Our text, once again, is found in Romans 16. For those who are visiting, we have been trying to work our way through the Book of Romans. John Piper calls it the greatest letter ever written. It's taking us years, actually, but we're near the end. We're in chapter 16, the last chapter. Chapter 16 opens in a very encouraging way with Paul giving greetings to various people, commending them for the way they had served Christ, his church, and even himself. But as we come to the passage before us, verses 17 through 20, in verse 17, the tone of the text takes a decided turn. Verse 17 is actually quite troubling. Paul writes concerning people who are seeking to divide Christ's church. He describes them as seeking to divide by means of doctrine that is a departure from the apostolic word that we have recorded in the New Testament. They're teaching slight deviations, but deviations that are wrong, they're errors, and they will divide God's people. Paul portrays these dividers as being coy and deceptive. Using smooth words and flattering speech, they make us feel good about ourselves. so we will feel good and receptive toward them. Have you ever noticed how willing you are to listen to someone, almost anyone, who will say nice things about you or nice things about your children? Well, these are the kind of people that Paul is talking about. They're seductors. By kindness and gentleness and winsomeness, they seduce church members to listen to wrong doctrine, and they lead them away from the truth, and they lead them away from their brethren. That's troubling. In another text, actually the last epistle Paul wrote, In the last chapter of the last epistle, he said this, for the time will come when they, and he's talking about church members, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. and they will turn their ears away from the truth and they will be turned to fables. Could that be the day in which we are living? I'm tempted to think that it is. When I consider Elevation Church in Charlotte, and Joel Hurstein and the tens of thousands of people that those ministries attract, I am inclined to think that Paul was talking about this day. At any rate, Paul's words are bothersome. They make us feel uneasy. They cause us to think that we can never relax. Even in church, we must always be on guard. We must be watchful. We must be attentive. Otherwise, we might fall under the spell of divisive teachers and be led away from the truth. Do you feel a need to be watchful? Is that something that you think applies to you? Beloved, I hope that you will take this warning very seriously and very personally. The danger that is being described in our text is a real and present danger. In fact, the danger may be greater now than at any time in recent history. I say that because of the easy access that teachers have to the ears and hearts of professing Christians all over the world. The World Wide Web brings every shade of doctrine to your doorstep, into your house, into your living room, into your bedroom, every shade of doctrine. Are you attentive? Do you realize that there are false teachers on sermon audio? Now, I'm very thankful for Sermon Audio. It's a marvelous resource for the church, but there are false teachers on Sermon Audio, and there are heretics on YouTube, and there are heretics who are publishing blogs at Christian websites on the internet. Are you aware of that? I'm going to speak very candidly here. I hope it won't be offensive. I hope it doesn't apply to anyone that's present, but I'm deeply troubled by the smug self-confidence that many Christians seem to have. They seem to assume that they can listen to anything, and if there is the slightest error, they'll pick up on it. They're sufficiently well-taught. No one will sneak anything by them. And so they'll listen to anything. They'll listen to anyone. They'll read anything. And those kind of people are highly offended by the kind of warning I'm giving right now. You don't need to give that warning to me. I'm mature. I'm strong. You can't deceive me. I hope there's nobody here who thinks like that. If you do, I just defended you, right? I want to remind you this warning came from the Apostle Paul. It didn't come from me. And the Apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit of God when he wrote this. The danger, beloved, is real. Right now, there are clever people out there posing insidious questions about doctrine that you won't be able to answer. But in trying to answer them, you may very well find yourself being led down paths that will lead you away from truth. We're at war, people. There's a war for souls. There's a war against Christ's church. And whether you like it or not, you're right in the crosshairs of that war. Yeah, I know. It's not cheerful talk. It's wearying. Having to be on your guard, having to listen and scrutinize and compare everything you hear with the Bible, it's wearying. But as I said, we're at war. The fight is real. If we would be on the winning side, at the end, we're going to have to fight by prayer, and by the word of God, and by taking up the weapons and armor described in Ephesians 6. But the good news is the war won't last forever. And the outcome is not in doubt. The wicked one and his army are already defeated, but the battles still have to be fought. Well, that brings us to our text. Look at verse 17 of Romans chapter 16. Now, I urge you, brethren, note, that means mark, pay attention to those who cause divisions and stumbling blocks, contrary to the doctrine which you learn, the doctrine of the apostles. Note them, avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, their own causes. And by smooth words and flattering speech, They deceive the hearts of the simple, the naive, the unsuspecting. For your obedience has become known to all, therefore I am glad in your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And now our text. And the God of peace, We'll crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, amen. We'll examine the opening part of verse 20 by means of three rather irreverent sounding questions. They're irreverent sounding because I'm taking the posture of a skeptic who reads this text and argues against it. Question number one, what's Satan got to do with it? What's Satan got to do with it? I guess I'm taking my cue from a pop song back in the 80s by Tina Turner, which expressed our society's philosophy toward relations of male and female. The song was, What's Love Got To Do With It? It's nothing but a secondhand emotion. Well, I'm not recommending that song, and certainly not the philosophy, but taking a cue from that cheeky attitude, I asked, what's Satan got to do with it? Paul is talking about people who teach wrong doctrine, who seduce people by smooth words and flattering speech, who bring division and deception. What's Satan got to do with it? He hasn't said anything about the devil. He's been warning about people. And now all of a sudden he's talking about the devil. First of all, I think I need to ask this, who believes in the devil anymore? Huh? I mean, who believes in the devil? That's an antiquated idea, right? Smart people don't believe in the devil. Contemporary people don't believe in the devil. Cool churches don't preach about the devil. Come on. If you want to be cool, don't talk about the devil. Who believes in the devil? Do you? Do you believe that there is a real created being in the universe who is thoroughly evil, who has power greater than you or any man, who is followed by an army of fallen angels called demons, who is engaged in all-out war against Christ, against God, against the church, and against you. Do you really believe that? Do you? This is one of the ways that our trust in the truth of scripture is put to the test. Because you see, the Bible actually has a lot to say about the devil. Dr. Robert Raymond, in his systematic theology, has a section in which he just lists the works that are attributed to the devil in the Bible. And behind each one of these descriptive statements, he lists the text of scripture. So this is taken out of the Bible. Let me read it to you. Pay attention. You're not thinking about the devil. You don't think the devil is relevant. Listen. Dr. Raymond writes, while Satan does not exercise totally free reign over men because of divinely imposed limitations and restraints, Satan is said nonetheless to rage against men. to prowl around like a roaring lion, looking to devour the sons of men. He is said to work in the sons of disobedience, to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. He is said to turn men away from God to serve Him instead. He is said to take men captive to do His will. He is said to deceive the nations, to sow tares in the field of the world, to obstruct world missions, to masquerade as an angel of light, to make war against the saints, to throw Christians into prison, to oppress with physical and mental illness, to lie and murder and to hold under God the power of death. Specifically, It was Satan who tempted Adam to sin. It was Satan who accused Job of serving God for profit. It was Satan who afflicted Job with physical and mental anguish. It was Satan who desired the body of Moses, who incited David to sin, who accused Joshua, the high priest of sin. It was Satan who tempted Jesus to sin, who crippled a woman for 18 years, who incited Peter to oppose Jesus and his approaching death, who requested permission to sift Peter as wheat. It was Satan who put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ and then entered Judas. It was Satan who filled Ananias' heart to lie against the Holy Spirit. It was Satan who tormented Paul with the thorn in the flesh. And you don't think about him? Have you ever recognized how often the work of Christ is said to be directed at the devil. The very first allusion to Christ comes, of course, in Genesis 3, verse 15. After Satan, having taken over a serpent, tempted Adam and Eve, and they fell, God, speaking to the serpent, actually speaking to Satan, said this. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He, the seed of the woman, will bruise your head. I have to believe Paul had that text in view as he wrote our text. The seed of the woman will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel. Now what's striking about that, there's no mention there of God redeeming his people. There's no mention of Christ securing justification and the forgiveness of sins. There's no mention of that in the very first mention of Christ. The only work of Christ that is named is bruising Satan's head. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 14, a very familiar text. We're told that in as much as the children that the father gave to the son have partaken of flesh and blood, the son himself likewise shared in flesh and blood so that through death, so that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Yes, Christ came to redeem a people, but he also came to destroy the devil. John is very clear in 1 John 3.8, he who sins, he who practices sin, he who lives a sinful lifestyle is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning. Then he says this, for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Who believes in the devil? Beloved, not to believe in the devil is not to believe in the Bible. Not to believe in the devil is to deny a primary aspect of why Christ came into this world. So, I return to the question, what does Satan have to do with the problem being discussed in Romans 16, 17 and following? What does Satan have to do with deceptive teachers and deceptive doctrine and church divisions? What does he have to do with it? I've heard people say that perhaps we see too much of the devil in things. C.S. Lewis says there are two ways, two extremes in responding to the doctrine of Satan, and Satan delights in both. One is to deny him altogether and ignore him, and he has free reign to run. The other is to make too much of the devil and talk about him all the time. What does the devil have to do with evil? I want to quote another theologian. I know I'm quoting a lot here, but I want you to see it's not just my word. It's one of my favorite writers, John Murray. Murray says, listen, back of all that is visible and tangible in the sin of this world, there are unseen spiritual powers. Satan is a god of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. The arch foe of the kingdom of God is not the visible powers arrayed against it. For behind these visible agents and manifestations of evil is the ingenuity, craft, malicious design, instigation, and relentless activity of the devil and his ministers. It was this of which Paul was fully aware when he wrote, We wrestled not, against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritualities of wickedness in the heavenlies. What does the devil have to do with false doctrine and divisions? Well, listen to what Paul said. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no great thing if his servants also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness. That's Satan's ploy. What does Satan have to do with it? He has everything to do with it. Well, then, are we talking about the work of men? Or are we talking about the work of the devil? Paul says that we are to look out for men. So is it the devil or is it men? Which is it? It's both. It's both working together. Men serving Satan and they don't even realize what they're doing, but they're doing his bidding. But men are responsible. This is not Oldies Sunday, but Back in the, I don't know, late 70s, early 80s, there was a comedian called Flip Wilson. Anybody remember Flip Wilson? His go-to line in his comedic spiels was, the devil made me do it. The devil made me do it. Some of us, Try to use that excuse. Sorry, honey, I shouldn't have said that. The devil made me do it. Well, the fact is, beloved, if you say it, you have to respond to the consequences. We humans cannot get off so easy. We cannot absolve ourselves of our faults, our part, our blame by blaming it on the devil. If you spoke the words, they're your words. If you perform the action, they're your actions and you will be accountable for those words and those actions. And that's why we're to mark certain people out and avoid them. They are dangerous. Nonetheless, the fact is that Satan is very much involved in all the evils of our age. I think John Murray was right. Behind the manifestation of evil in every place, there is the sinister plotting and wicked imagination and devices of the devil. We're seeing almost unprecedented outbreaks of violence and wanton bloodshed. Almost every day, there's a news report of innocent, uninvolved people being killed by some murderous, wicked human being. And it's not just happening in European cities like Barcelona or big American cities like Chicago. There is a troubling trend of murderous violence in Greensboro, North Carolina. in High Point. You watch the local news. You really should so you have some awareness of what's happening around you. There is an unbelievable outbreak of murder and violence in Greensboro and High Point and Burlington. It's estimated that there are over 1,600 gang members in Burlington. 1,600. many of them devoted to mayhem and murder. And behind it all, there is this fallen angel, this arch enemy of God called the devil. Satan by his demonic soldiers are active in all the murder and all the sex trafficking and all the opioid abuse and all the terrorism in our world. Yes, men are doing it, but where do they get the wicked imagination, the impulse, the idea from Satan? And Satan is directly involved in seeking to poison Christian doctrine and seeking to divide Christian churches. Yeah, we have to watch out for men, but we have to understand there's more than flesh and blood going on here. We wrestle ultimately not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers, spiritual forces, in heavenly places, it's real, beloved. And let me tell you something that is peculiarly frightening. And that is that careless, careless Christians sometimes become the tools by which Satan unleashes his attacks. Christians. not thinking, not exercising control over their minds and their mouths and their actions, become the instruments of the devil. Does that frighten you? Remember what Peter said to Jesus when Jesus said, I must go to Jerusalem to suffer many things from the scribes and elders and to die. And Peter was overwhelmed. Emotionally he was overwhelmed and he just blurted out, you must not allow that to be so, Jesus. Don't talk like that. And what did Jesus say to him? Get behind me, Satan. You do not have a taste for the things of God. Who is he talking to? Who is Jesus talking to? He was talking to Peter. He was talking to Peter, but Jesus understood that Satan put those thoughts in Peter's mind, and it was Peter who blotted them out. And listen, listen, Satan was not responsible for Peter's carelessness with the Bible. You see, if Peter had given more careful heed to the prophets of the Old Testament, if he had paid greater attention to the prophecy that the servant of Messiah must come and he must suffer and he must be bruised for our iniquities, if he had believed that, And if he had had greater respect for Jesus and what Jesus said, he wouldn't have allowed his emotions to get the better of him. But he wasn't thinking biblically. And his emotions responded violently to the idea that Jesus would go and die. And he was ripe for Satan to put those thoughts and those words in his mind. And he blurted them out. And beloved, you can do the same, and I can do the same. When we're careless, and we're agitated, and our emotions are engaged, and we're angry or we're sad, Satan can manipulate our thoughts and put ideas in our heads that are virtually blasphemous. But if we're not exercising thoughtful control by means of the Word of God, then we can become tools in the devil's hands to do the devil's work. You would be wise to think very carefully when you're inclined to say a harsh, critical word against Christ's church. Where did that harsh criticism originate? When you feel put out with the leaders that Christ has set over his church, and you're frustrated and you're tempted in private conversation to say something harsh and demeaning about them, you better watch what you're doing. Whose cause are you serving? Satan is behind all the evil that afflicts the world and the church. And sadly, humans cooperate. Even converted humans unthinkingly cooperate. Well, that brings me secondly, and I hopefully much more briefly, to this question. Doesn't our text contradict itself in what it says about God. Remember, I'm thinking as a skeptic, a skeptic reading the Bible. You read verse 20 and you say, that's a contradiction. The Bible contradicts itself. Doesn't Paul contradict himself in verse 20? Look at what he says. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet. Isn't that a contradiction? How can you call him the God of peace if he goes around crushing his creatures? Here, honey, your daddy's for peace. Now let me swipe you around a little bit. Really? A God of peace crushing Doesn't that sound like a contradiction to you? Well, one very simple answer to that is that there will be no true peace in the world until Satan is utterly crushed and defeated and silenced and banished to hell forever. So long as the devil is active, there will be murder and there will be falsehood because he is a murderer and a liar from the beginning. That's a simple answer. But I think the answer goes deeper. It has to do with what it means for God to be a God of peace. To understand God as a God of peace, I think you cannot go to the English word peace, you need to go to the Hebrew word shalom, which is often translated peace in our English Bibles. Shalom was a much larger word than our word peace. We think of peace very often as simply being the absence of conflict. If conflict is not happening, then there's peace. But you ask every concerned member of a troubled marriage, and they will tell you that while the absence of yelling and harsh criticism and screaming and overt expressions of anger, the absence of those things is better than the presence of those things, yet they will tell you that the absence of those things doesn't mean that all is well. Even where there are not harsh words and screaming accusations and outlandish displays of anger, there can be tension that you can cut with a knife. There can be ill will, there can be hatred, even where outward conflict is absent. You see, there is such a thing as cold war as well as hot war, right? The peace that God brings is a great deal more than dispelling outward expressions of hot war. God's peace attacks cold war. God's peace is a banishment of all hate. and secret strife and inward disharmony and ill will. Where those things exist, they can erupt into war at any point, but even if they don't, even if they just simmer beneath the surface, they are a violation of the most fundamental aspects of God's will for us, that we love our neighbor. as we love ourselves, and if we are members of the body of Christ, that we love each other the way Christ loved us. You see, where there is secret strife and ill will and bitterness, even if it doesn't break out into the open, God knows it's there. and it's spiritual evil. God's purpose is to remove all such evil, all such enmity from his created universe. Evil commenced with Satan's rebellion. Evil will cease only when Satan is forever cast into that horrible place that God has prepared for him. and his demonic followers and the billions upon billions of human beings who have followed him. Beloved, listen, please listen. If you are engaged in secret strife in your heart, unloving attitudes, even in the innermost secret sanctuary of your souls. If that describes you, listen, listen, you are on the wrong side of this war. You're on the wrong side of this war. And you need to plead with the God of peace that he will come by the power of his son and rescue you. from the evil that's lurking in your soul. Well, I hope you can see that God crushing Satan is not in any way inconsistent with God being a God of peace. In fact, it's a necessary outworking of God being a God of peace. But how does he do this? How does he crush Satan under our feet? Notice what he says. Look at the text. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet, under human feet. Have you thought about that? I mean, these are familiar words, but we're talking about a spiritual being. A spiritual being who's going to be crossed under human feet. How's that going to happen? How is a spiritual and angelic being going to be crossed under human feet? Well, The essence of it has already happened. It happened when the Son of God took flesh and blood and became a human and came into this world and went to the cross. That's where it happened. Fundamentally, everlastingly, Satan's head was bruised fatally by the death of Christ on the cross. How's that word? Well, who is Satan? He's a great accuser of the brethren. Who is Satan? He's the one who takes the reality of death and terrorizes human souls with the fear of death. Who is Satan? He's the tempter. Who leads us into greater condemnation and greater degrees of guilt and greater punishment by tempting us. What did Christ do in the cross? He took away all the accusations made against his people. He took their guilt upon himself and the punishment that guilt deserves so there are no more accusations to be made against those for whom he died. In his resurrection, he conquered death so that the fear of death is no longer relevant to those who are joined to Christ. They have everlasting life and they shall never perish. His temptations have lost their power over those who are joined to Christ. If they abide in him and abide in his word and if they live by faith and prayer, all they have to do is resist the devil in the name of Jesus and he has to flee. Satan was fundamentally defeated on the cross But he's now being defeated by the gospel, by the preaching of the gospel. Luke chapter 10, I wish I had time to go into this. I'll be as brief as I can. Luke chapter 10, we have a description of Jesus sending out the 70 to preach the gospel and do kingdom work. And when they came back, the 70 were all excited. They said, Lord, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And you remember what Satan said? He said, I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. What is he saying? He's saying when my gospel goes forth into the world in my power, Satan's whole upon souls will be broken. The gospel is the power of God and the salvation. Through the preaching of the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes and the dungeon is filled with light and souls are made alive and they run to Jesus by faith and the captivity of Satan over their minds and emotions and lust and actions is broken forever. He sets the captive free. Some of you need that. Because Satan is playing with you like a yo-yo. He's yanking your thoughts around, and your emotions around, and your lust around, and you end up doing evil things that you really didn't intend to do. But there's a power that seems irresistible. The devil is yanking you around. Run to Jesus. He's the only one who can set you free. He sets the captive free by the gospel. The third way that Satan is being crushed right now is by the warfare of the saints. Revelation chapter 12, John writes, then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 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. Now listen. And they, our brethren, overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And by the fact that they did not love their own minds unto death. It's a sobering reality that the conflict with Satan in this world, though his demise and doom are sure, it's still a bloody conflict, and it can still be brutal for God's people. The devil continues to throw Christians into prison and some lose their lives. But even in that process of persecution, the gates of hell are being driven back and the cause of Christ is being advanced even by the blood of martyrs. I don't know if it's true. I hope it's true. I pray that it will be true. But I have heard that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Muslims who are coming to Jesus, even as their brethren are trying to destroy Christianity. And even as brothers and sisters in Christ have lost their freedom and lost their possessions and are losing their lives, even so, they cannot kill the gospel. It flourishes in the soil that has been stained with a martyr's blood. But lastly and finally, Satan's conquest will be made final and forever when Jesus returns. Revelation 20 writes, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fly away. His doom is sure. There's no reason for the followers of the Lamb to fear Satan or to fear his demons. He is defeated. But we have to be watchful, and we have to pray, and we have to fight. And the amazing thing is, as weak as we are, when we fight in the name of Jesus, when we resist by the sword of the Spirit, when we pray in faith, the victorious work of our Savior works through us to drive the forces of hell back. And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. A prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fail him. There's one last word. I wouldn't be faithful if I didn't ask this last skeptical question. Isn't Paul misleading and saying that this is gonna happen shortly? Shortly? Really? Paul wrote this about 2,000 years ago. And the war's still going. The fight is still going. False doctrines still being taught. Churches are still being divided. Wickedness abounds. The love of many is growing cold. How could Paul say it's going to happen shortly? He must have been mistaken. Okay, what does that do to your confidence in the Bible as the infallible word of God? How could he say surely? Well, Peter, as you know, has answered that question. In 2 Peter 3, he wrote this. Beloved, I now write to you the second epistle. knowing this, knowing this, listen, knowing this, that scoffers will come in the last day, walking according to their own lust and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. Where, where is Jesus? Where is he? You idiots, you're waiting for the Son of God to come. You fools, where is he? Remember how Peter answered, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but he is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But, but, be assured of this, the day of the Lord will come. It will come as a thief. It will come suddenly, unexpectedly. The day of the Lord will come. in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. The day of the Lord will come. But by God's calculations, Jesus has only been gone for two days. The old covenant prophesied the coming of Christ for about 1,500 years before he came. But he came. And his second coming is no less sure than his first. He's coming. I don't know any reason why he couldn't come today. It's gonna be on a daylight today when he comes. Nobody's going to be expecting it. People are going to be out partying, and they're going to be at football games and golf tournaments. And they're going to be drinking, and they're going to be getting married and having parties. And suddenly, there will be a sound unlike any sound we've ever heard. There will be a shout, and everything will stop. and the heavens will be ripped open and our Savior will appear. And in that moment, there are people who are gonna run to the mountains and beg them to fall on them and cover them from the face of the Lamb. You see, when that day comes, the day of repentance will be ended He has delayed his coming in part to give people like you more opportunity to repent. The power of the devil is real. It's real in some of your lives, it's real in some of your homes. It's not to be mocked, but there is a savior There is a Savior. You don't have to be controlled by evil. Flee to Jesus. Let's pray. These are heavy things. These are things that we prefer not to talk about. things that we don't talk to our children about. We try to protect them. And yet, Father, these are very real things. In some respects, these are the most real things in our world. Help us to bow like little children before your word. Help us to take it to heart, to believe it, and help us all to take refuge in Christ and in his word. We thank you that the outcome is absolutely certain. And we thank you that everyone who believes in Jesus right now has power to defeat our most devastating enemy. Thank you, Jesus. Make us faithful soldiers of your cross. We pray in your mighty name. Amen.