I invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to the end of Romans chapter 16. The Lord has been so kind to allow us an extended study in the book of Romans over the last couple of years, and we are coming near the end, which will most likely be next week. And as you know, the end of Romans is that wonderful doxology where Paul is praising God all there to the glory of His name. But before that is the text before us this morning, verses 17 through 20 in Romans 16. And before the joyful doxology that you have, he issues a warning that frankly strikes a solemn tone. It's a threat to the family. And when you think about it, what could possibly sort of captivate and grab your attention more than to know that there's a threat to your family? That there's a danger that's been identified and the target is those that you love the most in this world. Immediately, if you knew there was a threat to your family, you'd be at a heightened state of alert. You'd want to know where your kids are, where your spouse is, and you'd want to know exactly what the threat is and where it's located so it could be dealt with. Many of you are keenly aware of the dangers posed by this world and the threats that are out there that are directed towards your family. You know that as you said here, in the time and day in which you live, there's an assault upon the family and that there's any number of wicked men and women who want to take captive your mind and the minds of your children through secular ideologies and philosophies and empty deception, just as Paul talks about in Colossians chapter 2. And as you have sat here and you've gone through this life, you've watched other young men and women who have actually succumbed to that danger when it's presented itself, and the result is that it has destroyed families, family members who have turned away from the truth and embraced what the world is selling them. In a sense, they've bought in. They've taken the bait. And the danger has proven itself in this way that it's caused divisions. It's brought heartache. So I suspect that any threat that would rise up and be known to you that would be directed against your family would receive an appropriate response from you who is desiring your family to be protected. Take that idea, and I want you to see something that Paul is addressing here at the very end of Romans before he goes into the doxology that ends the book. Paul is letting us know there's a threat to the family of God. There's a threat to the church. and that the people of God, namely the believers that make up the local church, are to be ever alert and vigilant to guard against this threat. Look at verse 17. Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances, contrary to the teaching which you learned. Turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience is reached to all, therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil." The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." In a way, Paul's being like a parent, like a spiritual father to the church who before departing from his children here at the end of the letter offers this final word of caution. It comes out of a genuine love and a genuine concern for the well-being of these believers. Think back to where we were at last week as we entered Romans 16. He's just encouraged this incredibly diverse group of people there in chapter 16 verses 1 through 16. But I remember the two things he did. He was commending and greeting. He was commending Phoebe to them, sending them a helper, care for them. And then he was greeting them one by one by their individual names. And he showed us in all that that this gospel that he's been talking about has genuinely changed people. It's brought them together. It has brought them together in a way in which nothing else could possibly bring them together. As we looked through that list of names, we saw them there. There's slaves and freemen, there's Gentiles and Jews, there's the wealthy and the poor, there's the social elites and those who are completely unknown, and they have been brought together in the one Christ Jesus. This is Romans 15 that we considered a while back. People who are of the same mind with one another, according to the same Christ, with one accord that they may with one voice glorify God. This is the oneness of the church that he was describing. And the basis of that remarkable unity is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that's capable of doing this. That all of these diverse groups of people would be found in Him. Now look at verse 17 here. And what Paul is doing is issuing a warning. He's telling us there's a threat towards that very unity. There's a danger to the family of God and the oneness of these people who've been brought together by the gospel. And he is warning us about this threat. And if you're paying attention there in verse 17, he urges two responses. He calls for two actions within the Christian community amongst believers in response to this threat, as it has to do with the unity and the well-being of the church. Friend, this is practical. If you're here this morning and you're a Christian and you're a part of a church, this is to you. This impacts how you live within this group of believers. We need to hear Paul's instruction. Two actions, number one, keep your eye on those, verse 17. His concern for the protection of this gospel unity and doctrinal fidelity in the overall health and well-being of Christ's bride leads him to say there, watch out. Verse 17, I urge you, I exhort you, I encourage you, I'm appealing to you, please listen to me, what I'm about to say. He says brothers, those that are Christians, so he's already been doing this along the way, he's urged Christians to chapter 12 verse one, present your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice acceptable to God. In chapter 15, verse 30, strive together with me in your prayers for me. And here is a final urgent plea to those believers who are there in Rome. Look at the text. I urge you, brothers, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances. That's the action he's urging amongst Christians. And it's gonna require discipline and intention, and it's gonna require a bit of foresight that you're looking ahead. ESV says watch out for, others say notice or consider or look for. The sense is this, they exist. Don't deceive yourself and fall asleep and sort of think these people don't exist. They're there, he says, so bear them in mind and be watching. He is urging for Christians in this way to be vigilant, watchful because these are the ones that Christ died to save. You're watching out for your spiritual family. You're attentive because these are sheep of the Good Shepherd. You're alert because He shed His blood for this group of people that's known as the church. You're doing this because you love Jesus, because He's worthy. Because you know of his sacrifice, that he died for these people. So you watch out, but also consider Christian. Christ's people are also vigilant because these people are your spiritual family. And because they are our family, they're our brothers and sisters, it even says brothers here, we must be determined to preserve the unity of our family, the health of our family, the well-being of our family. If somebody said, oh, there's a threat against your family, I suggest it's unconscionable to think that you're going to step aside and that you're going to neglect being watchful and that you're going to leave your physical family there to be a vulnerable target of destruction and just say, good luck to you. Paul says it ought to be equally unconscionable that you would step aside and watch your spiritual family be put at risk or destroyed, that you'd step aside and let whatever come into the church. Action one, keep your eye on those. Action two, it's there at the end of verse 17, turn away from them. Paul's letters, he gives you several actions that you're to take against false teachers, false instructors of false doctrine. In Ephesians 4, you're to speak the truth of sound doctrine to them. In 1 Timothy 4 and 2 Timothy 4, you're to teach sound doctrine to them. In Titus 1, you're to hold fast to sound doctrine when you're around them. In Titus 1, you're to refute false doctrine that they're teaching. But you come here in Romans 16, and it's a lot like 2 John 10, you're to reject them and you're to turn away from them. You're to avoid them and have absolutely nothing to do with them. Second John 10, John says this, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching that you're familiar with, that you've been taught in the past, the gospel, do not receive them into your house and do not give them a greeting. You're to be inhospitable to them. Romans 16, 17, there's your words, avoid them. Have nothing to do with them. so that you and those around you will not be influenced by their corruption. This is a stern warning, but it is a warning that's not incompatible with a heart of love and compassion. I would offer to you that the very origins of this warning come from Paul's heart of love and compassion for the church and for Christ. Those are two actions. Keep your eye on them, turn away from them. You ought to be asking at this point, who? If this is practical for our church, this is practical for today, if this is a threat to our family, who's the threat? Who am I to keep my eye on? Who am I to turn away from? What does the loving shepherd do? What does the loving shepherd Paul do? He's helpful to us because he gives us the traits of those you are to watch out for and that you are to turn away from. He gives us a series of traits by which you can identify them. Trait number one is their scheme. It's in verse 17. Number one, their scheme, those who cause dissensions and hindrances. Paul urges Christians here to be watchful of those that he warns about by noting that these are the people that cause dissensions and hindrances. Those are the ones you must turn away from. Okay, then what's dissensions? That's a word meaning to stand apart, separation, division within a community. It's the very word that's listed there amongst the deeds of the flesh in Galatians chapter 5, immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousies, outbursts, disputes, dissensions and factions. So these are men who introduced factions and strife into the gospel community that was known for this divine unity that was rooted within the gospel of grace. This gospel that has brought, think about what's brought together, hedonistic pagan Gentiles and legalistic religious Jews that made slaves and masters, the poor and the rich, the well-known and the unknown, all part of this same family that's been washed by the blood of Christ. Paul is warning here against men who will give believers a reason to be divided, to be split off from the rest, to be torn apart from the whole, even for what might seem like legitimate and good reasons. Think about 1 Corinthians 1. I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ. And what does Paul say? Has Christ been divided? So watch what's going on. Paul is warning you, Christian, you must notice those and watch out for those whose thinking and whose actions lead to creating divisions in the church. And what's your response to them? Have nothing to do with them. Watch out for those, he says also here, who cause hindrances. That's a Greek word that we've already considered throughout our study in Romans, skandalon. It's the trap that's laid, the bait that's set, the obstacle that's put in the way that's meant to cause you to fall. Paul used that word in Romans 14 verse 13 in a far different sense. as it has to do with believers. Remember, he said this, let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this, determine what, Paul? Not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block, there's your word, in a brother's way. That was going on in Paul's day. People were causing hindrances, people were putting stumbling blocks in believers' way, and it was leading to divisions. What was going on in Paul's day? Well, there were those who said, Acts 15.1, you must be circumcised. There were those that we've already considered in Romans 14 who said, you have to observe days, or you must not observe days, or you must eat all foods, or there's certain foods you mustn't eat, or you must observe certain days in a certain way, and there must be these certain things that take place in order to get this certain outcome. In Galatians 1, there were those who distorted the gospel. In other places, there were those who were spying out liberty to bring others into bondage. In 2 Peter 2, there were those false prophets who were introducing heresies. We talked about in Colossians 2 earlier, there were those attempting to take believers captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the traditions of men. All of that more can cause hindrances and dissension and division and obstacles. What about in a more modern setting? The late James Montgomery Boyce described those who caused divisions and hindrances this way. What Paul, he says, has in mind is not so much people who introduce heresies into the church, though this also sometimes happens, but those who divide churches into factions that will be loyal to themselves. Often these are people who show up in a congregation suddenly, usually from another church, but they've also caused trouble. They're knowledgeable. They usually have considerable abilities. They are leaders in the sense that they have enthusiasm and get people to follow them easily. These new teachers begin to push a particular point of doctrine to the exclusion of other equally important truths, and they're critical of people who do not see things as they do or join them in pushing their personal concerns. When everyone, he says, does not go their way, and not all people do because God always has some in any church who are not so easily taken in, who care for other believers, who are not serving themselves, then this happens. These unbalanced and divisive teachers pull most of their followers away and start another fellowship. That fellowship is always presented as more biblical, more faithful, and a truer church. Brethren and sister, Paul is saying, watch out for these engineers of division in the church. He is saying here, Beware of these architects that are designing and that they are placing obstacles in front of genuine Christians. These are agents here of demolition whose schemes, whether they're intentional or not, is to create a crack in the church or to think that there's one there and to exploit that crack that already exists and then begin to pry it apart so that you see divisions. Paul says it's clear, this is not complicated, right? Watch your response. Have nothing to do with them. Make sure they're more familiar with your back than your front because you're turning away from them. Paul says that the unity of the church is so precious and critical and frankly remarkable what Christ has accomplished and what the gospel has done that you're not even to engage those who threaten it, you're to turn away from them, avoid them, and ultimately deny them the opportunity to threaten that gospel unity that exists in the body of believers. The second trait he notes is their doctrine. Verse 17, their doctrine, contrary to the teaching which you learned. Watch out for those who are teaching what is contrary to what you've already been taught. Contrary to the doctrine that you've been taught that has been established upon the Word of God and built upon the gospel of grace, what's your response to them? Turn away from them. Beware of those teachers who are looking far and wide to present something new. Instead of being intent on digging deep into the riches of what you have been taught from Scripture, they're mining deep into the book that has riches that have no end to it. Paul shows us here in verse 17, those who threaten the unity of the church are marked by their teaching. Think of it this way, the Christian has feasted already upon true doctrine that has been brought to you by those that are preaching the gospel to you, and it's been served to you on this platter, and the lid has been removed, and the preacher has urged you to come and to eat and to live by consuming what he is serving to you in the gospel of grace. This is true teaching, this is true doctrine coming to you that you have feasted upon, and it has brought you eternal life, it's nourished your soul, it's filled you with the spirit, and it's found you growing, growing more and more like Christ. But teaching that is contrary is like a different servant somewhere else beckoning you to come and to leave the feast that you have partaken of and to come to a different meal, a meal that's not life-giving but life-taking, a deadly banquet never intended to sustain and nourish you but to leave you weak and vulnerable and emaciated and starving because you've forsaken the nourishing meal for something different and chosen to leave the table where truth was served. Christian, Paul is saying, watch out for those who bring a different meal, that offer you something that tastes far different. He says here, beware those essentially wanting you to sit under the teaching of those who are eager to teach you and instruct you in a doctrine that's contrary to what you've been learned in the past. Friend, they have walked through the doors of our church, and they have sat among us right here. And according to verse 17, Paul says you ought to anticipate them walking through the doors of your church again. You ought to be watching out. And when they do come, turn away from them. I think it would be helpful for just a moment to consider an example that has come within the last couple of months that the church members are aware of, of a false teacher who has influenced one of our church members and who has taught them something contrary to what they had learned. Not only was this an instructor who was teaching what is contrary in doctrine, not only is this person a false teacher, I would submit to you that any false teacher like that is ultimately a thief. They're attempting to rob you, in this case, of beholding the glory of the Son of God who is unique and beautiful, and they have attempted to veil the Son of God in such a way. The Scriptures describe the beauty of the Son of God. The Scriptures tell us that He is uniquely beautiful. That he was in the beginning with God. He was the one through whom all things came into being. That he is the light who's come into the world to enlighten every man. He is the one whose glory shows us the glory of the Father that's full of grace and truth. He is the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sins of the world. He is the water that his people drink of in which you'll never thirst again. He is the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, the true vine. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation. He is the one Hebrews describes as the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his nature, who upholds all things by the word of his power. He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. This is the splendor and the beauty of the one who died to save you and your brothers and sisters in Christ. And those whose teaching is contrary, they are nothing but thieves who are attempting to steal what belongs to you that is most precious and most beautiful and most valuable. You stay away from them, avoid them. And because their teaching is contrary, they're not only false teachers, they're not only thieves, I would offer to you they're obstructionists attempting to veil the glory of Christ from your eyes. They don't want you to see what Scripture says. Paul says, watch out for them, turn away from them, have nothing to do with them. Paul is a loving shepherd who, in these final words, is helping us to understand the traits of those who threaten the unity that exists within the church. He describes their scheme, their doctrines. Number three, he describes their master. their master," in verse 18. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. He's urging you, look out for those who are subjects of a very cruel master, a master they can never satisfy, but that's not going to stop them from trying to satisfy this master they serve. Their scheme that threatens the unity of the church, as a result of their ongoing attempts to try to satisfy this master. Would you know from the text, these are not servants of Christ. So Jesus is not their master. These are not slaves as Christians are slaves. Paul has already said, chapter 1, verse 1, he is a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a servant of Christ, submissive to Christ. His life belongs to and is completely controlled by the Lord Jesus Christ. But those Paul describes in verse 18, they also have a master. They are controlled by, he says here, their appetites. The literal translation of that word is simply belly or stomach. Paul says something similar about the enemies of the cross in Philippians 3.19, describing them as this, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, whose glory is their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. In Romans 16.18 here, these are slaves, yes, but they are slaves of their own pleasure, submitting to their own desires, controlled by their hunger, instead of serving Christ. You could reach back into Romans chapter 1 and pull into this very verse, Romans chapter 1 verse 25, these are those who worship and serve the creature instead of the creator. And they are hungry, hungry to gain the praise and prestige and approval and esteem of men. They're hungry to gratify their own self-importance. They're hungry to glorify themselves. and have others exalt them. And they could care less about the well-being of the church if it means that they can fill their belly because they're driven by the same appetite that drove those in Luke 20 verse 47 to devour widows' houses, to consume those that are most vulnerable. In this way, I think they're the ravenous wolves Such as Paul warned the elders about in Acts chapter 20 saying, savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. Oh, by the way, where did those wolves come from? Do you remember what he says? From among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. There are slaves of their own appetites in the church, not the true church. but the church that's gathered. Friends, men will be servant of something or servants of someone. And here, as Paul's saying, it's in one of two categories, either slaves of Christ or slaves of their own appetite. And because they are not slaves of Christ, then it's reasonable to understand that they're advocating a different doctrine, like Paul talks about, 1 Timothy 6.3, that does not agree with sound words. What are sound words? Those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine conforming to godliness. They advocate a doctrine ultimately that they are convinced is going to lead them to their appetite being filled, and by virtue of their not belonging to Christ as a servant of Christ, their desires and their appetite cannot align with His desire and His will. So those who are slaves of their own sinful pleasures, their own wicked desires, their own interest, and their own morbid curiosities, they're not slaves of Christ, and they are a threat to the unity that exists within the church. Paul says, don't engage them, don't debate them, don't become fixated on whatever they advocate. You, Christian, you turn away from them. They threaten here the precious peace and the blood-bought unity of Christ's church. Their scheme, their doctrine, their master is what? Ultimately, their appetite. How do you serve your appetite physically? By consuming things through your mouth, which is the same way that he describes, number four, their means. Their means in verse 18. Look at their means. And by their smooth and flattering speech, their mouth, they deceive. So they're engineers of division, they're architects designing and placing obstacles, they're thieves and obstructionists robbing and veiling the glory of Christ, they're waiters serving a lethal feast, they're instructors of deadly doctrines, they're subjects of sinful and cruel masters, they're wolves lurking to decimate their prey, and they're orators, rhetoricians, speakers. Paul says they possess a very noticeable trait that has to do with their ability to speak, their ability to communicate. Look at the two words there. Smooth speech and flattering speech. Smooth speech is that they can make a rather convincing argument in an eloquent and attractive way. I love what one lexicon defines this as. Deceptively friendly words. Smooth speech is deceptively friendly words. flattering speech, it's the same Greek word that in other places is actually translated as blessing. But in the context here, it has the sense of praising someone in order just to win their favor, just to get them to follow you. It's speaking to persuade, to persuade you of what you ought not be persuaded of because it's dangerous of what they're trying to persuade you of. It's as though Paul is warning us of that phrase like you've heard in the past, all that glitters is not gold. All that glitters in regards to speech and speaking, it's not gold. And Paul, he frequently brings up this warning in his letters having to do with speaking and having to do with hearing. You can probably think of a number of other places, but think of 2 Timothy 3. He says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but only to have their ears that your hearing tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, that's speakers, in accordance to their own desires, turn away their ears, that's hearing from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. Friend, this ought to Wake you up in a certain way because you live in a generation where you have far more accessibility to those with smooth and flattering speech than anyone in any time in all of history. It's in your pocket, on your phone. Watch out for those who charm and enchant you by their words. Christian, you must know then the inspired Word of God in order to be able to discern sound doctrine from false doctrine that's wrapped up in smooth and flattering speech. You need to be able to discern when the inspired Word of God may be coming to you through preachers and teachers who don't possess the most eloquent and polished speech. Truth may come through men who desperately want to grow as teachers. not so that you can be awed by their abilities, not so that you can be inspired by their words, or not so that you can be convinced of their preferences, but so that you may be fed upon their teaching that's coming from the scriptures. Paul says here, watch out. Brother and sister, you must be able to recognize the true from the false between saying, wow, that guy could speak. That guy, he could craft a sentence, he could alliterate a passage, he could paint a picture with words, and he could captivate an audience by what he was saying, but it's all just like a hefty bag. It's just another way to package garbage. And you must be able to discern between that guy and the godly man who you can listen to and you can sense maybe it's painful for this guy to stand there, maybe it's difficult for this guy to speak, and frankly, he may be hard to listen to, but you're sure that what he is giving you are the words of life. The words that he's giving you are the words that are leading towards growth and holiness and righteousness and Christ-likeness. I think that guy, that it may be difficult for him to speak, is to some degree the Apostle Paul, who said in 2 Corinthians 10.10, who said of himself this, for they say his letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive, and his speeches, remember what he said, contemptible. Who said in 2 Corinthians 11.6, even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. Think when Paul's writing all that. He's writing all of that in an age when rhetoric was king, and Paul may have been keenly aware of others who were far more polished than him. And yet the substance of his message, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that he preached, was infinitely superior to the most lofty topics the best orators and rhetoricians ever engaged. He spoke about the glory of Christ and the beauty of Christ. He spoke about what it is that is needed by every single man and woman as it regards righteousness, that you be right with God. It's found through faith in that Christ. Brothers and sisters, watch out for smooth and flattering speech. Their scheme, their doctrine, their master, their means, number five, their intent is in verse 18. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. Expatao, deceive, seduce, entice, to mislead. What's the purpose behind their words? That, to deceive. They take their time, they take the effort to learn and to grow and to craft words in order to lead you somewhere. And if they're like an engineer and an architect and an obstructionist and a waiter, they're like an archer in this text, taking aim at the heart. They use their words to seduce the hearts of the unsuspecting. So those who seek to demolish the unity in the church, they know exactly what they're aiming for. The hearts of the unsuspecting, or maybe your translation says the naive, it's not so much that they're simple-minded or that they have little exposure to understand the evil of the world. That's not it. It's that they're not watching. They're not listening closely to discern false teaching. So they're most susceptible to being led astray and into spiritual ruin. Paul is telling us that those we're to watch out for, they're a bit like lions, spiritual predators. They're there and they're watching the herd like you see on the documentary, right? And the herd sees them and the herd begins to move, but what does the lion go after? The straggler. The one that's thinking, maybe there's not a lion out there. The one that's unsuspecting and lagging behind. Would you just look at verse 18 because I hope it does something else. I hope this rises in you just a righteous passion. They intend to deceive the heart. What could possibly rouse in you a more righteous passion than knowing that someone has set their sights on deceiving the heart of your son or your daughter or your spouse or that one that you love so desperately? This is the center of their being. Your physical heart impacts everything about your body, but when Paul speaks about the heart here, it's what impacts everything about you spiritually. From your heart flows the springs of life, Proverbs 4, 23. There is nothing that the enemy could take aim at that would wreak more destruction and havoc than to aim directly at the heart. This ought to infuriate you in some sense about the enemy's intent. Paul wants that same intensity that will cause you, therefore, to be a watchman for your family and for your children, for those enemies that were going to take aim at their heart, to be a watchman for your church. To be sure that none of us would fall into this category here of being unsuspecting. The unsuspecting are not watching, they're not turning away, and guess what? Their heart's an easy target. They have a scheme, a doctrine, a master, a means, an intent. Number six, they also have a problem in verse 19. A problem, their problem. For the report of your obedience has reached to all, therefore I am rejoicing over you. Paul is doing what? Looking at the church and commending them for their obedience. that the news of their obedience is rung out, reaching all the churches as good news and evidence of the gospel's impact in a demonstration of their faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely obedience and faith are going hand in hand here. Paul's already said this, Romans 1a, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Romans 16, 26, next week we'll see obedience is connected to faith. In the news of their obedience, here's a cause for Paul to rejoice because he recognized what it meant that they're obedient. It's a sign of faith. It's a mark of spiritual health. It's an indication. This group of believers, they've not been lured into the false doctrine. So Christian obedience is a reason for believers to rejoice. But Christian obedience is also a problem for false teachers. They act to provoke disobedience and to incite rebellion. If the church then and her members are obedient, as Paul is saying here, then those that he's warning about genuinely have a problem. Watch out for those who are instigators of trouble, inciting others to disobey instead of humbly submitting to the Word of God. What are we to do with them? Turn away. Avoid them. He commends their obedience, that's followed by a final instruction. Look in verse 19, an instruction that ought to lead to gospel unity, given all he said, but I want you to be wise in what is good, innocent in what's evil. It's a bit like what he instructed the believers in Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 5, examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good, abstain from every form of evil. That would indicate what? That you as a Christian can distinguish between good and evil. Similar to the church in Philippi, he said, prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked generation. Wise in what is good. Did you see he puts that first? I think it's because that's necessary to be innocent in what is evil. You must be wise in what is good. How are you to be wise in what is good then? How are you to do that and to be innocent in evil? Well, I think one pastor is helpful who said this, to be innocent and what is evil is not to be ignorant of it or to disregard it. We cannot abhor evil unless we have some idea what it is." And then he goes on to say that, oh, by the way, the way that you recognize it is to recognize what's good. To be completely familiar with good is the way that you recognize what is evil, and the way to be completely familiar with what is good is to be a student of what is good from the Word of God, where you can identify what's truly good. This is certainly going to be a problem to those who bring danger to the church. It's going to frustrate the plans of those who attempt to bring division into a church that enjoys gospel, peace, and unity in Christ. So their scheme, their doctrine, their master, their means, their intent, their problem, Verse 20, their end, their end. The God of peace will soon crush. That verb means to break into pieces. Satan under your feet. The threat to the family will one day completely be eliminated. The God of peace, peace is connected here to God, peace being the very antithesis of what the false teachers are attempting to bring into church. The God of peace is the one who will bring an end to the chief instigator. This adversary whose influence is being found all throughout this warning here, that's why he connects this to the end, and he says here, this has not happened yet. Satan has not yet been crushed, but rest assured, he soon will be crushed. What a promise. What a promise. Soon, in the course of eternity, it will be soon. And in the time in which He does this, it's going to happen quickly. The word soon means quickly. And isn't it interesting that He says, God will crush Satan under the feet of who? You, the church. He has Genesis 3.15 in mind, the heel of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent, but the Satan crushed under your feet indicates that this final triumph over Satan, where he'll be thrown into the lake of fire, Revelation 20.10, will be a decisive and final victory that Christ shares with all of his people that he died to save and make one the church. Paul indicates, not yet, but soon this is going to be over. So watch out. Watch out till then. And turn away from those who serve the interest of the tyrant Satan, who is, according to this text, on a very short leash, because their cause and his cause is not lasting. And they are those who will suffer humiliation with him. Turn away from them. And he closes with this, verse 20, the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Grace sought you when you were a sinner, grace saved you, grace stays with you, grace will preserve you. We've been talking about this family. Friend, if you're a part of that family, you're only a part of that family by grace. You can't say, I deserve to be part of that family. He goes to the cross, it's grace that he goes to the cross. He endures all that he endures, that's grace. And that he saves you. It's grace. How precious is the family? How precious is your spiritual family? These are the traits of those who threaten the family. The question is, are you going to watch out? A few years ago, some of you know this, I got a phone call from the police department. There's a policeman there, the detective said, will you come down and talk to us? I go down and talk, and they begin to, in summary, say there's a threat to your family, and begin to lay it out in incredible detail. And it's kind of hard to process. I remember before leaving, I asked the guy, do I need to be, I mean, to what degree do I need to be concerned? And he said, well, I've already got a policeman driving by your house on a regular basis watching. You need to be concerned. Go home. We have a meeting. I'm meeting with the people that I love the most because the threat's been identified against them. It would be ridiculous to say or think that all of a sudden we're going to go, whatever, forget about that. That's just silly. You're watching and you're observant, and those people who mean the most to you are at danger. You're paying attention. For in a loving shepherd, Paul is taking the time to tell you what to look for as it regards the threat to the well-being of your spiritual family that you are a part of. And he's telling you how to respond to that threat when you see it. A believer, a genuine Christian, a part of this family, has the same spiritual concern for the family as Paul has. In your response, if you genuinely love your family, you're going to listen to me. A Christian who's a part of the local church loves the Lord Jesus Christ. loves their brothers and sisters that Christ died to save, they're going to listen to Paul, they're going to watch out for, they're going to turn away from the person he's described as dangerous to the blood-bought unity that's found in the gospel. Because like Paul, you love your master and you love those that he died to save. This is not Paul speaking here or me speaking or anybody else speaking when they talk about this. This is not coming from a sense of paranoia. This is not coming from an obsession with false teachers. This is not coming from being delusional. These are God-breathed, Spirit-inspired words coming from the book. They come from God that you would watch out and turn away from. But surely, Like many of us here, Paul could also look out across the landscape of churches and he could sense and see the devastation that can take place in a church where those that he's describing here enter in and they divide up the body. And surely Paul is speaking here because he knows something about the sin nature of men, and he knows the way that sin impacts the hearts of men, and he knows that even the best of men, there's sin that remains in them. But surely Paul is addressing this here from a genuine heart that's expressing a love for Christ, a love for his people. Friend, those would be good reasons for you to heed Paul's warning. Those four reasons would be good reasons for you to heed Paul's warning. Christians are to be vigilant to threats towards gospel unity, and they're to be ready to act in obedience, as he's describing here, watching and turning when that threat arrives because they love Christ, they love the church, and they know that within this precious body of believers, washed clean by the blood of our Savior, is a remarkable unity that expresses the glory of Christ and the power of his gospel. And you know that's worth defending. Father, thank You for the warnings that You give us in Scripture, warnings that we might otherwise not consider. We know this is for our good, the good of Christ's bride. Father, I know that there are men and women here who love the church, and they recognize that this is their spiritual family, and in many ways they feel closer to them than they do their own physical family, because they know that they are part of a group that has been brought together because of the grace of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I pray that you'd make each and every one of us vigilant. I pray that you make each and every one of us defenders of this precious unity that you've given us through the blood of your Son. Father, I pray that there would be an awareness among each and every one of us that would be out of love, first for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and a love for those that he died to save. and that it would drive us towards a unity in our church that is precious and dear and evangelistic, a display of grace, a reminder of the mercy that you have poured out upon us, and that it would show the work of the power of the gospel in this body of believers. And that that unity here, preserved and defended and protected by the grace of God, bring glory to your name. Amen.