For more information about our teaching and preaching ministry, you can find us online at cornerstoneorlando.org. The following sermon has been brought to you by Cornerstone Orlando, making disciples for the glory of God. The title of our sermon today is The Enemy of the Church, Romans chapter 16, verse 20. So we've come now to the end of this masterful letter to the church at Rome. It's a tremendous letter, a tremendous exposition of the gospel. And as Paul has been working through this letter with us, he has worked through an exposition or an explanation of justification by faith alone, through Christ alone. He's worked through the security the security of the one who has been justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And he has said much in chapter 12 following about the unfeigned love that the church should demonstrate now for the Lord and for one another in consideration of the mercy of God that's been lavished on us through the gospel. And now as Paul begins to draw this letter to a close, he's coming to the end of this letter, Paul thinks of the difficulty that the church will surely face in this life, and he determines to leave the church with a sober-minded warning in verse 17. He says, I urge you, I plead with you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine, the instruction, the teaching which you have learned, and avoid them. Paul knows from experience the danger that the church faces. Paul, if you remember in his missionary journeys, has been traipsing all over Asia Minor from, he says, from Jerusalem roundabout to Illyricum, and everywhere he goes the enemies of the church follow him and assault the Lord's church. Paul knows Experience has taught him, it's not a matter of if for the saints at Rome, it's a matter of when for the saints at Rome. False teachers, especially those of the circumcision, divisive men, liars and scoundrels in the church, fomenting sin, fomenting dissension, fomenting division, contrary to the didache, contrary to the teaching or the instruction that they had learned. Those, verse 18, who do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ. That's evident in their actions. Evident in what they do. They do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ. They serve their own belly. They serve their own lusts. They serve their own appetites. And not unlike their father, the devil, they deceive the hearts and minds of the unsuspecting with smooth words and flattering speech. Great swelling words of emptiness. So Paul, in writing this section of text at the very end of the letter, giving parting words now to the church at Rome, Paul is writing from a deep concern for the church. He's writing from personal experience, and he knows what a danger, what a threat these men pose to the church, and so he writes from a deep concern. Paul asks, who is weak? And I am not weak. Who is made to stumble? Who is led away into sin? And I do not burn with a righteous anger. Elsewhere, Paul calls them savage wolves. They come in among us, not sparing the flock. Even from among yourselves, Paul says, wicked men will rise up, speaking perverted, corrupt, crooked things to divide us, to draw away from the truth, to draw away from the faith, to draw away from the church, disciples after themselves. Therefore, Paul says, you must watch. and you must remember. We have a tendency to lull ourselves into a false sense of security. We love one another here. We enjoy, by God's grace, we enjoy seasons of peace and joy. We love the worship here, the people of God. We enjoy our fellowships together. And sometimes in that context, we forget that the enemy is planting insurgents in our midst. or those from outside who will assault and attack the church from the outside. We are the church militant. We are the church embattled. We are in the time of our tribulation. There's a need for watchfulness, for vigilance, for endurance, for preservation, perseverance. We must watch and remember. Paul says in verse 19, I want you to be wise in what is good, wise in what is good, and undefiled or unstained concerning evil. Well, how do we do that? We take heed according to his word. If you're going to be wise in what is good, where are you going to turn? You're gonna turn to the truth of God. And it's through that means that God has appointed our preservation. It's through that means that we're strengthened. Do you see? If you're gonna remain undefiled or unstained from evil, you gotta begin with yourself. Gotta begin in your own heart and mind. And it's through that strength, the fueling and informing of our faith that God preserves and protects his people. You must know. You must know that it is the particular cruelty of predators to target the vulnerable and attack the weak. You see it, don't you? In nature, it's true among men, among people. It is the particular cruelty of predators to target the vulnerable and attack the weak in the herd. What do they call the little lamb on the outskirts of the flock? Lunch. They hunt the weak. They hunt the slow. They hunt the young, the sick, the suffering, the injured, the fragile, the vulnerable. Satan hunts with the same instinct. He prowls, Peter says, like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He lies in wait, the Bible describes, for the unsuspecting, setting a trap in their path. He lays a trap for the simple. He exploits your weakness. He lures away with a destructive bait of some deceitful lie. All the more reason, brothers and sisters, that we must be wise in what is good and undefiled or unstained by evil. Wise in what is good, unstained by evil. Must purge out remaining corruption, purge out worldliness, adhere to the word of God, seek his face. Satan often does his evil work by disguising himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it's no great thing if his servants, if his deacons, use that word from scripture, also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their works. You'll know them according to their works. So we're not to be surprised when this work is done by someone so-called a brother. Paul warns here in the text, Paul warns that we're to see the divisive person as dangerous. were to see this threat as dangerous. It's a danger to ourselves, our own soul, our own heart, our own mind. It's certainly a danger to others. These people are a threat to the health and wellbeing of the Lord's Church. Their actions are an assault on our peace. Their actions are an attack on our prosperity. They are a threat to our wellbeing. such that, Paul says, we are to turn away from such people and avoid them altogether. They are a gangrenous sore on the body. They are a cancerous tumor in the body. So Paul calls for a radical amputation for the sake of saving the body. He says to Titus, reject the divisive man after the first and second warning. He says here in our text, note them and avoid them. Paul says elsewhere, do not keep company with them. We're not to even eat with such a one. Paul's concern here, as is the concern of the Lord of the church, Paul's concern is the preservation of a worshiping witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Satan's concern to destroy it, and it's Paul's concern, it's the Lord's concern to preserve it. We might be tempted to think that these people are momentarily wayward, or that they think entirely for themselves, or that they're not motivated by some sinister force behind all of this, that they likely work for themselves. The Lord warns us in the text that these people are working for Satan, that they are ambassadors of Satan, they are emissaries of Satan. The Lord warns his disciples, there will be those who will kill you thinking they offer God service. However, in verse 20, Paul alludes to the fact here that they are actually emissaries of Satan. Behind their words, you can hear the hiss of the serpent. Behind their actions, you can see the activity and operation of the devil. Jesus Christ explains that very point to the Pharisees in John chapter eight. Listen to this interchange, this back and forth with the Pharisees from John chapter eight. Jesus says, you do what you have seen with your father. The Pharisees answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. You'll know them by their fruits. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father. You see what the Lord is accusing them of, right? Jesus said to them, verse 42, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why is it that you don't understand my speech? You don't understand my speech because you are not able to listen to my word, because, verse 44, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. They might not have recognized them about that. They certainly would not have recognized that about themselves. They were serving their father, the devil, but they absolutely were, the Lord is saying. Why is that? Because they do the works of their father. They do the works of their father. These come in among us, they disguise themselves or transform themselves as angels of light, and yet they act on behalf of their father, the devil. They're doing the works of the devil. They're accomplishing the ends or the purposes of the devil. They're doing it in the Lord's Church. In our text, Paul connects their desires and he connects their deeds, the deeds and desires of divisive men, with the deeds of their father. Then he encouraged the church in verse 20, be wise in what is good, stay away from evil, and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. See how he connects their deeds, their actions, their thoughts, their desires with Satan. Every person who assaults or attacks the peace and prosperity of the Lord's church is a minister of Satan. Every person who assaults or attacks the peace and prosperity of the Lord's church is doing the work of the devil. There is no righteous reason to divide a biblical church. With this statement in verse 20, Paul is referring to the great enemy of the church. We learned this last week. The name Satan is from a Hebrew word meaning the adversary. The Greek word diabolos means the slanderer or the separator, and that refers to his primary work of separating brothers through slander. He is the evil one, the tempter, the accuser, the prince of the power of the air, the prince of this world, the god of this age. He is the angel of the bottomless pit. Abaddon, Apollyon, names that literally mean the destroyer. Belial, meaning the worthless one. Beelzebub. You remember in our study of Revelation, demons being poured out on the face of the earth like locusts. That swarm, at the head of that swarm is Satan, Beelzebub, the lord of flies. He is depicted as a serpent. He's depicted as a dragon. He transforms himself into an angel of light. He disguises himself, deceptively, as a minister of righteousness. Scripture describes him as lying in wait, scheming, prowling, deceiving, tempting, speaking, lies, murders, vents his anger. He twists Scripture. He blinds the minds of unbelievers. But his primary objective, his primary objective during this age, is to persecute the Lord's church. We'll look at that text in a moment. The primary objective of the enemy is to persecute the Lord's Church and those who bear the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we know of his assault on the people of God began in the garden. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 3, briefly. Genesis chapter 3. What we know of his assault on the people of God began in the garden. And it was the smooth words and flattering speech of this deceiver, this wicked serpent in the garden that first enticed Eve with deceit and then Lord Adam to his fall. And it was through Adam then that sin entered the world and death through sin. And God's response to this unspeakable evil was to declare a curse upon the serpent. And it's a curse that foretells his ultimate doom. Look at Genesis chapter three, verse 14. So the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field, on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. That is the retribution given to a vanquished enemy. You shall go on your belly, you shall eat dust. You're gonna put your face in the dirt all the days of your life. And I will put enmity, verse 15, between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise or strike a blow to your head, and you shall bruise or strike his eel. Now look there at verse 15. The enmity that is placed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, that enmity explains the persecution, the tribulation, the suffering of the church in our age. How do we explain the people of God, the church of the living God, under assault? How do we explain God's people referred to as martyroid? Those who die for the faith. How do we explain the suffering of God's people through millennia? It is the enmity that is placed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This enmity explains the tribulation of the church in our own age. And notice, the curse here in verse 15 proclaims an ultimate judgment upon the devil. The strike to his head is a reference to his destruction. It's a reference to his judgment. His judgment to an eternal torment. It is a judgment, verse 15, that God himself will bring upon him through a promised son, those terms are masculine there, a promised son born to the woman. And remember, it's a promised judgment shared by all those who are identified with him. the serpent and his seed, the woman and her seed. It is a judgment suffered by all those who are identified with Satan, who are of their father, the devil. If you have not turned from your sin, If you've not turned from living for your own appetites, living for your own lusts, living for your own ends, if you have not turned from sin and living for yourself to live for the Lord Jesus Christ and to serve him through faith, if you've not turned in faith to Jesus Christ, you will suffer the judgment of demons. You'll suffer the hell of Satan. In the book of Revelation, not only is Satan and his angels cast into the lake which burns with fire, but all those whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. Put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. We want to be identified with Him. If you're identified with Satan, you'll suffer the judgment that Satan suffers. And it's a judgment referenced in Romans 16, verse 20. It's this judgment that Paul references in our text that is meant to encourage the saints. There is a time, brothers and sisters, coming soon when Satan, that enemy of the church, the enemy of your own soul, that accuser of the brethren, when that enemy will be put down for good. And it's coming shortly. It's meant to encourage us in our warfare, encourage us in the time of our tribulation. God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. And notice, Notice there, back in Romans 16, 20, it's not only under the feet of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that he will crush Satan, but under our feet as well. Not only are the wicked identified with their father, the devil, in his judgment, the righteous, righteous through faith in Jesus Christ, through the imputed, the gifted righteousness of Jesus Christ, those are identified with him. And they receive his victory becomes their victory, you see? This is a victory promised to those who are in union with Jesus Christ. Now, nowhere in the Bible is this warfare against the enemy of the church more graphically displayed than in Revelation chapter 12. I want you to turn there with me, Revelation chapter 12. Paul is describing the work, the activity, the operation of the great enemy of the church. We've been going through Revelation on Sunday afternoons. I think this text very helpful, very insightful for helping us to understand our battle, understand what's going on during the time of this age. In Revelation chapter 12, we see the church militant in relationship to the ultimate cause of her suffering, the ultimate cause of her persecution and tribulation. We see the church militant in relationship to the activity and operation of Satan, the adversary. As we progress through the book, it's Satan who stands behind the beast. It is Satan who, stands or speaks through the false prophet. It's Satan who's behind the suffering, the pain that the church goes through. It is Satan who tempts with the enticements of the whore of Babylon. It's Satan behind these evils. And what we see is that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, right? Our battle is ultimately against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We face a spiritual foe and we fight a spiritual battle. He begins, John begins in Revelation chapter 12, verse one. John says, now a great sign. Signs point us to spiritual realities, amen? What is a sign? It's something that points us to a spiritual reality. A great sign appeared in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. This text, when we were working through Revelation on Sunday afternoons, was many, many sermons. We're going to go through this, basically, in a few moments, so bear with me. There's much here that could be said that we just don't have time to explain. I want to commend those sermons to you to fully get a grip on Revelation chapter 12. This language in verse 1 was used in the Old Testament to refer to the people of Israel, the children of Israel. Genesis chapter 37, for example, Jacob and his wife are the sun and the moon. The 12 suns are the 12 stars. representing the 12 tribes of Israel. This is indicative of the people of God in the Old Testament. When we get to the New Testament, the number 12 is used to connect the people of God under both covenants, the Old Covenant people of God and the New Covenant people of God. The number 12 used to indicate the people of God across the millennia, the people of God throughout redemptive history. There will be 12 apostles who will sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. The heavenly Jerusalem is described as having 12 gates, 12 angels in the gates, 12 foundations. Written on them are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 apostles will rule and reign over the 12 tribes of Israel. This represents the people of God. Verse one, verse two, this woman is seen with child, being with child. Where does the Lord Jesus Christ come from? He comes out of the children of Israel, so to speak. He comes from the physical, temporal people of God in the Old Testament. Being with child, this woman cried out, verse two, in labor and in pain to give birth. Then, verse three, another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his head. We don't have to wonder what this is symbolic of. Look down at verse nine. The great dragon, that great dragon described there, was cast out. That serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth. His angels were cast out with him. We don't have to wonder who this dragon is. This dragon is the great enemy of the church. This dragon is Satan. At his fall, verse 4, his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, speaking of the angels there, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. Why? Why would the dragon stand before this woman about to give birth to this male child? Because of the curse in Genesis chapter 3. A curse was proclaimed against the serpent that the offspring of the woman would crush the serpent's head, would deal a death blow to the serpent. Satan is not omniscient. He doesn't know who that's going to be and when yet. So he stands, hovering over the woman, like a perverted midwife, waiting for the child to be born so that Satan could kill the child. We know that throughout history. You can read redemptive history through the Bible and see Satan hovering over David, as it were, over Moses, over Noah. He was in the very throne room of God, accusing Job. He's standing next to Joshua and Zerubbabel, Accusing Joshua, this great perverted midwife, waiting to devour the child as soon as he's born. Verse five, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. That comes from Psalm 2, that is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. And her child was caught up to God and to his throne. That's the bodily ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection from the dead. Now notice verse six. Then the woman fled into the wilderness. What happened at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ? You have the martyrdom of Stephen on the Temple Mount and the Jews fled. Everyone fled out of Jerusalem except the 12 who stayed in the very city that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ and preached Jesus Christ to their own deaths eventually. Everyone fled, they fled into the wilderness as it were, where, verse six says, she has a place prepared there by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days. That's a reference to Daniel's 70th week. Daniel chapter nine, what is the place to which the people of God fled for nourishment? Where do the people of God get fed? Where do they get nourished during this age? That's a picture of the church. And verse 7, upon the ascension of Jesus Christ, war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought. They did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the accuser of the brethren, who used to stand at the throne of God, as it were, and level accusations against believers, when the Lord Jesus Christ came, When he paid their penalty, Satan, the great enemy of the church, had no accusations any longer. Who is it who could bring a charge against God's elect? No one and no thing. Satan is cast out of heaven. He's not there to accuse Job any longer. He's not there to accuse Joshua. He's not there to accuse you or I. So the great dragon, verse 9, was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death." That's a description of genuine believers. Genuine believers are those who overcome. They overcome by the blood of the Lamb. They overcome by the word of their testimony. They love not their lives even to the death. Therefore, verse 12, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. He knows that he's a vanquished enemy. Verse 13, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. Satan's primary objective during this age in which we live is to persecute the woman who gave birth to the male child, to persecute the seed of the serpent. And the Bible is amazing in the way that God graciously discloses these truths to us, right? This doesn't read like a textbook and it shouldn't read like a textbook. It doesn't read like an engineering schematic, right? If a picture is worth a thousand words, these word pictures are worth thousands of volumes of precious theology to the people of God. They speak volumes. Revelation is often called the capstone of the canon because it It puts in summary form, through these pictures, through the Old Testament types and shadows, through these images, it puts in summary form all of God's redemptive plans and purposes for history, and certainly for the age in which we now live, brothers and sisters. This describes our age. What is the serpent, that dragon, the devil, what is he doing during this age? He is persecuting the woman who gave birth to the male child. Verse 14, but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, that place where she is nourished for time's time and half a time, another reference to Daniel's final week in redemptive history, and from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent Again, that word, that name, links Satan to his work in the garden. Do you see? It links him to the deceptions that he fomented against Adam and Eve in the garden. The serpent, in verse 15, spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. Like many pictures in Revelation, this vision is symbolic. What comes out of the mouth of the deceiver? Let me ask you that question. What comes out of his mouth? Words, words, lying words. In this case, verse 15, it's a flood, a flood of lies, a flood of deceptions, error, falsehood, a flood of those things which cause division and offenses contrary to the instruction which you've learned. In Psalm 18, David pictures the pursuit of his own enemies against him as the torrents or the floods of Belial, the worthless one. Here, it's the torrents of Belial that are pursuing the church. A flood of lies. Brothers and sisters, certainly with me, you can see that that's true in our own age. How hard is it to find a biblical church? How hard is it, how difficult is it to find a church that preaches the Bible? The professing church has been swamped in a flood of lies, in a flood of deception, in a flood of error. Again, this picture, is rich with Old Testament imagery, including the picture of God's deliverance. God here is seen as the one who delivers his people from the flood of death, from the flood of lives. And isn't that true, redemptively, throughout history? God delivers Noah and his family through a great flood. The Hebrew babies, delivered from death by the midwives when they were determined to drown them in the Nile. God divided the waters of the Red Sea, delivered his people on dry land. when their passage to him in the wilderness was cut off by the waters, when they went into the promised land, they went through the Jordan on dry land. Even our baptism, a Christian baptism, is a picture of God's deliverance through a flood of his judgment. Verse 16. But the earth, Satan spews out this flood of deception, these words, these lies out of his mouth. But, verse 16, the earth helped the woman. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood, which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth, like the earth that swallowed up Korah and all those who followed him, alive into the pit. Verse 17, and the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Again, that's a common description for Christians. Satan simply doesn't pack it up and go home. He doesn't accept defeat, right? Take his ball and go back to his house. He doesn't give up. He continues his unreasonable, irrational attempts to destroy the church and ruin the saints. The book of Revelation The book of Revelation reveals these spiritual realities so that we as the people of God know what to expect. He told his disciples, right, when he's meeting with his disciples on the eve of his arrest in John chapter 16, Jesus says to them, I'm telling you these things so that you might not be made to stumble. You might not be made to stumble. I'm telling you these things so you know what to expect so that when it comes, When these savage wolves rise up from among you, when certain men creep in unnoticed among you and do their devious, deceptive work for their father the devil, it shouldn't catch you off guard. We should know what to expect, we should be prepared, we should watch and remember, and then we should note them and avoid them. We should obey Paul's instruction in our text. The book of Revelation reveals these spiritual realities to equip us, to strengthen us, to inform our faith, so that we know what to expect, so that we might not be made to stumble, so that we're prepared to endure. We're prepared to persevere. We know what's coming. We've experienced that ourselves, and we know what's coming, that we might overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. This explains Satan's persecution of the church. This explains the activity and operation of our great enemy. This explains the presence of divisive men in the Lord's church. This explains the devastation that their work causes. It explains, frankly, brothers and sisters, it explains what is largely inexplainable, inexplicable. When you go through something like that, like we have, when you experience those things, sometimes you're left wondering, like, how in the world What has happened here? This explains why that happens. This explains the devices, the tools, the weapons of our enemy. We're not to be ignorant of Satan's schemes. We're not to be ignorant of Satan's devices. This explains the presence of these divisive workers in the church. Ultimately, it is the operation and activity of Satan, the great enemy of the church. Give them no quarter. Paul says, note them and avoid them. Now notice, From Genesis 3, to our text in Romans 16, to the very end of the Bible in Revelation, Satan is described as a defeated or vanquished foe. In Genesis 3, if you remember, God says to the serpent, on your belly you shall go. You're going to eat dust all the days of your life. You're going to take a death blow to the head. In cursing the serpent to eat dust, God is declaring him to be a vanquished enemy. Turn with me to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65. I want you to see this. This is encouraging to the church, encouraging to the people of God. In Isaiah 65, God is describing his ultimate final, fulfilled, consummated victory. That's what we see in Isaiah 65. What is it going to look like, so to speak, in these pictures, right, in these symbolic word pictures that are being painted? How are we to view this? What's going to happen? The way it's described in Isaiah 65 is God is describing his victory in terms of reversing everything that Satan, the enemy of the church, has caused. He's describing his own victory in terms of a reverse of the curse. It's a reverse of all the damage that the devil has done in bringing about the fall of man through his deception. Look at verse 17. God says in verse 17, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. The former shall not be remembered or come to mind. You know what the Bible says at the end, that this world, this creation is going to be folded up, rolled up like a garment. It's going to go away and God is going to create a new heavens and a new earth. Look at verse 18, but be glad, rejoice forever in what I created. It's going to be spectacular. For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. When you were made a new creation in Christ, you were given a new heart, you were indwelt by a spirit, you became a joy and a delight through Jesus Christ, a delight to God. You are a new creation. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Verse 20. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days. Why are infant mortality rates so high? Why are children trafficked? Why are they abused? It is the activity and operation of our enemy through the wickedness of man. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. The child shall die 100 years old. These are symbolic pictures of a reverse of the curse. Death was a result of the curse. Here, life continues. The sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. It's not going to be subjected to futility like the creation was at the fall of Adam. Do you see? They shall not labor in vain. They shall not bring forth children for trouble, for they shall be descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. Dust shall be the serpent's food. There's the end of the enemy of the church, the enemy of God's people. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains, says the Lord. This is a proclamation of the condemnation, the consummation of the curse of God upon the serpent. We know from scripture that he will be consigned to an eternity of torment in the lake which burns with fire. Can all God's people say? Amen. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, make it so. One of the characteristic elements of the saint's eternal bliss will be the absence of the adversary. And that ultimate victory is referenced in Romans 16 with a promise meant to encourage us in our battle. Hang in there. Don't give up. Don't shrink back. Take a deep breath, pray, cast all your cares upon God, and endure. Press forward. Don't shrink back. Press forward. Take another step. Do the next faithful thing. Obey the text. Serve the Lord. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. God has already crushed Satan, crushed his head under the feet of his son. That victory was one of the cross, one through His resurrection. And although Satan did indeed strike at His heel, although it may have appeared as though Satan had won some great victory, Christ was the victorious. When Jesus Christ died at Calvary, he took the punishment that we deserved for our sin. And in resurrection, Christ robbed the devil of his primary weapon against the people of God. Hebrews 2, verse 14 says that through death, Jesus Christ destroyed him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and he released, or he delivered, he set free those who were all their lives enslaved by the fear of death. John says, for this very reason, the Son of God was manifested. For this very reason, the Son of God came to earth in the form of a man that he might destroy the works of the devil. Jesus Christ delivered the fatal head wound at the cross. Satan has now been cast to the earth, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time. And Romans 16, 20 tells us the rest of the story. The God of peace will crush him under our feet shortly. Notice, the God of peace will crush him. He will crush him under our feet, and he will crush him under our feet shortly. God is referred to in many places in Scripture as the God of peace. And he's referred to here as the God of peace because God will finally crush Satan, and in his crushing of Satan, God establishes everlasting peace in contrast with the division caused by Satan and his emissaries. In the crushing of Satan, he is the God of peace, do you see? He will finally crush him under our feet when the church of our Lord Jesus Christ overcomes and enters into her glory. In identification with Jesus Christ, we suffer also before entering into our glory. Just as Jesus Christ suffered for you and me, and entered into his glory, the people of God will have fellowship with him in his suffering. That's a blessed privilege for the people of God. Lean into that, lean into that, that's a joy, that's a blessing, lean into that. We will suffer with him before entering into our glory. And it's when we as the people of God overcome, that then his victory, ultimately, finally, consummated in eternity, his victory is our victory. God will crush him under our feet shortly. That day will come shortly. Jesus Christ comes with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment. When he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints, when he comes in that day to be admired among all those who believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that day will come shortly. This is a momentary light affliction, this life. It is mercifully short in that sense. It is a momentary light affliction that Paul says is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. You're here for a short time, right? It's only what's done for the Lord Jesus Christ that will last. Serve Him. We must endure. That promise of victory is meant to fuel, meant to strengthen our fight of faith. It's meant to motivate us, to compel us to obedience, to compel us to faithfulness, in particular, to Paul's instruction in our text. Note those, as difficult as it may be, note those who cause divisions and offenses. Look past the words, the smooth and flattering words that they use. to their actions, look to the fruit of their actions. Note those who cause divisions and offenses by what they say, by what they do. Note them. Note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, the instruction which you have learned, and avoid them, and avoid them. This is a blessing. This text is just wonderful. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, verse 20. Now, brothers and sisters, listen. Christ is risen from the dead. He's seated at the right hand of the majesty. There is a man. In heaven, a glorified man, and we will soon be there with him. We will soon be there with him. Christ is risen from the dead, and he, Christ, has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. He's the first fruits of those who will die in union with him. For since by man came death, By man, the Lord Jesus Christ, also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Jesus Christ all shall be made alive, but each one in his own order. Christ the firstfruits, And afterwards, all those who are Christ's at his coming. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and all power, when he puts an end to Satan. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. in that he has put all things under his feet. But when he says that all things are put under him, it's evident that the one who put all those things under him is accepted. And when all things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also be subject to him, God the Father, who put all things under him, that God may be all in all. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen? No more liars, no more lies, no more deception, no more whispering, no more gossip, no more slander, no more assaults, no more accusations, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more suffering. Not only will the adversary be kicked out of heaven, he will be kicked out of the new creation and consigned to a lake that burns with fire and brimstone. And the kingdom will be established under the rule, authority, and power of our righteous and holy and almighty God for all eternity. Then Paul concludes our text with the grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And all God's people said. Amen. Pray with me. Father in heaven, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus, where we pray for the consummation of all things. We pray for the coming consummated kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We pray for your kingdom to be fully and finally established with the defeat, the full and final defeat of Satan, his binding, casting him and all the wicked into a lake which burns with fire and brimstone, the exaltation of your righteous justice. your righteousness, your holiness, your goodness, your compassion, your mercy, your grace, to the praise of the glory of your grace into eternity. We pray these things for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy to be exalted, worthy to be praised. We pray, God, that in the meantime, if you tarry, pray that you would strengthen us, your people, against the assaults of the wicked one, against the fiery darts of the wicked one. Strengthen us, Lord, inform us by your word. build us up in our faith, strengthen us by Your Spirit, and help us, Lord, to be faithful, worshiping witnesses, enduring the assault of the wicked one, enduring suffering as those who are in fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ in His suffering, that we might be confirmed overcomers, Lord, at Your return, and we might enter into our glory with You. We love You. We thank You, Lord, for our identification, our union with the Lord Jesus Christ through faith. We praise You and thank You for the provision that You've made for our sin. We praise You that we are adopted sons in fellowship with our elder brother. We pray, Lord, that we would worship You in eternity as faithful servants of the Lamb who follow Him wherever He goes. And I pray, Lord, for the casting down of Satan. I pray, God, that you would soon crush him under our feet, that you would be vindicated, that your name would be extolled, that he, all those who oppose you, would be cast down and usher in everlasting righteousness. We pray these things in the name of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules and reigns even now until all enemies are made his footstool. In his name we pray. Amen. If you will, let's stand and give a pastoral blessing and then we'll sing the doxology together. Brothers and sisters, in consideration of our current tribulation as the church militant, and in consideration of our great need in the face of our fearsome adversary, from 1 Peter 5, verse 6, Peter says, humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you. Be sober, brothers and sisters, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him. Be steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Hello, and thanks for listening. My name is Mark Brashear, and I have the blessed privilege of serving with the saints at Cornerstone Church near Orlando, Florida. We're so grateful that you've connected with us through the sermon that you've just heard. For more information, visit us at cornerstoneorlando.org, or better yet, come and see us on the Lord's Day at 3370 Snow Hill Road in Oviedo, Florida. We're just east of Orlando and about 15 minutes from the campus at UCF. It would be a joy to have you worship with us.