:35.920 --> 00:23:40.279 But you have to recognize that we are all called to ministry. 00:23:41.460 --> 00:23:42.480 We have to distinguish. 00:23:42.620 --> 00:23:43.980 I don't know maybe what the right term is. 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:45.400 Maybe vocational ministry. 00:23:45.579 --> 00:23:47.759 Meaning I earned my living ministering to people. 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:52.559 Where others may not, like Pris and Akila, didn't earn their living ministering. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.319 But they recognize that they were ministers. 00:23:55.539 --> 00:23:58.660 They were fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:01.480 And that's what we need to be as a church. 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:05.300 All of us need to be fellow workers in Christ Jesus. 00:24:06.100 --> 00:24:10.740 You see in Ephesians chapter 4, the specific gifts that are given to the church. 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:11.340 Right? 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:12.740 It's not all of the spiritual gifts. 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:18.440 But the gifts that are shown to us, though, are the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:19.740 the preachers and teachers. 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:22.400 And those are specific gifts that are about the Word of God. 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:24.700 And why is it that they're given to the church? 00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:25.440 Right? 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:28.880 They're given to the church for the building up of the saints for the work of ministry. 00:24:29.080 --> 00:24:30.380 Not as separate things. 00:24:30.580 --> 00:24:34.480 Not as gifts so that we can build up the saints and do the work of ministry. 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:40.000 But those gifts are given to the church to build up the saints for the work of ministry. 00:24:40.299 --> 00:24:40.759 You see that? 00:24:40.840 --> 00:24:44.279 We're all called together into this task. 00:24:44.360 --> 00:24:47.620 You're all ministers of the gospel of God. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.240 And in that way, we're all meant to be workers. 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:53.960 So they're movers. 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:55.059 They're workers. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:57.859 And they were riskers. 00:24:58.500 --> 00:24:58.559 Right? 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:02.440 Paul said that they risked their necks for his sake. 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:05.279 And oh, how I wish that we had the record of that story. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:06.460 We don't know. 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:08.059 There's no record of it anywhere. 00:25:08.140 --> 00:25:09.000 At least not that I could find. 00:25:09.059 --> 00:25:11.620 Please correct me later if I'm wrong. 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:12.500 But I looked. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:13.359 I looked and I looked and I looked. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:18.319 I wanted to know how was it that person Akilah risked their very lives for the sake of Paul. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:23.259 And the way his language implies here is that all of the Gentile churches were thankful for them. 00:25:23.439 --> 00:25:27.599 Probably means that they saved Paul's life as they risked their own for his sake. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:28.960 Gosh, I wish we had that story. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:30.399 What a neat story that would be. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:30.899 Right? 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:32.419 But they were riskers. 00:25:32.740 --> 00:25:36.379 Again, they recognized that this world was a place that they were passing through. 00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:38.119 They were moving on to a greater thing. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:40.159 As a couple, they risked. 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:46.980 Not Akilah headed off to go rescue Paul and Prissa sat at home just fretting and worrying about him. 00:25:46.980 --> 00:25:47.700 Right? 00:25:47.700 --> 00:25:47.799 Right? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:51.539 They risked their necks together for his sake. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:54.779 What a precious couple. 00:25:55.120 --> 00:25:57.640 What a precious individual Phoebe is. 00:25:58.680 --> 00:26:03.860 What great examples of how our lives ought to be oriented and changed. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:09.039 And at Christ Family Church, I hope that we can take a book, a page from their book. 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:09.559 Right? 00:26:09.579 --> 00:26:13.700 That we can take a look at what their lives look like and compare our lives to theirs. 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:17.100 And let us be found treating each other as brothers and sisters. 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:21.519 Becoming servants to all and patrons to many. 00:26:22.580 --> 00:26:26.140 Recognize that we are simply passing through this life. 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:29.100 And that there is much work to be done. 00:26:29.319 --> 00:26:32.120 Some at very great risk. 00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:37.940 I pray that when Christ returns, he will find us faithful, serving in these ways. 00:26:37.940 --> 00:26:39.200 Let's pray together.