Turn to your Bibles, please, and turn together to Romans 16 again. Romans chapter 16. We're going to look at the section here, verse 17 through 20. We'll read that together. At this time, we'll see how far we get today. That's the section before us. I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. And by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I'm glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you wise onto that which is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Amen. Let's bow together please. Let's ask the Lord for his help as we come again to his precious truth. Eternal God and our Father in heaven. We do come humbly again in a recognition that in and of ourselves we are nothing and can do nothing. We can't hear the word of the prophet in the strength of the flesh. Certainly can't preach with any prophet in the strength of the flesh. We need the spirit of God to give help in preaching and in hearing. We want your father, the capacity to discern your will in the word. We want, oh God, the spiritual discernment to know the proper application in our own lives and our own circumstances. Grant us, O God, the guidance of the Spirit of God upon this time. Bless each and every soul. May there be a word in season. May there be a word, O God, that is fitly spoken to deal with each and every heart in this gathering. That we'd all leave here believing and confident that you've spoken to our souls. Speak to us now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. The matter of church unity has been at the forefront of Paul's mind in the chapters from chapter 12 and following. You go back to chapter 12 and you'll see how he emphasizes verse number four. For as we have many members in one body and all members of not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members one of another. That theme is really the theme that arose out of his desire for the believer to live consequent lives. That a true Christian does not live a life in isolation, but lives a life in vibrant fellowship with a body of believers in a local place. So that theme continues all the way through. You've got chapter 15 and the verse number 7. And yet what is significant in these chapters is that unity can, and will, and must exist in the context of strongly held convictions, which may vary among a body of believers. Chapter 14, verse number 6, there were those who regard the day unto the Lord, and there were those who regard not the day unto the Lord, he doth not regard it. And so Paul's burden for church unity did not imply a uniformity of opinions, but rather a unity that was allowing for diversity even amongst the people of God and strongly held convictions regarding the application even of scriptural principle. Again, they were not differing over, again, the weather forecast or some political issue. They were differing over matters of spiritual conviction. But one thing that must be said on that, and that is that unity cannot exist without strong agreement regarding fundamental gospel truth. Again, the language of unity has been so misused in our present day as to encourage unity amongst every sort of person who might call themselves Christian in any sort of way. That's not what Paul is teaching. And that becomes clear here now in chapter 16. So chapter 12 through 15, he's been emphasizing a loving body of believers living in community, even in diversity of strongly held opinions. And now in chapter 16, he makes the point that this unity extends beyond one church. but rather is enjoyed between churches. So it's true in one body, but it's also true between the bodies. And Paul's greetings here are expressions of love in the spirit of Christian unity, love between different churches. You take Phoebe chapter 16 verse 1, I commend unto you Phoebe your sister, verse 2, that you receive her in the Lord. She is from one place to another place. She was coming from Corinth all the way to Rome and they were to receive her. This Christian unity and love was even at times to be expressed outwardly and culturally. into that last time, it's certainly an issue of some confusion. Of course, today, in many cultures, there is still such a thing as a kiss of greeting. We have this shaking of a hand or a hug of some sort of description. Oh, here, you've got the holy kiss. What's significant is it was holy. This was not encouraging any lack of holiness in the church of Christ, but it was intimate. and requires sincerity unless you're going to be a Judas and kiss a hypocrite. So this really is a very visible display of the love and unity to exist amongst the people of God within a church and between a church. But Paul understands this love that is genuine and sincere, not the love of Judas, but a genuine, sincere love that gives the holy kiss is a love that cannot ignore truth. Love rejoices in the truth. Indeed such Christian love and unity must be based upon the truth and that's why verse number 17 and following comes and it really gives Paul's strongest exhortations in this epistle at the close. Now I beseech you brethren mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. And so in this section, verse 17 through 20, we're really seeing an insight into the relationship of the Roman believers to the truth itself. The issue, I believe, in all of these verses, all the way down to verse number 20, the issue is the issue of gospel truth. And so to help us, I want to look at this relationship of the Roman church to truth in terms of their experience in the past, the present, and the future. Again, you have these terms. Verse 19 describes their past. Your obedience has come abroad unto all men. The present is described in the warnings and the desire that Paul gives for them. And the future there, verse number 20, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. So I think you see the tenses here. Past, present, and future. and the relationship to truth in the past and the present and the future. And I think there are things to learn from such a structure and hope it helps us to work through this material. So first of all then, what is the relationship of the Roman believers to the truth in their past? Well, I mentioned verse 19. For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. Now, when you see the word obedience, Again, in general terms, you're thinking of obedience to a certain law or command. You do something. But in the context here, I would argue very strongly the obedience in view primarily here is an obedience to the gospel. It's an obedience to truth. We, again, just in our evangelical culture, do not tend to use language this way, as we should. You know, we talk about repenting and believing the gospel, not obeying the gospel. But of course, to repent and believe the gospel, those are commands that are to be obeyed, and therefore we could talk about obeying the gospel. I get the fear. The fear we have is, well, that sounds like a work. Obedience sounds like a work that may gain merit. But the language of the gospel, repent and believe, it's commands that dispense of work, dispense of errors, of any effort or merit on your behalf. You're obeying essentially a command to do nothing, but to receive what's been done for you. But obedience is used in the scriptures to the truth. Again, the priests in Acts chapter six were obedient to the faith. Those who receive judgment in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 are those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel. But even here in the Romans epistle this language of obedience is very very clear. Verse number 26 of this chapter. The Christ is made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. And faith is in truth. So I do believe, strongly we can argue here, that this term obedience does denote their past experience and relationship to truth. Think about it, chapter 15 and the verse number 18. And Paul sees his ministry in this way. He recognizes that those in their sin, they've heard the truth and the commands and they're living in rebellion and they are not obedient. And so the purpose of the gospel is to turn the rebel into a submissive, obedient believer. Go back to chapter one. Again, you'll see how this has worked out in the life of the Romans, chapter one and the verse number five. By whom we've received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations. And you see this is consistent in this letter. Paul's recognition that they are to be obedient to the faith. I understand. This language of obedience in Romans is not exclusively like to gospel. It's also in chapter six, it's certainly used more broadly regarding righteousness. Chapter six, verse 17, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you've obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which delivered you. And that obedience is described in verse number 16 as obedience unto righteousness. Yes, there's a broader application of this. But consistently in the epistle to the Romans, obedience has to do with obeying the gospel commands. And it denotes someone's relationship to truth. So you'll see in your notes, it requires conversion. I'm not going back over all the basics here, but I remind you that faith is a gift of God. Therefore obedience unto the faith of the gospel, believing the gospel is a gift of God. It's given unto us graciously. We don't earn this, but we are made obedient by God's grace in our conversion. And so I can say very clearly it is God's will that you believe the gospel. I'm not sure if God wants me to be saved. You here today with that thought in your mind? What if God doesn't want me to be saved? All I can say to you right now is God commands you to be saved. God commands you in the word to repent and believe the gospel and for you to say no to that is to be guilty again of gospel sin. The gospel is something to be obeyed. And if we live our lives saying, I will not have Christ, no matter what the motivation may be, you may say to yourself, I cannot take Christ because I'm not worthy of Christ. That sounds so spiritual. It sounds so humble. But it's an attitude of pride. You see, your unworthiness of the gospel does not give you permission to reject the gospel command. No matter how bad your sins are, no matter how much they pile up in your eyes, they do not justify you disobeying the gospel command. You're commanded to obey the gospel and to be saved. So do not hide behind a form of false humility. I know what you mean in your heart. You know your own sinfulness. But the God of heaven tells you to believe. Therefore, do what he says. humbly turn from your sin in your unworthiness and accept the gracious gift that God gives you in the gospel. And so yes, this obedience, it is something that begins in conversion, but it's also something that continues. Again, back in chapter one of Romans, again, you see this language of the obedience to the faith is not an obedience that is once and for all. Romans 1. Verse number 11, for I long to see that I may impart unto you some spiritual gifts to the end you may be established, that is, that I may comfort together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. He wants to see them because the faith that they have that he's heard about is a faith that he knows continues. And so as I say to those of you unconverted, it is God's will for you to believe. I would say to those of you who are converted, it is God's will for you to continue. Do not turn back. It's the will of God that you believe today as you believed in the past. It is God's will that faith is a continual delight in our souls. God exercised authority over our minds, our wills, our emotions, all of these things that are involved in faith in various ways. God rules over you. in every aspect of your life, and he has the right to command you to love Christ. He has the right to command you to choose Christ. He has the right to command you to believe the gospel, to trust the gospel. That is God's prerogative and right, and he exercises that in the scriptures. Hence, their past relationship with the truth is determined in this language of obedience. That leads on now, secondly, to their present circumstances. Again, just if you're kind of tracking your way through the notes here, the vast majority of this message is going to be under the heading of their danger acknowledged. But there are two things regarding Paul's description of their present. There's a warning that he gives them of a danger. There's that danger that Paul acknowledges. There's also then down in verse number 19 a desire that Paul expresses, I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. That's his desire in the present. The danger acknowledges and the desire he expresses. Let's begin then with the danger that he acknowledges. And I've given you four M words, really just words to hang thoughts upon. We're gonna spend most of our time in these four thoughts this morning. First of all, there is the word to mark. It's given to us here in the authorized version. I beseech you, brethren, mark them. It is the words that we get our word scope from. So telescope, microscope. It has the idea of watching closely. In other words, to identify, and then as it says in verse 17, to avoid individuals who are speaking against the doctrine of the apostles. Mark them, watch for them, and avoid them that speak contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned. Now the use of the word doctrine there is against simply the word for teaching. It's the apostle saying that there's apostolic teaching. We sometimes think of doctrine in terms of a large doctrinal book. This is Christian doctrine. Doctrine is simply the teaching of the gospel, the teaching of the apostles. And again, the danger here was that there were those who were false teachers. Again, the use of the word doctrine here leads us in that direction. Those who are, again, speaking contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, apostolic doctrine. Again, there are different ideas amongst the commentators as to what's involved here. Are these false teachers who are already present in Rome? Or are they those who may come in, as Paul warns the Ephesian elders, wolves will come in among you. It's hard to be certain. but there were clearly two issues present in the Roman church that were also present, again, more widely in the New Testament church. There was the issue that comes out in Romans chapter six, shall we sin that grace may abound? There were those, again, who were taking the doctrine of justification and running in a wrong direction with it. If you're forgiven of all sins, past, present, and future, Enjoy your license, enjoy your liberty, the sin. This idea of license that was given from a false teaching of those things which they had learned. But there's also others, and again, they were some of the Judaizers, or there were others again who perhaps more ascetic, and we'll come to that later on. And they were suggesting that there were things required beyond God's law. You know, They were the ones in Romans 5, 14, and perhaps, you know, you can't eat certain meats or you shouldn't regard certain days. They were, if you like, putting restrictions upon people contrary to the doctrine that they had learned. Now, they ultimately come to the same thing. When it comes to areas in this, the area at stake here, of course, is the matters of Christian living and holiness. There were some who were demanding less than God, and others demanding more than God. Either way, it's man's opinion, not God's opinion. And so either direction, you have the same problem. It's an exaltation of man's opinion above God's, and we can easily err in either direction. Demanding more than God does, or demanding less than God does. What's the application in terms of this word Mark? You need to know your Bibles well. It's that simple. If you are to obey this injunction, I beseech you, brethren, Mark, watch. You must know your Bible well. You must know the apostolic doctrine and therefore be able to identify false teaching when you see it or hear it or read it. You're going to watch out for this. You've got to know the truth. That's kind of the principle here in the word to Mark. But to help us understand this more fully, note their motive secondly. Their motive. We're told here in verse number 18, Now that language of serving your own deli has led many to see this as suggesting these were the people who were encouraging license. Just enjoy yourself. Enjoy your liberties. Enjoy all of these things. They have an argument there. It's in Philippians chapter 3. Turn across to Philippians chapter 3. You're seeing consistency in Paul's ministry. He's dealing with the same errors in different places. And there were those in Philippians chapter three that are warned about verse number 18. These are people who are essentially carnal. That their delight was in the things of carnality. Hence a licentious spirit. You know, you're far too strict as a Christian. You know, God has saved us. He's given us liberty to enjoy our lives. And there's a lack of restriction and their God is their belly. But however, whilst you can certainly see license here, and that was one of the problems confronted, and I believe is one of the things that Paul is dealing with here, there were also those whose belly was their God, but from a different direction. If you turn across to Colossians now, across in your Bible, it's the color page to Colossians chapter two. And see, there were also those who were requiring more than God required. Verse number 20. And here's how they worship their body. not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. So your belly can be your God by either neglecting God's good gifts or by indulging in God's good gifts. And so either by an antinomian spirit, anything goes, or an ascetic spirit, nothing goes. And you can err in either direction. But the commonality is this, and we've seen it already. man's opinions above God's, to the law and to the testimony, that must be our rule. But when man's opinion is exalted above God's, you can go in that direction. But the common thing again, verse number 18, they that are such as Black and Romans 16, they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ. They serve self and not God. These false teachers are all about themselves and not about serving the Lord. All about their own power and position, about their own importance, their own wisdom, their own knowledge. Look what I know. I know things you don't know. And they offer that to the people and they're leading them astray. Serving themselves and not the Lord. In either direction, wherever you wanna go. More than God or less than God. Which leads thirdly to their malice, the harm that they cause. Again, what's happening here in verse 17, and this is just to really help us narrow this down more clearly. Two words used here, divisions and offenses. Divisions translate elsewhere by the word seditions in Galatians chapter 5. The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions. The divisions that are caused in the church through this false teaching. But to help us understand this word and not to be careless in application. The word divisions is I believe qualified and explained by the word offenses. Offenses. It is the word to stumble or to fall. We get our word scandal from it, but it has in its original idea of a stumbling to ruin. Christ warns his hearers in Matthew 18 about causing a child to stumble, to be offended. We run to the world because of offenses, barriers if you like, or obstacles to believe in the gospel and being saved. This is very, very serious. These are offenses that lead to eternal perdition. These are false doctrines that take people away from the purity and the truth of the gospel. You see, even Romans chapter nine in the verse number 33, the word is used there, Romans 9, 33. As it was written, behold, I lay in Zion, a stumbling stone, a rock of offense. You see, there were those in the Jewish community who would not believe in Christ Jesus and they were offended, they fall to their ruin. Christ is confronted before them. Will you believe? Will you reject? And if not, you're going to be ruined. Again, John in 1 John 2 says, He that loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. So the danger here is a false teaching that will lead someone to deny the gospel and ultimately to lose their soul. You need to be aware of this. False teaching is not a minor issue. False teaching that demands more than God does or less than God does is a false teaching that leads you away from God and may rob you from gospel blessing. That's what Paul is saying here. Now, there are other reasons whereby people may stumble In Romans 14, Paul makes the point that men may stumble due to the influence of others who are not false teachers. Again, Romans 14, there were those who had different views and they regarded something Lord and something not. And the stumbling in Romans 14 is when you sin against your conscience. Not from false teaching, but by sinning against what you believe to be right. That's another way to stumble, to sin against your conscience. That's not Paul's addressing here in Romans 16. In Romans 14, there is no call to avoid the different views. In Romans 14, they are to stay together in the church and receive each other even with the different views. But in Romans 16, the call is to avoid. So you're seeing a higher level of seriousness in Romans 16. 14, different views stay together. 16, mark the false teachers and avoid them because these false teachers are causing people to lose their souls. The teaching of the gospel can lead to salvation. False teaching leads to perdition. So we as a denomination believe in separation. And the separation in our denomination in 1951 was a separation from apostasy. Not due to some minor difference of opinion in some secondary issue. It wasn't that we couldn't get on with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It was that there was a body there denying the gospel, leading the church in a pathway towards Roman unity. You see ecumenism of course denies the gospel. Liberalism denies the gospel, no supernatural, no Bible authority, liberalism, ecumenism, apostasy from which we separate and we avoid. But there's a place for unity and differences as you see in Romans 14. We've got to be careful. Be careful who we label a false teacher. We may label someone a false teacher with whom we may differ within some issue, but not a gospel fundamental. We then call them a false teacher. Be careful the language you use in these things. And also not misuse verse number 17 to justify division from true believers with whom we may differ. The exhortation here is a separate from false teachers. Those who oppose the fundamentals of gospel truth. We must mark them and avoid them. They are dangerous to the souls of those under their teaching. Which leads fourthly to their method. And we're told about their method in verse number 18. By good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Good words, fair speeches, which lead to deception. The simple here, again, really, they're the innocent. They're those who are unsuspecting. They're described in Proverbs 14, the simple believe in every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going. And the simple are easy prey for deception. That's different to the apostle Paul's ministry. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter four. 2 Corinthians chapter four. So Paul is very conscious of those who are engaged in deception through good words and fair speeches. And so he also is conscious that in the Corinthian church, there were those who were accusing him of being a false apostle, of not being genuine. And so he defends himself in verse number two of chapter four. He said we're not like this. We've plainly given you the word of God without seeking to deceive you in any way. And he returns to that over in chapter 11. You see, when you consider Romans 16, and the false teachers deceiving the simple, and then you read the words of Satan being crushed under their feet shortly, clearly Satan is in view here in the false teachers. So I say you've got to be very careful who you label a false teacher. Satan's at work in the false teacher. And so you have that in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. He's fearful of the believers here being swept aside by this subtlety. And so verse number 13 of chapter 11, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed As the minister of righteousness, whose end shall be according to the works. Here you're seeing Satan at work. In the good words and the fair speeches of those who deceive. Now here again, I've got to say a note of caution here. This does not mean that you should suspect every person who presents good words and fair speeches. Again, sometimes it kind of comes that way in our minds, that those who stand for truth are those who really are obnoxious, rude, direct, and the false teacher, they're the ones who smile. And they've all their good words and fair speech. You've missed the point entirely. How does the reception work? Because the good words and fair speeches are the normal way to present the gospel. And because the manner is the same, then the false and the true sound the same. We are to present the truth in love. speaking the truth in love. The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves." See, the point is the false teaching will be presented in the same or similar manner as the true. They sound alike. They sound like men of grace, but they're not. That's where deception comes. They sign, they've got Christ in their hearts, and they've got the fruit of the Spirit in their souls, but they don't. And so the content being presented in a Christian manner is then missed. The manner signs Christian, and you can be duped by the manner and miss the content. It is not just like me as a preacher. becoming rude and arrogant and nasty in the pulpit. That doesn't make me righteous. The gospel is resented with grace and meekness and charity towards all. That's what's normal. You see Bunyan understood this in Pilgrim's Progress. He clearly had Romans 16 verse 18 in his mind when he describes one very interesting character. The character's name was Flatterer. And it says in Pilgrim's Progress, he asked moreover, if the shepherds did not bid them beware of the flatterer. Christian hopeful, they've got trapped, so they have in the way, they've got trapped in the net, they were warned, watch out for flatterer. They answered, yes, but we did not imagine, said they, that this fine spoken man had been he, for emphasis, Romans 16 verse 18. Bunyan describes how this individual's light robe disguised their flesh and deception occurred. Spurgeon's got a really helpful work on Pilgrim's Progress, pictures from Pilgrim's Progress, and he's a chapter on the flatterer. And he describes all the various ways the flatterer may turn the Christian into the net through their false teachings. A really interesting section in Spurgeon's work, and I commend it to you highly. He says this, may God keep you from being flattered into this net. lest you become pierced through with many sorrows. To the Bible only you must look. Test every new idea with this touchstone, to the law and to the testimony. Require, and thus saith the Lord, from every flattering notion, the old book is our infallible guide." The Bible's a key here, folks. You can err by demanding more in the Bible or less in the Bible, but either way it's erroneous. And either way can be brought about with a smile, with good words and a fair speech. And thus the Bible must be your only rule of faith and practice if we're going to avoid the flatterer's net. And so I encourage you, please know your Bibles and be discerning. We are in a day when the messengers of Satan are becoming cleverer and cleverer in how they present their good words and fair speeches. The ability to bring production quality to a false teacher. where they can be on YouTube and you can see all the lights and the flashing stars and all the rest around them, and they look good and they sound good, but they're teaching error. You have to be particularly discerning, dear child of God. So know your Bible, be in the word of God, understand the truth, sit under faithful ministry and understand this is the truth, this is the Bible, and I'm not gonna be duped or deceived by those who seek to lead me astray. That's the danger acknowledged. If you can give me a few minutes, I'm going to try to finish this up quickly. Note Paul's desire expressed. What's he want in their present circumstance? It is that they would be wise concerning that which is good and simple concerning the evil. Now, that should not be misunderstood. Again, the danger here is, and some would say, well, a Christian should never study false doctrines. That's not what it's saying here. It is saying that when you're confronted with false doctrine, you remain pure. That's the idea. You'd be impure and innocent, and the false teaching does not enter your mind and change your manners, your conduct, or your convictions. But when it comes to evil, you're uncontaminated by that. That's the idea here. But rather, you're wise in that which is good. And again, the center is of a developed understanding of the truth. And I've said to you many, many times, do not be satisfied with the cursory, superficial knowledge of the Word of God, but seek to go deep into the Word. Can you defend the Trinity? Can you defend the person of Christ Jesus, very God and very man? Can you defend the atonement? Can you defend the relationship between justification and sanctification that we saw this morning? Those are the areas that are being attacked. by the false teachers. They're attacking those various areas, those fundamentals of gospel truth. So please, by God's grace, be wise concerning that which is good. Again, Paul will say to Thessalonians, when it comes to teaching, quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of evil. That's a parallel to this. Stay away from the evil. Do not let it enter your soul and impact your mind, but rather be wise in that which is good. Well, finally, their future. I just want to mention this text. This probably allows for serving the self, but we won't do that now this time. Verse number 20, their future. The God of peace shall brew Satan under your feet shortly. This, of course, alludes to Genesis 3, 15. The promise of God to the serpent, that he would indeed be crushed under the foot of the Messiah. And here Paul is taking that and applying that to the believer's own enjoyment of gospel victory. The God of peace describes God as the author of peace. The devil, he's the author of conflict and chaos and confusion. He's the author of deception and divisions in the previous work. That's the devil's work. God's work is to bring peace upon truth. The devil brings division through deception. And God brings this in his grace. Christ's work in redemption is to overcome the devil and his lies. And the devil does this. He seeks to do this in the church, but Christ rules the church. And the assurance of verse number 20, is that the elect are not deceived. I think sometimes we think that false teaching is so powerful that it's gonna sweep away the church of Christ Jesus. False teaching exposes those who are not in Christ. The elect will not be ultimately deceived by false teaching. They may be duped for a season, but they're not deceived eternally. It's not possible. And the assurance here is that the false teachers will not triumph. The language here very much is of Satan's activity in the church through false teachers, but they will not win. Satan will indeed be bruised under the feet of the church. Not because of the church's power, but because of Christ, because of his work in redemption. Hence Paul finishes the section, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. It's the only way we can be wise concerning that which is good and simple concerning evil. The only way we can mark and avoid the false teach is through the grace of Christ. Not because of our academic abilities, Not because of a great seminary or any other thing or faithful preachers and elders. Those things are helpful, they're used by the Lord, but ultimately our victory is assured by Christ Jesus. Hence, we rest upon His grace. So today, as you go forward in this world in the coming days, and I warn you about the dangers of false teachers, remember Christ is with you. Rejoice in that Christ is the one who is keeping your soul. Don't fear, but continue to believe the gospel. Love the Lord, worship him, and serve him. Let's bow together, please, in a word of prayer. Let's seek the Lord together. Eternal God and Father, we thank you again that even though we see a difficult section that is concerning to our hearts, the danger of false teaching, we thank you, Lord, for the assurance that Christ Jesus has indeed secured the victory over the devil, that the devil be active in trying to receive the hearts and minds of men and women. We thank you, Lord, that Christ is greater and we will not fear. Give us the grace to believe the gospel, to hold on fast to gospel truth. It'd help us, God, to be clear on what the Bible says regarding our life and conduct, that we would not follow the dictates and visions of men. Whether to do more than you demand or less, help us, God, to walk in your ways and bless us richly in that path that we'd know the joy of the Lord to be our strength. Help us throughout this day, we thank you again for this Sabbath. May it be a blessing to your hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.