Phoebe

Let's open our Bibles please to Romans chapter 16. We've just been hearing about a servant who God had to speak to in a very drastic way and now we're going to read about a sister and the commendation that the Apostle Paul had for her. Romans chapter 16 and verse number one.

Paul says, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is it, which is at Centuria, that ye receive her in the Lord as becometh saints and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you for she hath been a succorer of many and of myself also. Now God will bless to us the reading of his precious word. I've been impressed as I've been going through the book of Romans and especially as we come to the end as Paul is winding up all the different things that he has spoken to them of, whether it was the doctrine of the early chapters, whether it was the dispensational teaching of those three chapters or the deportmental chapters from chapter 13 on as we see the different things Paul calls upon us to live in view of the doctrine that we have been taught and now as he comes to chapter 16, he is really going to have his own Hebrews chapter 11.

I look at it because it's his roll call, his mentioning these different folks, these different people who have been a blessing to him and their lives really are an example to the other believers and it's interesting as you go down through this chapter that there will be at least the way I see there's at least 20 men that are mentioned and nine sisters that are mentioned here in Romans chapter 16 and naturally speaking you know Paul as people would like to say the male chauvinist, he would put the women at the end but it's interesting that the very first one that he is going to mention in this roll call of his in Romans chapter 16 is this dear sister and her name is Phoebe. He mentions three things about her, I just want to look at three things very very quickly. I want to look at her in relation, he mentions her as a sister, he mentions her as a servant, and then he mentions her as a a succorer, one who comes alongside to the aid of.

So that's just what I want to look about this dear sister here and in Romans chapter 16. You know as we go through the Bible, the Bible is full of many records of of dear sisters. I want to encourage the sisters today although what I say is is really for all but in a specific way I want to encourage the sisters this morning and as we go through the Bible we see those different sisters that just shine out.

They jump out from the scriptures and and we see them and we're amazed by them. Sometimes things happen to them that that were not expected. Think of Mary, that young girl, young woman that the angel came to and said through her the savior of the world was going to be born.

That was probably a quite a tremendous moment in that woman's life, that young girl's life. And then we read in the book of Timothy of those two women that had that marked effect on that young man Timothy in his early years, Lois and Eunice, as they fed into him the scriptures, the word of God that were able to make them wise unto salvation. So there we have those two ladies in the book of Timothy.

There is that lady Lydia who was saved through the preaching of Paul at Thyatira and Dorcas, that dear woman who was such a blessing to the church and was raised up by Peter from the dead. And all these different women here, they stand out as far as their activity and their service for God. That's what it seems they were marked by.

Now the one thing I want you to understand about this lady Phoebe, as she is leaving Corinth where Paul is to go to Rome, understand this, that Paul has entrusted to her the original manuscript of the book of Romans. That's what she's taken to Corinth. That's what's in her possession.

He didn't give it to a brother, he didn't give it to a group of men to safeguard it to get there, but no, such was the confidence that Paul had in this sister Phoebe that in her possession, as she made that journey from Corinth down to Rome, because Paul is yet hadn't been at Rome, as she makes her way down there, she has in her possession the original manuscript that we know as the book of Romans. The epistle, the letter to the saints at Rome, that is so full of doctrine, that the Spirit of God has in his overseeing of the bringing together of the canon of scriptures, that he has placed first, first in the books of the epistles of the New Testament, because such was the importance of that book, such was the importance of the doctrine that is found in that book, that book that is really revolves around the righteousness of God, and if we from the beginning do not get a grasp of the righteousness of God, then all other doctrine will not fall into place. We will go wrong in the other doctrines that are expounded in the following books, and although Romans was not the first epistle that was written, the Spirit of God has put it first, and it was given to Phoebe, this dear sister, this woman, and she was going to take it from Paul to the saints at Rome.

Now there's one thing we got to note, one thing I want you to notice here, it's not really part of my message per se, but I want you to understand that what we are reading here in Romans chapter 16, in these first two verses, are actually a letter of commendation. Paul is commending this sister to the saints at Rome. They didn't know her, they may be heard of her, but as she would show up to the assembly at Rome, she would have in this letter, in this epistle to the Romans, it included for her a letter of commendation.

It was customary, it seems, it was customary that there were letters of commendation that the saints got as they traveled amongst the different assemblies. As they went from one place to another, they took with them letters of commendation, and you can see, I think it's at least eight distinct letters of commendation in the New Testament, and you can see it was something that was practiced, it was customary. The word commend simply means to introduce, it means to introduce or to recommend to someone else.

Paul in 2nd Corinthians, remember chapter 3, he says, do we begin again to commend ourselves, or need we as others epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? He says, ye are our epistle. So Paul there, he was claiming that he didn't need it to come to them because he was known of them. He was the one who had seen the work there, and they knew him.

He was their father in the faith for many of them, and says, I don't need one as others would need it, strangers coming in or even the false teachers. He says they need it, but he says I don't need it, but it would seem it was the practice of the early church that they would take letters of commendation. Acts 18.27 with Apollos, Ephesus sent a letter with Apollos as he went through Achaia, a letter of commendation, and we can see that in different places.

But you know it's not just a courtesy, but really it's a necessity to take because what we have to understand, and I don't know if that's how these folks got in it, but it's interesting in Romans chapter 16 with all this honor roll, all the honor roll of these people that Paul was remembering, and Phoebe that he was commending. When we get down as it to verse number 17, he's going to make a difference. These others he was, they were to receive.

These others they were, he was commending them. There was something commendable about them, but then there were others he said, listen you got to avoid them. Those that cause division.

He says those that that cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, he says avoid them, stay clear of them. Now I'm just assuming, and I guess it's not good to assume, but perhaps those men got in amongst them, and they came in, and perhaps, and maybe I'm just reading it into it, but they got there, and they shouldn't have been there, and maybe if they had have had a letter of commendation from where they came from, or the lack of one, they wouldn't have been received. They would have understood that there was something wrong with these men, and so it is something not just a courtesy, because it is a courtesy, but it's a necessity.

You see what a letter of commendation does? A letter of commendation, it identifies who is coming. That's what it does. It's to identify to the receiving assembly who is coming along, and it informs them.

It informs them as to how long you're going to be there. It informs them as to what your business is in the area, and so they have a heads-up of who is coming. So it is something that informs the assembly to where you are going, but it does something more than that.

It also helps the elders in the assembly that you have come from. It helps them to understand why you're not at the meeting, because you're somewhere else, just picking up and going, and I know there's times when maybe that, you know, something happens on the spur of the moment, but to get in the habit of just going without telling the brethren, without letting them know I'm not going to be there, that's what a letter of commendation is. I ask for a letter.

They give it to me, and so now they know where I am. Now when I'm not there Sunday morning or Tuesday or whatever night for the Bible reading, they have an understanding. Okay, they've gone somewhere because they took with them a letter of commendation, but just as a letter of commendation informs and it identifies, but really it's not a blank ticket.

Just because you have a letter of commendation, when you show up at the door of an assembly that you're going to visit, those men who guard the door, those men who watch who is coming into the assembly, if you show up there with something that is not in keeping with the practice at that assembly, just because you have a letter doesn't mean that you get in automatically, and so it identifies and it informs and it also tells where you've come from, the assembly where you come from, why you're away. Now that's just a little by the way, but I just want to look very quickly in the next few minutes, these three things, a sister, a servant, and a succorer, and that's what Paul has to commend. It's not a big long letter, it's not pages and pages long, but Paul hits the the succinct points of the character of this dear sister named Phoebe, and there's a lesson in it, not just for the sisters, but I think for all of us as well.

First off, she is called a sister. Now what that does, that certainly that informs us as to her relationship with the father. She is part of the family of God.

She has the same heavenly father as those in the assembly where she was being received from. She had been brought into that relationship through salvation, through trusting Christ, and it's interesting that her name is another name for Diana, the idol of the Ephesians. Phoebe is another name for that that was used, and so here's this woman, and it would seem her background was that of idolatry, was that of idol worship, and yet through the grace of God, through the working of the spirit of God, she was reached, and she was saved, and she was rescued from a life of idolatrous worship, and now she had been brought into the family of God.

She was a child of God. She was a sister in the faith because of her having the same heavenly father as those that were receiving her, but not only did Phoebe, was that not another name for Diana? The name Phoebe itself means radiant or bright, radiant or bright. One of these sisters that always had a glow on her face, always, you know, you see her and the smile breaks out.

You know, it's a wonderful testimony to the grace of God and to the practical truth that I am enjoying my salvation, is that when people see me, they see someone who is radiant and bright. Now, I'm not saying that, all the experiences of life are going to make us happy campers all the time. That's not what I'm talking about.

You know, they say that we're not going to be happy all the time because happiness is a direct result of happenings. Sometimes bad things happen, but when it comes to joy, when it comes to this radiance, this radiance is something that is over and above anything that happens to me in this world. It's the knowledge, it's knowing that it is well for eternity, that God is my father and that heaven is my home and I'm able to rise above all those things and when people see me, even though I might be passing through the darkest valley there is.

Here was a sister. Her very name meant radiant and bright. She was brought out of spiritual darkness and now she rejoiced in the light that she had been brought into.

So she is a sister because she knows the father, her relationship with the father. But not only is she a sister because of her relationship with the father, she is a sister because of her relationship with the family. She's been brought into the family of God from very different circumstances perhaps than others, and yet Paul understood and recognized her as a sister in the family of the same, you know, the same heritage, a sister of the family, even though her background might have been varied, they were to receive her as a sister.

You know, the wonderful thing about the gospel of the grace of God is that it reaches and it transcends every social barrier, it transcends racial barriers, it transcends all these barriers, and yet sad to say sometimes, sometimes because of prejudices or preconceived ideas, someone that's different comes from a different background, comes from a different upbringing, maybe not, you know, the same as many of us who had the privilege of being brought up in Christian homes, you know, there is a barrier that seems to be there, and we don't accept them, we don't receive them as being part of the family. He says, listen, I commend unto you, Phoebe, our sister, idolatrous worshiper before perhaps, but oh, because of the grace of God, because of the working of the spirit of God, this dear lady had been brought in, had been brought into the family of God, and they were to recognize her and accept her as a sister, and so often that has been the comfort of many who have been saved out of the world, and because of the conflict, because of the animosity there is in the home afterwards, when someone comes home and says, mom, dad, I gotta tell you something, I got saved, I'm a Christian now, I'm a believer, and so often so many people, as soon as they say those words, they're shown the door, they're told to get out, we don't want any of that around here, but the psalmist, Psalm 27, he says, when my father and my mother forsake me, then will the Lord take me up, and not only will the Lord take her up, but we who are part of that same family, that same heritage, we ought to be able to take them up and recognize them and encourage them as a sister. She is a sister, but you know, maybe maybe just a warning to the younger men, and maybe even some of the older men, in our dealings with the sisters in the assembly, we should be able to keep that distance, we should understand that yes, they are my sister in Christ.

It would keep me from maybe some of the problems that would arise when I don't recognize them, when I don't look at them with the proper frame of mind, that they are truly my sister in the Lord. So she is called a sister. Not only is she called a sister, very quickly, it says here, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant, a servant of the church.

You know, we can certainly thank God, and not just on a conference weekend like this year, but we thank God for women, sisters who are active in the assembly, active in assembly things that go on, and they fill a place in the assembly that men could never ascend to, that it wouldn't even be proper for men to do. And here was a woman who was busy in her business for the Lord, so much so that Paul commends her, not only as a sister, but he calls her a servant. Paul says she is a servant.

Now, the word there is not doulos, it's not a bondservant, but it's the word deacon. It's a deacon, a deaconess, and it's not so much of the office, it's not an office that he is referring to as her, but rather the work that she is doing. You see doulos, which appears about 125 times in the New Testament, it's in relation to the Lord.

It's a word that's used in relation to the Lord. I'm a bondslave, and it's unto the Lord. Paul, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, and normally when the word doulos is used, it's the thought of the lordship, whose servant I am, but then when he comes to the word deacon 30 times, at least in the New Testament, it's the thought of the service that is in view.

It just goes to, you know, it's natural that the one who is a bondslave, a doulos servant, would also be a deacon type, one who serves, and that's what the thought of this lady here, Phoebe, is all about. It's that she was a doulos, rather, a deacon, she served. One of the books I was reading, talking about what this word meant, it's the thought of one who kicks up dust.

They are so busy that they leave a trail of dust behind them. Do you know any sisters like that? You know, they're always doing, they're always finding something to do. I can remember having some meetings back in Orillia, Ontario, the first series of meetings I had when I was commended full-time, and there's a dear sister there, she's still alive, and she would spend, we're there for five weeks of gospel meetings, she would spend every single morning of those five weeks, at least Monday to Friday, in the kitchen baking muffins and loaves, and then she would spend the rest of the afternoon going to friends and neighbors with a little care package, with an invitation to the gospel meetings.

That lady is a true deacon. That lady is a servant of the church, not just present, not just there, not just taking up a chair, but rather busy in her activity so that she is truly a doulos, a servant in her service for God. Another thought, another description for that word was a waiter who waits on tables.

You get the idea, they're there for someone else, they're not there for themselves, they are doing this, yes, they're doing it for the Lord, but they work, they have their service for others. So she is called a servant as to her position, but not only is she called a servant as to her position, but she's a servant as far as the praise, the praise that Paul said she was worthy of. She says they were to receive her as becometh saints.

You see, there is a onus that is put on us now. This dear sister, as she is moving about in her service, as she is moving about in her busyness, now the onus was on this assembly that she, it seems she didn't know them, she was going there as a stranger, but he said you were to receive her as becometh saints. There was there was the expectation that Paul had in those believers at Rome that this true servant, as she came along, she was to be received, she was to be received by the assembly.

She was worthy to be honored by those in that assembly with this letter of commendation because she was in fact a doulos, a bondservant. Not only was she to be received as becometh saints, but it said they were to assist her. They were to give her help in whatever she needed.

And you know it's a, someone shows up on a Lord's Day a stranger, it's not just enough to receive them to the assembly, to the fellowship, but these folks, they were not just receiving her when she showed up, but their reception of her. It would extend to the days around her visit there. They were to assist her by whatever means they had, they were to help her just as she had been helping others.

So here was this dear sister, and again we thank God for every dear sister and younger sisters. It's a good habit to get busy in the things of God at a young age. Now I know maybe it's not as a visible service as maybe some of the younger brothers can do, but it is just as a necessary service, and I'm sure it is a service that is recognized by God, and a service that will probably get a farther greater commendation at the judgment seat.

Those things that were done in choir, those things that were done maybe behind the scenes that no one else knew about, but God knew about him, and God in that day, the commendation of the Savior won't be from Paul, but from the Savior himself. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. But two minutes for the last point very quickly.

Not only was she called a sister to do with the relationship, a servant to do with her activity, but it says she was a succorer. That is, she came to the other's assistance. She was a benefactor, a benefactor of the gospel.

When she saw a need, she rose up to that need. Now possibly, quite possibly, she was a wealthy woman, maybe a widowed woman. It would seem she was a widowed woman traveling alone like that, or possibly never married, but it would seem that she had some wealth behind her, and she was not afraid to use it for the furtherance of the gospel.

Paul had appreciated the fellowship she had with him, and others no doubt as well, but here she is. She gave. She was a succorer.

She gave of her talents. She didn't try to do what she didn't know how to do. She didn't try to do what someone else was doing, but she simply did what she could do for herself.

She could do herself for God. Now, the younger sisters, as you look at the example of the older sisters, and you can see what they do, you know, they're hospitable as they raise their families, as they, you know, as they see a need that needs to be taken care of, and they do it. And here was this woman.

She gave of her talent, but in giving of her talent, listen, she had to give of her time. It doesn't come cheaply to be a servant, to be a deacon. Time is involved, and, you know, it seems that, you know, we can give, and we don't mind giving everything and anything but our time, you know, whether it's our checkbooks, whether it's this or that, but, you know, time is so precious, and yet in order for this lady to do what she was doing, it took her time, and we rejoice.

We thank God every time we see a sister whose heart is in the gospel, and at great personal expense to themselves, not just monetarily, but in the time that we've seen that here. We've seen that here in the gospel meetings that were back in January, five weeks of meetings, and they were young sisters, and they gave of their talents. They gave of their time for the Lord.

They were truly doulosses, a deacon doing that deacon work for the Lord. Not only did she give of her talent and of her time, but something that's very, very important. She would give of her tenderness, her tender response, her tenderness as she moved amongst the Lord's people, or maybe even moved amongst the unsaved.

She, in giving of her talent and time, there was a tenderness that was associated, not begrudgingly, not, you know, not mean-spirited, just because I gotta do this, so I'm gonna, no, no. Her tenderness out of devotion for her God, out of devotion for the Lord Jesus Christ, and she was not just loving in word, but she was loving in deed, and because of that, she seemed to rise to the top, rise to the top of this letter of commendation that Paul is writing as he mentions these 28 or 29 different people, and the first one he's going to mention, this dear sister. I commend unto you, Phoebe.

You know, each one of us from the assemblies that we come from, we could probably say the very same thing about a dear sister. I commend unto you a sister, a servant, a succor. First, you'll be encouraged to keep it up.

There's so much to do, and here was this. We heard about a man that went the wrong way. Well, thank God for the sisters that put their heart and their soul and their sweat into the things of God, for the glory of God.

First, God will bless this one.