Address—Robert Boulard
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Good evening, I wondered if we would sing tonight #174.
Maybe we'll sing a short little hymn like this at the beginning of the meeting, and maybe a short little hymn after the meeting.
So 174.
Obey sharks, Father Twilight.
In Foot of the world.
In his life.
No, but I never thought of anything.
Let's ask the Lord's blessing in our time here this evening. Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for this little hymn that reminds us of Thy patience.
The patience of our Savior the Lord Jesus in this scene and how his life.
Was such a savour unto thyself, a sweet, sweet savour, and his death we know, and his offering a sweet smelling savour unto thee, our God and our Father. And so thou does delight to have each one of us.
Offer our lives as a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour under Thee. And so we pray that as we open up Thy precious word, that we might receive that encouragement and the strength that our faith might be strengthened. That our desire of heart to please the Lord might rise to higher heights, And that as we approach the event that we're all waiting for to see the Savior face to face.
That we might with devotion and affection be found laying aside every weight and the sin that thus so easily beset us, and to run with patience the race that is set before us. So we pray that thou is blessed. Thy word and the speaker and listener alike might receive a portion from myself, everyone, young and old. So we commend ourselves to thee, our God and our Father, for a blessing and precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, I'd like to read a couple of verses, uh, just to open.
My subject Colossians, chapter 4.
Or chapter 3, right at the end of the chapter.
Colossians chapter 3 and verse 23. Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord, you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. And then just back a couple of pages in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 3.
I entreat thee also, true Yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel.
And then just a little bit further back in our Bibles in Second Samuel.
Chapter 23.
Verse 8.
Second Samuel 23 and verse 8.
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Please be the names of the mighty men whom David had the Tachmanite that sat in the seat chief among the captains. The same was Admiral the Esnite. He lift up his spear against 800, whom he slew at one time. And then the last verse in that chapter.
Second Samuel 23, verse 39, Uriah the Hittite.
30 and seven in all, while I read these verses because, umm, on Tuesday night, we took up a little word of encouragement for those that are brothers, those, uh, perhaps, uh, could see that, uh, Silas or Sylvanus was an example and a real model of those that, umm, in a very steady way, uh, this exhibited the spirit of Christ in their lives, devoted their lives to the assembly into Christ, the cause of Christ in this world.
And we're faithful. The last time we read of dear Silas or Sylvanus, we read Peter himself says this little commendation to him, He says, uh, greet to Sylvanus, the faithful brother. And so Peter, the one who had denied the Lord three times and knew what it was to fail, he, uh, saw Silas, Sylvanus, and he saw something in Sylvanus that really.
It touched his heart and he could honestly say that he was the faithful brother. He longed to give him that commendation. Then we read in Colossians. There it tells us that whatsoever we do, to do it heartily as unto the Lord and not as unto men. I'd like to look at 9 different sisters that are named in Scripture in the book of Romans, in the last chapter of Romans, and just to glean a little bit of something of instruction in the way of example of how these sisters labored in the Christian testimony.
But it's interesting how the Spirit of God records here that for all of us that we ought to be doing our work as unto the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. And that wonderful that everyone of us doesn't matter what we do in life, we can be used of God to do our work and to do it for Himself. Our motive is to please the Lord in whatever we do, and that there is fruit for him. And then we read in Philippians.
And I just point this out in connection with the Apostle Paul chapter 4 and verse three, how he sends a little.
Message to those that were laboring with him in Philippi and he says, I entreat the also true yoke fellow help those women which labored with me in the gospel. So there were those that labored quietly, silently behind the scenes, perhaps not in a public way. And some have said, you know, the apostle was a woman hater and he wanted the women to wear.
Uh, head coverings and you wanted to have the women take a, a low place and so on, but really they're just a, a sweet type of Christ and the church. And they exhibit in the proper role that a woman exhibits in the Christian, uh, profession in the Christian era, A picture of the Church of God in submission to Christ, the hidden risen head and glory. A wonderful sweet picture that the sisters have the privilege of exhibiting in this world that has rejected the Savior. And so Paul.
Rather than seeking to abuse those that were women and perhaps had a lower place in the heathen world. Why he gave them a high commendation. He says help those women which labored with me in the gospel. So I just like to look at some of those sisters and how the apostle inspired of God right in the last chapter of the book of of the chapter of Romans, that epistle and how he speaks of these dear ones and what he says about them.
And, umm, that might encourage you sisters, those that are perhaps even younger and are being, umm, presented with, umm, the picture from the world of, uh, a world that's, uh, worthy of your attentions and to leave the home and to go out into this world and to try to make a career for yourselves, all those things that's really falsehood is really not for the eternal value of, uh, the assembly and the, your own selves, your own souls.
It's not really what God intended, but we find in these sisters that there was an example of how they mirrored the Spirit of Christ in their lives and wrought much for the blessing of God's people on the day that they lived in. So let's read in Romans 16 and I'll read the 1St.
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Maybe 15 verses.
Romans 16 verse one. I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, which is a servant of the Church, which is at Sankria, that you receive her in the Lord has becometh Saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you, for she has been a sucker of many, and of myself also great Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks.
Unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epinatus, who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us. Salute Adonitis and Junia, my kinsman, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Greek Amplius, my beloved in the Lord.
Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stacius my beloved. Salute Apellis, approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus household. Salute Herodion, my kinsman, greet them, let me of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord, salute. Try Fina and Trifosa, who labor in the Lord. Salute the beloved purses which labored much in the Lord. Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Salute Asyncritus.
Fledgeon, Hermes, Petrovus, Herbies, and the brethren which are with them salute Philogilus and Julia, Neeris and his sister, and Olympus and all the Saints which are with them salute one another with unholy kiss.
The churches of Christ salute you.
Well, you know, I have to make a confession that is that oftentimes when I've read passages of Scripture like this and in the.
Genealogies that are given in First Chronicles and different places of Scripture. I just, when I was a young person, just kind of glanced over those names and hardly even dared to pronounce or try to pronounce their names. And, and, uh, I thought to myself, uh, you know, these are.
Sometimes Scripture is just like there's some historical events there that take place. They really don't apply to us, but Scripture, all Scripture is profitable and everyone of these names are written in the word of God. There's a reward, there's a story behind each one of these names. And the apostle here in this chapter, he mentions, we didn't read them all, but he mentions 36 names or persons. Four of them were relatives of his. He mentioned 10 different groups of believers.
And perhaps the assembly in Rome, a large city, had several places that they met in, and there were those places that.
Different brethren distinguished themselves in service and devotion to Christ in the day that they lived in and the apostle here he begins this last chapter. It's really an appendix to the book of the of Romans and he lists this whole list and I like to think of it as.
A list of Paul's mighty men, A Paul. You know, David listed his mighty men in Second Samuel chapter 23. We just read the first one there, Adeno the Esnite. He smote 800 men and we never read anything more of him or anything less that we never even read the event that took place. We just read that historically David valued this servant, this one who had risked his life in defense of the people of God. He slew 800 of the enemy.
We don't know what really took place beyond that, but David says, that's my mighty man. That's the first one. He was the Pacmanite. He was. That means the wise one. And there were 37 names there, 37 slots. One of them is missing, perhaps Jonathan. But in this chapter that we just read in Romans chapter 16, we have many women that are named first. We have Phoebe that's given first, Priscilla as the second one. Then we have Aquila named.
We have Mary or Maria in verse six. We have.
Tricia and Trifosa and verse 12 purses. In verse 12 he mentions Rufus and his mother, and then he mentions Julia and then Nouris and his sister. There's nine of them, and I'd just like to look at the lessons in each one. So here he the apostle writes a letter of commendation. Phoebe was going to Rome, her home assembly.
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No doubt was Sanchez. It was a city that was approximately 9 miles away from Corinth. We know that Corinth was a merchant city. It was known for being.
Umm a a center of commerce. Sankria was about 9 miles away, and instead of the ships going all the way around the isthmus of that part of the world, Greece, and going around and then doing trade on the other side, oftentimes it would unload the ships at Corinth and by land take the goods across land 9 miles to Sankria, put them on another ship, and then keep going.
Was less dangerous and so on.
So Corinth has that connotation. You think of Corinth as a merchant city, Sankria, You might think of a city that, uh, was in relationship to Corinth and 9 miles away. But that's not how God thought. He sees it as a city where there was an assembly, and he sees in that little assembly that there was a sister, an older sister, no doubt. And she had devoted her life to service of the Saints in that assembly.
Instead of having a job outside the home and having all kinds of responsibility, we don't know exactly what, uh, her responsibility was, what her, umm, marital status was, but uh, when it came time to write a letter of commendation for this sister, the Apostle Paul himself wrote the letter.
And how it must have touched her heart, How must have touched the Saints in Rome as they received a letter from the apostle Paul? Perhaps it was carried by Phoebe. We don't know. That Epistle of Romans says that kind of thing at the end of our.
King James Bible in the chapter there. Historically that might be the case. Nevertheless, this dear sister who endeared herself to the apostle and to the Saints at that time, the Apostle Paul himself wrote a letter of commendation, very short, but he says much in that letter. He could commend her. And so it means to commend someone is to praise them and to present something that's worthy in their life that would be commendable.
Something of note that God would approve of and that was particularly unique about them. So he says Phoebe, our sister, you know, her name means radiant. And I take it that she was one of those sisters that just made the assembly just umm, there was a just something about this sister that you thought about such and such an assembly and you thought about Phoebe. I was out West and Midwest somewhere.
Visiting an assembly, My brother and I were visiting on the concrete step outside after a meeting and, uh, we got talking about a little assembly and he said, you know, in that assembly, do you know sister so and so I said, yes, I do.
I know that sister. He says, you know, that sister just makes that assembly. Don't you think that that sister, just when you think about that assembly, what goes on in that assembly, she just characterizes the energy and the love, the devotion to Christ in that assembly. I said I have to agree. I think that she is the one that really is outstanding in that way. And so here Paul lists these names and I wondered often times maybe you would wonder is why is it really that she's given the 1St place?
Why wouldn't he name umm Priscilla an Aquila? Priscilla and Aquila mentioned six times. They're always mentioned together in scripture 6 * 6 different occasions. Why wouldn't he name Priscilla? Why Phoebe? This is the only time we ever hear of Phoebe. Well I wondered about this and I would just suggest if we turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter 20 we might see something of the how the Spirit directed in this way.
Matthew, Chapter 20.
And.
Just for the sake of time, we'll just read verse 26 and 2728. Verse 26, Matthew 20. But it shall not be so among you. But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister or your servant Deacon. Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant or bondsman, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life.
A ransom for many. You know, we see the sweetness of Phoebe, the Spirit of Christ, in our life.
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Instead of seeking a place to position in this world, see, instead of seeking a place and position in the assembly, perhaps she sought to serve those that belong to Christ. She saw the assembly as one of that, that little assembly in Sankria is the most important place in that city. And what noted what was particularly of note to her in that city was the assembly. So someone might say, well, what Smith Falls known for. I don't know what Smith Falls known for. Maybe there was a was it the Chocolate Factory that was here, Hershey?
So at one time you would say, well, this city was really known and there was a Chocolate Factory here. Well, it's gone.
But what really matters to the Lord?
Smith Falls is that there's a little assembly here. There are believers that are gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and they delight to be associated with that blessed One. And they've come out from among the institutions, the confusion of Christianity and all those things, and gathered to the Lord's name. And here this dear sister, she desired to in her life in a practical way be a servant. Mr. Darby makes in his notes in his translation that this word servant.
Really could be umm, translated, umm, in a sense, deaconess, one who did a practical work among the Saints and uh, she did it faithfully. And now Paul says you receive her in the Lord has becometh Saints. Let ye assist her in whatsoever business or matter. She hath need of you. For she hath been a sucker of me, of many, and of myself also. So here this older sister perhaps had to go to Rome, she knew Sankria.
She had been in the habit of helping others and devoting her life to the service of others. She had to leave Sankry and go to the capital city, perhaps of that part of the world. Rome is a huge, confusing city. If you wouldn't know really, perhaps the ropes. She would need some help, and the Apostle begs the Roman Saints to help her there when she would arrive in a practical way. Whatever matter, she hath need of you.
For she had been a sucker of many. Can you imagine this dear older sister helping others in such a way and then getting to a point in life where she needed some help? And so the apostle gives this instruction, very practical instruction, a very loving instruction. Many says that she was a sucker of many of myself also. And so this is a little picture, I take it, of supporting Paul's doctrine, of knowing what Paul's doctrine is and supporting Paul's doctrine in the assembly and among the Saints. And so to be able to support Paul's doctrine, you need to know what it is, and we need to enjoy it for ourselves.
We not only need to know about the coming of the Lord, but we need to know about the details of it, need to know when it's going to take place and, umm, how we ought to be conducting ourselves as heavenly citizens in this scene. How we do you know something of the mystery that Paul spoke of, of Christ in the church? We could read it in Ephesians chapter one, chapter 2, and we could read of the different things that Paul taught. He taught about the breaking of bread in first Corinthians chapter 10 and what the bread, what the loaf means and what the cup means.
He's he's hard, he's taught, was used of God to teach those doctrines. We need to know them. And I take it that this dear sister helped the apostle Paul for very life. Her very service in the assembly was a support to the truth of God and to Paul's own ministry. And so he says so. And so I'd like this. She's given the 1St place an older sister who labored, devoted her life to the assembly. I wanted to just ask you something tonight.
What are you devoting your life to? Maybe you're a little bit younger.
And you haven't come to that kind of a decision yet. But are you devoting your life to Christ, to the assembly, to the Lord's people, to the things of God? You'll never be disappointed if you devote your life to Christ. He devoted his life to you. He gave up his life at the cross of Calvary. And in those dark hours for the judgment, for your sins and his own body on the tree, He devoted his life. He was devoted and set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem.
Nothing could turn him outside his way and in obedience to his Father's will and love to your own soul. He went to the cross and he still devoted to you. He's still 100% for your blessing in this scene. So how he longs to have our hearts, affections and who for us to be in a sense to make him and his interests our priority. And I take it that this sister had that place or that desire and that objective. Well, in verse three, we read of Priscilla.
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The second one that he mentions here in his list of mighty ones. I wondered too, you know, why does it mention in Romans? Wouldn't you think that this list should be in, uh, maybe the Epistle to the Ephesians?
Wouldn't you think maybe this list should be in one of the last epistles, maybe the second Timothy chapter four? He does name many there, but you know, he names these names and these groups of, uh, individuals in Romans because I believe that it is the fundamental principles, enrollments were given the fundamental principles and the basics of Christianity. And these dear sisters and the ones that are named here in this chapter supported the testimony, the Christian testimony at the beginning.
Of the Christian testimony. And they knew the fundamental principles and basics of Christianity, and they're mentioned in connection with it. And so how wonderful it is for us to read the Epistle to the Romans and to desire to enjoy the portion that is ours and to support the Christian testimony even in the last days that we live in. So he says here in verse 3, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Likewise, greet the church that is in their house.
Well, they said, this man and his wife are mentioned six times in scripture, three times the brothers mentioned before the sister, and three times the sisters mentioned before the brother.
And when it came to hospitality and the home, oftentimes Priscilla is mentioned 1St and Aquila is mentioned first, the brother when it comes to teaching or the doctrine.
In connection with the truth. Now let's just look at that. I'll support that what I just said in Acts Chapter 18.
And umm, verse 26.
Really speaks of.
Apollos, when he came and preached, he only knew the gospel of the Kingdom.
The Gospel.
And the baptism of John. So verse 26, chapter 18 of John of Acts, he began to speed boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. So when he was coming to the home, they expounded the way of God more perfectly unto him. And I believe that dear Aquila knew the truth as well as his wife. And in the home they used their home to support the Christian testimony.
And Aquila could.
Minister to the needs of this dear man Apollos, and they would just bring him into a fuller understanding of the things of God and Paul's doctrine. But here is Priscilla. Why is Priscilla mentioned first in Paul's list of mighty ones and those that distinguish themselves in the Christian testimony at the beginning of the Christian testimony. Why is it Priscilla? Well, he mentions here an incident that took place. He says my helpers in Christ Jesus. We know that.
They both labor together with the Apostle Paul. They were both tent makers, and so they labored together in a practical way.
But they labored together in the things of God. He mentions here this little incident that we never read of in Scripture, in any other place that I know of. Maybe if someone knows of it, you can let me know.
But it says in verse four, it's a little bit of a parenthesis. Verse four, he gives this incident, he says, who have for my life laid down or risked or staked their own necks, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Now isn't this remarkable? There seems to be have been an event that took place when the enemy was just about to extinguish the light, the life of Paul and this young, this couple, I don't know how old they were, but I had taken that they were maybe a young couple that labored together, were never told that they had any children or anything, but they devoted their home to the service of the Saints and they stepped in in some way.
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And umm, got in between the enemy and, uh, the apostle and the apostle was free to escape and they put themselves in the harm's way. This was a woman of courage. This was not only a woman of service, but this was a woman of courage. And she perhaps encouraged, I like to think of it as how she encouraged her husband to stand for the truth and to walk in the things of God and to it says they laid down or they state their lives, their own necks.
And so he gave thanks. Paul was thanking God for this couple and especially perhaps for Aquila. And he also says that the assemblies, the other assemblies, the other Gentile assemblies, thank God for this couple as well. Not wonderful. You know, there may be incidents in this world in this, uh, among the assemblies. And there's a couple that doesn't have children and so on. And, uh, the home can be used for the blessing of the Saints. The home can be used.
In a way that perhaps cannot be used if there were other distractions in life. And so he commends this young couple. And then he says in verse 5, likewise greet the church that is in their house. So there's a need there in connection with the home. I often go into homes, you know, where the assembly is in the home.
And oftentimes it's difficult for the sisters when the home.
That's taken up in that way. There's a home I've been in when there's an assembly meeting comes the, uh, brother and his wife and uh, some of the young people take the sofa and they put it in a bedroom. They take some of the other furniture and the coffee table, all that kind of stuff. They empty the living room and then they set up chairs, something like this. And then they can have a meeting. There's another home that I often frequent and the little assembly in that home and the brother and sister decided that they wouldn't have a living room or dining room, dining room in their home.
And they would have one room that was used particularly for assemblies and for the assembly meeting. And so they have a kitchen and they have their garage, and they have a bedroom and bathroom on the one side of the house and a couple of bedrooms. But instead of having a living room and a dining room, they have the assembly. They have a room cordoned off where the chairs are all set up so that the Saints can meet and have assembly meetings any time that they want. And so they live in that house. They sacrifice a living room so that the Saints will have that place.
Does the Lord value that kind of thing?
Oh, he values it. We don't know the sacrifice that was made in connection with Aquila and Priscilla in this way, but the Spirit of God mentions two of these things, particularly three. Maybe if you say that they were helpers first, they were helpers in Christ Jesus. So they had the heavenly side of the truth before them. And then they had, they were, umm, courageous in the face of the, uh, the adversary in verse four. And then they had the assembly.
In their home.
What a sacrifice they had made. So we have this little picture of this couple using their home in this way. Now we say we I'll just mention you know, when we first read of them in Acts chapter 18.
I just, uh, I like this, uh, just present this little thought in Acts chapter 18 that, uh, the Spirit of God records that they had originally come from Rome, They had lived in Rome.
And we're reading about them in Romans chapter 16, about five years, six years later.
And so here he says in Acts chapter 18 that verse two found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome.
So now you find them back in Rome, and this is five years later. And I wondered, uh, well, wouldn't that be illegal? They've been commanded as Jews to leave Rome. And so they'd gone to Corinth. They'd lived there for a little while and the assembly had been in their home there. Now they find themselves in Rome again. But you know, I wonder, they went back to Rome. They didn't go back as Jews. They went back as those that belonged to Christ. And what an example they were. They didn't look like Jews anymore. They didn't live like Jews anymore. They lived like those that belonged to the Lord.
What privilege it is for us to live as those that belong to the Lord, not religious people, not those that have the characteristics of keeping rules and uh, being devoted to umm, a godly or an orderly life, but those that are devoted to Christ. This couple was devoted to Christ and to the people of God and God records here what he thought of their lives. Now we have in verse six this little statement that he makes about another sister, Mary or Maria.
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And I'm going to read it the way it states it in Mr. Darby's translations. He says Greek Maria or salute Maria. Who labored much for you?
Matt Nice, she labored much for you. Now she may not have noticed that. Umm, they may not have really noticed her too much.
She may not ever thought that she was going to get her name here in this little epistle.
She did a little work behind the scenes, but she labored. Paul says. She labored much for you. She says don't forget her. Salute her. He wanted to have an Apostolic greeting given to this sister.
I wonder if the apostle, would he really appreciate the labor, the effort that you put into the assembly, the effort that you put into, umm, serving the Saints in the little assembly here in.
Say in UMM Smith Falls, that's a wonderful thing to serve the Saints and to be noticed like this. But Mary, you know, we're not told what she did or Maria not told exactly what she did, but she labored much. I'm going to just point something out here. This word labor in verse 6, Mary, it says she labored and then triphena in verse 12 it says Triphena and trifosal labor, the present tense in the Lord and then salute beloved purses which labored much in the Lord. So here you have.
Four sisters in this chapter.
And the Spirit of God records that they labored. Now you know what happens when you labor. Probably George knows what happens.
And we all know we we got sweaty, we got dirty, we get tired, we got hot.
And, uh, I just enjoy this little statement that he makes about these four sisters because all of these brothers that are listed here, these groups of brethren, these names that are called out by the Apostle Paul, he doesn't say that one of the brothers labored. Now the brothers do labor. I know, but uh, the sisters labored behind the scenes in a quiet way. They perhaps didn't get the recognition from their brethren as they might have.
Expected or may might have deserved, but they labored on. And when there's a fellowship dinner, I don't see too much real labor on the part of the brothers. There's a lot of scurrying around and everything. We put some tables out and that sort of thing. But I see the sisters laboring. I see them getting dirty. I see them serving their brethren selflessly and for the blessing of the others. I see a lot of Labor go on in the back scenes, connection with little gospel materials that are put together.
Little scratch pads, little bookmarks, all kinds of gospel texts, It's quietly done behind the scenes. Let the Lord notices those things quietly done. Mary here doesn't give us any indication as to what she did, but she did it for the Lord. She served her brethren and she labored much, but none of the brethren, none of these brothers here that are listed in this little chapter, the Lord says labored. He gives that.
Title that commendation to the sisters, and I wanna say to you sisters tonight that we may not recognize it as those that are the Lord's people, those that are brothers, even your, umm, brethren at large. But if you labor for the Lord, you make the service of the Saints an object because Christ loves those dear brethren. The Lord is going to notice it and it's going to be recorded above. I may not be able to remember your name or anything like that, but, and I might not know what you're doing behind the scenes. Your brethren might not know.
And the Lord doesn't say what Mary was doing, but He's going to reward in the future day. You know, there was a little incident that took place out east. I won't tell you what assembly it was, but I was visiting. We had a fellowship dinner and then after the fellowship dinner on this Lord's Day.
There was a, a brothers, uh, the brothers had a care meeting and apparently they did this, uh, every brother's care meeting. They have uh, a month they have the brothers care meeting while the sisters clean up.
So I was visiting and we started to fold up the tables and store them and, uh, take the chairs, stack them up and start to clean up and so on. And, uh, some of the children had taken some food and gone out in the hallways. They rent a little facility and one of the sisters had brought these, uh, potato chips that have a little stick potato chips and you pour them out of a bag and, and, uh, so some of the kids thought these were great and they took them on a little plate and scoop them up and then go running around in the, in the hallway.
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And then of course, you know what happened when a kids trips or something and then there's potato chips all over the hallway and potato chips all over where we were eating and so on. So after the tables were put away and so on, I went to see an old sister and I said, sister, would you show me where the push broom is? I'd like to sweep the hallway and I'd like to sweep the floors out here.
And Darryl's her sister.
Uses a cane. And she said, uh, brother, I'm going to show you where this broom is, but I've always swept this floor and I'm going to sweep it today. And these brothers don't know that I sweep the floor, but I sweep the floor when they're in there having their brother's care meeting. She wouldn't let me sweep the floor. She was walking up and down the hallway, sweeping the floor. She's going to get a reward. And I value seeing her from time to time as I go to that little assembly and she does that little quiet work that they know nothing about.
And so, dear ones, what a privilege it is to do a little work for the Lord behind the scenes, without the knowledge of our brethren, and just doing an affection for Christ. So this sister has this commendation.
Now we look a little bit further on in verse 12.
We have two young sisters, perhaps some of the writers have suggested that they're younger women, Trichena and Trifosa, and their names mean delicate or tender, so ones that really perhaps were young people, not really calloused in their hands, used to laboring with the shovel and so on. But here they.
Labour in the Lord its present tense, two sisters, and then you have beloved purses which labored past tense. And so we take it that perhaps Persis was an older lady and she did some work in the assembly, she did some work among the brethren and she got a little bit older so that these two younger sisters took over what she was doing.
She did so much work, it took two younger sisters to do the same work.
Maybe you have an assembly and there's an older sister like that in the assembly that if you would get sidelined and take two sisters or three sisters to do her work because we don't know how much work she's really doing. We had that situation in Hammer Bay, you know, with Grace Hurlington. I think everyone knows knows that dear sister.
Her husband She and her husband never owned a new car.
She never got a job outside the home.
She devoted her life to the service of the Saints in Humor Bay. She devoted her life to gospel work. Janet remembers as a little girl and I remember as a young man.
Going to their home and there'd be a pile of envelopes on the table, kitchen table and piles the gospel tracks and so on. And she would have hand lettered, hand addressed hundreds of envelopes with addresses of the people of the homes in the county, basically the municipality. And once a year or so that they would, they would mail gospel tracks and invitations to the gospel meetings into the hobby class.
In those letters, so Janet and some of the other young ones would be engaged in a Lord's Day afternoon to stuff all these envelopes and then seal them up and then put a stamp on them and mail them through the mail system year after year, year after year. That sister did the children's calendar. Jim does a little calendar for the young people. And so we know that's a lot of work, but she's got, she had at least a dozen years of little children's calendars done up.
Send do them all up and send them off to BTP and then revise them every year. Just make sure they were a little bit up to date and so on. Year after year. Fellowship dinner. Who is setting up the fellowship dinner on Saturday? It was Grace.
Hobby class, Who is doing the hobby class? Who is spending two weeks before the hobby class began out at the meeting room, Other sisters had young families, and so on. Grace Herbert was out at the meeting room hour after hour putting the plaster cast out and getting ready for the kids.
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And then she got sick, and now, you know, she's in a wheelchair and that as she got weaker and weaker, she couldn't do those things. And we found out how much work she was doing. And it doesn't just take two sisters to do the work that she was doing before. Takes all of us, takes all of us to put our hearts to the work and to labor together. So Tritena and Trifosa, they perhaps were not used to this kind of Labor.
But the Spirit of God says they labor in the Lord, they have the Lord for the object. And this is the lesson I believe that we have here in this chapter that we need to have the Lord as the object and grace, dear grace, had the Lord.
As our object. And if you don't know what to do in the assembly, you don't know what your little job is, what your little work might be for the Lord. You ask the Lord for help to understand, to know what that work might be and what a privilege it would be to draw alongside those that are older in the path, that have labored all those years, and how they would long to have a younger sister perhaps working alongside with them. And this is what we have here, the beloved purses which labored much in the Lord so her.
Work was done, it was passed. These two younger ones took it up. Now it says in verse 13, salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.
Well, let's just look at Rufus in Mark's gospel chapter.
I think it's 15.
Yes, Mark's Gospel, chapter 15.
And verse 21.
May compel 1. Simon, a sirenian who passed by coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
Well, there were two boys here, Alexander and Rufus and some of the suggest, and there was the Father, Simon, the Siberian, perhaps a black man, and it says that he passed by coming out of the country and they compelled this man to bear the cross of the Lord Jesus. He had two boys. They're mentioned here. Perhaps they were both of faith, but we have little indication in, umm, first Timothy chapter.
One that perhaps the one boy didn't go on for the Lord in the way that he should have. So let's look at that first Timothy chapter one.
And verse 19.
Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. Now shipwreck is a disaster. It's a the ship releases testimony. It's a picture of a testimony, Christian testimony, individual testimony, and it's a catastrophic failure to have a shipwreck. It's a loss. And he says of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander.
Who might have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blasphemy. So here was a man, Alexander, and it's believed that he might have been the same person. We have Alexander mention a couple of other times in scripture. Some of the writers suggest that this same one.
Could be Alexander. And so this Paul writes to this dear sister. He salutes Rufus, this man, perhaps the same one whose father had carried the cross of the Lord. And he reminds his mother.
That he was chosen in the Lord. Do you know why you're here tonight? Do you know why you're saved? It's not because you're smart enough to be saved.
Is because of the sovereignty of God? Yes. We're all responsible to hear the gospel, to hear the Word, and to believe the gospel, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.
But it's the sovereignty of God that any of us are saved. And so Paul says to this woman, one boy went on for the Lord, one didn't, and perhaps her heart was broken. Every one of us, when our children, uh, our children really are the expression of the hope for a future generation, the hope that we have for a future generation, those that will build up the family name, as it were, my son has mentioned 24 times in the book of Proverbs.
And we have a desire for our children to go on for the Lord, every one of us. Now, maybe your father and mother haven't told you that they really want the very best for you. What they want most for you is that you would live for the Lord. They don't mind if you would desire to have a good job and all those sorts of things, but that's really not what they want for you. What they really want is for you to go on for Christ. They want you to go on in obedience to the Word of God. They want you to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus. They want you to buy the truth for yourself.
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The night to sell it. That's what they really want. Every single one of us that are godly Christian, perhaps not as godly as we would like to be, but we we have a desire for our children to go on for the Lord.
That's what we really want, and that's what this mother wanted. She wanted her children to go on for Christ. She wanted them to go on. One of the boys didn't. Paul says, you know, none of them would go on except that they're chosen. They're elected. That's what it really means. Individuals are elected or chosen in the Lord. And so Rufus was and his mother and Paul says mine and mine. Now I just want to liken it this way.
That Paul, this wasn't really his mother, but she took the place of a mother and she did a mother's work with Paul. I don't know what she did. She fixed his socks, maybe fixed some of his favorite meals that did something for him. That was a blessing, encouragement to him. But she had so much love in her heart. She wanted to do a mother's work and she took she adopted Paul as as were adopted him as a son, did a a mother's work for the apostle, outlaid the affections of her heart for him.
You know, we were a couple of years ago in Hammer Bay. Our daughter Annette wasn't going to come home.
And uh, we had a phone call from a young lad that, uh, said he had got a job in here Bay and he'd like to come to Hammer Bay and work.
And umm, so my wife said, well, I'll have to call Mr. Boulardi's way and we'll call and see whether the, you know, we can make room for you and have you stay in home and.
So she called me and just gave me a little bit of a outline of the situation. Parents weren't getting along and they've divorced since and things were bad. So this young lad wanted to have a job in Hammer Bay and.
So I said to Janet, well, you know, Annette isn't coming home this summer and we have an extra room all arranged to get home by the time that he has to start his work. And we'll, we'll have him come in the home and we'll, he can live in Annette's room. We'll try to make it a home for him. And so he arrived and his heart was breaking. His parents weren't getting on. And, uh, he could hardly speak two words when he entered the house.
And uh.
My dear wife just did everything she could to make it a home for him and find out what his favorite meals were. He said, well, I don't need breakfast. She said, yes, you do need breakfast. You made him breakfast anyway. She did his laundry, she made his favorite desserts and all kinds of things. And, uh, so you know, there was a daughter that didn't come home, but there was a son. The Lord gave us a son to have in the home. And so I say that you older sisters, perhaps there's.
A son, a daughter that hasn't gone on and you have a desire in the heart to, uh, just encourage the Saints. And there may be a young lad going to college, there may be someone, a young sister having difficulty and needs a home, needs some love, needs some mothering. And this is how it was with, uh, this dear sister. We're not given her name, just that she was Rufus's mother and she had the affections of a mother among the Saints who made a difference in the testimony in the era that Sheila did.
The apostle says himself.
That she did the work of a mother for him, my mother. And then in verse 15 and just point out a couple of other ones here, there was a group and five different individuals in verse 15, perhaps in one of these little groups that met as part of the assembly in Rome. He says salute Phylogenous and Julia. There's one sister and Nerus.
And his sister.
And Olympus and all the Saints which are with them. So we mentioned as Julia. And then he says Nouris and his sister, he says he doesn't know. It's like he didn't know the name. He didn't remember the name. I, when I was meditating on this little passage, I asked my wife. I said, why doesn't he mention the name of this girl Nouris? He knew Nouris, but he doesn't mention the name. He said, well, she says he's pretty busy. He knows all kinds of people all over. And he just kind of scratching his head. He'd forgotten this one name.
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He didn't know, so he says, well, it's nourished, you know, And his sister.
Five of these individuals had.
Distinguish themselves in this little company of believers.
They had taken their Christianity seriously. Perhaps they were five young people, and they made a difference in that little company of believers. The Apostle Paul himself mentioned them by name, except for that one, and they received a commendation. I want to just say to hear everyone here tonight, none of us can get away without having any effect on anybody else. We cannot live selfishly in a little cocoon. Every one of us has an effect upon another. And so.
The Spirit of God records that no man liveth unto himself, and no man dies unto himself. So the apostle Paul couldn't name this sister. He didn't name this sister.
But she's mentioned we're going to find out shortly who she was.
And I may forget your name, your brethren may forget your name. You may be devoted of heart to Christ in the in your soul, have a real devotion to the things of God, desire to learn the truth and to walk in the truth of God. And it may.
Just look quietly on the scene from the outside that there's a young person that desires to go on. One of the ways that you're going to be able to encourage those in the assembly is if you as a young person or anyone else go to all of the assembly meetings. If you're at the assembly meeting, you're going to encourage yourself and you're going to encourage others. And so make it to a habit to get to those assembly meetings. Just mention one other little.
Incident as a word of encouragement.
For you sisters and brothers.
Too. Maybe 3-4 years ago before Grace got Grace, Herbert got as bad as she is right now. She's not able to communicate.
Brother Ian and Grace got a letter in the mail from a man and his wife. Man had gone to school. They had lived. His mom and dad had, uh, run a little motel in the area. Ian and Grace had picked them up for Sunday school over the years and brought them to the little assembly meeting room and had Sunday school.
Young man went out West and he got married and he wrote a letter to Brother Hurlbut. Brother Hurlbut and his wife and he said.
His name is Richard de Vos. We had his stepmother work for us, Anne de Vos at Nomadic. But he said this Mr. Hurlbut I just want you to know how much it meant to me to have you come and pick me up at the little motel and to bring me to Sunday school at that little brown church building on Hammer Bay Rd. so many years ago. He said. I just want you to know that all your labor has paid off and that I've taken Christ as my savior.
And that I've married a woman he names his wife, I've forgotten her name. And he says, shows a little picture and he says, uh, we have a little boy, Elijah, and we're seeking to bring him up for the Lord. I just wanted you to know that your labor wasn't in vain. He writes from the Nino Nanaimo BC. And I would have never known about that letter except that I walking by Ian's house one day and saw him in the through the window in his kitchen and.
Went in and just visited for a little bit and I saw this letter on the.
In this photograph, color photograph on the table. And I said, Brother Ian, what's the who's this photograph of? And he kind of shyly looked away. Well, yeah, you can look at it if you'd like. And I picked up this letter and I read it. I asked him for a copy of that letter. And I have it with me. I carry it with me. It's just a little bit of an encouragement, that little picture of Elijah. I want to just say this to you. If you devote your energies, your life.
To Christ, to the service of the Saints like Persis and, uh, Priscilla, Phoebe Trifene Trifosa, these dear ones, Julia's sister, nurse's sister, the Lord is going to reward you in a future day. Ian and Grace had never got any confirmation ever of anyone that had been saved during the time that they had Sunday school for 40 years. But they got a letter before Grace, umm, kind of lost it. She was able to read that letter. She was able to understand, she was able to get that encouragement. The Lord encouraged them.
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Before really, she descended into that fog. Well, let's just trust the Lord that we have that energy to seek to serve Him and the day that we live in. I'd like to just sing that one little hymn in in the appendix #24.
Maybe someone can start at 24 in the appendix?
Nothing but cries as a Lord get the pride of living bread from whence I flip her back to being well thrown for nothing but frost. Surprise of God.
Oh, everything. They lost for him, and he lost.
Breaking across wherever we go.
Showing the world where one should go for nothing, like Christ, the Christ of God, the gods, the gods.
Things save him again.
Horses.
Let's pray I'll bring the Lord.
On the road for nothing must grows.
Umm, just commend ourselves, the loving God and our Father. We thank thee for thy precious word. Thank Thee for the little details that thou was given of those dear Saints gone on in the past at the beginning of the Christian era, and what it meant to the thine own heart to see them devote themselves and their lives to the cause of Christ and to devote themselves to the service of the Apostle Paul.
And to have him so lovingly mentioned these dear ones, we thank thee for thy precious word that would remind us that in a future day, each one of our lives we're going to be reviewed. And, uh, what was done for thy glory will be rewarded. What was done in selfishness, self will was going to be burned up. So we just asked thee to bless my precious word. Give us renewed strength and grace, desire of heart to devote ourselves and to.
Uh, to thyself, blessed Savior, and in affection for thee and affection for thy people, to live and serve in the day that we live in. So we ask thy blessing, Commend ourselves to thee now and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I have some books and booklets at the back and as you know, I bring them around particularly to try to encourage the young to read a little bit of ministry. So you got big booklets that you can use at home and so on. Read on a Lords day. Got little booklets you can put in your shirt pocket or in your purse and bring them to the doctor's office and read them and instead of reading the tracking magazines that are there and just.
Something to encourage you, just like to say that if you'd like to have a couple of booklets, two or three booklets, they're there for your taking as a gift. And we have some books. There's some young people's books as well.
And so you can take maybe one book that you see that you'd like. There's a couple of rules. You know, one rule is that if you take it, you have to read it. The second rule is that if you take it, try to encourage someone else. After you've read it, pass it on to someone else, particularly the booklets.