Romans 16:17-20

Well, good morning. I'm very glad to be here with you this morning.

I hope you are glad to be here as well.

Let's open our Bibles to Romans chapter 16.

Romans 16 · chapter mention

Our text for today is Romans chapter 16, verses 17 through 20.

Romans 16:17–20

We find ourselves back in the final chapter of Romans this week

and have an additional eight weeks.

I'm just kidding.

We don't.

We have a planned additional one week until we'll conclude our study of this letter.

The last time we were considering this book,

we took a look at Romans 16, verses 1 through 16,

Romans 16:1–16

and then verses 21 through 23.

We look at the text this way because they contain greetings to people

and greetings from people.

These 19 verses mention 35 people by name,

as well as the mention of groups of Christians in households

and companions to people mentioned by name.

Today, we are stepping back to a four-verse interjection,

and I want to take a moment to explain why I think the interjection exists.

Paul is making a point, at least in part, in these four verses

that I've been laboring to make to you over our time together in this book.

We must be so careful with our doctrine,

and we must be so careful that we assign doctrinal importance

so that the gospel is preserved.

I've made this case for theological triage to you again and again.

I'll spare you today making that case.

But we need to be careful in thinking about what hills we die on.

In this letter, Paul teaches that justification or salvation is by grace alone.

It's his kindness toward us.

Through faith alone, this is the means in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

And then he teaches us what the life liberated from the power of sin looks like,

and the driving characteristic of that life is unified love.

So I think that in 16 verses 1 through 16,

Paul has expressed all of these wishes of embrace.

Remember that term, greet.

That means to pull in tight, to embrace.

For people that he loves,

and then, because he loves them,

he can't help but give them one more exhortation.

It was, after all, Paul who wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 6

that love rejoices with the truth.

So join me as we look at this interjected, final exhortation of Paul's letter to the Romans.

Romans 16, I'll begin reading in verse 17.

Let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us,

written for his glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it

in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

I appeal to you, brothers,

to watch out for those who cause divisions

and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine 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.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

We have a very simple three-point outline

for our study this morning,

which is as follows.

Number one, Paul's caution.

Number two, Paul's encouragement.

And number three, Paul's confidence.

Number one, Paul's caution.

And we see this in those first two verses.

What I think we first need to consider here

is what Paul is not cautioning against.

He is not here speaking about the lesser order issues.

He is not talking about varied opinions.

There are many things that we don't entirely see eye to eye on

in the Christian faith.

I'm sure you can draw many of them to mind.

This is a text about false teachers.

Those who do not serve are Lord Christ.

Notice that in verse 18.

Remember that Paul has encouraged unified love

in this letter in chapter 14.

This is verse 1.

As for the one who is weak in faith,

welcome him,

but not to quarrel over opinions.

And then later, verse 13 of the same chapter,

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer,

but rather decide never to put a stumbling block

or hindrance in the way of a brother.

Paul commands us to bear with one another

over the minor points.

Elsewhere, like in Titus 3.9,

Paul tells Titus to avoid foolish controversies,

genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law,

for they are unprofitable and worthless.

And in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 23,

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

he tells Timothy,

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies.

You know that they breed quarrels.

Paul wants us to find the right hills to die on.

He wants us to be sure that we hold in our closed fists

what we are willing to fight for.

And those doctrines are the highest order doctrines.

In a day where every bit of news

seems to send people into existential tailspins,

we need this word.

Listen to the astounding words of Paul

written from a Roman jail cell in Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

This is verse 14 and following.

And it just amazes me every time I read it.

Lord, that I will be more like Paul in this way.

He says, beginning in verse 14,

And most of the brothers,

having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment,

are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry,

but others from goodwill.

These two categories, right?

Brothers are being emboldened to speak the word

because of Paul's imprisonment, right?

Some from goodwill,

some from envy and rivalry.

The latter do it out of love,

those from goodwill,

knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition,

not sincerely,

but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

And I don't know exactly what's going on here,

but it sounds like these brothers had some sort of competitive intention

with the ministry of Paul.

But what is it that they are proclaiming?

He says, verse 18,

What then?

Only that in every way,

whether in pretense or in truth,

Christ is proclaimed.

And in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice.

So there's these men with poor intentions

about their gospel proclamation,

and yet they're proclaiming the gospel,

and Paul rejoices in this,

and his attitude is incredibly instructive.

Some of you act competitively

towards other Christians or other churches.

The kinds of elitist things you say

reach my ears from time to time,

and it grieves me.

We desire to be as faithful to God's word

as we can possibly be.

I hope that you have chosen

to fellowship with this church

because you believe that we are being faithful

to all that it commands.

We're headed in that direction.

If we are not there yet,

and we're not,

we are headed in that direction.

The moment you think

that we have no faults,

or simply act towards others

like we have no faults,

then you have become

a destroyer of the unity

that is ours in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is an aside.

This is not the main point

that Paul is making here,

but I want to say to you,

let's rejoice in those who preach the gospel,

even if we disagree on some minor things.

Let's rejoice with anyone,

and with any church,

that is clear on the gospel.

Justification by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in the personal work of Jesus Christ alone,

because this matters so much.

Now, we could get into all kinds of doctrine

and talk about all kinds of things.

I'm not trying to over-reduce this

simply to grace alone,

faith alone, Christ alone.

I'm not simply doing that.

But the two large categories

we need to be thinking is,

is teaching that messes with the nature of God,

and teaching that messes with

the person and work of Christ.

I think those two broad categories

are really helpful to us.

Note from today's text

that there is a real enemy within.

Those who claim to speak on behalf of our God,

but do not.

Let's keep our false doctrine radars

focused in the right direction.

Let's choose the right hills to die on.

Okay, so that said,

he's not talking about that.

What is he cautioning against?

He says,

I appeal to you,

brothers,

watch out for those who cause divisions

and create obstacles

contrary to the doctrine

that you have been taught.

Avoid them.

I think that this includes everything

that he has taught

up to this point.

Here's the caution.

We are to watch out.

Be on the lookout

for people who teach error.

False teachers.

This is a great concern

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He said in Matthew 24 and verse 24,

for false Christs and false prophets

will arise and perform great signs

and wonders

so as to lead astray,

if possible,

even the elect.

They're going to do impressive things

to distract people from the truth.

Then in Matthew 7,

Matthew 7:15

verse 15 and 16,

he says,

Beware of false prophets

who come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4,

Ephesians 4:12

verse 12 and following

that the work of church leaders

is to equip the saints

for the work of ministry,

for building up the body of Christ.

To what end?

Until we all attain

to the unity of the faith

and of the knowledge

of the Son of God

to mature manhood

to the measure of the stature

of the fullness of Christ.

Why?

Verse 14,

So that we may no longer be children

tossed to and fro by the waves

and carried about

by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning,

by craftiness

in deceitful schemes.

Right?

These things happen.

Right?

And the work we're meant to be doing

is standing against

this kind of teaching.

Rather,

verse 15,

speaking the truth in love.

We are to grow up in every way

into Him who is the head,

into Christ.

That's the work of the church.

Right?

Church leaders equipping all of us

to speak the truth

to one another

so that we'll grow up

into maturity.

Peter,

in 2 Peter 1,

2 Peter 1:20

verse 20,

into chapter 2,

verse 3,

following grand words

concerning the nature

of the Scripture,

says this,

knowing this first of all

that no prophecy of Scripture

comes from someone's

own interpretation,

for no prophecy

was ever produced

by the will of man,

but men spoke from God

as they were carried along

by the Holy Spirit.

And then he says in chapter 2,

Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul Paul

and their destruction is not asleep.

So, we are to watch out.

Be on the lookout for people who teach error.

If someone teaches in contradiction to the doctrines of Christ,

we are to identify them.

But what are we to do with them once they have been identified?

There has been much error in this way.

And I'm going to read to you a paragraph from John MacArthur's commentary on this

because he's just succinct and I think it's helpful.

What are we to do? That's the question.

What are we to do when we have identified a false teacher?

He writes, a caution about Paul's caution should be given.

He was not teaching or implying that true believers have the right to do physical harm to heretics.

During the Reformation, some Protestants as well as Catholics committed grave inhumanities in the name of Christ.

When a group of Samaritans refused to render hospitality to Jesus and the disciples,

James and John, whom Jesus had nicknamed Sons of Thunder, asked,

this is in Luke chapter 3,

Luke 3 · chapter mention

Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

Jesus replied,

One of Jesus' several strong rebukes of Peter was given in response to that disciples cutting off the ear of one of the high priest slaves

when the Jewish leaders brought Roman soldiers to arrest Jesus.

Put your sword back into its place, he said to Peter,

for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.

Even protection of the Son of God did not justify the use of physical violence.

So, a caution against the caution.

What are we to do?

Well, the right response is right here in the text, is it not?

Avoid them.

We are just to avoid them.

We are to turn away from what they teach.

We are to warn others against what they teach.

We are to instruct others in the truth so that the error can be most readily identified.

Why?

Because these teachers do not serve our Lord Christ.

Verse 18.

But their own appetites,

that is to say,

their own greed.

They are doing it for themselves.

And by smooth talk,

appealing talk,

and flattery,

they deceive the hearts

of the naive.

So, those who are immature in the faith

need to be protected

from these false teachers.

In thinking about this very issue,

I was so helped by Paul's words to Timothy

in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

2 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

In thinking,

what is happening in our age

that so many people are so drawn in

by false teachers?

And I was very helped here.

Paul instructs Timothy,

this is verse 1 of chapter 4.

He said,

Here's what he says.

Preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season.

Reprove, rebuke, and exhort

with complete patience and teaching.

So he says,

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Why?

Verse 3 says,

For the time is coming

when people will not endure

sound teaching,

but having itching ears,

they will accumulate for themselves

teachers to suit their own passions

and will turn away from listening to the truth

and wander off into myths.

It is going to happen.

It is happening.

What are we to do?

What are we to do?

With complete patience.

Now it seems today that the only heresy

is saying that there is heresy.

But if we are to follow Paul's instruction here,

we must speak with great clarity

for the truth and against falsehood.

This text does not give us space

to gloss over false teaching.

Great clarity for the truth

and against falsehood.

Listen to another warning of Paul's

concerning false teachers

in 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

This is verse 13 and following.

There he says,

For such men are false apostles,

deceitful workmen,

disguising themselves

as apostles of Christ.

And no wonder,

for even Satan disguises himself

as an angel of light.

So it is no surprise

if his servants also disguise themselves

as servants of righteousness.

Their end will correspond

to their deeds.

People will be misled.

They will look at the shiny glitz

of much of what is being taught

out there

and they will be deceived.

What part can we play

in rescuing them

from such false teachers?

All we can do, beloved,

all we can do

is speak with great clarity

for the truth

and against falsehood.

And you may say,

But Nathan,

doesn't that cause division?

And my response to you is,

No.

To the contrary,

it is the false teachers

that cause division.

Paul tells us,

These are the men

who cause divisions.

Their departure from the truth

is divisive,

not the correction of it.

The correction of it

is trying to bring us back together

around the truth.

If we're to love people

as we should,

we're going to rejoice

in the truth.

So allow me to give you

two broad examples.

The first is Roman Catholicism.

We are Protestants

for a reason

and we still protest

against Roman Catholicism.

Now as a quick aside,

I said in a Bible study

many years ago,

over a decade ago,

that Roman Catholicism

was the world's largest cult

that I said this

because his girlfriend

at the time

claimed to be a Catholic.

And so I simply said,

Well, let me tell you why.

I call Roman Catholicism

a cult.

And I began to explain

the things that Rome teaches

and he,

to each thing I said,

said,

She doesn't believe that.

I went,

Okay, well,

that's good.

Here's another thing

that Rome teaches.

Oh, she doesn't believe that.

And we walked through

a litany of things.

And at the end of that,

I just said,

Your girlfriend's

not a Roman Catholic.

And he said,

this is after about

an hour on the phone,

Yeah, she's going to

a non-denominational church

right now.

I went,

Why do we have

this conversation?

I stand by the statement.

So,

this is from,

and what I'm going to read to you

is from the Council of Trent.

This is the 16th century,

long ago,

but this is a response

to Reformation teaching

of

grace alone,

faith alone,

Christ alone,

right?

If you're not on the same page

as me,

justification by grace

through faith in Christ,

if I'm saying that to you

and you're going,

I don't even know

what he's talking about,

please come talk to me.

We have talked about it

a lot

throughout our study

of the book of Romans.

I want you to be very clear

on this.

If we are to be saved,

it is because God

shows us grace,

gives us something

we don't deserve.

He uses our faith,

which he gives us,

right?

And it's in what Christ

has accomplished

on our behalf.

Full stop.

Justification by grace

through faith

in Christ alone.

This is their response.

Canon 24.

If anyone says

that justice received

is not preserved

and also not increased

before God

through good works,

but that those works

are merely fruits

and signs of justification

obtained,

not because of its increase,

let him be now

for the things

that I'm saying

to you.

Right?

This is divisive.

This is against

what the scripture teaches.

Not what I'm saying.

Canon 30.

If anyone says

that after the reception

of the grace

of justification,

the guilt is so remitted

and the debt

of eternal punishment

so blotted out.

Let me just stop

for a second there,

right?

If anyone says

that after the reception

of the grace

of justification,

the guilt,

if anyone says

to you that

if you have been justified,

your guilt

is expunged.

It's so remitted

and the debt

of eternal punishment

so blotted out

that no debt

of temporal punishment

remains to be discharged

before the gates

of heaven can be opened.

Let him be

anathema.

That's the Roman Catholic Church.

That's what they teach today.

They still hold

the Council of Trent

to be true.

False.

False,

false,

false.

And so we protest,

right?

We are not Roman Catholics.

That is a hill

to die on,

justification

by grace

through faith

in Christ.

Alone.

The theologian

Herman Bavink,

this is true,

I'm about to say.

This is yay for Herman.

This is not a falsehood.

This is on the back

of your bulletin.

If you care to read it

with me,

it says,

faith is not justified

by its own essence

or act

because it itself

is righteousness,

right?

It's not saying

the faith itself

is the good work

that justifies you,

but by its content

because it is faith

in Christ

who is our righteousness.

That's so good,

right?

The object of the faith

in the person

and work of Christ alone.

If faith justified

on account of itself,

the object of that

faith,

that is Christ,

would totally

lose its value.

But the faith

that justifies

is precisely

the faith

that has Christ

as its object

and content,

right?

That is what

we teach,

right?

So,

broad example,

Roman Catholicism,

Council of Trent.

Now,

bring it to the

more clearly

modern day

and speak a bit

about the word

of faith movement.

And I want to

strongly warn you

against the word

of faith movement.

I use the term

movement because

it's not a denomination.

It's a collection

of a lot of teaching

that's going on

in the world

these days.

Some would

qualify this

and just say

it's the prosperity

gospel,

but that comes

in varied degrees.

So there's a lot

of it that doesn't

look like prosperity

on the surface,

right?

It's not

purple suits

and private jets,

but it shares

much.

It confuses

the nature

of God

and the person

and work

of Christ,

right?

When I talk about

the person and work

of Christ,

I'm talking about

what Christ

has accomplished,

all that's contained

in the word

it is finished,

which includes

everything that he did

and everything

that what he did

guaranteed

would happen.

So it's all of the promises

that he's granted us

as well,

right?

Our glorification,

right?

Future glory

with him

is guaranteed

by the death

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ,

right?

So it's encapsulated

in that,

okay?

Word of faith

confuses the nature

of God

and the person

and work

of Christ.

I'm about to give you

two examples,

right?

Number one,

this is Bill Johnson

from Bethel Church,

okay?

Bethel music,

that's the connection

that's going on here.

This is in Redding,

California.

He says this,

I quote,

For many years,

I misunderstood

the biblical concept

of desire.

Psalm 37, 4

tells us,

delight yourself

in the Lord

and he shall give you

the desires

of your heart.

Like many pastors,

I foolishly taught

that if you delighted

yourself in the Lord,

he would change

your desires

by telling you

what to desire.

You should have stopped

right there.

But that's not at all

what it means.

that verse

literally means

that God wants

to be impacted

by what you think

and dream.

That ought to make you

cringe inside.

It just ought to make you

cringe inside.

This is a direct attack

on God's aseity,

right?

God's saying,

I am who I am.

He is existent

apart from us

and we do not

affect God.

We do not impact

him with our thoughts

and our dreams.

And so,

they're going to teach

that you can speak

things into existence,

right?

Word of faith,

right?

God wants to empower you

and he wants to give you

success and make your

life wonderful

and all you have to do

is say it

and believe that

it's going to be

that.

Another example,

much closer to home.

This is Jensen Franklin

from Free Chapel,

right?

In our back yard.

Now,

this is going to sound

pretty good for a little

while,

right?

I'm going to point out

to you why it's not.

It's going to sound

pretty good.

He says this,

I quote,

There is life

and there is living.

Are you ready to start

really living out

God's plan

for your life?

Good question.

There's more to life,

more to faith,

more to you.

God gives you

the formula for success

which boils down

to two words.

God first.

Still doing okay,

aren't we?

That's where God began.

Look at your Bible.

What are the very first words

written in the beginning?

Genesis 1, 13.

God created

is the rest of that.

He doesn't say that,

but God first

is his priority

that should rule

every decision

of our lives.

In Matthew 6, 33.

So here's where

I'm going to pick on him.

He says,

In Matthew 6, 33.

Now let me tell you

what Matthew 6, 33 says.

It says this.

Jesus says,

Seek first the kingdom of God

and his righteousness

and all these things

will be added to you.

These things

will be added to you.

And what he is talking about

in that chapter

is anxiety about

food and clothing.

He's saying,

Why are you living

like the world lives?

You have a heavenly father

who loves you

and he's going to provide

for all of your temporal needs.

That's what he's talking about

in that text.

Okay?

So he says,

In Matthew 6, 33,

Jesus tells us,

so here's what he's telling us,

Matthew 6, 33 means,

To hear his plan,

receive his direction,

and his blessings.

If you want success

in your life,

in your marriage,

in your work,

in your witness,

putting God first

is key.

If you want everything

to go grand,

everything to be great,

empowered life,

realize everything,

right,

what do you do?

God first,

speak it into existence.

Jesus has told us

to hear, receive,

and go.

Right?

This word of faith movement

is very deceptive.

Right?

Alright.

So that's the caution.

Right?

We need to be

very careful

and we need to be

very clear

about the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Secondly,

there's an encouragement.

Paul has an encouragement.

He says in verse 19,

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.

Paul tells the Roman believers

in verse 19

that he is encouraged

by their good works

and it would seem

the report

of their good works

had been received

far and wide.

Likely,

we see in Romans 118,

he says,

I thank my God

through Jesus Christ

for all of you

because your faith

is proclaimed

in all the world.

It's suggested

that he means

all the known world.

Everywhere that I'm aware

of your faith,

your good works

are being proclaimed.

So,

he says to them,

press on

in your obedience

to the truth.

But then he encourages

further,

be wise

as to what is good

and innocent

as to what

is evil.

And I think

in the context

of identifying

and avoiding

false teachers,

Paul means for us

to see that

bad doctrine

leads to bad

practices

and that poor

theology leads

to sinful

doxology.

How are we

to be wise

as to what

is good

and innocent

as to what

is evil?

We are to be

about the work

of knowing

God's

word.

Now,

I will say

of all of you

generally,

if you are coming

to church here,

you are not

an experience chaser.

I'm thankful

for that.

We are not

creating a lot

of experience

for you.

You likely

already know

that the general

way that God

grows as people

is through the

common means

of grace.

It's bit by bit

over time.

We put in the work.

We are to read

and pray

and sing

and preach

and listen

to the preaching

of God's word.

We are to get

to know it

over time.

Perhaps you are

one of those people

that is looking

for that mountaintop

moment.

Perhaps the Lord

will grant it

to you,

but it's just

not the normal

way he seems

to work.

He seems to work

through patient

dedication

to his word.

Picking it up

in the various

ways that we

pick up

his word.

It's a very

common analogy,

but I think

it's such a good

one that I'm

going to share

it with you

anyway.

Do you know

how secret

service agents

identify

counterfeit

bills?

It isn't

possible for

them to study

all the

possible errors

a counterfeiter

may make,

but what they

can do

is know

in great

detail

what a

genuine

bill

looks like.

Likewise,

we are to

recognize

error by

knowing

what is

true.

As you

grow in the

knowledge of

what is

true,

error will

become more

evident

to you.

Things will

feel,

if you'll

allow the

word,

hinky,

something's

not,

something's

off with

what I'm

hearing taught

here.

Perhaps you'll

know already,

or perhaps you'll

have to do

some digging

around to

understand what

is being

taught in

error.

So Paul is

encouraging here,

I think,

keep up the

good work.

You're doing

well, so keep

up the good

work that you're

doing.

Press on,

dear Christian,

for we have

great reason

to press on.

Which brings

me to my

last point,

which is

Paul's

confidence.

Paul's

confidence.

I love

that Paul

does this.

He is

inspired,

he's being

led along

by God,

he packs

these rich

statements on

the end of

so many of

his exhortations.

Verse 20,

he says,

that the God

of peace

will soon

crush Satan

under your

feet.

The grace

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ

be with

you.

Paul begins

verse 20

by calling

God the

God of

peace.

At the end

of chapter

15,

he does

this in

thinking about

God's

provision for

his people.

Life,

this side

of glory,

is war,

but our

God,

he's the

God of

peace.

We have

peace with

him,

and one

day he's

going to

make peace

on the

earth.

He's made

promises for

us,

and he will

deliver on

them.

We struggle

in this

life.

People ask

me how I'm

doing these

days.

Many of you

have probably

heard me say

this.

My kind of

canned

response is

another day

waiting for

glory,

which is my

way of saying

I'm sad,

but I'm

filled with

hope.

That's the

day-to-day

state I

tend to be

in these

days,

and I'm

glad for

it because

I think

it's a

good state

to be

in.

One day

soon,

the God

of peace

will soon,

it'll come

swiftly soon,

one day

God will

destroy our

enemy,

Satan,

and all

those who

serve him

is the

implication

here.

Paul is

saying,

look,

these men,

these false

teachers that

you're going

to have to

mark out

and avoid,

their destruction

is sure

because Satan's

destruction

is sure.

Look what he

says elsewhere,

Philippians 3,

Philippians 3:18

verse 18 and

19,

for 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.

And then Jude

verse 12

and 13,

these,

speaking of

false teachers,

are hidden

reefs at

your love

feasts.

As they

feast with

you without

fear,

shepherds

feeding

themselves,

waterless

clouds swept

along by

winds,

fruitless

trees in

late autumn,

twice dead,

uprooted,

wild waves

of the sea

casting up

the foam

of their

own shame,

wandering

stars for

whom the

gloom of

utter darkness

have been

reserved

forever.

Now,

texts like

that ought

to want

us to

call those

people even

to repent

and believe

in Christ.

But the

point he's

driving at

here at

the end

of our

text today

is that

we can

be sure

that the

Lord will

set things

right one

day.

So in

the meantime,

we press

on.

We have

great reason

to press

on.

Paul is

confident

of this

and he

needs to

give us

confidence

to

persevere.

And then,

lest we

think that

we can

accomplish

any of

this

on our

own

accord,

he concludes

this section

of his

letter with

the grace

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ

be with

you.

Our

Christian

lives begin

by grace

and our

Christian

lives are

sustained

by grace

and will

be sustained

to the

end if we

belong to

Jesus.

And I

hope that

that gives

you great

measures of

perseverance.

Life this

side of

glory is

guaranteed to

be difficult.

We follow a

Savior who

was hated by

the world.

We should

expect nothing

less, but

we should

persevere

because of

the wonderful

hope that

Savior has

brought us.

Oh, how

grateful we

should be that

our God

provides for

all that

he commands.

Let's pray

together.