I invite you to turn tonight to the end of the book of Romans, page 1130, chapter 16. I'll read from 17 to the end of the chapter. Next week we'll conclude our study in the book of Romans with the doxology that is at the end, 25 through 27. But tonight we look at some final instructions here, all the way through 17 through 23 is our... 17, actually, through 20 is our text tonight. 17 through 20. Let's give our attention tonight to the Holy Word of the Lord. I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. Avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive, for your own obedience is known to all so that i rejoice over you but i want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil the god of peace will soon crush satan under your feet the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you timothy my fellow worker greets you so do lucius and jason so sapater my kinsmen i tertius who wrote this letter greet you in the Lord Gaius who is host to me and to the whole church greet you Erastus the city treasure and our brother Cortus greet you now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. There ends the reading of God's Word. Well, tonight we come close to the close of the book of Romans, and this is a really marvelous section to look at uh in final sort of words of the apostle paul i would expect the book of course as it does to end on this great high note uh after all this wonderful benediction and blessing that the book has pronounced and given to us and then to land on that at the end that beautiful last statement we look forward to coming to next week but before we get there the apostle paul gives a strong very strong warning at the end of this epistle and it really does just sort of stand out um it means that there is something the apostle paul wanted the church in rome to be very aware of he wanted the church in rome to think about think about and be aware of this is the kind of things very similar in the pastoral epistles of warning and about shepherding and about the problems in the church and the challenges in the church that he wants leaders, but he wants the people to be aware of and how to handle that we don't give often a lot of thought about or maybe think couldn't happen. And if you have just looked around at controversies in churches and controversies over divisions in churches and the fighting and the bickering and all the things that go on, you know how quickly that could happen. And this whole thing that is peaceful one day could spiral and descend into war very quickly. There's a reason for that and the Apostle Paul is helping us to understand that tonight. He wants us to not forget that the devil is very much at work in this world until his head is crushed finally. That's important for moderns. We have to hear that. I think the devil is very much at work and the devil very much seeks to disrupt the church i remember james boyce is very you know very effective little analogy when he said he said that uh the devil is like a muddy dog running through your beautiful living room and that's what he does in the church he is a muddy dog running through a beautiful living room and so he wants to help us with this the devil's in principle has been crushed at golgotha his head but the final crushing of the head of satan what the first adam did not do in the garden when the lord jesus christ comes his head will be finally crushed and he will be done away with forever but in verse 16 uh you remember last time uh to the end of the section here um uh yeah verse 1 to 1 through 16 you remember uh he had given a list of names of the saints in rome that we considered a unique kind of hall of faith that never gets the treatment that it should. And he really was showing and demonstrating something so beautiful about his perspective of the church, to love one another in the church, to care for one another in the church, to greet one another in the church. And I recognize when you say holy kiss, it sounds just really awkward to us. We're not going to do that, whatever we think that means. But you understand, it was an old greeting. It was an ancient greeting, and it was a way of embrace. It was a way of love. It was a very cultural way of embracing your brothers and sisters in Christ. And so he was telling them to do this. He wants you to love one another. He wants, the Lord wants us to care about each other. And as I said last time, we've seen in recent weeks how quickly our brothers and sisters can be taken from us. And so it's important that we maintain that kind of love in the body, that kind of care in the body, that we are active members in the body of Christ. And that we're kind to one another. Kind to one another. Greet your brothers and sisters. Don't just greet your own blood family. If you see them on the road, greet them. Go the extra mile with them. Get to know people you haven't gotten to know. Fellowship with them. They're your family. This is the beautiful sort of imagery and approach of the apostle in that first section of chapter 16. Deep affection for the body of Christ. And I would say, don't just sit in the same spot. Can I say that without offense tonight? I tell you what, why don't you get up next week and go sit somewhere else? If I've made you mad, I'm glad right now. But seriously, think about that. Go mingle. And if someone sits in your seat, don't get mad at them. All right, that wasn't in my notes. I just thought it would be helpful to say. Paul was concerned about this love and unity. He knew it was key to success of the church in the world. Remember what Jesus said, by this all men will know you are my disciples. By the love that you have for one another. Now the problem is that Christians can be rather naive that that love is under assault. that love is under assault there's somebody working to undermine that love the evil one wants to destroy that love the evil one wants to break up that love we confess in the heidelberg that we have three sworn enemies the devil the world in our own flesh so we're not only a problem that we typically can be very cruel to those whom we love but then we have the world that pulls us away from the body of christ and then we have satan the evil one who is constantly at work to do this so think about the challenges of this they have a war happening in many respects in the body of christ and if we have enjoyed so i think we can say any measure of peace and growth and edification and encouragement that has been the lord's great mercies to us and restraining blessing of those things that could easily take the church in a different direction and cause all kinds of division and all kinds of problems we should be humbly thankful to the lord for these things and if we ever forget that and we are not humble well all he has to do is just lift his hand a little bit and this thing becomes utter chaos well this is what the apostle paul is concerned about tonight and one of the things i think that we have to think about is the way that division comes and the way that the evil one uses division in the body of christ as i said we're kind of nervous in our day about mentioning devils and demons and satan and assaults and we're skeptical of mentioning demonic activity but we need to think about how that does indeed show up in the life of the church i had uh years ago a young person come up and say to me pastor is there still demon possession today and i asked the question well what do you think demon possession is well we have this sort of idea of it that it's very similar to the roman catholic understanding of exorcisms and we need somebody to come because somebody is erratic and somebody is crazy and somebody has lost their mind. That's what we think of demon possession. And I always follow up when people ask that question, well, who do you think was the most famous demon-possessed person in the Bible? Pause. Judas. Judas. Satan entered him. We'll be looking at that. When you looked at Judas, what did he look like? he was outwardly normal you would have never guessed this he was a servant he was one of the 12 nobody would ever have thought of Judas in the terms of we think of somebody who is demonically influenced how did that betrayal manifest itself with a kiss, with a kiss, an unholy kiss. I'll come back to that. But it began with him leading a division among the disciples. That's how it began. Tonight's message of Paul is to recognize and be aware that this is happening and to not be naive about it. And if, again, I say, if you know anything about the history of the church and you know anything about the potential conflicts in the life of the church this is a crucial text to consider and a crucial text to to understand and think about and to evaluate what is good and right behavior in the body of christ there are six things the lord hates seven are abominate an abomination to him and what is the one that he hates at the end one who sows discord among his brethren lord hates that so we have to be aware of it and to see how it's happening there are markers there are evidences there are things that we can see throughout the new testament and the way that the apostle speaks here to help us in that regard and to think about the instructions that are given here for how to proceed so what paul basically does and let me remind you of what paul said to the ephesian elders when he said we typically think that these are the people from the outside he said i warn you that ravenous wolves will rise from among you not sparing the flock and will seek to draw out disciples after themselves that's acts 20 well he does three things here briefly he says realize what's happening and then he says recognize what these people are doing and then he says resist them resist their influence so there you have it realize recognize and resist paul has spoken a lot of commendation to this church in Rome remember he said back in chapter 15 I'm confident concerning you brothers and he said some powerful wonderful things he said that you're able to admonish one another you you have strength in in the abilities to do this you have people who will come and admonish you if you're an heir well what does what happens in a church that cares about the truth a lot what happens in a church that is given the gospel like the way that rome was given the gospel this was a unique church a special church a remarkable church and everything in romans really has been so positive in the presentation of them paul's view of them this is not like galatia he does not treat them like the church in galatia who has bewitched you he said to the galatians to believe another gospel no no this is this is not rome but a church that gets this kind of commendation this faithful church this good church where the lampstand burns bright a church that is committed to the ministry of the word in season and out of season a church that is committed to truth a church that cares about truth a church that cares about the gospel that is not caved to all the cultural pressures like corinth it would be very appropriate that there's a strong warning in a place like that of something that dangerously could happen and the greatest threat here is satan's work of dividing the body and paul wants the church to understand this rome is a target and so immediately after he says greet one another with a holy kiss it's as if he says preserve your unity hold on to your unity keep your unity it's really important you've got a beautiful thing going on and i think we can be encouraged and realize the lord's good work among us so what important message for us and almost all of a sudden he gives this warning it's as if he says i think so highly of you i love you so much i've got to get something off my chest here and it's this things are happening behind the scenes and so i appeal to you verse 17 brothers watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught so he he has to he wants us to recognize that this very imminent and real threat is always going on in the body of christ notice carefully he says pinpoint notice them who are causing divisions and literally stumbling blocks contrary to what you've learned according to the doctrine according to the teaching is the word that he's using here and the word for division means disunity it's it's disunity in the body a division within the community and he connects it from with the word from where we get scandal that these people cause nothing but scandals these kind of people are scandalizers it's that they constantly put something in front of the gospel that makes people stumble that's the emphasis here and paul says they're doing this contrary to what you have learned contrary to the teaching you've received now what does paul do at this point he helps them understand their mode of behavior and what they're doing and you can see it verse 18 for such persons do not serve our lord christ powerful way of using his name do not serve our lord christ but their own appetites and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive let's go back to judas then for a minute i think you can see it right in what we considered this morning this morning we read that after the woman had poured the alabaster flask of ointment over jesus and anointed him for his burial we read in matthew then the disciples said could not this have been sold and given to the poor so the assumption is this was the general position of the disciples but if you compare it with john this is what we read but one of his disciples judas iscariot who was later to betray him objected why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor it was worth a year's wages now what do you deduce from that he carried them away in this they were naive they didn't think he pulled them right into this thing this scandalizer this divisive person he pulled them right in you can imagine he pulls them off to the side. Can you believe this? Did you see what she just did? So that they all get caught up in the hypocrisy of it. That's division. That's division right there. Now, if you go through the New Testament and you put all this together, you find characteristics of divisive persons of what Paul is thinking about because he addresses it everywhere. And this is not a little attention given in the New Testament to this issue. If you look at some of the characteristics of divisive persons, you can come up with certain characteristics deducing this right from Paul's language, right from Paul's words first, that divisive persons have an obsession and unhealthy craving for controversy and quarreling. They love to fight. They love to quarrel. 1 Timothy 6, 4, Paul specifies that some people are so full of pride, having an unhealthy obsession with fighting, they spend their time quarreling over words. Well, the word means this. And so they fight over words incessantly to bring people to submission to them. The vice of persons second served themselves in theological dispute. I always was amazed in Philippi when this church had a division between Iodia and Syntyche. And Paul was trying to help this church through this major split in the middle of the church. And it's amazing the way that he helped them to go forward. Because if you have two strong groups and they don't agree on a fine point, what do you do? What do you do? And Paul illustrates what a non-divisive person looks like. What does a non-divisive person look like in the church? Well, he said, you guys need to work together in already what you've achieved. You are united in so much. In gospel fellowship, there's a great agreement that you have made together in the faith. This unity achieved among the believers who had walked together in the truth of the gospel, the subsequent points of disagreement that arose, the agreement should be celebrated, right? How much do we agree on here? How much do Christians agree on? Divisive persons don't think like that. Divisive persons do not think like that. They do not and cannot celebrate with the truth already achieved. All they care about is what's not achieved, which is very pharisaical. And so they use disputes as opportunities to separate out. Separate out. They're controlling people. They have to have their way. They can't operate outside of their own control. So pride makes the dispute about winning rather than about helping believers together in the truth. You see, Paul specifically says in Philippians 4 that he weeps over the church because some are enemies of the cross who have the goal, the destruction of the church. The God they serve, says Paul, is their own belly and their mind is set on earthly things. So the discerning Christians should ask whether the person engaged in the dispute has the goal of helping Christians to the truth in the unity they've already achieved. Third, divisive persons create obstacles to hearing the true gospel with false ideas or they elevate secondary matters to the place of primacy. Paul spoke of this everywhere. Avoid, Titus 3.9, avoid foolish questions, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they're unprofitable and vain, obsession with the fine points of the law. Stop it, he said, don't do that. Fourth, divisive persons have an unhealthy obsession with gossiping and tearing down others. It's judgment without mercy. It's calm and fair in their life. It can be downright cruel. Paul says the result of their presence in the church creates a lack of trust among the brothers and sisters. Envy, dissension, evil suspicions, friction among people. Paul lists the works of the flesh in Galatians 5. Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. That's all bad fruit, right? Finally, he says divisive persons don't... We could look at this in the whole New Testament. Divisive persons really, at the end of the day, don't submit to any other authority in their lives other than themselves. They're a law to themselves. And this is important today because Paul is really concerned that as the church go forward, it recognized this. You'll notice this. For such persons do not serve, Paul says here, notice he speaks of their fruits, do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. If you remember, here's a perfect example of this. And it's kind of long past us now, but he's a good study case in this. It was Harold Camping. Harold Camping, of course, separated out from the church. He was Dr. Godfrey's Sunday school teacher. I don't know if you knew that. Years ago in Alameda. Separated out from the church. The church had censured him, told him to stop teaching. He declares that it's the end of the church age. It's on family radio, starts predicting the end of the world, and all sorts of people, naive people, bought into this. You have a direct statement from our Lord that nobody knows the day nor the hour. He's predicting the end of the world, and do you know how many people sold their possessions how many people did that and you see then this causes just disillusionment everywhere right and people don't want to be a part of this with this kind of division this kind of division is deadly and destructive in the life of the church and you see how important it is that we're warned of this for such persons don't serve our lord christ but their own appetites you see and with flattery and smooth talk they deceive the hearts of the simple the simple well if you you bring in acts 20 they're trying to draw away disciples after themselves that's the the goal of it and weak christians have a tendency to follow figures who present themselves listen to me weak Christians have a tendency to follow figures who present themselves as having all the answers with great confidence. That thus saith the Lord on every single issue. And they follow them. And they hang on their words. This is how cults are made. this is how cults are made it's amazing i watched the documentary of jim jones that is stunning what happened absolutely stunning the power of persuasion he had over these people that he could draw them all out like that to another country and build a compound they divide the body of Christ. They make sure everyone knows that they've arrived at the truth of the matter. They're constantly separating out. They're constantly working to divide. It's like what one pastor said. We are the Christian church, the full gospel church, the true light gospel church. Be diligent, 2 Timothy 2, to present yourself approved to God, worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth but see this is the pastorals shun profane and idle babblings for they will increase to more ungodliness and their message will spread like cancer hymenaeus and philetus are of this sort he just names them he just posters them in the scripture by the way you know you know we can't do that today can we Everyone gets mad at that. Paul did it all the time. We had this phrase in basketball, if you got dunked on, you were postered. Paul posters these guys who've already strayed concerning the truth, saying the resurrection is already passed, and they overthrow the faith of some. And that's why I want to add to this. That's why church courts are so important to protect you who make these declarations of these sort of things they overthrow the faith of people you'll notice that he says then in this verse 17 so here's the responsibility here's the responsibility note people doing this note them scope them it's the emphasis here's the meaning of the word scope them out mark them out put them right under the microscope know who they are keep an eye on them paul did this all the time alexander the coppersmith did me much harm may the lord repay him according to his works you also must beware of him for he has greatly resisted our words at my first offense no one stood with me but all forsook me may it not be charged against them but the lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the message might be preach fully through me and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of that lion or the lion. Mark them, note them, scope them. Second, this is really interesting, isn't it? Notice what we think he might say. Go get them? Well, you don't have to do that. Just avoid them. Stay away from them. Don't talk to them. Think about the tongue of a divisive person, what it can do in the hearts of the naive and the weak. If it's an attack on the gospel, and if it's somebody doing these kind of things, be aware, this is what Satan's doing. right and finally verse 19 for your obedience has become known to all so that i rejoice over you but i want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil that's such an interesting statement wise be wise to what is good innocent as to what is evil i don't want you carried away in this and then he gives us a great promise here in verse 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. This is all satanic activity going on. And let me just say this in closing. If you ever look at the church and say, why do I read about so much difficulty and so much division and so much hardship and so many bad things going on? Here's your answer. Satan is like a roaming lion seeking whom he may devour. And in God's providence, sometimes he lets them in. But soon that head will be crushed. And this will be done. This warfare will be over. Once and for all. So he's encouraging them. I know you love the truth. Your obedience is evident. He's confident about them. I just want you to be very wise about this. I don't want you to think this couldn't happen. that we would not be infiltrated in this way. And what a beautiful promise that Satan is and will be finally defeated. So don't lose heart. What the first Adam didn't do in the garden, when Satan came in, he should have risen up and he should have taken his big heel and crushed that head. Jesus is coming to do once and for all as the last Adam to fulfill it in finality. Already in principle at the cross, in finality at his coming. So then, hold fast in love and in unity. Treat your brethren kindly. Love one another. Don't trash them. Serve them. Greet them. Love them. And he ends with another sort of short benediction, but he's not quite done yet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. I think he's like me in preaching. Sometimes they say you should land the plane. You ever heard that illustration? You should have landed the plane earlier, Pastor. Paul's having a hard time landing the plane. He has one more thing to say next week in this beautiful doxology. But for now, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for helping us to understand this problem and to be aware of it. Help us to be wise and discerning, which means we need to be a people of the truth and strong in the truth and not naive. And as we grow in strength, we are able to spot these sort of things, give leadership wisdom to know how best to shepherd in the midst of these things and keep us, O Lord, in humility from the assaults of the evil one who would love to run through this beautiful living room and muddy it all up into vision. And since we have the propensity in our own hearts as believers to tear each other down and to do these things, remove that from us and let love abound in this place. By this, all men will know that we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ by the love that we have for one another. May we be very careful then, O Lord, our lives to demonstrate that. Help us for we're weak. In Jesus' name, amen.