There are no Lone Rangers in the Bible. Adam needed Eve, Moses needed Aaron, David needed Jonathan, Elijah had Elisha, and even in the New Testament, Jesus had a beloved disciple named John. On and on we can go. But as we explore the life of the Apostle Paul and his ministry, it is easy to forget that he did not do the work alone. He had an array of faithful men and women that served alongside him in the field. In this chapter, as in many other of his books, Paul pays homage to them and mentions them. Many of the names we are familiar with, and we hear them over and over as we explore the life of the Apostle Paul. We will explore a few of these here.

Verse 3-4: Priscilla and Aquila, those who served alongside him, his fellow tentmakers. And in verse 4, we see that they too had put their lives in danger for the Gospel. Paul was not the only one living in danger and for fear of life. These folks did as well.

We also see in verse 5 that there was a church in their home. Most of us are not accustomed to this; we attend church service in a building, sometimes an elaborate building, house or ministry. Now, in some cases, these buildings are used for schools and many other functions during the week. But there are a host of church buildings that go unused except for a few hours each week. Maybe, just maybe, there could have been a better use of the monies invested.

Other churches once were larger but now occupy a small percentage of a once well-used building. The members hold on to the building when the monies could be used in missions, in maybe a smaller facility, and more help to your Pastor. I have heard of a situation where 2 churches simply swapped buildings as one was getting bigger and another not growing as much. We need to be careful that the building does not become an idol.

In verse 7, we meet Andronicus and Junia who had been imprisoned with Paul. So not just Silas, but others shared a cell with Paul. This is why we need to read the scriptures and expand our understanding of all that happened and all that these new churches faced in the Roman kingdom.

Then we come to verse 13, and we hear of Rufus. Often, I had read this and not done the connecting of the dots. In Mark 15:21, we have a situation where Jesus stumbles as He is carrying the cross, and they ask Simon of Cyrene to carry it. We are told that he is the father of Alexander and Rufus. Well, many Biblical historians have come to the conclusion that the Rufus we see in Romans 16 is this same Rufus. There we are told that his mother is a mother to Paul as well. Many saved men, many saved people are cut off from their blood families when they are saved, and they need spiritual mothers and fathers to help them. It would appear that Paul had one of those in his life.

Verse 17-18: In contrast to those that help those that hurt alongside contribute personally and financially are those that cause division. God hates discord amongst His people. He hates those that come in and search out our peace and try to steal it. He hates those that are the broken cog in a well-oiled machine. Watch for doctrinal division; we weary of it and get in the way ASAP. Watch for those that bring in division by attitude, a lack of love, a lack of forgiveness, backbiters and complainers; quiet their voices ASAP, or they will slowly break you and stop the wonderful fellowship and progress in the Gospel. It is better to be small, filled with God’s peace, and to be actually contributing to the Kingdom than to be big, divided and useless.

Verse 21-24: Even there on the road, Paul had a large group. In particular, we meet Tertius who wrote the book of Romans. Paul, as he aged, began to lose his eyesight. We see that in his earlier books he wrote them himself, and then as he aged, the books were written in uppercase. Eventually, he would simply dictate them, and then sign them at the end. Most likely, verses 25-27 were written by Paul as a sign that he, in fact, was the one telling Tertius what to write.

Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto; he was not alone. Paul did not do the work alone. Our missionaries that go abroad do not do the work alone. There is an army of people making sure the monies get to where they need to be. Our association of churches, the American Baptist Association, has a man who does logistics. He books plane flights, hotels, and gets people to where they need to go. We have a treasurer that makes sure that cheques get deposited and the special funds get raised so that the missionaries get paid. On and on we can go; it takes a team.

Are you actively involved in spreading the Gospel? Have you found a way to invest yourself in the Kingdom and the work? Get in, get involved, and you know what you can do from your home; get all the prayer cards from the missionaries that visit your church and begin to pray for them daily. Make time, keep the appointment, and get involved.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario

Last week we looked at the importance of those that are stronger in our local churches not allowing preferences to come between us as a family. Once again, this is not an issue of doctrine but of personal preferences, even to things like smoking, alcohol consumption, and other things like eating meat and the like. Personal freedoms are not a sign of maturity; it is the way that we use or mis-use these freedoms that make the difference.

Verse 1-6: We are to lead the way if we are strong. Each of us is to take responsibility for a neighbor. We are to be actively edifying each other, building each other up. Too many spend their spiritual lives looking down their noses at others and simply tearing them down. The only way that they can feel good about themselves is to tear someone else down, and we get this idea that if you don’t serve God like me, then you are not saved, or at least you may be saved, but you are not a mature one. This is crazy. Jesus, we are told in Psalm 69:9, bore our sins, bore our shame, and bore the wrath that we deserved. All that we do, we should do to glorify God, and if we do so faithfully, we will also build each other up.

Paul then springboards to let these Jewish believers know that the Gospel is for everyone, Gentiles included. The Jews in Rome needed to know that the Gospel was not just for them but for the Gentiles as well.

Verses 9-13, Paul lays out that the Gentiles are going to serve God as well, and he did it using Old Testament verses so that there were no disputes. Yes, the Old Testament told of the Gentiles and that the Messiah would reign over them as well and that they would worship Him.

I work in the car business, and I learned a while ago that Volvo invented the 3-point seat belt and that this was such an important discovery that they gave it to the other manufacturers for free. We should have the same mindset about the Gospel; it is so important that all need to get it for free. I am sure that these few Christian Jews in the Middle East could probably not envision a day when the new churches that they were seeing birthed would be populated almost entirely by Gentiles. But here we are 2,000 years later, and now the Gentiles are sending missionaries back to the Jews.

Verses 14-21: Paul was a pioneer of missions. He went to Rome, hoped to go to Spain, and we know that he was very active in Macedonia and other Greek cities. Paul set the idea of traveling in groups; he often had a large entourage with him. He worked secular jobs when needed, sacrificed his own needs, and built church after church all across Europe. Paul made time to write reports, to return and report to the church in Jerusalem, and made home wherever God placed him; he could fit in anywhere. He was always looking for a way to share the Gospel.

Is your church active in mission work? Are you financially supporting missionaries? Do they visit your church and share what God is doing worldwide? We could learn a lot here. Are we always on the lookout to share the Gospel; do we have a Gospel radar working all the time? Never forget that it is a privilege to be able to share the Gospel.

Verse 25-29: Don’t forget where the Gospel came from. Salvation is of the Jews. Jesus is a Jew, the apostles were all Jews, the Patriarchs are Jews, and Jesus is coming back to rule from Jerusalem. On and on we can go, but the truth is the same. Our salvation, the one that we Gentiles cling to, is a Jewish one, with a Jewish Messiah and a Jewish Savior, and we are never to forget where it all came from. Pray for Israel, pray for her peace, and that the blind Jews will have their eyes opened before it is too late and that they will see Jesus the Messiah; that they would repent, see Him as the One, and trust in His death, burial, and resurrection.

seangooding@yahoo.ca

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario