The title of our sermon is Paul's Final Warning. Paul's Final Warning. Scripture Romans 16, 17 to 20 in our series God's Saving Grace. If you have it and you're able to and like to stand in reverence to God's word, I will read it to you. I appeal to you brothers to watch out for those who cause division 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 flattering, 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. Father, give us understanding. as to the importance of this last warning and the blessings that are contained in it. We pray, oh Father God, that you would give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say in this mouth, words that would speak your word alone. Conscience is absolutely important. It's at the right place of the Book of Romans, placed there divinely by your hand. Paul has given us incredible walk through doctrine. He has applied then the doctrine after giving us the doctrine of grace alone and election and salvation and Lord and the doctrines of grace. Then he went to personal application. How should we live as citizens? How should we live as brothers? How should we live in church? Then he closes Father God with greetings in which we see wonderful Christians and what we can learn from them. Our last sermon taught us, oh Father God, that we are supposed to love one another, greet each other with a holy kiss. There should be unity and love in the church. And then there's stark warning here right before he closes. After having taught, after having applied, after having shown us examples, after telling us about Christian unity, Paul warns us one more time, be careful. Be careful, dear Christian. We pray that we would heed the warning in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. You may be seated, beloved. Beloved, deception abounds in the world. And believers often want to hurt others with deception. And Satan, it is one of his most powerful tool. He is, according to scripture, a liar from the very beginning. No wonder that his ministers would disguise themselves as angels of light, actually being demons. And they'd like to infiltrate the church. You've heard the phrase, wolves in sheep's clothing. I'm sure you have. It comes from scripture. I don't know if you knew that. It comes from scripture. So they come into the church and they look like sheep. They smell like sheep. They act like sheep. But they're actually wolves. They're there for a hidden purpose. Those are what we call false brethren. But there are also false teachers, men, and now today, unfortunately, women who appear to be something, who promise a lot, but whose doctrine or manner of living leads us away from the truth of the gospel. We need to be careful. Amen. And that's what Paul, you see the pastor heart, the pastoral heart of Paul. He has taught us doctrine. He has taught us how to apply it. He has given examples of godly people. He has told us to love one another. He goes, and before I close, be careful. Amen? That's a pastor's heart, right? He wants them to walk well. He wants the Christians to walk well. As we said, falseness abounds everywhere in our lives. But there's no more terrible falseness than the falseness that invades the church at times. This church has hurt because of false brothers. and false leaders. We have gone through a dark time in the past because of it, where it seemed like the very fabric of this church was being torn apart as we fought off an evil. And by the grace of God, the church survived. I thank him every day for that. And so we know from where we speak, we speak from the place of where Paul speaks, the truth is that we need to be careful. Beloved, what should we do when other people who claim to be Christians who claim to hold to the teachings of Christ, but come into us and promote doctrines that are clearly unbiblical. How are we to respond when falsehood threatens the unity of the church? Well, in this passage, Paul addresses this very challenge for you and me. And I know that in today's day and age, doctrine does not seem to be important. We go to church because we like the music. We like the church. We go to church because we like the pastor. He's so funny, you know. We go to church because, oh man, I love the decoration inside. We go to church because, oh, they have wonderful children's ministry. Our kids really love it there. It's a lot of fun. They get stickers and pizza and, you know. We go to church because the women there are really nice and I feel connected or the men there are really nice and we feel, you know, the men are cool. You know, we go bowling together. It's such a wonderful church. I've heard all these things. When I hear these things, it breaks my heart because I hear of people who are ready to be deceived. Amen. First of all, we don't go to church. We are the church. Amen. That's the first thing we need to remember. And second of all, we gather to worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to hear his word as he guides us through life. Not because of stickers or pizzas or bowling or knitting or X, whatever it might be. Not because the cool music or the cool pastor. with the skinny jeans and you won't no problem here you'll never see that. But you know that kind of stuff. That's not why we're here. We're here to seek God. Amen. And if you really love God then you're going to love him as he demands to be loved. And that's through his word. And we need to be careful. So verse 17 tells us beware of those who cause division. Beware of division. Look at verse 17 with me again. 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. Now this is a command, yes, to the pastors. Paul commands pastors in other places to take care of the sheep. We're going to see those places. To be wary of those who call themselves brothers that are not. To investigate others' doctrines. The pastors call to protect the sheep. Not only to feed the sheep, but to protect the sheep. But here Paul addresses all of the Romans. Be careful, you. Take steps you, not only to protect yourself and your family, but to protect your spiritual family. If you see something wrong, make sure you address it or come to those who can address it. Protect each other. To keep quiet, to say nothing, to do nothing is not to love the person next to you. I hope that that makes sense. Amen. And so Paul speaks to all of them. So after urging the believers to greet one another with a holy kiss, remember, with a simple visible sign of Christian love, unity and harmony. Paul then immediately follows with a dire warning. Paul's final appeal is a call for the church to remain united by carefully protecting itself, protecting the truth of the gospel. Paul teaches us that the true unity is never built on ignoring error, but on guarding sound doctrine. I hope that that makes sense to you. Look at that verse again. He says, those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the what? Doctrine. that you have been taught. See, if you read through Paul's writings, and if you read through the New Testament, doctrine is a key issue. Careful with doctrine, teach sound doctrine, believe good doctrine, don't let the good doctrine be corrupted. That which was entrusted to you, commit to faithful men, that they would preach the right doctrine, doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. In the modern church today, they say doctrine's not important. That's as if they'd have never read the New Testament. the warnings of the old. Paul warns the church to watch out for those who cause division, to create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught. In other words, the harmony and well-being of the church must be guarded with discernment. In Paul's time, just as in our day, false teachers are troubling or were troubling the churches. All you have to turn is that TVN television station and see these false teachers, begging for money, promising promises that are outlandish, acting foolishly, saying things contrary to the word of God. And most people see those things and say, if that's Christianity, I want nothing to do with it. And they shouldn't, but that's not Christianity. So we need to be careful. These people stirred up division, according to Paul, causing confusion. And they were setting stumbling blocks before God's people with false doctrine, false teaching that caused the Christian to err, And they were doing it all in an attempt to undermine the true doctrine received so that they can get a following because they love themselves and they love their bellies. We'll see what that means in a few seconds. Their attacks were never random. It wasn't something happenstance. It was purposeful. It was premeditated. False teachers always strike at sound doctrine because sound doctrine always points us to the true Jesus of scripture and the gospel that can save us alone. So if we can move you from sound doctrine, from what the scriptures teach, then we can move you from Christ. We can move you from salvation. Do you see it, beloved? And so the false always attack true doctrine, the nature of Christ, the person of Christ, the work of Christ, the cross of Christ. And pause time. Some of those were Judaizers. People who were teaching purposefully that yes, Christ was almost enough to save you. Do you hear the problem there? What was the problem? The word what? Almost. You needed Christ and you needed to become a Jew. You needed to circumcise yourself. You needed to keep the law. You needed to do these things. It was Jesus plus. And anytime you leave Jesus alone, you've left the gospel. You've ventured into the false religion of works. And that was something he fought off all the time. False teachers always attack sound doctrine. They have to. They have to move you away from what is true. Beloved, the moment the gospel is distorted, salvation is lost. Amen? The moment we add anything to the gospel, anything human to the gospel, it's no longer a gospel that can save us. You've heard me preach the gospel to you before I'll preach it to you again you might you might could say pastor I know it by heart you said every single Sunday good praise God and you say pastor you've said it a thousand times prepare for a thousand and one because we need to have this so ingrained in us. And so what is the gospel that every man is born a sinner helpless and hopeless. He cannot help himself in any way. He's not a good person. Whatever good he thinks he has done is offset by even one bad deal, let alone the thousands of millions he's committed. And so he needs, he needs perfection to stand before God, but he can never be perfect. So he needs to look outside of himself, but God in its infinite grace and mercy, instead of judging us according to the law and sending us all to hell, he sends the law keeper, Jesus, the son of God, the second person of the Godhead becomes a man. He lives the life of obedience you and I could not live. He goes to the cross as a substitute, a perfect man who perfectly kept the law of God that you and I have broken. And then the Father punishes him as if he were you, a criminal. So that he could pay for your sin because he was perfect. And because he pays for your sin, he gives you his holiness, his law keeping, so you can dress yourself up in Jesus. A righteousness that has a side of you. So when the father sees you, he sees you as a perfect son, an obedient son. He adopts you and he brings you home to heaven. Beloved, that's the gospel in a nutshell. I can definitely elaborate on that more, but that's a gospel that we must believe. We must surrender to the lordship of Jesus. We must see him as our substitute and beg God that we would be dressed with his righteousness. And in a lifetime of sin, whatever you've done in the past, is forgiven and forgotten. Praise God for that truth. Amen. For Christ has bled, for Christ has died for that very sin. Whatever guilt you have for the things you've done, whatever remorse you have for the things, you can let go of it. You can choose to grab onto it or you can just let go of it and say, Christ died for it. Christ died for it. Why should I live in it? And you can embrace the newness of life. You can have perfect freedom. in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful blessing, amen? This is the gospel. Obviously, Satan always wants to attack that. Because if he attacks that, if he can move us away from that, we've lost everything. This is why Satan and his minister work tirelessly to twist God's word and present a counterfeit in its place. So bold is Satan that you remember when he tempted the Lord Jesus, he even used the word of God to try to defeat the Word of God incarnate. Doesn't the Bible say, you imagine quoting scripture at Jesus in an erroneous and wrong way, trying to deceive the very Word of God who gave us the Word? It's just the epitome of pride, isn't it? And so if he did that with Christ, he obviously will try to distort the Word in our lives. We need to be careful. This is why guarding sound doctrine is not just a matter of having knowledge, It's not just about knowing what the Bible says. It is a matter of life and death for our souls, for the unity of Christ's church. Scripture consistently warns us about false teacher and false brethren. Pay careful, Acts chapter 20 verse 28 to 31 says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock. This is Paul in the book of Acts speaking for the last time ever to the elders, to the pastors of the church at Ephesus. And he goes through this little speech and then in Acts 20, 28, when he's getting to the end of the speech, he tells these pastors, hey, you be careful. Pay careful attention to yourself as pastors and pay careful attention to the flock of God in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, pastors over them to take care for the church of God. Your job is to take care of them, pastors. This church which he obtained with his own blood. And then he says something startling. I know that after my departure, He was about to die. He says, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. That's scary, isn't it? He says, fierce wolves are going to come from outside. They're going to try to invade. And they won't spare the flock. They will eat them. They will ravage them with false doctrine. But here's the scarier part. Not only from outside, he says, but from among your own selves will arise men twisting Speaking twisted things. Not only do we need to be careful from outside, but from those who have already infiltrated that look good, that we thought were Christians. They acted like Christians. They said things that were Christians. They were biding their time. We need to be careful. To draw away the disciples after themselves. They literally want to be followed. They want to be recognized. They want money. They want whatever it is, attention and fame. So what they want is to lead others to themselves, not to Jesus. He tells these pastors, therefore be alert. Remembering that for three years, I did not cease night and day to admonish, to warn you with tears. How important was it to the Apostle Paul? I warned you for three years, crying before you. Love the people of God. Watch out for them. Doctrine matters. Beloved, doctrine matters. So beloved, there will always be the false brethren and the false teachers that attack the vital doctrines of scripture. And one of those vital doctrines is always Doctrine of salvation by grace alone. Satan does not object. Listen, Satan does not object to people being religious. This last Friday we had a couple come and join us for dinner. So speaking to the head of the house, the man of this, we said there's only two religion, true religion and the false. And the false religion comes in about a million different flavors, whatever you want. But they all have it at the root one thing. It's always a religion of works. The Muslim has to pray three times a day. He has to do certain things to prove himself to Allah. The Jehovah's Witness has to knock on doors. The Mormons has to go and do certain things. They all have to do something in order to make themselves approved with their God. So there's only two religion, the true religion, which is by grace in Christ alone, and then everything else that's always a works-based religion. It comes in all shapes, sizes, and flavors, whatever you like. Satan doesn't mind it. if you go after one of those. He doesn't mind if you're religious. He is content with religion. He loves spirituality and he loves moral effort. As long as sinners believe that their own works can save them, he is happy. What Satan hates is the pure gospel of free grace. Or in other words, sound doctrine. That which would lead you to Christ. So Paul calls the Christians and Romans to be, notice what he says, be on guard. This is a military term for those of you who are in the military, keeping the night watch. Be on guard. Don't sleep on this, he says. It's that important. All Christians must keep watch for those who sow seeds of dissensions and destruction. So this is a job for me as a pastor, as you saw Paul addressing the elders, right, in the book of Acts. But it's also your job, too, according to scripture. Today, many in the church, like we said, treat doctrine as if it were optional or secondary. You may even have heard it said by some, doctrine divides, so let's just focus on loving one another. It sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Sounds like they're taking the higher road and we're being divisive when we say that doctrine matters. It's like, let's not worry so much about doctrine. God is a God of what? Love, and what we should do is love one another. And you sound like, well, you know what? They have the higher ground. No, they don't. Beloved, this kind of thinking is spiritually immature. True love is not merely a warm, fuzzy feeling or polite behavior. It is grounded in the truth of God's word. Without sound doctrine, we cannot even know what genuine love is. How do we know what genuine love is? We see it in whom? Jesus Christ who died for us, sacrificed everything. Where do we encounter that in scripture, in sound doctrine? We wouldn't know what agape love is unless we see it displayed in God himself. Scripture teaches us that love is shaped, it's defined, it's protected by God's truth. Take away the truth and love drifts aimlessly. But if you anchor love in God's word, then love grows strong, steadfast, and fruitful. We know how to love. For example, you've heard me say that love is a choice that we make every single day, amen? Love is not a feeling, it's a what? Choice. Our feelings can be involved, but I choose to love every single day, despite how I might feel about it. Marriages would be saved if people understood that truth. Where do we encounter that truth? In scripture. So what are we to do then when we encounter those who spread false teaching? What are we to do? Paul does not tell us to engage in endless arguments or to be drawn into constant debate with them. Instead, he gives us an explicit instruction. Did you see that instruction? Avoid them. Get away from them. Ignore them. Cast them out. Have nothing to do with them. And when we do this, churches, brothers in the churches, it just does feel so loving to kick someone out and say, I won't have anything to do with you. Would Jesus do that? Yes, absolutely. If someone is purposely distorting the truth and refuses to see the truth, and by the way they're living or the way they're teaching, they're bringing division into the church, they're false brethren, they're false brothers or false sisters, they're not truly in Christ, they are working for the enemy, it would behoove us to what? Cast them out, avoid them all completely. To have nothing to do with them. Paul understood how easily weaker beliefs can be confused or led astray. For the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the unity of Christ's church, he tells us that we must hold fast to the truth. We must firmly then separate ourselves from any teaching or any teacher who stands against sound biblical doctrine. Not only in their preaching, but also in their what? Living. Be careful with this because you can have a pastor or minister get up behind the pulpit and preach everything just right. And you're like, well, he's preaching the truth. But if he invalidates the truth with his living, he's leading you astray. Do you see the difference? So in order to be a minister, for example, there are three things that a minister must have correct. He must have orthodoxy. He must have right doctrine, correct doctrine. He must have orthopraxy. He must have right, correct practice. Amen? That make sense? And he must have orthopathy, he must have right emotions, right feeling, right love. If any of those things are missing, that person is not called to fill the pulpit. Sadly, in most cases, we have people who don't have orthodoxy, they're just teaching horrible things and the church has no discernment, they're going amen and praise God and it's wrong. But there are instances where men have correct doctrine, they teach the correct things, yet by their example, they invalidate those things. And so the church thinks those things are not important and they follow their example. And even less, but absolutely, men who try to live rightly, men who teach rightly, but who don't love God's people rightly. They're just a bother and a nuisance to them. If I could just be in my office studying and learning, and even preaching, I love preaching, but if I don't have to deal with you people and your problems, that would be so much better. Why are you getting in the way of my ministry? You are the ministry. Amen. You are the ministry. Do you see it? And so those three things have to be there for our pastor. We are to separate ourselves from any teaching or any teacher who doesn't do these things. In doing so, we protect not only our own faith, but also the faith of the body of Christ. So that's the warning in verse 17. In verse 18, we see the motive behind false teachers. They serve themselves. Paul continues his warning. For such persons do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. The original expression Paul uses for such persons, when he says for such persons, is a phrase full of contempt. It can be translated, those kinds of people. Dismissive, Paul sees these false brethren for what they truly are, imposters and pretenders. They may appear faithful on the outside, but their hearts and their motives reveal the truth. They are not serving Jesus Christ, and their presence in the church is dangerous, a cancer that must be cut off. By saying that these individuals do not serve Christ but their own appetites, Paul draws a clear and unyielding line. Each person serves either the Lord Jesus Christ or serves himself. There is no middle ground. Jesus himself taught this truth in Matthew 6, 24, when he says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You can't have two supreme authorities in your life. Either the Lord's going to be your supreme authority, or yourself. You're going to be your own supreme authority. The false teachers have chosen their master, and it is themselves. Their lives are ruled by their own desires, not by the spirit of God. They seek attention. They crave admiration. They pursue personal gain. How many of those false pastors are you seeing living lives of opulence when their people are suffering and they're literally leeching them of everything they have. It is a terrible thing. They seek everything for themselves. They love to hear themselves speak and inflate their own importance revealing hearts far from the humble service that Jesus Christ taught us. Their actions revealed even more about their hearts. They rely on smooth talk and flattering words, says Paul, to manipulate others, drawing people in with their charm rather than the truth. Jude 1.16 says the following. These false teachers are grumblers, malcontent. They're not happy to hear true doctrine. Following their own sinful desires, they are loudmouth boasters. Showing favoritism to gain advantage. You're such a wonderful brother. Come to my Bible study. Come to this. Come to that. And then you go and because you love the word of God and you start being led astray by someone who's not teaching truth. Be careful, beloved. To whom you listen to, to what you do. They're loud mouth bolsters. They tell you how great they are, what they've done for the kingdom, how wonderful their ministry is, how much blessings you're going to get if you hang out with them. And when you start hearing them teach, you start going, wait a minute, something's wrong. Don't turn that off. Amen? Don't turn that off. Though they may seem gifted in speech, in reality, they are liars, working not for the spiritual good of the church, but for their own gain. They lead the simple and unsuspecting away from the fullness of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jude paints a vivid picture of this danger in Jude 1, 11 through 13. Listen to what he says. about these false teachers. Woe to them. How many of you know when the scripture says woe to a group, it's a bad thing. It's a judgment of God, right? It's like, oh my goodness, may heaven help you. Even heaven can help you because heaven is against you at this point. Woe to them for they walk in the way of Cain. What was the way of Cain? He hated his brother. They really hate you. They don't love you. They just want to get something from you, whether attention, money, whatever it might be. Woe, for they walked in the way of Cain. They abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error. They'll prophesy, I'll do whatever they have to to gain money from you, just like Balaam did and God killed. And they perish in Korah's rebellion. Remember Korah's rebellion? It's talking about the time of Moses in the wilderness. The Korahites said, why should you lead, Moses? We should lead. We're just as spiritual as you. Moses says, God hasn't called you. It's like, we're better than you. God was so offended with them that he opened the earth and swallowed them alive. Them, their wives, their children, killed them all. Men who want the attention, in other words, like Korah. Men who want the gain, like Bala. Men who hate their brothers, like Cain. Then he describes them this way, these are hidden reefs at your last feast, as they feast with you without fear. A hidden reef is a terrible thing if you're a sailor. You don't know that the reef is there. You sail and the reef cuts the bottom part of your boat and you sink and you die. Hidden reefs are dangerous. They are dangerous, says Jude. They'll destroy you. Another analogy, shepherds feeding themselves. This idea that shepherds instead of taking the sheep are eating the sheep, right? False shepherds eating the sheep. There are waterless clouds swept along by the winds. If you live in a place like Israel that was arid a lot of time and the cloud came and it looked dark. Well, we live in a desert, we know what it looks like. How many times have you looked outside and it looks dark and gray and you think, oh, we're going to get rain and we get nothing, right? Because we live in the desert and you're like, oh, man, it kind of tricked me. That's what they are, water. They promise a lot, but they deliver what? Nothing. They're waterless clouds, he said. He says, swept along by the winds. They're fruitless trees in late autumn. This is when late autumn you go pick your apples and your pears and your fruit. They're trees that look like they have fruit and you go in that time thinking there's going to be fruit and they give you what? Nothing. They promise a lot but give you nothing. Not only are they fruitless trees in late autumn, they're twice dead, uprooted. They're a dead tree. Wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their own shame. Wandering stars not knowing their places. And then listen to this, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. God has already judged them. They will go to hell forever. It's important that if a man gets behind a pulpit to preach that he be a man of God. If he's not called, he has a lot to answer for. For he has spoken falsely on behalf of God. Beloved, these images remind us that false teachers are self-serving, destructive, destined for judgment. Therefore, we must be vigilant, discerning carefully, and cling firmly to God's truth, protecting both our own souls and the church from those who seek to lead it astray. When Paul commends the believers in Roman, verse 19, they had obedience, and he prays for wisdom and innocence. He says, 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. Beloved, a warning against false teachers, although it's crucial, is not enough for living a life that glorifies God. Paul's words points us directly to our greatest need, the word of God. Now, many believers shy away from diligent study of the scriptures, claiming they don't have time or they want to keep their faith. Childlike and simple. I believe in Christ, that's enough. I'm happy with Jesus, that's enough. I don't have to be a diligent student of the word. But there is a real difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith. Amen? And we need to be careful. We are to be childlike in our trust and submission to God's authority, yet mature in understanding and discernment of what our faith teaches. The New Testament repeatedly rebukes spiritual immaturity Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 12, but I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. He is not commending them. He's saying, brethren, look at all the sin in the church and what's going on. You're not mature. You're infants still. You haven't grown up. Obviously, when a new baby is born, we don't say, get up and walk. What's wrong with you? A baby's a baby. It has to learn how to hold itself up and then Eventually sit up and crawl and eventually walk and fall, eventually run and mature. A baby has to drink milk for the first couple of years of his life before you start giving him solid food. We understand that when someone comes to Christ, they are an infant. Immature in the sense that they don't know, all they know is that Christ has saved them and they're happy and praise God for that truth. And then begins the process of learning, amen? and of growing. Praise God for that. But if you've been in Christ for 25 years and you're still in that same place, shame on you. That's the idea there. Does that make sense? He says, Paul says, I'm talking to you as infants and you've been in church forever. What's wrong with you? You should have moved past this point in your walk with Christ. I fed you with milk when I was there. I didn't feed you with solid food. In other words, I gave you pure baby food doctrine that you needed, the essentials. He says, because you were not ready for it. And even now, meaning after all these years, you're still not ready for the deeper things. He says, you're still at that place where I have to feed you milk. What's wrong? This isn't right. It's a rebuke. Likewise, we read in Hebrews 5.12, And this is the author of Hebrews writing is, for though by this time you ought to be teachers of the word, you've had enough time that you should be teaching others. You need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You're still at the stage one after all these years. You need milk, not solid food, and that's a shameful thing after these years. You see? So Paul is telling these churches, he's telling these Christians, Should have progressed more. And how do we progress, beloved? Honestly, how do we progress? Through the study of God's word. Amen? On your own, through reading godly literature. Godly literature, be careful, not everything that says it's Christian is Christian. Godly literature, listening to a godly pastor teach you God's word. This is how we grow in our faith. And the more you grow, the harder it is for you to be deceived. Make sense? The harder it is for you to be deceived by the false. So from this, we learn that to guard God's flock and avoid the deception of false teachers, we must firmly be grounded in scripture. We must cultivate discipline, consistent study, and meditation on God's word. Now, be careful that you didn't hear what I didn't say. I didn't say that if you're in the infant stage because you're a believer, you're doing something wrong. That is not what I said. You're supposed to be in the infant stage. You're supposed to be growing. You're supposed to have a billion questions. You're supposed to be almost desperate going, oh my gosh, I want to know it all. That's a good thing. That's where you're supposed to be. Amen? I'm talking to you who have been a Christian for 20, 25 years and still don't know the basic principles. That's a problem. Amen? That's a huge problem. So Paul rejoices over the Romans, he tells us, because their obedience was known throughout the churches. So in other words, the Romans studied the Word of God. They knew the Word of God. And so he says, I praise God that you're living obedient lives. They had a good reputation. And that's a wonderful thing. Beloved, when we depart from the path of faith and obedience, it is a profound disappointment to the body of Christ. Paul's thanking God that Romans have stayed obedient to God. I've seen many who say that they were Christians years later, not walking with Christ. The church is not important to them anymore. They're living their own lives. It's like, I know, I know I should get back, but they never do. That's a great disappointment, a great dishonor to the things of God. Turning from the truth undermines the joy and testimony that faithful obedience produces. This is why Paul urges the believers to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil. The wisdom that Paul is speaking about is more than just, I know facts about the Bible. It is a spiritual discernment shaped by sound doctrine and sound love. We are to live so that we recognize and pursue what pleases God while remaining innocent regarding evil. Spiritual wisdom equips us to do good, and sanctifying innocence protects us from being ensnared by sin. In other words, Paul is calling us to maturity in Christ. Don't be a child, be mature. How do you have spiritual wisdom that guides you and have innocence about what is evil? It means, in other words, hate what is evil. 1 Corinthians 14.20 says the following, brothers, do not be children in your thinking, Be infants in evil, but in your thinking, be mature. Be infants about evil. I don't know evil. I don't understand evil. I love God. I'm far away from evil. That's a good thing. He says, but in your thinking about this world and how to love God, be mature. 1 Thessalonians 5.21, a wonderful verse that you should listen to. It says, test everything, hold fast to what is what. Good. How can I test everything, beloved? Test it against what? Scripture. Sound doctrine. If you don't know scripture, you can't test everything. If you don't know the truth, you'll believe every lie. Make sense? If you don't know the truth, you'll be easily led away. But if you know the truth, it's hard to lead you away. Look, we're all going to encounter deception in this world to a point or another and even be touched by it. But ultimately, God rescues us. Amen? Because he loves us. And how does he do that? Through his word, through the wisdom that comes through his word. Praise God for this truth. So we're to test everything through scripture. Matthew 10, 16, Jesus speaking says, behold, I'm sending you as sheep in the midst of wolves. What are we, beloved? Sheep in the midst of wolves. Sheep of God in the midst of this world full of what? Wolves. That's what you are. And so what he says, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Isn't that beautiful? Be wise to what you believe and think. Be wise like the serpent is. Don't fall for everything, but then be innocent as dove when it comes to evil. I don't know evil because I don't practice it. Beloved, wisdom and innocence go hand in hand. Maturity in Christ is not merely knowing the truth, it is living it out, guarding our hearts, and acting in obedience to God's word, even when the world and even when false teachers within the church attempt to pull us away. Let's look at verse 20, the first part, where we're going to see the God of peace. There's a promise that if we are innocent towards Eva, if we're wise towards God, if we're growing in grace, if we love his word, if we're watching out for ourselves and others, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Isn't that a beautiful verse? After warning the believers to guard themselves against false teachers, Paul lifts their eyes from their own efforts to the sovereign power of God. Be careful. Walk rightly. Read scripture. Pray. Seek God. But don't forget that it's God who keeps you. God who delivers you. Trust in Him above everything else. Amen? That's a good thing, right? Yes, scripture calls us to be watchful, discerning, and obedient, but none of these duties can be carried out in our own strength. We do not stand firm by our own wisdom, by our own willpower. Beloved, it is only because God himself strengthened his people that we can resist error. It's only by his strength that we can pursue holiness. It's only by his will that we can remain faithful. Vigilance is rooted not in our ability but in his power. So he directs us back to God. These are the things you should be doing. But never forget you need to be on your knees every day asking God to help you do those things you need to do. To give you the strength you need to do those things. To keep you from evil. To love his word. Every day you should be relying on God. Because the moment you think I am so mature. I got this. That's probably when you're at your least mature. You're in trouble. The moment you say, I know nothing but Christ. I have no power. My power comes from Christ. I can't do anything right without Christ. Without him, I can do nothing. Oh Lord, save me. Oh Lord, use me. Oh Lord, protect me. Oh Lord, strengthen me. Then you can read. Then you can study. Then you can learn. For you're doing it under his authority and his power and his headship. Paul reminds the church that, The one who calls them to obedience is the God of peace. Consider what this means. Unlike the false teachers who sowed division and chaos, God brings order. Like the false teachers stirred strife and confusion, we saw God gives lasting, saving peace. How do you know if someone is from the Lord? Their teaching will point you to the God of peace. The God of scripture, the God of peace. A peace that flows from his redeeming work in Christ, Paul then declares three powerful truths about what this God of peace will do. Listen, this God of peace will crush Satan. In case you didn't know, he is speaking about the fulfillment of Genesis 3.15, the fall of men and where God promises that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. He said, soon God will fulfill Genesis 3.15, where God declared that the serpent would ultimately be defeated, Satan would be defeated. So what do we learn from this? The final victory does not belong to Satan, but to God. And through the death and resurrection of Christ, the decisive blow has already been struck, and the ultimate crushing of the enemy is certain. This is supposed to make you go, okay, praise God. No one gets away with evil. Look at me. No one gets away with what? Evil. Amen? God will crush Satan soon under your what? Feet. That's a wonderful thing. But notice when God will crush Satan. He said, he will crush Satan under your feet, right? He will, excuse me, notice what God does. He crushes Satan, but under our feet, he says. God's victory is not only his own, it becomes the victory of his people. As co-heirs with Christ, believers share in his triumph and will also be co-conquerors. If Christ conquers, if Christ crushes the snake, Through him we crush the white snake. If Christ is victorious, we are victorious. Isn't that good to know? Isn't that good to know? When Christ returns in glory, we will share in his triumph over his enemies. Every fall and every work of darkness, people of God will shine like the stars, scripture tells us. And when will this happen? Soon. Beloved, when will this happen? Soon. I know what you're thinking. Soon has been 2,000 years, brother. Where's Jesus? But remember, Scripture tells us, what is time with God? A thousand days is like one day, one day is like a thousand years, right? It's what it is with God, right? Soon is the promise. In one sense, God has already begun restraining and defeating Satan through the finished work of Christ. How do we know? You sit here as the people of God. Hasn't he, to a certain extent, already begun crushing the head of Satan in the fact that you're saved? Praise God for that truth, right? Yet Paul's emphasis here is on the ultimate final victory that will be fully realized when Christ returns. From God's eternal perspective, the victory is imminent. It's soon. Remember, what is time with God? Nothing. He says, soon it'll happen. I know that for us, we're like, soon? Is God soon? Not necessarily am I soon, but it's soon, in the sense that it is certain and near in his plan. Beloved, the church lives with a sure and steadfast hope here, though. The defeat of Satan is not only promise, but will be coming soon. Soon you will be delivered. Soon you will be home. Soon every tear will be wiped away. Soon you will see him as he is and you will be like him, whatever that means in scope and majesty. Soon. Soon. For those of us who are getting older, how fast is our lives going? Right? When you were a child, every year seemed like it was seven dog years. You hit something like 30 and all of a sudden you blink and you're 50 and you're going, what happened? Soon we will be with the Lord, either through our own personal death or the coming of our Lord. Soon Satan will be crushed completely and done away with. This promised triumph reveals why God is rightly called the God of peace. He brings true and lasting order, securing complete and eternal salvation for his people by crushing their greatest enemy, Satan. The certainty gives believers confidence and encouragement today. We can stand firm in the truth. We can resist error. We can persevere in faith knowing that Christ will return in glory to bring final victory soon. Amen. So let us not weary of doing good. Let us look at the second part of verse 20 to finish. We are to rest then in the grace of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Paul closes with a benediction, a blessing, calling the church to rest in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, he gives us several points. Number one, grace is God's unmerited favor. Notice what he says. He says in the verse, the grace of who? Of Jesus Christ. Grace belongs to whom? To God. It's not ours by birthright. It's not ours by demand. It is ours because he graciously gives us that grace. This is a rich and deserving blessing that flows from God to his people. It is never earned. It's never merited. It's given freely out of his love and mercy, and only in submission to Jesus Christ through his gospel, only to those who have come to Christ as Lord and Savior. Notice what he calls the Lord Jesus, though. He says the grace, he says, of our Lord. Not the Lord, but what? Our Lord. Oh, beloved, we're in family, amen? Praise God for this truth. Paul writes, our Lord Jesus, highlighting the personal trusting relationship believers have with Christ and each other. We are not distant from Christ. We belong to him and he belongs to us. Amen? Us, the group. He's our Lord. Shouldn't that bring joy in our hearts? At the same time, being part of Christ's body carries responsibility because he is, quote, Our Lord, collectively, we owe a duty of care to one another, especially in watching over one another in truth, love, and obedience. If he's our Lord, that means he's my Lord, he's your Lord, so if he's our Lord, I need to protect you because you belong to Christ. And I need to protect you, and I need to protect you, and you need to protect me, and we need to love one another, amen? So if I see falseness, falsehood, evil creeping in the church, if I see you being overtaken by something, It is my job to come to your aid through prayer, through godly counsel, because I love you, because he is our Lord. Amen. Not just my Lord, our Lord. Finally, Jesus is both Savior and Lord. Notice what he says. He says, the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you. He calls Jesus our Lord. He calls him Lord, but he also calls him Jesus. The name Jesus means Savior, yet he is also called Lord here, the one who has purchased us with his own blood. So as Lord, he is sovereign over our lives, and acknowledging his authority brings both joy and assurance. As Savior, we rest in his finished work, trusting that our salvation is secure, our sins are forgiven, and our eternal hope guaranteed in him. There is a controversy that's sweeping through the modern church. It shouldn't be there, but it's gone in cycles, comes and goes. There are those who teach that all you need is to believe in Christ, and that's enough. You can have Jesus as Savior, not necessarily as Lord. I don't know if you've heard this. It's called the Lordship Controversy. In order to be saved, can you just believe in Jesus, or does Jesus have to be Savior and Lord? And the answer is, beloved, I don't know where the controversy comes from. The Bible makes it abundantly clear. He has to be both Savior and Lord. You can't say Jesus is my Savior, but I'm going to live my life on my own terms and do whatever the heck I want, however I want. And as long as I believe in Jesus, I'm covered and I'm good. What does Paul say to that? Certainly not, or heaven forbid. Should I sin that grace should abound? Certainly not, says Paul. Amen? And so it is difficult and impossible for me to believe when someone comes and says, yeah, I'm in Jesus, but you know, I live my life on my own terms. I do my own thing. And don't you judge me, brother. Yes, I can. You're wrong. And you should check your confession. Something's wrong there. If he is your savior, if he saved you, you long to be under his authority. You want to learn him. You want to live him. And you want to make sure that you please him. Amen? How can he discipline you if he's not Lord? Amen. If he has no authority over you, how can he discipline you? How can he have charge over you? He is both Lord and Savior. So let's close with this thought. This final blessing from Paul reminds the church that all God's promises, including victory over Satan, flow through Christ's grace. As believers, we live under his Lordship, supported and strengthened by his unmerited favor every single day. So I close with this thought, beloved. Love the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're new or newer to the faith, grow, mature, learn how to crawl, learn how to walk. Praise God for where you're at. Don't get desperate where you're at, going, oh my gosh. Take your time. God will mature you at his rate. Praise God. Every single day, every learning, every bit, every more, God's going to add to you. Amen? If you've been walking with the Lord for a while and you're still in that place, something's wrong and you need to get it right. Amen? And it's incumbent on all of us to be people of God's word. To know the word so that we're not easily deceived. And so we can guard our lives and the lives of those in church. You need to love God's word. It's the only thing that'll keep you grounded in this world and protected from evil. Amen? And beloved, be careful with the false. Run everything through scripture. Make sure for your very, your very walk depends upon it. Amen? And the walk of your children. Paul says something rather sad at the end of his life. He says, I tell you now with tears that so-and-so and so-and-so have left Christ and have gone back into the world. And it breaks his heart. Years after being a minister, I've seen men like that who look to be something but then show their colors. Deceitful men, workers of iniquity, evil men with the purpose of their own glory. And I've seen the destruction that they cause. It's horrible. I am more committed to you to protect you. Amen. But you got to be committed to protect each other in God's grace. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the word that you have given unto us. We pray that, oh Lord, you would teach us how to apply it. We pray, oh Father God, for any unbeliever here who has heard the gospel that they would come to Christ as Lord and Savior. We pray for all the Christians here in various stages of their walk. that they would be more committed to the truth of God, to learning you, to being protected in you, to realize that there's a difference between a childlike faith and a childish faith, and to decide, oh, Father, God, in their own heart and mind, to go after you through scripture by trusting and praying that you would empower them to do so. If anyone here is newer in Christ, we pray, oh, Lord, that you would mature them at whatever rate you choose, teaching them that they would be patient with the process, knowing, oh, Lord, It's impossible for a baby to be born and a month later be driving a car. It's just not the way things work. That they would have patience, knowing that you're teaching and guiding them, removing things from their life that does not please you, O Lord. We thank you for that. If there's anyone here who, Father God, was rightly rebuked by you, for they have never grown past a certain stage and they know they should have, I pray, O Father God, that they would commit it to you in repentance to seek you through your word. We pray, Father God, that you would guide us all into a deeper, mature life, that we would not be easily deceived, and a love for others that would protect them. We pray these things, O Lord, that we would be wise, and yet, Lord, wise as to what is good and innocent and to what is evil. In Christ's name and for his sake, amen.