The lights are being turned on, it's amazing what I see, Shining through the work, God relieving it to me, And teaching me to trust in Him more and more each day. The Lord is my life, my salvation, It's all about Him, not about me. The Lord is the strength of my life in every situation, It's all about Him, not about me.

I know that it's the will of God to go and plant the seed That leads lost souls to salvation, the gospel's what they need To be called out from the darkness, His grace that's burning bright. The Lord is my life, my salvation, It's all about Him, not about me. The Lord is the strength of my life in every situation, It's all about Him, not about me.

Have you ever thought about all that He has done? The Father loved the world so much, He sent His only Son, And whoever shall believe in Him will have everlasting life. The Lord is my life, my salvation, It's all about Him, not about me. The Lord is the strength of my life in every situation, It's all about Him, not about me. 

And the more I learn, the more I see, It's all about Jesus, not about me. And the suffering of this present time's not worthy to be compared With the glory that shall be revealed in us in a place the Lord's prepared Having put a hand to the plow, never looking back. The Lord is my life, my salvation, It's all about Him, not about me. The Lord is the strength of my life in every situation, It's all about Him, not about me. 

It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. Thank you, Doug, for that good song. We appreciate that encouragement. Reminds me of a song Ray Brown used to sing. 

Well, we're going to be wrapping up our study of the book of Romans today. It's been, I'm not sure exactly how long, but we're pushing up on a couple years here, and it's been a tremendous time together to study through this doctrinal epistle laying the foundation of our faith, expanding the gospel as Paul explains that to us, not only the truth of who Jesus is, what He's done for us, but also the implications of our salvation in our lives. 

So we're going to be looking at this last passage in Romans 16, 17 to 27. What I'd like for you to do as we begin is turn to Acts, the book of Acts, at chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, we're going to begin in verse 17. 

In Matthew 24 verse 3, the disciples came to Jesus privately saying, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And Jesus answered them and He said to them, take heed that no one deceives you. This was the first warning that Jesus gave to disciples about the end of the age. Take heed that no one deceives you. 

Now I want you to follow along in Acts 20 with Paul's words. Verse 17, it says, from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, you know from the first day that I came to Asia in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials, which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. 

Now I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house testifying to Jews and also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. 

But none of these things move me nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed now I know that you all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God will see my face no more. 

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Look at verse 28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 

Also from among yourselves men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. 

Jesus said, take heed that no one deceives you. I want to look at one more passage in 2 Corinthians 11. If you'd turn over to 2 Corinthians 11 with me please. First at verse 3. Paul writing to the church in Corinth said, But I fear, lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it. I look down to verse 12. Paul says, But what I do I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 

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 is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 

We see continually through the Scriptures a warning, a caution, the anticipation of false teaching and false teachers coming into the church in order to lead men astray, to take them away from the truth. Last week we looked at verses 1-16 in this last chapter of the book of Romans, and we saw Paul's heart laid out concerning all the believers, his brethren, his friends, who made his ministry possible and worked with him in the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And it was easy to see the love of Paul that he had for these people, how they had helped him and encouraged him, and they were even willing to risk their own necks for Paul's sake. In Amos 3-3 it says, how can two walk together unless they are agreed? But what a sweet fellowship those who believe Jesus, those who have their focus on the Christ and the gospel, those who agree can have, as they walk together in service for the Lord. 

And that's what we saw in Paul's ministry as he mentioned all of these names that we studied last week. That's what we saw in the first part of chapter 16. We saw in these verses Paul's passion for people. 

But what I want you to see today, what I think is important for us to understand as believers in Jesus Christ, as a local body, is that verses 17-20 are no less an illustration of Paul's great passion and love for people, for the brethren, and for the God that he served. Because love includes warning. Love includes caution and a realistic view of the world and of the battle that exists in this Christian walk, the battle of truth versus error. 

Look at verse 17 in our text please. Paul writes, Now I urge you, I beg you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, note this important phrase, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 

For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 

Then Paul goes on in verse 21 to mention some of those believers that were with him at this time. Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, and my countrymen, greet you. I, Turchus, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, my host and the host of the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you. And Cortus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 

Now, to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith, to God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. 

We're going to see four points in our text this morning. First, we're going to see warning, then wisdom and wariness, and fourth, we're going to see win, that we win in Jesus Christ. 

Well, first in verse 17, we see a call and urging to the believers, a very specific command to mark out, to note those who teach false doctrine, who cause division through error, and to avoid them. This past week, I started a Bible study with a group of young couples. They asked me if I would go through a study on how to study the Bible, centering on hermeneutics. 

And these are people who have been Christians for most of their lives, who have grown up in the church and are now in their twenties. And as we started to talk about hermeneutical principles and how to study God's Word and correctly interpret and apply the Word of God, and as we looked at a couple of examples, one young lady said, why do you think it is that churches don't teach people how to study the Bible? 

Why do you think it is that many, if not most, Christians have never really spent any time studying the Bible? It was a disturbing question for me, but one that I've contemplated for a very long time. Where is the focus in the evangelical church on the Word of God? Where is the great and passionate desire for truth? Where is the commitment to truth? 

I answered her question with two things that I've come to believe about the church in America today. Paul commented on this back in 2 Timothy 4 when he said, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever thought about that? This is a passage we quote quite often. But he charged Timothy before God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Timothy, as a pastor, as a preacher, would be responsible to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead that is appearing in His kingdom. 

What was Paul's charge? Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come 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 aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry. 

It says according to their own desires, they will heap up for themselves teachers and will turn their ears away from the truth and they will be turned aside to fables, to lies. We see this in the church today. Men who will not stand for sound doctrine. Who do not want the truth. The focus is not on Jesus, the living Word, as revealed in the written Word. But on our own desires. On the felt needs of men. On what Jesus can do for you. How He can fix your problems. The things that satisfy the flesh. 

Men do not want to think. They don't want to think about sin and righteousness and judgment and truth. Men do not want to be convicted concerning where they need to change, how they need to live, and what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, they are not encouraged by the truth. Rather than muse, the word muse means to think, to meditate, to roll over the truth in our minds and hearts and contemplate the implications in our lives, men prefer to be amused, to not think, to entertain and appeal to the emotions in the flesh to make themselves feel good. 

This is the mood that has taken over and dominates much of the church today. In conjunction with this, there is in our culture today a massive pressure of the world, of Satan's system, pressing in on the church as well. And it seems that the forefront of this today is the mood of our culture not to offend, never to speak truth if it might trouble someone. 

And this has reached such a ridiculous level in our world to where men cannot even think anymore. It's what Romans 1 speaks of. And it makes no sense at all when they open their mouths. It's stunning for those of us who live in Reelville. But this mood has enveloped the church like a cloud of pollution as well. And few there are who will stand in the pulpit and say with conviction, thus saith the Lord. 

Few there are who will work word by word, verse by verse, book by book through the Scriptures in order to see what God says. To believe it. To take it for ourselves. To allow it to change our lives. But my friends, this is precisely what we need. The fact is, my friend, I have not arrived yet. I am not complete. 

Listen to Paul's testimony in Philippians 3. He said, brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus my Lord. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. And if anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 

God will straighten you out on that. God works through His Word. God works through His truth. And my friends, I need to know the truth. I need to be warned of error in order that I might be discerning. That I might not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. We see truth throughout the New Testament concerning Jesus Christ. Who He is. What He's done. Our salvation in Him. What that means to my life and to my eternity. To my assurance. 

But what we see alongside this truth doctrine concerning Christ is a constant and continual warning concerning false teachers, false Christ, doctrines of demons that can lead us astray. Love must be based in truth. And love includes the positive truth about Jesus Christ and it includes the negative truth about that which comes against Jesus Christ. 

I heard Vance Havner talk once about preaching a sermon on sin and death and hell. And he said after he was done preaching, a little old lady came up to him and said, I wish you would preach more about the meek and lowly Jesus. And he replied, ma'am, everything I just said, I got from the meek and lowly Jesus. 

Jesus was a friend of sinners. Jesus showed grace to the humble. Jesus loved all men and desires that all men be saved. And He gave Himself for the express purpose of seeking and saving the lost. But Jesus was also very passionate about warning people against false teachers and against false religion. 

In passages like John 8 and Matthew 23, Jesus confronts openly and directly the false teachers of Israel, calling the Pharisees a brood of vipers and sons of Satan and those who lead men to damnation. Openly, publicly, He marks out, notes those who teach a false way to heaven. And in Matthew 23, He summarizes His message with this statement directly to their faces in the public square when He said, serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? 

False teaching is a very serious thing because it leads men to destruction, to hell. For man does not know the truth. If he does not hear a clear gospel message of Jesus Christ, then he cannot believe and be saved. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing a message about Jesus Christ, Romans 10, 17 says. 

And if a believer does not continually hear the truth, if a believer does not study the truth and renew his mind to the truth, then he cannot grow, he cannot become discerning, he cannot be sanctified, and in a weakened state, he is vulnerable to the deceitful teaching and lies of Satan and his ministers, even in the pulpits. 

I urge you, brethren, Paul says, to note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrines which you have learned and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. And by smooth words and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the simple. 

Paul says, I beg you, please, mark out, note, this word means to warn publicly, to scrutinize and to discern who is teaching something false and to warn the brethren to avoid them. Division here is on the basis of error. Division is not a bad thing if it is based on truth. 

Jesus said, I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword, a sword of division, and that division, that sword is truth. But here in our text, Paul is talking about those, as he warned in Acts 20, who come up from among you or come in from the outside with aberrant doctrines and cause division based on error, separating the flock and leading some astray. 

That is the clear implication of the words here. That this false teaching would beguile the believers and lead them astray. It's interesting to me that Paul closes this great book with these words. He seems concerned that this would happen. Certainly in Acts 20, he seems very concerned. Peter seems very concerned. Jude seems very concerned. Jesus was concerned continually with this. 

We are, as a body of believers, to know the truth so well that we can easily and quickly recognize error. And recognizing error, we can call it out, we can warn the brethren, and keep from being divided by heresy. The language here indicates that the false teaching is very plausible. It's very fine-sounding. 

Paul says they use smooth words and flattering speech to deceive the hearts of the simple. Don't think that Satan's going to come at you with all-out heresy in the church. Rather, his error is mixed with much truth, and it's fine-sounding. It’s biblical-sounding. Even containing some good, but enough error to lead astray. To take a portion of the believers off into a destructive or unfruitful path. 

And Paul says, as well as Peter and Jude, that these teachers are not the servants of the Lord, but their belly is their God. What does that mean? Their God is their belly. The word here refers to the desires of the flesh. It means that they want to satisfy their carnal desires, their fleshly lusts. And what we see in their teaching often has an antinomian, an anti-law, a licentious bent. 

In 2 Peter 2, he says, but there were also false prophets among the people, listen to this promise, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 

By covetousness, they will exploit you with deceptive words. And he goes on to describe these false teachers. He says they're spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. They're in the church. Jude describes that as a rock just under the water, a marine or a mariner's term, a ship coming and he can't see the rock, it's buried just below the water, and it rips open the hull of the ship. 

They're spots, they're blemishes in your love feast, they are in the church. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. They're in it for the money. Peter calls it filthy lucre in the old King James. They're in it for the power. Sexual immorality characterizes them, satisfying the lusts of their flesh. 

Listen to Jude's words. He says, for certain men have crept in unnoticed. No one knows they're here, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation. But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved an everlasting change under darkness for the judgment of the great day. 

As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in similar manner to these, having given themselves up to the devil, they have forsaken the right way, and gone astray. As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering vengeance of eternal fire. 

Likewise, also these dreamers, these false teachers, these dreamers defile the flesh. They reject authority, and they speak evil of dignitaries. These men are found throughout the world and they do well, just as Jesus and Paul and Peter and Jude promised. 

And unfortunately, because there's been a diminished emphasis on the Word, on doctrine, on teaching and preaching, and an increased emphasis on entertainment and worldliness and fitting in and not offending in the church, many of the false doctrines of these men have gained traction and have influence within the true church. 

Paul asks you here, he begs you to be willing to stand for the truth, to call out those who teach false doctrines and lead believers astray. Are you willing? It's hard in this world today. We've talked a lot about the love that Paul had for people, and the ministry they had together and the fellowship they had together and the great assurance they had in Christ working together and loving lost people and bringing the good news to them. 

But we also have to be willing to stand up for the truth, to speak the truth in love, to recognize heresy because it's serious and it destroys people's lives. Are you willing to know the truth, to study, to believe what God says and to take it for yourselves? Are you willing to offend at the point of the Gospel? 

We're offending at all kinds of points today in politics and social, in all kinds of issues. Are we offending where we need to be offending? At the point of the Gospel. He says to call out publicly and warn the brethren so that they won't be taken in by this teaching and led into a life of distraction and fruitlessness, even destruction. We need to understand Paul's warning here. 

And we also need to understand wisdom and wariness as we see in verse 19. Wisdom and wariness. Romans 16, 19. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore, I am glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good. And I want you to be simple concerning evil. 

We see in this verse that the believers in Rome had not succumbed to the kind of false teaching that Paul's talking about, that their obedience is known by all. He said something similar in chapter 1 at verse 8 and he said, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. They had a good testimony. They were faithful. They were obedient. 

But Paul knew like every believer in every church, that they were vulnerable to attack by false teachers and false doctrine. So he gives them the prescription here for avoiding being led astray by those that he knew would come. Be wise in what is good and be simple concerning that which is evil. 

The meaning of this word has to do with a profound knowledge of the good resulting in moral innocence and no association with evil so that error would in no way entangle itself and mitigate the good. Doctrinally, this is very practical for the believers in Rome and for us. The practical application is that we are to immerse ourselves in the good, in the truth, in the Word, ever growing in our knowledge and understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

And at the same time, as we grow in truth, as we become more discerning, we are to completely reject the lies. We are to completely reject the error and the false teaching and not entangle ourselves in it or entertain it. And I believe that this is the greatest problem in the church. The lack of emphasis on truth and good on God's Word and a willingness to entertain evil. 

In 2 John 1.9, we'll get to 2 John and Lord willing after 1 John, which we'll start next week. In 2 John 1.9, John, the apostle of love, said this, whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and he does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him. For he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. 

Paul says in our text in verse 6, to note, to mark out and avoid those who teach things contrary to the doctrine they had learned. What had they learned? All the doctrine consistent with the apostles' teaching, with Paul's teaching. He is saying if someone comes along with something new, something contrary to what you have learned, avoid it. Avoid them. 

John says, do not receive him, do not entertain him, for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. False doctrine is dangerous, my friends. And yet the evangelical church today seems not to be afraid. Anything that comes along with the name Jesus attached to it is okay. 

It may be a little off here and there, they may see things a little differently than we do, but that's okay. Think about Hollywood. I remember when The Passion of the Christ came out, Mel Gibson's film. And evangelicals flocked to that film by the busload. They promoted it at every turn. A movie that was so overtly Roman Catholic and Marian in its theology that any believer should have been able to see it. 

Yet they praised it and they adored it. Now we hear on the radio on Caleb and many churches promoting the Shack film based on a book of Harrison. Christians all around giving testimony to how great this film is which totally misrepresents who God is, misrepresents the atonement, the exclusiveness of Christ, the reality of hell and damnation. 

Listen to a couple quotes. Paul told me in this text this morning to warn the brethren of false teachers. This is one example. The quote from the book says, God speaking, I don't need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It's not my purpose to punish it, it's my joy to cure it. The Shack offers no standard for right or wrong, so there's no real need for biblical repentance. 

It fits right into the popular vision of a unifying, non-judgmental church. The main character of the book asks, so how do I become part of your church? And Jesus says of the Shack, it's simple. It's all about relationships and simply sharing life, being open and available to others around us. My church is all about people and life is all about relationships. Doesn't that just sound wonderful? 

Isn't there an element of truth to that? Doesn't that fit into our culture, our world, the emphasis of so many evangelical churches today? Fine-sounding arguments, flattering words, appealing to the flesh. Listen to one more quote. The Jesus of the Shack says, those who love me come from every system that exists. They are Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists, Muslims. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa. 

He goes on, God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in us, around us, and through us, and in all things. What we have here is a pantheistic view of God who offers universal salvation, regardless of sin and repentance and faith. And thus, there's no hell, there's no judgment, there's no damnation. 

And yet, I just yesterday read on Facebook a post from a devout Christian woman who said, this was hands down the best movie I've ever watched. I watched it with my mom and my sister. We are three God-fearing, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving women of God, and all of us agreed it was one of the best. 

I wasn't satisfied with the quotes from this book, so I pursued it a little more and watched some interviews with the author of the shack. And since Paul's exhorting us here to warn of false teachers, I want to just take a moment to be sure that you are satisfied that this man is a false teacher and this book is heresy. 

Listening to him and trying to piece together his theology was like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. But I did watch one video called All Included Trinitarian Universalism and Evangelism. Shouldn't that be enough? In this interview, he mocked people like you and me who believe we are here to bring people the clear message of the Gospel and appeal to them to respond by faith. 

He described evangelism as relational. Have you ever heard that word in the church today? Relational, relevant, showing people love, getting to know them, letting them know, this is what he said, letting them know that they are in the Trinity. He said, it's not as if there is a wide gulf between God and man because of sin, as if we need to span that gulf through faith in Christ. 

Rather, God came incarnate as Jesus. The Trinity came across the gulf and took us back, saving every man. He said, the Gospel, the good news message is that you are included. You are already in. My brothers and sisters, I'm afraid that salvation is not an opt-out plan. Everybody is not in. It's an opt-in plan. 

And a man must come to realize his sin and his need and he must turn to Jesus alone in what Jesus did on the cross to save us from our sin and by faith alone in Him we receive by imputation the righteousness of God. Be wise in what is good. Be simple concerning evil. Wisdom from the Word of God. Weariness of those who come not bringing the doctrine of Christ. 

Sometimes I struggle with being so narrow-minded. If I go on too long in my own head, I begin to question whether I should be more tolerant, less dogmatic. But I have to tell you, my brothers and sisters, when I study Jesus, when I study Paul, when I study Peter or Jude, I fear that we in the evangelical church today are far too tolerant of evil. Far too forgiving of false doctrine. 

And we are far too willing to entertain and to participate in their evil deeds. Paul says, stay away from it. Reject it. Avoid the false teachers. Refuse to entertain false or questionable doctrine. And become wise, mature, knowledgeable in that which is truth. That which is good. 

Now our last encouraging point this morning is win. We've seen Paul's warning. We've seen his exhortation, be wise in the truth. To be wary of error. And in verse 20 we see that in Christ we win. Romans 16, 20. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. 

Paul has been encouraging, exhorting the believers in Rome to persevere. To know and believe God's Word concerning our salvation in Christ. Our security in Him and our mission in this world. To be growing in wisdom through the Word. Guarding the truth. Pointing out error and warning the brethren. 

He's told us to reject error, not even to entertain it for a minute. And in verse 20 he encourages us by telling us that in all this perseverance, all this working through the struggles and trials day to day, that we can know that God will crush Satan under our feet shortly. 

What an amazing promise. That Jesus has made us kings and priests. And that we will rule and reign with Christ over Satan and will be utterly and totally defeated. That Satan will be utterly and totally defeated when Christ comes at the second coming. We're studying this in the book of Revelation on Thursday nights. Looking at the judgment of God poured out on the earth at that time. And it's stunning. 

But God will crush Satan under our feet shortly. The word shortly does not necessarily mean soon. But rather it means suddenly, quickly. We will go on working, abiding, witnessing, pursuing truth, and rejecting error in the natural course of our lives. 

And this may continue for a long time, generation after generation. But Paul says the time will come. Suddenly, quickly, when Jesus will reign on this earth. It could be soon. The rapture could come now. Or now. It's imminent. It's hanging overhead. But when it does come, it will come quickly. 

And judgment will be quick and severe on this earth. And Jesus will make things right. Our citizenship is in heaven, my friends, and we'd not be troubled over the cares of this world. We're only pilgrims passing through, acting as ambassadors for Christ with the word of reconciliation, the good news message of the gospel. 

That's why we're here. And we're anticipating the time when He will come to take us to be with Him forever. Jesus will come and He will take us and He will set things right in this world and we will sit on David's throne ruling and we will reign with Him. 

This is the promise. This is the hope that we have in Jesus. This is the truth of God's word that we can take for ourselves as assurance, as peace, as joy today and every day. In Him, all the promises are yes. In verses 21-24, Paul mentions some of his brethren. We covered this last week, his precious friends who are with him. 

And then we see the doxology to the letter in these last verses, the end of this great epistle to the Romans. And notice what Paul writes. He says, Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith. 

See, that's the purpose, that's the point. Obedience to the faith. To hear the gospel. To believe. Believing is obeying the gospel. That's why we're here. To God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. 

That's the purpose of our life. To bring God glory. As we live on this earth. And how do we bring Him glory? We obey Him. We witness for Him. We praise Him. We glorify Him. And we reject the evil. We reject the lies. And we speak the truth. 

In closing, Paul points us to God. To Him who is able to establish us according to the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ. The revelation concerning the church. The bride of Christ. It's God who is able. It's God who will complete this work that He has begun in us. It's God and His Word and His Son that we can believe, that we can trust, that we can depend on. 

And that's the heart of Paul's message to us in the book of Romans. And the purpose of all this again is highlighted in verse 27. To God be the glory through Jesus Christ forever. We live for Him. To bring Him glory and thankfulness for all that He has done for us. 

We love Him because He first loved us. He is our hope. He is our joy. He is our life. As Doug sang this morning, it's all about Jesus. It's not about me. And thus we close this great epistle. And I just pray that we would go back to it as individuals often. To read over these things. To roll over these things in our minds. 

And think on these truths that we have learned here. As we seek to know Him more. As we seek to abide in Him one day at a time. In order to live a life that brings men to Christ. And that brings glory to God. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for this tremendous book that You've preserved, that You've given to us, that we have available every day. Thank You for the truths that we've learned about our sin, the condemnation of all men, our need. Thank You for the good news of Jesus Christ that the righteousness of God is available to us through faith. 

Faith in Jesus Christ. And Thank You for the good news that we've learned that having come to faith in Christ, we've been born again. We've been regenerated. We've been made new men. We are no longer in Adam, but we are in Christ. And we've died to sin, to law, and to death. And Father, that now we live to You through Jesus Christ. 

Father, thank You for that truth. Thank You for being so faithful every day. And I pray that You just help us to learn what it means to abide. To remain in Jesus. To trust Him one day at a time. And to see the fruit that You'll produce through us for Your glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.