The sermon by Jason Dohm focuses on Romans 16:21-24, where Paul includes greetings from his companions to the believers in Rome. Timothy, a prominent ministry partner of Paul, along with Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, send their greetings, emphasizing the unity and love among Christians, despite geographical distances. The sermon highlights Timothy's background and his significant partnership with Paul in spreading the Gospel. Paul's use of a scribe, Tertius, to pen the letter is explained, shedding light on common practices of the time. The inclusion of greetings from various individuals underscores the global network of believers and their shared mission. The sermon concludes with two main applications: the importance of love among believers as evidence of true faith and a measure of spiritual health, and the significance of collaborative ministry work in advancing the Gospel.

So our text this morning is Romans 16, 21 through 24. I will be reading through 27. Greetings from Paul's friends. Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Socistpeter, my countrymen, greet you. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you and the Lord.

Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greet you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greet you. And Quartus, a brother, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith.

To God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is From Greetings to Others to Greetings from Others. The Title sets the stage for where we've been and where we are today versus 3 through 16. Paul gave his own personal greetings to 24 people in two households.

Paul himself in 3 through 16, Paul himself was greeting certain believers in Rome, mostly by name. In today's text, certain believers who are with Paul are sending their greetings to the believers in Rome. So let's ask God to help us squeeze all the good we can from another list of names, and then we'll get right to it. Let's pray. God, there is so much good to extract from these names, from your people, sending their greetings to other ones of your people far away.

Many cases, probably most cases, maybe comprehensively, people who have never met each other. Thank you for your worldwide people, The things that are so fundamental that bring us together into fellowship with people that maybe we've never met, maybe we never will meet this side of heaven. Thank you for your people. Pray that you would cause these truths to be precious to us in Jesus name. Amen.

Alright, we have four verses. Let's go for verse by verse. Hopefully your finger is still in Romans chapter 16. Follow along as I reread verse 21. Paul writes, Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Socipator, my countrymen, greet you.

Sometimes if you go fast on the names, no one will call your bluff. So that's my strategy, say it fast. Hope that no one knows better. Verse 21, we have greetings from Timothy and several of Paul's countrymen. Paul's fellow worker, Timothy, sends greetings to the believers in Rome.

Timothy is Paul's best-known ministry partner. So Paul has lots of ministry partners. We find that in the New Testament. Who's the best-known one? It definitely is Timothy, even more so than Barnabas and Saul.

If you said to the average Christian, fill in the blank, Paul and, occasionally you get a Paul and Barnabas or a Paul and Silas. Most people would say Paul and Timothy. He's the best known ministry partner. We encounter Timothy first in Acts 16 at the very beginning of Paul's second missionary journey. So his first missionary journey begins at Antioch and goes all over the place and ends back up in Antioch.

And then the second missionary journey, the first stop is Derbe and Lystra, and this is our first encounter with a disciple by the name of Timothy. So I do want us to go together to Acts chapter 16 and see this first encounter with Timothy. So turn to Acts 16. As you do, I'll give you the context. I won't actually read this, but the end of chapter 16 is a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

John Mark had gone with them and in mid journey, in mid-labors, John Mark had left the work. We don't know why, we just know that Paul was unhappy about it. Really unhappy about it. So unhappy about it that when it's time for the second missionary journey, Barnabas says, let's take John Mark with us again, And Paul says, over my dead body. Now, this is a very loose translation.

Doesn't actually say over my dead body. But he's not having John Mark go with him. And Barnabas is not happy about Paul's sense of these things. And they actually, for a time, not forever, Barnabas and Paul will labor again later, but for that time, they go in different directions. Barnabas takes John Mark and goes in one direction, and Paul takes Silas with him and goes in another direction, and in their first stop they get Timothy.

So in a sense you might say God, to replace the help and labors of Barnabas gives Paul Silas and another, and Timothy who ends up being such a fruitful co-laborer with Paul. So that brings us to Acts chapter 16 and our introduction to Timothy. Follow along as I read Acts chapter 16, 1 through 3. Then he, Paul, came to Derbe and Lystra. Behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.

He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region for they all knew that his father was Greek. Paul and Silas go on the second missionary journey. Their first stop is at Derby and Lystra. So this is the region of Galatians.

If you go to Paul's letter to the Galatians, you find a greeting to the churches in the region, because Galatia is not a city, it's a region. Actually, if you look at the maps of the missionary journeys, you find it's a big region. So Galatians is written not to a church in a city, but to churches in a region. Galatians, the very beginning of that book you find to the churches of Galatia, because it's a region, not a city. It's Asia Minor, which is modern day Turkey.

So, Derby and Lystra are in modern day Turkey. There was already a disciple there who was thought well of and therefore spoken well of by the brethren there. So the brethren think a lot of this disciple. And so they speak well of him because of their respect for this brother named Timothy. Timothy's mother was a Jew, but his father wasn't a Jew.

His father was a Greek, and he had never been circumcised. And Paul, every time he goes to a Gentile city, he actually doesn't start with the Gentiles. He starts in the local synagogue with the Jews, and he doesn't want circumcision to be a stumbling block. So Acts 16 is after Acts 15. You know your numbers.

You know 16 comes after Acts 15, what's the significance of that? In Acts 15 you have the Jerusalem council which convenes to give a determination on do you have to be circumcised to be saved and the conclusion of that is a resounding no. You can be uncircumcised to be saved. You do not have to be circumcised to be saved. So this has nothing to do with the salvation of Timothy.

It has everything to do with will this, whether he's circumcised or not, be a stumbling block in Paul's gospel labors, and he will not allow it to be a stumbling block. Even though it's not necessary to the salvation of Timothy, Paul wants to remove every stumbling block, but it doesn't have to be a stumbling block. How many of you know that the Gospel has enough of its own stumbling blocks? There are plenty of things inherent to the Gospel that make people not like the gospel and make it so hard to be received that the Holy Spirit has to bring a spiritually dead person to life to receive it. This should be our practice too.

If there's an obstacle that doesn't have to be an obstacle, The Gospel has enough obstacles of its own. Get it off the table. That is what Paul is doing here. If we were to go to 2nd Timothy, in 2nd Timothy chapter 1, we would find out that Timothy, I had not only a believing mother, but a faithful believing grandmother. Paul says, I'm thinking about the faith of your grandmother and the faith of your mother, and I trust this true, genuine, abiding faith exists in you too, in you also.

And then if we go to 2nd Timothy chapter 3, we find that from childhood he had been taught the scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation. So we actually know his history. He had a believing grandmother, a believing mother, and they undertook teaching him the Scriptures that made him wise. He gave him the things that he would need to know to embrace salvation by faith alone. And he did, and he's well thought of, and he is well spoken of.

So this is our introduction to Timothy. Paul finds this disciple who's spoken well of by the brethren. He wants him to go with him, and that's actually what happens. And then of course, Paul writes two letters to Timothy. Two of the letters that we have of the Apostle Paul are actually personal letters from Paul to Timothy.

Almost all scholars see the chronology this way, that Romans was written sometime from 56 to 58 AD. So the years 56 to 58 AD, Paul wrote this letter to the Romans that we've been studying. In that, that's about roughly 25 years since Jesus' death and resurrection. So have the timeline in your mind. And then these letters to Timothy wouldn't be written for something like six to ten years later.

So Paul's letter to the Romans bringing greetings from Timothy in today's text was written maybe six to ten years before he wrote 1st Timothy and 2nd Timothy as we think of them. Not only did Paul write letters to Timothy, Paul and Timothy wrote letters together to the Corinthians, they wrote Second Corinthians. Philippians, Paul and Timothy wrote the letter to the Philippians together. Colossians, they wrote the letter to the Colossians together. Thessalonians, both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, are from Paul and Timothy.

And Philemon they wrote together. So not only did Timothy receive two letters directly from Paul, they co-wrote six letters together to different churches, and in the case of Philemon, to a person. So it isn't coincidental that Timothy's name appears first on this list. That's no coincidence. The hearts of Paul and Timothy beat in tandem for both the lost and the saved.

Please believe that. The hearts of Paul and Timothy, Paul's heart, is beating in sync with Timothy's heart. For who? For the lost? They're going all over the world taking the good news that Jesus died for sinners.

And if you place your faith in Him, He will save you. They went everywhere. Their hearts beat in tandem, in sync for the lost and for the saved. When there were converts, when there were churches, They went together back to these churches. They wrote letters to these churches.

The hearts of Paul and Timothy beat in tandem for both the lost and the saved. It's no coincidence that Timothy is the first one on this list sending greetings to the believers in Rome. Next, three of Paul's countrymen, fellow Jews, his countrymen, your fellow Americans aren't all related to you, but Jews are different. It was a family and a nation. Paul's countrymen were fellow Jews.

And they send their greetings, these three Jews send their greetings to the believers in Rome. It is very possible that all three of these men are mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament. But it is also possible that any or all of them are different people with the same name. There's no marker in the text that makes either them being the same person as that name occurring elsewhere, being the same person or not being the same person. There's nothing in this text that would make that conclusive.

So all three of these men might be mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, but they might be somebody different with the same name. In Acts 13, 1 through 3, Lucius of Cyrene is one of five prophets and teachers at Antioch who are ministering to the Lord and fasting. And as they minister to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit comes and instructs them to separate Barnabas and Paul to the work of global missions. So this is just before the first missionary journey. These five men at the church at Antioch, prophets and teachers, Lucius of Cyrene is one of them, and as they're ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit comes and says, set apart these two men for the work of global missions.

So there is a definite connection here with Paul and a Lucius of Cyrene in Acts 13. Is this Lucius that Lucius? Maybe. In Acts 17 verses 1 through 9, Paul is in Thessalonica, and his gospel labors are making great headway, such great headway that the Jews stir up a mob against him. If his gospel laborers weren't making any headway, they wouldn't have bothered.

But the gospel is making such progress in Thessalonica that the Jews are threatened, so they stir up a mob against him. And the mob attacks a man named Jason's house, and the mob drags Jason before the rulers of the city and say, those who have turned the world upside down have come here too. Jason harbored them and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king, Jesus. So if you get a bad reputation this is what you want your bad reputation to be, for saying there's another king, Jesus. If you ever get drug in front of the local authorities, let it be for that, for saying there's another king, King Jesus.

That's what Jason got drug in front of the city's rulers for harboring Paul and his companions. Imagine that crime. So there is a definite connection between Paul, he was in Thessalonica with a man named Jason, who was harboring him, who was giving him a place to stay, a base for his gospel labors in Thessalonica. Is this Jason that Jason? Maybe.

In Acts 20 verse 4, Soepater of Borea, Borea is in Macedonia near Thessalonica. Soepater of Borea, the city in Macedonia, is accompanying Paul and others. He's a traveling companion of Paul and his ministry team. So Pater is an abbreviated form of Sosipater, which Sosipater is the name in our text. Thanks for the scholarship, John MacArthur.

Otherwise, I wouldn't know that Sopator was an abbreviated form of Sosipator, but so John MacArthur assures us. I believe him. So there is a definite connection between Paul, he had a traveling companion of the same name. Is this Sosopator that Sopator? Maybe.

Now, before we move on, let's attempt to ask and answer a basic question. Why is Paul doing this? It's Paul's letter. He has co-written some letters with Timothy, but this isn't one of them. This is from Paul.

Get that in Chapter 1. This is his letter. He doesn't have to. So Why is he passing along greetings from others to the believers in a church that he's never been to himself? Well, the text doesn't say.

But I agree with Matthew Poole and John Calvin and others. Let me tell you what they say. Matthew Poole says this, as before he salutes diverse persons himself, Paul is saluting these people himself, So he now sends the salutation of others to the Church of Rome. This he does to show the mutual love that is and ought to be betwixt Christians, though they are divided in respective place, yet in respect, yet not in respect of affection and goodwill." You want me to make that play in English for you? Matthew Henry is 1600s, I think, maybe early 1700s, a long time ago.

Different English. So my translation of Matthew Poole. Did I say Henry? It's Matthew Poole. So Paul had saluted these different people himself, and in kind, in the same way, he now sends these greetings of others who are with him to Rome to show the mutual love that Christians do have and ought to have towards one another even though they're separated far apart in in place there they're nowhere near each other geographically They're really near each other in affection.

That's what Matthew Poole is saying here. These Christians that are hundreds and thousands of miles apart geographically, aren't even millimeters apart in affection. This is how it works in the kingdom of God. I thank God for this. People have believed in Jesus in the four corners of the earth and we're family.

They're people that you have never met, you don't know their names, you'll never meet them this side of heaven, but you're fundamentally more family to them than you are with some of your blood relatives. That is true. Paul at the end of his greetings, at the end of his greetings that we studied a couple of weeks ago, ended his greetings by saying the churches of Christ greet you. He wants to expand our view of the people of God. It's just not the people in this building or even the Christians that you know from wherever you know them from.

God's family is a global family that you have this fundamental connection with, sometimes so much more fundamental than the people that you have share a bloodline with. John Calvin says this, the salutation which he records served in part to foster union between those who were far asunder. So they were far asunder. They were geographically very far apart, but he wants to foster a union with between them even though they're far apart geographically. In some ways they're saying the same thing.

But yes, Paul is very self-consciously, on purpose, proactively fostering a union between the people in one, the believers in one part of the world with believers in another part of the world. He wants them to be very tender-hearted towards one another, to think about each other, to pray for each other, to help each other as they have an opportunity to do that. He is fostering a union between them. Okay, moving to the next verse. Now, Romans 16 verse 22.

Short verse. I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. All of these greetings are in the Lord. It's believers, a believer in the Lord Jesus greeting other believers in the Lord Jesus. They are greetings in the Lord.

Paul is the author of Romans. Tertius is the writer of Romans. Tertius did the writing, the actual physical act of putting pen to paper. Yes, if you're taking notes on the handout, I haven't said this already, but pen fills in the blank. Greetings from the holder of the pen.

Tertius held the pen, but it's Paul's letter. It was common practice for an important person undertaking an important document to utilize a secretary or an amanuensis. If you want a fancy word that theologians use, You might see that word, an amanuensis. The speculation is that Mark was actually the amanuensis of Peter, so that the gospel of Mark is actually Peter's gospel. Is that true?

I don't know. It's speculation. But the point being that an important person undertaking an important document during this time often used an amanuensis or a secretary to actually do the act of writing. Do you know that all writers are not created equal? You ever seen a prescription written by a doctor?

They're universally illegible. You do not want the the book of Romans to be illegible. Now I'm not accusing Paul and his handwriting, I'm just saying this was common practice at the time and there are often good reasons for that common practice. An important person undertaking an important document often utilized someone else to do the actual penmanship. John Murray says this, Paul's practice of using an amanuensis or a secretary is attested in other epistles.

1 Corinthians 1621, Galatians 611, Colossians 418, 2nd Thessalonians 317. I went so fast you wouldn't try to note them, you can ask ask me for them later if you want to. Here John Murray is referencing the strong internal evidence that at least 1st Corinthians and Galatians and Colossians and 2nd Thessalonians were also dictated to a secretary. So you can go to those references and those references, there are strong internal evidence that those letters were also written by a secretary or a penman or an amanuensis. Putting Romans in there with that, That's five and there may have been more.

So Paul was doing this frequently. Paul was and is a very important person. These were and are very important documents. How important is Romans? Paul utilized a penman with many of these important documents.

This is the only appearance of Tertius in the New Testament. Some commentators do interesting things to try to link Tertius to another name, but I don't know why. After studying all week, I still don't know why. I think Tertius is just Tertius and he's not mentioned elsewhere. Verse 23.

Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, and Quartus, a brother. Here in verse 23, we have greetings from men in the Corinthian church, probably. So I'm going to make the case that it's three men from the Corinthian Church. It's not completely watertight.

I think the case makes sense. I think it probably is three men from the Corinthian Church. But I can't say, if you need certainty, I can't give it to you because the New Testament does not give us absolute certainty on this. You have three names, Gaius, Erastus, and Quartus. Quartus is uncomplicated.

Thank God for Quartus. He's easy. He is a brother in the Lord. We have that right in the text. He sends his greetings to the believers in Rome.

His name doesn't appear anywhere else in the New Testament. End of story. Quartus is easy. I like Quartus. Gaius and Erastus are definitely more complicated.

It is possible that there are as many as four men named Gaius in the New Testament. And looking at the incurrences, it is difficult to imagine a scenario where they are all the same individual one man named Gaius. That's almost impossible when you look at these different instances of the name Gaius to say that's all the same person. Almost impossible to even imagine a scenario where they could all be the same person. So, at least there are at least two Gaiuses in the New Testament and maybe as many as four Gaiuses mentioned in the New Testament.

It's similar but not quite as bad with Erastus. The name Erastus appears a total of three times in the New Testament and looking at the occurrences it is probably either one or two Erastuses. You can actually, when you look at these three occurrences, you can actually imagine a scenario where those three are the same person. It's probably actually two, but you can't say definitively from the evidence. Here's what most commentators think and I agree with them.

Almost all commentators believe that Paul wrote this letter to the Romans while he was in Corinth at the end of his third missionary journey. So you look across the commentators, it's not quite universal but pretty close. They think Paul wrote this at the very end of his third and final missionary journey while he was at Corinth. That's when he wrote Romans. Now, why do they think that?

Because in 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Paul is calling for financial help for impoverished believers in Jerusalem. Find that in 1st Corinthians, you find that in 2nd Corinthians. When you meet, set a little bit aside for the poor Jews in Jerusalem, so that when I come, we aren't in crisis mode having to collect then. You will have been collecting it week by week, and then you can send somebody with me, and we'll take what you've collected to Jerusalem to help the poor in Jerusalem. That's what you find in 1 and 2 Corinthians.

Romans 15, last chapter we studied, Paul says that he is now going to deliver that aid. And in 16 verse 1, so the very beginning of our current chapter, Paul commends Phoebe of Sincrea. This is that port city just outside of Corinth, six and a half miles outside of Corinth, the port city for Corinth, and Many believe she carried Romans. The reason he's commending Phoebe to the Romans is that she's bringing the letter. And he secures a good reception and help for her by commending her at the beginning of chapter 16.

That's very likely. Now here in Romans 1623, Gaius is named as Paul's host and he has a New Testament link to Corinth. Give you that in a second. And Erastus sends greeting and he has a New Testament link to Corinth. Listen to 1st Corinthians 1.14.

So 1st Corinthians 1.14, Paul says, I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius." So in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says that he baptized Gaius the Corinthian. I thank God that I baptized none of you, except I did baptize Crispus and I did baptize Gaius and he's one of you Corinthians. Listen to 2nd Timothy 4 verse 20. 2nd Timothy 4 verse 20, Paul writes to Timothy, Arastus stayed in Corinth. So there's definitely a gaius of Corinth, he's one of the Corinthians, and Arastus stayed in Corinth at the time that Paul was writing 2 Timothy.

So all of this fits together very logically. Paul was in Corinth collecting their contributions for the poor in Jerusalem. He wrote Romans while he was there. He sent the letter with Phoebe, a servant of the church in Sincrea, this nearby town. He was staying with Gaius, who was also the host of the church in Corinth.

And Erastus and Quartus were there too. So does it have to be that? No. Does that fit together nicely? Yes.

A Gaius, whether this was the Gaius of Corinth or not, Gaius was a help to Paul. He provided a home for him. He gave Paul a base for his operations. He was a host to Paul. The Greek word there is talking about being hospitable, offering hospitality to, being a home for Paul.

And not just Paul, but a church in Corinth or the church in Corinth. In our chapter, there's evidence that Rome had enough believers and maybe spread out enough to have multiple churches. We don't know if the same was true in Corinth. So, Gaius is probably the host of either a church in Corinth or the church in Corinth. It doesn't really matter which it is.

Erastus was the treasurer of the city. The word translated treasurer is the public service equivalent of a household manager. So sometimes this Greek word is actually used for a household manager. Somebody who watches over is responsible for the affairs of the household. So this is the public service equivalent of that.

So the real function could be much broader than just financial management. Treasurer makes it sound like just financial management, but looking at the Greek word, the real function could be a lot broader than just managing the money. The new international version translates it the city's director of public works. So that just reflects the broader sense of the word, the city's director of the public works. Check this out.

The ESV has an interesting note that says that a pavement stone outside a theater in ancient Corinth has an inscription saying that Erastus paid for the pavement outside this theater at his own expense in return for his public service appointment and that the pavement was from the right time period, meaning when they date the pavement outside this theater, it's the right time period for the writing of Romans, and that the name Erastus would have been a very unusual name in Corinth. It could very well be that this pavement stone, this archaeological find that says Erastus paid for all this pavement in front of the theater out of his own money in return for his public service appointment, that that's the Erastus who was the manager of the public works in Corinth at that time. Not definitive but really interesting. So it is likely that this verse, verse 23, contains greetings from three brothers in Corinth greeting the believers in Rome. Our final verse, verse 24.

Romans 16, 24, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. In verse 24 we have a contested benediction. That's actually the word that fills in the blank on the handout. A contested benediction.

Why do I say contested? Who could contest a benediction like that? The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. What's controversial about that?

Well this, if you have an ESV or an NASB or an NIV Bible, it goes verse 21, verse 22, verse 23, verse 25. There's no verse 24. If you have an ESV, an NASB, Tyler's going to check me right now. My own son-in-law doesn't believe me. He's gone directly to a smartphone to see, does it really go 23 to 25?

Yeah, he's a good Berean. He's going to see whether these things be so. Why did those versions ESV, NASB, and IV not have a verse 24. It's because the New King James and the King James are translated from a different Greek manuscript than the NASB, ESV, and NIV. The King James and the New King James are translated from what is known as the received text, or if you want to be fancy about it the textus, not texas, textus receptus.

The early translations were all from that Greek manuscript. The more modern translations, more of the more modern translations are translated from the critical texts where scholars have taken all the available Greek texts and studied them side by side and considered evidence for which text is most accurate in which place. So I could talk a long time about this. I'm not going to talk a long time about it, but I'm willing to talk a long time about this at the lunch table. So if I don't bore you with this during the sermon and you think you can take more, ask me for more.

I have actually really strong feelings about it. Here's the note from the NASB. Late manuscripts add as verse 24, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen here's the note in the ESV some manuscripts insert verse 24 and then they give the verse The NIV actually has the most accurate note. The NIV note says some manuscripts include here. So I do object to the NASB note and the ESV note.

I do not object to the NIV note. Why do I say that is the most accurate note? Some manuscripts include here, because some manuscripts do include their verse 24, but it is by no means certain that that has been added from the original or inserted contrary to the original, added contrary to the original, or inserted contrary to the original. It is impossible to know whether verse 24 has been added or inserted into manuscripts that do have 24, or taken out of manuscripts that don't have 24. You cannot know for sure.

The scholars who are responsible for the critical texts, for taking all the texts that are available, and there are thousands of Greek texts available. Actually, I think it's 1500, something like 1500, but I'm doing that from memory, so don't quote me. All these texts and creating one text from what they believe to be the best in different places from those other texts, those scholars have a bias towards older texts that says older texts are better texts. Okay, so that's logical, but it has some problems with it, and here's the core problem with older equals better. Those older texts are in our hands only because they weren't in use.

You only have those 2, 000 year old texts in your hands because people weren't using them. The ones that were in use, if you've got a 20 year old Bible and you've been using it, it's close to in tatters. You have the older text because nobody was using it and so it's preserved and so we have it 2, 000 years later. It is quite possible and maybe even probable that the oldest texts, but which have been faithfully copied, are now the newest, most or newer, more accurate texts than older texts that we actually have our hands on if you followed that. If you didn't follow that, I'm not going to say it again.

I will not torture you that way. Talk to me at lunch. Let me say this so that I don't erode your confidence in Scripture at all. Please do not let what I'm saying erode your confidence in Scripture at all. It should not.

There is remarkable agreement and consistency. Almost unimaginable agreement in consistency. You look at other ancient documents and no, nobody has the agreement and consistency that the New Testament has. In some ways the problem comes from an embarrassment of riches, meaning if you look at ancient texts we have 1, 500 to draw from, and Most ancient texts have half a dozen or less that still exist after 2, 000 years. No significant doctrine hangs in the balance.

Hangs in the balance. And when you believe that, in all the time I've been studying and preaching, I've never encountered a biblical doctrine that hung in the balance based on which underlying text you were working from, not a single one. So, remarkable agreement and consistency. Have confidence in the Bible on your lap. If it's in ESV, or if it's a King James, or if it's a new King James.

Okay, the contents of verse 24. The contents of verse 24. It is the contents of verse 20. The second half of verse 20. With just one single word added, all.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. In the second half of verse 20, and that exact, those exact words and that exact order only with, be with you all, added in verse 24. So you can see if you take it out and your Bible has 23, no 24 and 25, you still have the contents of it back in 20. Assuming this verse was in the original letter, I'm guessing it was in the original letter, why the repetition? Simply put, it isn't truly repetition because it's coming from different people.

In verse 20, this is an expression of Paul. In verse 24, if it really was there in the original, it comes from Tertius and his companions who were sending their greetings to the believers in Rome. In verse 20, Paul, the author of the letter, expressed his desire for the Lord Jesus Christ's grace to be the constant companion of the believers in Rome. Believers in Rome, I want the undeserved, unearned, unmerited favor of the Lord Jesus Christ to be your constant companion. Grace new every morning.

Now in verse 24 these companions of Paul who have been given an opportunity to add their two cents Give their hearty amen to what Paul said. Paul wants the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with you, to be your constant companion. And we say amen and add all. We up the ante, Make it a little sweeter. Now Tertius gets to write it, not just because Paul dictated it.

It was simply his job to write down what Paul was saying, but now Tertius gets to write it on his own behalf and on behalf of his companion. Jesus's grace be with you all, amen, from Tertius and his companions. Applications. Give you two. How can two applications cover two-thirds of a page, you ask?

You're about to find out. One, The Lord's people love the Lord's people. If you did meet them, you'd know in practice that you love them. The book of 1 John gives us the marks of true believers. How can I know if I'm a true believer?

Go to 1 John. I think there are eight marks. Is that right? I'm saying that right? I'm doing this from memory.

I think there are eight marks. Martin nod. I don't know. Is it eight marks of the true believer? Anyway, 1st John has X number of marks of a true believer.

One of those marks is love for the brethren. Listen to 1 John 3, 14. We know that we have passed from death to life, right? This is what we're talking about. Are you a true believer or not a true believer?

Have you passed from death to life or not? We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. So if you didn't get it from this side of the coin, we know that we pass from death to life because we love the brethren. If you didn't get it there, he says the opposite.

If you don't love the brethren, you haven't passed from death to life. You abide in death. First John 4, 7 and 8. First John 4, 7 and 8. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.

And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. So again, he comes at it from both directions.

If you love, you're born of God, you know God. If you don't love, you don't know God. For God is love. So love for the brethren is evidence of true spiritual life, of having actually been born again. Love for the Brethren is evidence of actually having been born again.

And I also would say a barometer of spiritual health. Meaning, the more love for the brethren you have, the healthier you are. Are you buying what I'm selling? It is evidence of true spiritual life of having actually been born again, but it's also a meter of spiritual health. Well, that's helpful.

We have a meter for spiritual health. The more love for the brethren, the healthier you are, the less love for the brethren, the sicker you are, even though you're spiritually alive for Christians. Do I think about my brethren? Are they in my thoughts? Do I pray for my brethren?

Are they in my prayers? Do I give time to pray for my brethren? Do I actively encourage my brethren? On my mental to-do list, is actively encouraging brethren who I think could use it now, is that on my mental to-do list? Do I work for the good of my brethren?

Am I willing for it to cost me time and resources for the good of my brethren? That's one. The Lord's people love the Lord's people even the ones they've never met. They think about them, they pray for them, they actively encourage them, They give of time and treasure for them for their good. Number two, Paul almost never worked alone.

The vision that I have in my head of the Apostle Paul walking the dusty roads of the ancient world bringing the gospel from one town to the next is a false vision. Paul just walking the dusty roads of the ancient world taking the gospel from one town to the next. False, false. That's not what the New Testament says at all. I need to purge my mind of that vision.

Paul had a tremendous network of fellow workers, of Gospel ministry partners. Paul was a networker. Paul was spiritual linked in on steroids. That's not in my notes. That's free.

Spiritual linked in on steroids, Paul. A tremendous network of fellow workers of gospel ministry partners from all over the world. And the network grew every time his gospel laborers resulted in converts in the establishing of a new church. The network just gets stronger, Paul's network. This is how meaningful gospel labor gets done.

So when Paul was in chains, the gospel was not chained. That's actually what Paul says. I'm in jail, but the gospel is not chained. When Paul was martyred for the gospel, the work went on. And here we sit in North America, Christians surrounded by Christians who are surrounded by Christians.

Because the work didn't die with Paul, because God was building a gospel ministry network, not dependent on one man. Paul goes to prison, the gospel's not changed. Paul is killed for his faith, and the gospel speeds forth into the world. The gospel takes over the world. It turns the world upside down.

That's it. Let's pray. God, give us a strong global gospel network. People to co-elder with so that whatever happens to us, the gospel would speed forward. They go to prison or die.

We'll double our efforts here. If we go to prison or die, they'll double their efforts there. Pray that you would make us part of your work in a very robust way caused us to love our brethren. Ones who are near, ones who are far, ones we may never meet, just give us such a tender heartedness towards your people. May they be in our thoughts, in our prayers.

May we actively encourage the ones who are nearby. Pray in Jesus' name, Amen.