that him does speak of a great truth, and that is that while we are here in this life, that the cross is our only hope. It's what we hang on to in this life, because we're not there yet. We're not there yet. We're not in heaven, in the poetic language of Fanny Crosby, we've not crossed that river yet. And so we live in a time really that is dangerous. And there is a danger to God's people and to Christians. And the Apostle Paul, you might think this section, we're looking at Romans 16 today, beginning at verse 17. So let me read it to you and give you a little bit of background, a little bit of introduction to why this passage I think is so important. Romans 16 and begin at verse 17. Apostle says, 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 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 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. You might think it a bit strange that in this section, this concluding section of the book of Romans where Paul has laid out greetings for those, sometimes we kind of think of these last few verses in a book as a kind of, well, it's not as meaty and not as important perhaps as the great arguments that have come before it. But I don't think that's the case. One of the things that we get here, it seems to me, in Romans 16, we talked about this last week, is that what is being unveiled to us, in a sense, is the heart of the Apostle. It really is the heart of Christ that the Apostle Paul has adopted. He's been united to Christ, and that heart of Christ is his. And what the apostle, I think, would say to us is what he said to those who came after him, follow me as I follow Christ. And so this heart that is revealed in all of these greetings goes even a step further in this, what I would consider to be a very strong warning, and a warning to God's people. And it fits with the apostle's love and his desire for the people. He also wants them to be on their guard. He wants them to be protected. That's what a good shepherd does, is he protects the flock. When our Lord Jesus came into the world, he came in as the good shepherd who takes care of his sheep. And if we're going to be faithful ministers of the gospel, faithful church members, faithful Christians, then we also have to be protectors. We have to have our minds alert. We have to have our eyes open because there is danger for lurking about for God's people. Satan is the disruptor and Satan is the one who would love to get into a flock and get into a church and disrupt what goes on. It's interesting, every New Testament epistle, and I think I'm I'm right on this, but every New Testament epistle has something like this in Paul's letters to the churches. A warning section, a section that speaks to them about the dangers of false teaching, the dangers of disruptors who would come in among God's flock. So this warning really comes in a great place, I think. The Lord has laid down through the Apostle Paul these wonderful truths of what it means to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. And yet here at the end, he is saying, but you need to be careful. You need to be on guard against not only false teachers, but if you'll notice here as we read this, He's also speaking of those, not necessarily teachers, but those who cause divisions. Let me just read the passage for us again and we'll see this. I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you've 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 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. Again, as I've said, the activity of Satan to disrupt and to create havoc among the people of God is in every New Testament epistle. And it's as true today as it was in the days in which the Apostle Paul was writing. And this warning comes to a church that is really doing pretty well. It's a sense it's a strong church. Paul has already said that. You remember back in verse 14 of chapter 15. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another." They were doing well. They were learning. They had heard the gospel. They were learning the gospel. They were going along well, and in verse 19, here in chapter 16, Paul says they had a reputation for that. Your obedience is known to all. So it's not just a church that is in trouble, like for example when Paul's writing to the church in Corinth and all the troubles there that they had. But this warning goes to churches that are strong, churches that are doing well. Because that's where Satan actually wants to disrupt. That's where he wants to cause people to go off the path a bit and to struggle. He cannot keep anyone out of heaven, but he can make lives miserable here in the earth. And he is always looking out, we might say, for something to disrupt. the warning here is, I think, is very appropriate, and appropriate for us. I would say, okay, where's Heritage Reformed Baptist Church these days? I would say, I think things are going okay. I think they're going pretty well. I think we have a relatively strong church, but Satan is always ready to disrupt. He's always ready to disrupt. So the warning, I think, comes I want to look at this in sort of three ways. First, what Paul commands there in verse 17, to watch out. And then there's a section that helps us to understand and perhaps even to identify the faults, when it comes in either as a false teacher or as someone who would disrupt. And that's not always easy to identify. But he gives us some clues, I think. And then finally, two great encouraging truths at the end in verse 20 there. There are actually two great truths. So that's where we want to go. The apostle starts by saying, watch out. It's very strong, I appeal to you brothers, watch out, watch out. The verb there is scoping. It's the idea of always alert. Open your eyes, look around and see, right? Don't go to sleep. Keep your eyes open, be alert. That's what he's saying. And this is not a sort of, always looking at one another in a sort of distrustful, cynical way. No, that's not what he's saying at all. But what he is saying is be on the lookout. Be watchful. Be wary of, for those, he says, again, could be teachers, but not necessarily, for those who cause divisions and create obstacles. I said before that Satan loves to disrupt a church. And it's interesting, too, that in the New Testament epistles, there are these warnings, but there's also this call to unity, to unity. You could think of the out of the many one, that's the idea of the church of Jesus Christ. So Satan would have as his modus operandi to attack that very thing that God calls his people to, that is unity and love, love of the brethren, sacrificing for one another and so forth. And so the idea to enter into that in order to divide. And he says two things. He says those who cause divisions and create obstacles. And there are two, there are different words there. The idea of divisions might have to do as much with people and personalities as anything. False doctrine, yes, but it often has to do with personalities. You remember how when the apostle wrote to the church in Corinth and how things were going in Corinth, you remember how they were dividing over personalities? Teachers, you know, and they would say, one would say, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas, and then the really righteous ones, oh, I follow Christ. But they're all sort of following after different personalities. And we live in a day that we have access on the internet and various ways to all these different personalities that are out there, teachers and so forth. And the word of God would say, be careful. Be careful. We're going to talk a bit more about that a little bit later. How would this apply here? Well, I was thinking about this, that some might say, well, I like, I really like Pastor John. Well, no, I like Pastor Hank. And there's this division that could easily crop up even in a good church. Remember how Paul had talked to the Romans in chapter 14 about this division between Jew and Gentile and the disruption that occur there. My point is this, is that the division could happen in any way. It doesn't necessarily have to do with people, doesn't necessarily have to do with doctrines. I mean, it could be as something as trivial, some people don't think this is really trivial, as the color of paint that we might use in the sanctuary, or what sort of lights would we have, or how are we going to organize things in the kitchen? And in the fellowship hall, the little things that the disruptor would love to come in and say, let's see if we can divide these folks here who are really on the road to doing some good things. Let's see if we can put a hindrance in there and cause a disruption. And he will use anything. anything, the most trivial things, in order to sow division in a flock. If you've been around churches for very long or been in a church very long, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It happens. It happens. And Paul says, watch out. Watch out. Be on the alert. And then the second thing, cause divisions and create obstacles. This is a different word. is the word skandalon, which we get our word scandal. It's often translated in other places as stumbling blocks or traps that can occur. And generally, this has to do with doctrine. It has to do with what is true and what is false. That's why I think Paul says that we should be wise to what is good and innocent to what is evil. In other words, we have our heads in the book. We need to know what the Bible says and what the truth of God is, and that's where we want to be, and that's where we want to walk. Pay attention to the teaching. And it's interesting that Paul would say that here at the end of Romans. John Calvin said, a true understanding of Romans is the key to unlocking all of the treasures of scripture. So what the apostle is saying to them is, listen, I've written this whole letter that's come to you with all of these amazing truths. Keep your head in those truths because then you will be able to recognize the false things that might come. Well, what have you learned? What have we learned as we've been going through this book of Romans. Well, one of the things that Satan will use to cause stumbling in the church is a wrong view of sin. And Paul here has just laid out for us in these early chapters of Romans just what sin is and that it affects every aspect of human life, that it is universal in its spread. And that doctrine of sin ought to humble us and make us ready to receive the gospel, the remedy, which is to be justified by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. And then the implications of all that that Paul has laid out in chapters five and six and so on. The imputation, we talked about that this morning in Sunday school, how Abraham believed God and it was counted to him, it was credited to him, it was accounted him as righteousness and that there is no righteousness at all except the righteousness that comes by faith. You see how that would work in a sort of disagreement or something that might come up in a church that if we are humble and willing to admit, you know, I could really be wrong about this and I want to listen to what my brother or my sister might have to say. How very practical is the doctrine of sin is in dealing with one another. But then he goes on to talk about in this wonderful book about what it means to be united to Jesus Christ and the hope and the joy that comes from knowing that believing on Christ, I'm united to him. in a real, personal, spiritual union with the Lord Jesus Christ and the great opportunities and hope and strength and grace that comes from knowing that I'm in Christ. And then the truth to know that in this life that there will be struggle and that the Spirit of God helps God's people to put one foot in front of the other. And we can be distracted by a teacher who might come in and say, Oh, well, all this talk about the suffering in the Christian life, well, you just don't have enough faith. If you had more faith, you wouldn't struggle at all. Well, Romans teaches us, no, no, that's not true at all. We are going to struggle. We're going to face temptation. But the Spirit of God enables and helps us to keep going. that God is sovereign over all of our troubles and all of our sufferings and that all things really do work together for good to those who love the Lord and to those who are the called according to his purpose. You see these truths are absolutely fundamental to us in warding off the untruths that might come in from the world or for others that come even into the church itself. And so Paul says you've got to have your head screwed on. You need to be understanding about these things. And then remember how he closed this or began to close in Romans chapter 12 in a sort of realistic view of ourselves as Christians and how we need to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to continue putting on Christ daily, every day, and submitting to one another in love and so forth. So to be grounded in the truth enables us to be aware of the faults when it comes. And it will come. It will come. And then Paul says, really very pointedly, he says, avoid them. The ESV, I think, is a little bit light here. It actually could be translated, shun them. In other words, not have anything to do with them. That's kind of tough language, isn't it? On the one hand, we're to love everyone. Our love is for even the enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ. But in the church of Jesus Christ, he says, be aware that those who might come in to disrupt and to divide, hands away, be aware, and stay clear of them. Think of the words that Paul wrote to Titus there on the Isle of Crete, and the gospel had come, and there was great joy and great understanding, and yet the The warning came even there, be aware of the divisive one. Warn him once, warn him twice, and after that have nothing to do with him, right? So these warnings are quite clear and to spot. How is it that we are able to spot the counterfeit? Well, it's to know the truth, it's to know the truth. I've told you this before, but I worked in a bank for about a minute. It was actually about a month, but it seemed like it was a minute. And I remember them coming to us and saying, tomorrow we're going to learn about counterfeit money. And I figured, okay, there's going to be a big seminar, and they're going to do that. And they came in, the only thing they said was, okay, to recognize counterfeit, just know what the 20 looks like. He said, most counterfeit money is in 20s. Study the 20s. Okay, next. And then he went on to something else. I thought I wasn't ready for a big seminar here, but all he said was look at what is true, memorize what is true, Look at it very carefully, front and back, and so when something comes in that doesn't look like that, it's counterfeit, right? And it's the same with biblical truth. I want to know the truth. I want to study the truth. I want to have my head in the book because the faults will come. They'll hear it on the radio, may hear it on a podcast, or a visiting preacher, heaven forbid, but may come in and say, we kind of go look at it, and we go, I'm not sure about that, because of what the word says, you see. We have our heads in the book, and we can spot the counterfeit. But secondly, how does the scripture identify this false teacher or this one who comes in and causes divisions and create obstacles. Verse 18, 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. The first thing I want to say is that a false teacher or a or a disruptor is sometimes, and really most of the time, very difficult to spot. Why? Because they are verbally engaging. They're very smooth. Smooth talk, flattery. Colossians uses the word plausible, persuasive. They're able to speak in a way that draws us in. He says to draw in those who are to deceive the hearts of the naive. That is those that quite literally without guile, without evil. In other words, they want to give people the benefit of the doubt. They want to give the false teacher who's not recognized necessarily as false, they want to give people the benefit of the doubt. And they may be drawn in. And so it's not always easy to discern. And notice he says, they do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. It's the same word that's used in Philippians 3 when it says that when Paul is talking about the false teachers there, that their God is their belly. It's really quite a striking word there. It's the same word. They serve themselves. They're in it for themselves. They're selfish. They're prideful. They don't serve Christ, but they serve their own appetites. Turn over to Philippians for a second, Philippians chapter 3. Paul says this, verse 17, brothers join in imitating me. Okay. So with, here's the good example, uh, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. Okay. There it's keep your eyes, but now keep your eyes focused on, on those who are, who are, who are teaching rightly and who are walking in God's ways for many. Not just a few, but many of whom I've told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Now these are not just pagans that are just, they're out there, sort of the man on the street. But these are those who would claim to be Christians, would come into the flock, and that's who Paul is talking about. They walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their God is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. Okay, that's a clue, isn't it? They're not serving Christ, but they're sort of in it for their own gain. First Timothy chapter six says that the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ accords with godliness. So one of the ways, I think, of sort of identifying the false teacher when he comes is to say, well, what is the life like? What is the effect in his own life or her life in terms of the things that they're saying and the things that they're saying as true. And the book of Ephesians speaks of the manner of life. And this I think is the danger sometimes of The age in which we live with the internet, social media, and everything, we hear things and we can watch things on TV and we watch the podcasts and so forth. And it might be difficult for us to really discern the truth and the false because we're not able to get into the lives and watch the lives of the people that we're listening to. And because the Bible says that truth accords with godliness. That if it's not working godliness into his or her life, then we need to be very careful about listening to them. Do you know, for example, the manner of life? This is one of the things that is so genius about how the Lord has structured his church because he's given the church teachers and so forth whose lives ought to be very open to everyone in the congregation. You're able to look and to discern and kind of say, well, I hear what they're saying, does it work in their lives? What is their home life like? What is the wife and children, what is that life like? And to be able to discern, okay, The truth here is according with godliness. Does their manner of life back up, so to speak, what they say? Does it work, right? And the genius, really, of the church is that our lives are before one another. They're like open books. And over time, you're going to develop a sense of, well, what they're saying is according to the Bible, and there's a manner of life that is worth emulating, that's worth being an example to me. And this is how we can discern sometimes what the faults that might come in. You remember that the Apostle Paul in 1st and 2nd Corinthians was always having to talk about those who were coming in after him. He was teaching and preaching the truth and those who were coming after him that were kind of trying to sort of twist it and change it and add things to it. And what the Apostle pointed to was his own life. Look for example at 1st Corinthians. I'll just read a couple of places where the contrast is evident. Paul is really, in a sense, defending his own ministry. He says, and I, when I came to you, brothers, did not proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, wasn't necessarily my speech, for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you, not in strength and in power, but in weakness. and in fear, and much trembling. And my speech and my message were not in plausible, there's that word used in Colossians to talk about the smooth talk, the plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul was always, and the teacher, The true teacher is always pointing away from himself and pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes on in 2 Corinthians. If you turn over in 2 Corinthians, which is the apostles, I think, most personal letter, look at verse 15 or 14. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. Listen to this, for we are the aroma of Christ. Don't you want to have that smell? Wouldn't that be a great aroma to have as we live and move among each other and have our conversations with one another that after talking to someone you could kind of go, boy, I really sniffed Christ there. The aroma of Christ was there among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ." You see, the teaching the true teaching accords with godliness, always pointing away, not to the speaker himself, but always pointing away to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's one of the ways you can kind of discern, not just teaching, but those who would come in and cause division. So they're pointing us in their life and in their words to the Lord Jesus Christ, away from themselves and to Christ. Well, Paul ends this section with two very encouraging truths in verse 20. He says, the God of peace. Remember, Satan is the disruptor. Satan is the one who would use people to cause division and create obstacles. But our God is a God of peace, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. We live now, this side of glory, in a time of watchfulness and ever-present danger from the disruptor and the enemy of souls. The last book in the Bible, Revelation, which we're getting geared up for, the ladies are as well, again and again and again, in the book of Revelation is stressed a need for endurance and a need for patience. That's the time that we're living in right now. But what the Lord says here is it will not always be this way. That the time of endurance and patience will end and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Our God is a God of peace. He brings peace into a flock. Satan is doomed. The prophecy in Genesis 3, 15 that he would bruise the heel and that he would crush the serpent's head is prophesied and will come true at one point. Satan is absolutely doomed. But notice that he says, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. That there is a way that we ourselves are involved in some way with the crushing of Satan. And Revelation 12, 11 speaks of the people of God. He says, they've conquered by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. They believe the Lord. They believe his word. Their heads are in the book. And they've conquered the evil one. They've conquered the disrupter, the one who would come in and disrupt the church because the word of their testimony. and by the blood of the lamb, always looking up at the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture says that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The time is coming when there will be no more disruption. There will be no more obstacles that are put into the way of God's people. We're not there yet. And so we have to be alert and to watch out and to be careful about the enemy of souls who would come in, using others, using people to disrupt and to divide in the church. And then notice the second great encouraging truth for the times in which we live, and that is the time of grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Soon it's coming. where Satan will be absolutely destroyed. We're not there yet, but we're in the time of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. That's where we look to endure, to watch, to pray, to stay close to Christ. And let me say this as well, to stay close to his people. That's what God has sort of given a sort of safety net, so to speak, in the church of Jesus Christ. And those who are at risk or at danger are those who are sort of out there on the fringes. I mean, if you think about it, in a battle situation, where does the enemy do his damage? It's on those who are kind of on the outside, those who are on the fringes, but those who are in the middle of things, those who are in the body and Sunday after Sunday and their Bible studies and prayer times together, they're right there in the midst. And Satan is less likely to pick them off because they're in the midst, you see. There's a protection among God's people in God's church. And they're hearing the word of God again and again and again and again. They're being built up in the faith. And so when the disruptor comes, he's able to be warded off by the word of their testimony and the conquering of the blood of the lamb. So we want to stay close. The enemy attacks the weak and he attacks on the perimeter, the periphery of things. So if you're there, let me encourage you to get in the middle. It's in the middle. That's where safety is. That's where joy is. That's where the growth of the body occurs, is in the middle. It's a safe place. We need to pray that God would be gracious to us, to give us Christ-honoring faithful servants of the Lord, that we would keep our eyes fixed upon Him his glory, his truth, we would put our own sinful pride to death and be able to discern then the wise and the good from the evil that might come in. And all churches are very liable to disruption. Weak ones, strong ones, doesn't matter. Satan loves to get in and disrupt and divide. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is able to keep us and sustain us and to be with us now until the day when he himself will crush Satan under our feet. May God give us grace to believe him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for your word which helps us, warns us. about the dangers, even of those who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we pray, O Lord, that you would enable us to stand fast and to hold firm and to draw near to the Lord Jesus, that we would watch and pray as you told your disciples there in that a very decisive moment. We live in days that are decisive. We live in days where the gospel is meant to go out with power and authority and meant to go out from us. And so we pray, O Lord, that you would help us and keep us from the evil one. Help us to be wise. Help us to be discerning. Help us to be prayerful. Help us to be to keep our eyes affixed upon him and upon his word. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen.