The Lower Lights

Urbane.

In Romans chapter 16 verse 9, Urbane is called “our helper in Christ;” and as such he is representative of a whole group and a whole grouping of people in the Word of God. When Paul enumerates the various gifts and callings within the Church of Christ, beginning with “apostles, and prophets, and teachers,” and so forth, he then goes on to make mention of those whom he simply calls, “helps.” Just precisely what they were is, perhaps, open to some speculation, but it hardly seems necessary to go beyond the plain, straightforward meaning of the term: they were those who helped!

“Helping” in the cause of the gospel is a very noble occupation, and whereas, it may be viewed as the most that some can do, it ought also to be viewed as the least that all can do. The apostle Paul himself was not above “helping” in any given situation where help was needed; remember how he gathered sticks for the fire on the rain-drenched island of Malta? But where some can possibly rise to no greater service in the word of God than helping, the Word of God, nevertheless, takes note of their service and acknowledges such. Mr Bunyan, who normally “bled the Bible” when you pricked him, got his downcast Pilgrim out of the Slough of Despond with the aid of “a man whose name was Help.” And Mr Spurgeon tells us of an old Puritan sermon that he once read on the words, “And Bartholomew.” The reason the old Puritan had spoken on the words, “And Bartholomew” was, because, as he rightly maintained, you never read of Bartholomew on his own. He always seems to be “tagging along” – lending a hand in whatever work seems to be to the fore or the forefront. “And Bartholomew.” It’s a very limited phrase; but the possibilities of its scope are endless.

Those Women Who Laboured with me in the Gospel.

Those women who laboured with me in the Gospel, were, no doubt, a party of “helpers” in all of Paul’s labours in the town of Philippi. They are not named beyond that collective description of them, but in all probability Lydia, the seller of purple from Thyatira, was amongst them, as also would have been some of those of her household who were converted and baptised after her. Perhaps the old Philippian jailer’s wife was one, or perhaps, one or two of his daughters. Who knows? One thing is sure, if their names are not in Paul’s epistle to the Philippians, they are, most assuredly, in the book of life, for, says Paul, “I entreat thee, true yokefellow, help those women who laboured with me in the gospel: with Clement also ... whose names are in the book of life”. Who was Clement? For that matter, who was the “true yokefellow” to whom Paul wrote in his epistle to the Philippians? “And I entreat thee, true yokefellow.” Whoever he was, his description says it all: he was one who put his shoulder under the “yoke” of the gospel work in that town. And Paul now exhorts him to “help” those – those women – who helped Paul in that same gospel. “And I entreat thee, true yokefellow, help those women who laboured with me in the gospel.”

The apostle Peter speaks a precious word when he says, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another.” (1st Peter chapter 4 verse 10) We might well ask, what gift? Or which gift? And the short answer to that is, whatever gift, or whichever gift God has bestowed upon us in the context of the Church of Christ on this earth. As Paul puts it in one place, “the manifestation of the Spirit, is given to every man to profit withal.” Every man – every saint – has some gift and some calling within the body of the Church. And every gift and every calling are given to “every man” to “profit withal.” That doesn’t mean that the gift or calling is given to profit the person in all things; “to profit withal;” but it means that it is given to profit all with! To profit the whole body – the church – “that God in all things might be glorified through Jesus Christ.” It was a good bit of help that Aaron and Hur gave to Moses that day in the valley of Rephidim when they put a boulder under him and kept his outstretched hands “steady, until the going down of the sun.” As William Cowper reminds us:

So, Aaron and Hur came to the rescue; and with one shoulder a piece under Moses’s burden, they became his true yokefellows.

Mnason of Cyprus, An Old Disciple.

One thing about the Word of god is this, it is a very “comprehensive” book when it comes to holding out the encouragements of God for everything rendering in His name and for His praise. And not only does it take time and space to mention those who directly help by joining their labours to the labours of those who labour in the gospel, but it also takes into account those who furnish a bit of rest or respite to those who labour in the gospel.

In chapter 21 of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the apostle Paul on his way to Jerusalem. He stops off at the home of Philip the evangelist, and it’s there that Agabus the prophet speaks some words of solemn warning to Paul regarding his proposed trip to the Jewish capital. Agabus “took Paul’s girdle,” we’re told and having bound his own hands and feet with it, he declared, “Thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle.” Paul is “moved,” and yet unmoved, by the scenes that follow the prophecy: “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?” he says, “for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Mighty words from the mighty Paul concerning a mighty undertaking in his life.

Now, we ought not miss the general scene, nor the events that follow on from Paul’s great words. Paul is “lodging” with the evangelist Philip at this time, and as Agabus the prophet takes Paul’s “girdle,” we are being given a glimpse of the apostle taking a bit of respite from all his labours in the gospel. The girdle was that bit of the eastern dress that bound everything up and held the whole thing together. When a man was ready to work, or walk, etc., he “girded up” his garments. When he relaxed, he took off his girdle and laid it aside. Agabus takes Paul’s girdle; he doesn’t take it from Paul, but from the place where Paul has laid it aside as he has taken and is taking this bit of well-earned rest under Philip’s roof. Philip affords him such an opportunity; he is “given to hospitality,” and being given to hospitality is a great means in being a “help” in the gospel’s work.

But Paul leaves Philip’s house, and goes on to Jerusalem. And where will he find a lodging in Jerusalem – this marked man whom the Jews seek? It is here that we read for the one and only time of this “Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple;” “an old disciple,” Luke tells us in Acts, “with whom we should lodge.” Thus, in the self-same context that tells of Paul’s mighty words and deed, this is also written that “an old disciple” gave the Lord’s great servant “a lodging.” Just another “Lower Light.”