Salutations, Strife And Gospel Strength - [Romans 16]

Bethlehem Bible Church

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September 8, 2013

00:00: Well, it's kind of a sad day today. We have to say goodbye to a familiar friend, the book of Romans.
00:06: Please turn your Bibles to Romans 16 as we finish our series, chapter by chapter, the last 16 times in the book of Romans.
00:16: For me, it's been thrilling to study the book of Romans. It's been gripping. It makes my heart want to praise the
00:22: Lord, to think that I had no righteousness and that God, in his mercy and in his grace, granted me the righteousness of God, even
00:33: Christ Jesus' perfect righteousness. Can you imagine getting things that you don't deserve?
00:40: We earn things, we work for things, but we could never work for this.
00:46: We could never earn our own salvation. And to think that God is a God who has his arms open with mercy and generosity and kindness.
00:55: And it wasn't that we were just sideline players. We were his enemies.
01:01: We were lined up in military array against God and against his creation.
01:07: And God says, I'm going to love you with an everlasting love. My love started for you in eternity past.
01:13: It was highlighted at Calvary. The Savior was raised from the dead. And then it was made specific and individual when the spirit of God made us alive in Christ.
01:24: He made us born again. Can you imagine what Scott read this morning? He caused you to be born again.
01:31: And so to think that this theme of Romans, if you've got one word for Romans, it's easy.
01:37: Romans starts with an R and righteousness starts with an R. The righteousness of God in Christ in the book of Romans.
01:43: And remember overall, Romans 1, 2, and 3a, we have no righteousness.
01:49: Gentiles didn't, Jews didn't, religious, irreligious people have no righteousness because of Adam's fall.
01:57: What happened to Adam in the garden affected us. But then the Calvary comes along in Romans 3, verse 21 and following through chapter 5, justified by faith alone.
02:08: Justified by the work of Christ through the instrument that doesn't even save faith,
02:13: God declares you righteous based on Christ's righteousness. We have no righteousness. If God was going to declare us anything,
02:20: He declared us what? Guilty or condemned. But for the Christian, what does
02:25: Romans 8, 1 say? There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't take you very long, if you're like me, to have a few skeletons pop out of your closet of the past or the present or certainly in the future and to think, you know what, still when
02:40: God sees me, He sees His Son, no condemnation. And then in light of that,
02:48: Paul says in chapters 12 and following, we should just serve Him, we should serve others, we should be good citizens, we should have our arms open to weaker
02:58: Christians. And then we come to chapter 16. Some call this the book of salutations because it has so many greetings.
03:06: If you want to know the main verb, it's just greet, greet, greet, greet, greet.
03:12: William Newell said, the 16th chapter is neglected by many to their own loss.
03:18: It is by far the most extensive, intimate, and particular of all the words of the loving greeting in Paul's marvelous letters.
03:27: I like this part. No one can afford to miss this wonderful outpouring of the heart of our apostle toward the saints whom he so loved, which means all the real church of God.
03:42: Here's the outline for Romans chapter 16. He has a lot of greetings, then he deals with church division, and then he talks about the strength of the gospel.
03:53: So, names, then division, and then the strengthening of the gospel.
04:02: Let's take a look at names first found in verses 1 through verse 16.
04:09: Oh, he gives some names later too, so we'll have to catch up on some of those. I'm going to try to pronounce every one of these names correctly today.
04:16: We'll see how that works. I won't say saucy patter, I'll say so sippeter.
04:22: I'm trying, I'm working. Let's come to what one man called in chapter 16, the galaxy of saints.
04:32: And you're going to notice that these are listed by name and just like genealogies, they're here for a reason.
04:38: You just can't say, well, it's a genealogy, skip it. Oh, it's a bunch of people who are greeted, let's just skip it.
04:43: Let's work through here with the understanding that as one commentator said, no name in the
04:50: Bible is ever mentioned without a good reason. There's a good reason they're mentioned forever.
04:56: And so, let's take a look at some of these folks that served the Lord Jesus with Paul, co -workers for the gospel.
05:03: And on a side note, I think this might help bolster the case that this is a real
05:11: Pauline gospel. I mean, if I ask you who wrote it, you'd say Paul. But some don't want to have
05:16: Paul write it because they knew he was an apostle. But this is just good validity. It shows the authenticity of Paul's gospel.
05:24: And you're going to see something that is quite A, lovely, and quite B, convicting, because Paul was such a people person.
05:32: Somebody once said, Paul's heart was full of people. Some of these he hasn't even met, but in his ministry, he hears about them.
05:39: And look at how he commends them. He doesn't say something about every name, but a lot of them. And one last other comment before I start in verse 1.
05:48: Many of them unheard of in this day and culture, this day meaning the Bible day, ladies.
05:55: Paul commending ladies. You can go through and count sometime the huge percentage of ladies commended for gospel ministry because they worked hard for the
06:06: Lord. They worked hard in the Lord. It doesn't take very much to hearken back to the crucifixion and see who was ministering to Jesus.
06:13: Was it the men or was it the ladies? Verse 1, Romans chapter 16, the commendation of Phoebe.
06:21: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Sincreia, that you may welcome her in the
06:29: Lord in a way worthy of the saints. And help her in whatever way she may need from you.
06:36: For she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
06:42: Now, if you were traveling back in those New Testament, Old Testament times, you would bring a letter of commendation, a letter of recommendation.
06:50: So when you showed up at the new place, could be a business or in this particular case a church, they would know who you were.
06:57: They would say, yes, we can welcome you with open arms. Can you imagine Phoebe goes to Rome with the letter of Romans?
07:06: How's that for a letter of commendation? Over the years I've received some nice letters of reference.
07:12: I've actually tried to be nice as well. So when you send me a form and say, Mike, could you please give me a letter of reference?
07:19: I try to fill it out the best I can without trying to be dishonest or disingenuous.
07:25: Sometimes I say to the people, yes, I filled out your form and your letter of reference. And we know certainly it'll be
07:30: God's will if you get this job based on my comments. Can you, do you think she even knew what she had in her hands?
07:41: Certainly she had to be a woman who could be trusted. If I was going to say, I just got done writing this letter, the book of Romans, the
07:49: Paul's magnum opus on the righteousness of Christ Jesus, the risen savior. And you give it to a trustworthy person or a dishonest person to take to Rome.
08:00: Of course you pick an honest person. She was the one who delivered the letter.
08:09: Paul calls her a sister and a servant, a helper, a patron. Throughout church history, she's known as the lady who delivered the book of Romans.
08:18: Now the word servant there, it could mean deaconess. Most likely it's just the general word for servant.
08:25: She assisted Paul and many others. God honors her in scripture by having her name listed.
08:33: Sancreia was a town really close to Corinth. Paul writes from Corinth and sends the letter with her.
08:39: She'd helped so many people. Do you notice there in verse 2, in a way worthy of the saints?
08:47: That word worthy talks about a set of scales, weighing scales. She did so much ministry for Paul and under the
08:56: Lord over here. When she arrives, make sure you serve her enough to balance out the scales.
09:02: She's heavy in her service and so be heavy in your love back to her.
09:07: Open your heart. Open your home. Extend greetings. There's some other people
09:13: Paul wants to greet. He says in verse 3, Romans, Greet Prisca, or Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus.
09:27: Just a quick note here, beloved. If you notice in Christ Jesus, in the Lord, in Christ, you're going to see that theme all the way through here because the service is rendered unto
09:37: God himself. Who risks their necks for my life, to whom not only
09:44: I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. This couple pops up a lot in the
09:51: New Testament. Most of the time it's Priscilla and Aquila, but it's switched a couple of the other times. They show up in Corinth in Acts 18.
09:59: They show up at Ephesus. They show up at Rome. They made tents along with Paul and there was just a bond there.
10:05: And some people say, well, why was Priscilla listed first? We don't really know. Maybe social standing.
10:11: Maybe she converted first. Maybe out of courtesy, as one Bible commentary says.
10:17: That's not really important. But this couple worked their fingers to the bone and they did it at the risk of their own necks.
10:27: Paul says, I had an intimate relationship with them. Greet them. Verse 5, greet also the church in their house.
10:37: Greet my beloved Eponatitus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. As you know, they met in houses back in those days.
10:47: They didn't have big buildings. And if they had money for a building, they wouldn't spend it on a building. They'd spend it most likely on trying to buy slaves freedom or feed the poor.
10:59: Buildings to meet in didn't show up really in the Roman Empire until about the third century. Paul, just loving these people, greet them.
11:07: Verse 6, greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. I like it, as Lewis Johnson calls her,
11:15: Mary the toiler. Because she just worked. How'd you like to be known as Mary the hard worker?
11:21: This is the word for work that means to sweat and to toil. I mean, I know other Marys in the world.
11:27: Bloody Mary. Here's hardworking Mary. Of course, when I was younger, you know, are you working hard or are you hardly working?
11:34: She was a hard worker to this point of sweat and exhaustion. You know what
11:41: I like? Just as Scott prayed earlier, you know, the
11:47: Lord sees your work for ministry, doesn't he? Maybe no one else does. Maybe nobody else will ever say, add a boy girl or add a girl boy or good job.
11:55: I noticed, way to go. We should encourage. But the Lord sees it all. Paul even got to see this hard work.
12:04: This is the kind of work that an athlete does in training. And he keeps going in verse 7. Greed and dronicus and Junia.
12:12: The second word might be feminine. We're not quite sure. This might be a couple. My kinsmen and my fellow prisoners.
12:21: Probably in prison with Paul. Which prison? Well, just depends on what town Paul was in because he showed up at a town and he said,
12:28: I have two questions, right? Question one, where's the synagogue? Question two, where's the jail? Because I'll be at the first one. Then I'll be at the second one in that order.
12:36: They're well known to the apostles, verse 7, and they were in Christ before me. They got saved before me and their ministry shine so brightly that the apostles noticed.
12:49: The word well known there is the word marked. In a negative sense, it would be that person's a marked man.
12:59: Barabbas was a marked man. But here's in a good sense. She's marked out. We notice.
13:05: Boy, all the ladies there, the ministry that has to be built on the hard work of ladies serving.
13:15: Paul noticed that. Well, he's greeting some other folks too. Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the
13:26: Lord. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ.
13:32: We all know it's a joy to serve the Lord, but sometimes it's just plain work. It's hard. And my beloved
13:38: Stachys. Greet Apellas, who is approved in Christ.
13:46: Greet those who belong to the family of... I have my little pronunciation there.
13:56: Aristobulus. It wasn't too bad, was it? All right. Some think that was the grandson of Herod the
14:01: Great. We're not too sure. Greet my kinsman Herodian, verse 11.
14:07: Greet those in the Lord. Notice that in the Lord, in Christ. In the Lord. Who belong to the family of Narcissus.
14:16: Maybe that family is the family that served the emperor Claudius. Greet those workers in the
14:22: Lord. I'm going to tell you what these words mean in the original. Dainty and delicate. We got a couple ladies.
14:28: Some think sisters. Some think maybe they could be twins. I want you to greet dainty and delicate.
14:34: It's kind of nice. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the
14:41: Lord. You see this theme of these hardworking ladies and a few hardworking men.
14:49: The Greek word is kapiao. It means to sweat and to toil. Just exhausted.
14:57: Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord. Also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.
15:05: Isn't that nice? Chosen in the Lord. It could mean elect, like God elects you in eternity past.
15:12: But most likely it's the way we would use the word today. Boy, that's a choice guy.
15:17: That's a choice cut of meat. That's a chosen, especially chosen.
15:26: You can study Mark 15 if you'd like and Luke 23 another time to see if Rufus is the son of Simon of Cyrene, as some think.
15:38: Of course, every believer is chosen. But Rufus was chosen in the general sense. Well, we have some other people.
15:45: Verse 14. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them.
15:59: Maybe this is a house church. Greet Philogagus, which means word lover.
16:10: One commentary this week said he was a word lover. It probably means he liked the word of God.
16:16: But then this commentator said maybe he really liked word studies, doing word studies of the Bible.
16:22: Maybe. Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them.
16:34: And you know, Paul in his tender oriental versus occidental way says, greet one another with what?
16:43: Firm handshake. Pat on the back. That's not how they greeted each other then.
16:49: Greet one another with a holy kiss. Nothing weird about the kiss. Nothing improper about the kiss.
16:55: This is a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Open arms.
17:03: Love. Bring in close. The kiss of peace.
17:13: A couple thoughts before we get into the next section. I have to tell you that I'm encouraged that God knows individual sinners that he saves by grace.
17:22: He knows their name. He knows their name.
17:29: To think that he would know my name. He cares for individual sinners. That's why this whole idea of he likes groups of people, and it's a general love, and just like only a nation love.
17:41: No individual names he knows. And you know, the thing is,
17:48: I might not be listed in Romans 16. I sure wish I would be. I guess we can't add to scripture because Revelation condemns that.
17:55: But you know what? I'm in a book. I'm in God's book. And if you're a
18:00: Christian today, guess what? Your name's in his book. How about this? Philippians 4.
18:06: Yes, I also ask you, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.
18:18: You might not be in the book of Romans, but your name is written in the book of life. Revelation 3 .5,
18:25: the one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot out his name of the book of life.
18:34: Aren't you glad your names are written in the book of life? Revelation 21, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the
18:44: Lamb's book of life. That's the encouraging part. Let me just give you a little pastoral preaching part.
18:53: If Paul were to see your ministry, what would he write about you? He only had just a little section or he was going to try to commend you to other people.
19:02: And if Paul could write about the ministry that God gave you, what would he write about you? What do you say?
19:08: Hard worker. What do you say? Choice servant. What do you say?
19:14: She just serves the Lord by the grace of God.
19:22: We want to be the kind of people that were on that list. Not because we want to earn our salvation, but because we are saved.
19:36: Then all of a sudden, something wild happens. Something so out of step with Romans 16 that some say, yeah, we know it sounds like Paul.
19:49: Yeah, we know it's in all the major manuscripts, but this is so out of step with Paul. These next few verses can't be from Paul because we go from greet everyone with a holy kiss, love and kindness to stand, take a look and swallow hardly.
20:14: Now, I don't know about you men who are married. My guess is every one of you, if your bride was being attacked,
20:20: I think you'd stand up for her, wouldn't you? I hope you'd throw yourself in front of the person trying to attack your wife, to try to sully your bride, to try to go after her.
20:34: When danger comes, you stand in front and you lay down your life to protect your bride. To what degree?
20:41: Probably unto death. By the way, if you're not married and you're a young man, how to what degree would you protect your mother if something was causing harm to your mother?
20:54: I remember once I went to a pretty dangerous place and I was taking Haley, and the night before I was to fly to this dangerous place, someone called me and said, by the way, watch out for Haley.
21:08: Don't let her out of your sights. Guard her, protect her. I thought, thanks a lot.
21:18: Are my tickets refundable? I've been in some dangerous places with my family.
21:26: And I'm not the one who's supposed to be walking from, you know, leading from behind in those dangerous places.
21:33: To lay down my life to guard the bride. Why?
21:38: Because it's right duty, honor, loyalty, and love to guard the bride.
21:46: Here's my question before we get into the section that really just makes you stand back and look.
21:53: Would you do anything less to guard the bride of Christ? Say, well,
22:00: I want to guard my physical bride. But what about the bride of Christ? Do you know the church is called the bride of Christ?
22:07: You know, the church is called Christ's bride. It says in Ephesians 5, just as Christ loved the church, talking about wives and gave himself up for her.
22:24: Christ loves the church. In this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
22:35: Romans, God demonstrates his love toward us. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
22:43: The church is valuable to God. The church is worthy of protection. The church is important.
22:50: And that's why Paul says in Romans 14 and 15, you have to have church unity. He says in chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Corinthians, enough already about church unity.
23:01: But Paul knows it's very important. Paul's words out of nowhere, it seems, are reverberatingly shocking because they talk about those who would try to hurt the bride of Christ.
23:16: And this is language here that's not give them a warm kiss. This is language that's going to be toward the end of the section, driven by Satan, satanically energized, something from the devil because God loves the church.
23:33: He wants the church protected. And Paul knew what was going to be happening in Rome.
23:38: And we'll talk about that in Philippians 1 in a little bit. Let's read verses 17 through 20.
23:46: And I want you to think of these verses, especially in light of two things. We welcome the weak.
23:52: We open our arms to the weak. We kiss the servants of the Lord. And what do we do with people who try to divide the church?
24:00: Jesus' church. Romans 16, 17, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught.
24:17: Avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.
24:26: And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you.
24:37: But you could turn it up. But I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
24:45: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our
24:50: Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Out of nowhere, this comes.
24:59: Let me give you five questions to ask yourself that will help you understand the passage and then help you obey what it says.
25:09: By the grace of God. And of course, we realize it has to be by the grace of God, doesn't it? Because this is after Romans 3, 4, and 5.
25:17: In other words, we're justified by Christ's life, death, and work, confirmed by the resurrection.
25:23: And in light of that, we say, God, I give myself wholly unto you, Romans chapter 12. Question number one.
25:32: Do you scope out divisive people? Do you scope out divisive people?
25:38: When I say scope, I mean to look at, to watch for. It's where we get the word laparoscope.
25:44: It's where we get the word telescope. It's where we get the word. What's another scope?
25:51: Microscope. It's where we get the word bishop. They scope out, episkopos. They look, they see.
25:57: I got my eyes on you. That's what the word scope means. And in the
26:02: ESV, it's translated to watch out. There are some people you give holy kisses to.
26:10: There's other people that you have to watch. You have to keep your eye on them. You have to remain alert.
26:18: Friends, if the Lord loves the church, you know, the enemy, capital E, hates the church.
26:25: And he has all kinds of ways to try to attack the bride. And you know what
26:32: I think Paul's doing here? And I think the language is aggressive, but I'll use it to make the point. When someone wants to come along, and these particular false teachers here in Romans, and wants to rape the bride, then
26:49: Paul says, you better be on the lookout. You better watch out. Scope them out. This is a present tense, which just means keep on looking.
26:59: There's dangers everywhere. I'm overseas with Haley, walking down the street. And I remember when
27:05: I was over there, I'm thinking I just got to kind of keep on guard. And you know, that kind of thing makes you tired, but you just think
27:10: I have to do it because I'm trying to protect my daughter. And when it's time to use the restroom, you're going into the men's restroom with me because I got to keep my eyes out on everybody.
27:24: Now, these people here in Romans, I believe, because it says in verse 17, who cause the dissensions and create the obstacles.
27:34: It was a group of false teachers, and they were teaching things contrary to what
27:41: Paul had taught them. Maybe they were saying, you know, Jesus isn't God. You can earn your own righteousness.
27:48: Jesus wasn't really raised from the dead. He wasn't really God and man. Scriptures aren't sufficient.
27:56: Jesus didn't propitiate the wrath of God. We're not really sure exactly, but these are more false teachers.
28:04: And Paul is identifying them saying, watch out for these false teachers who will come.
28:10: 2 Peter 2 says they secretly introduce destructive heresies. Paul says, remember what
28:17: I taught you in Romans? When people try to teach the opposite of Romans 1 through 15, you got to be out of the lookout for those people because they're trying to divide.
28:28: Just how important is church unity? Listen to John 17, the prayer of Jesus. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you
28:41: Father are in me and I in you, that they may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
28:48: I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
28:56: The unity of the church is important. And so Paul says, these people are going to try to divide.
29:03: So Paul says, watch out. James Montgomery Boyce wrote this, often these people who show up in a congregation suddenly, usually from another church where they have also caused trouble, though they give no indication of that when they come, they're knowledgeable and they usually have considerable abilities.
29:28: Now, what I'm not saying is every person who comes from another church, you better examine them, scope them out and challenge them.
29:37: But what Paul says is, keep on the lookout for people who not are visitors, not from other churches, but people who do what?
29:45: Cause division. Question two, do you shun divisive people?
29:54: Question one, do you scope out? Thought we'd do a little alliteration today. Do you scope out divisive people?
29:59: Number two, do you shun divisive people? What does the text say at the very end of verse 17?
30:06: Contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught, which is the book of Romans. Then he says what? For weak people, welcome them.
30:16: For hard workers in the Lord, give them the holy kiss. For here, what does it say about these false teachers?
30:23: Let's just have a little friendly discussion. Let's get together and talk. That's exactly what they want to do.
30:29: What's the text say? Avoid them. Do not follow. People that promote alienations and contentions aren't to be debated,
30:38: John MacArthur said, they're to be denounced. Turn away. It means if you turn your ear really close to someone to hear, and by the way, my hearing is just the worst these days.
30:49: I mean, that's all my family hears over and over now is what? What did you say? It's like I have to listen in.
30:55: When you have to lean in to listen, Paul says it's the opposite. Instead of lean in to listen, you don't have to put the arm out and say, no,
31:01: I don't want to get any, I'm not getting close to you. I need to have wide berth. That's what avoid means. It's present tense.
31:10: Why? Because unity is important. The bride of Christ is important. Jesus loves the bride.
31:17: And then there are going to be people who try to sully the bride. Avoid. It's the same word used in 1
31:23: Peter 3. Turn away from evil. You say, but yeah, they seem nice.
31:30: Seem friendly. William Newell said, and he's very level headed, of those who cause divisions, hear these false teachers and evil workers.
31:41: He says, mad dogs are shot. Infectious diseases are quarantined.
31:48: But evil teachers who would divide to their destruction and draw away the saints with teaching contrary to the doctrine of Christ and his apostles are everywhere tolerated.
32:00: Even the loving apostle John says, if anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching that Jesus is
32:05: God incarnate, do not receive him into your what? House nor give him a greeting.
32:15: Question three. Do you see the motives of divisive people? Scope out, shun, see.
32:22: Do you see the motives and strategies of divisive people? Verse 18. Now remember,
32:28: Paul has just written, good job, work hard in the Lord, promoting his church, building up the body of Christ.
32:36: Commendation. And he was commending people who, of course, were less than practically perfect. But he says something here.
32:43: You get to see the inside scoop of church splitters, dividers. For such persons do not serve our
32:50: Lord Christ. I don't care what they say, Paul says. For such persons, you know what?
32:58: People of that ilk. That's kind of like a disdain. That's, you know, if you ever said to your wife, you know, your kids are disobeying.
33:05: You kind of have a little contempt, you know, that they're your kids and disassociate yourself. But this is really when
33:11: Paul says such persons. There's some contempt in there for these imposters who are attacking
33:20: Christ's bride. They don't serve our Lord Christ. Because if they serve the
33:25: Lord, the master, the sovereign Christ, they would protect the bride. They wouldn't cause divisions. They would do things according to the
33:32: Bible. They're attacking the bride of Christ. And what does it say here?
33:38: They don't serve the Lord Christ, but their own what? Bellies or their own appetites.
33:45: They want to influence. And by smooth talk, they say really nice things.
33:52: They seem sincere, but Paul says they're bent on self -gratification. They deceive the hearts of the naive.
34:03: Paul says, you know, the mature ones, these dividers are easily seen by the mature.
34:10: But, you know, there's some naive ones. There's immature people in the church, and they fall into this because they don't really think big picture about unity and the bride.
34:18: They're thinking about people and friends and even their own self -interests.
34:25: These people use talk to deceive and talk to flatter.
34:32: The present tense is there. They keep on deceiving the hearts of the simple. Philippians 1, it says, be firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
34:49: 1 Corinthians 1 10 says, I exhort you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and there be no divisions among you, that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
35:04: Now, there's the kind of false teacher that wants to divide the church with doctrine contrary to Romans 1 to 15.
35:13: And I think that's mainly what Paul is talking about. But certainly, there's a great application, isn't there? For anyone who says,
35:21: I see people who try to divide the body of Christ. I could put it this way.
35:26: Is any division in the body of Christ good, whether it comes from a false teacher or whether it comes from another
35:33: Christian? Of course, the answer is no. And these days,
35:41: I've been thinking a lot about some verses. Now, if you were going to fill in the blank, and I was going to do kind of a kid's
35:49: Iwana council time. Proverbs 6, there are six things which the
35:55: Lord hates. Yes, seven, which are an abomination to him. If you'd have to pick seven things that the
36:02: Lord hates, and that's just language, it's poetic language. That means I'm going to give you a list. It's not an exhaustive list.
36:07: But the last one's the one that's got the exclamation point. Six things the Lord hates. Yes, even seven.
36:13: What would you come up with that the Lord hates? I'd come up with things like abortion. I'd come up with things like Deuteronomy 12, human sacrifice.
36:26: Sacrificing defective animals. Deuteronomy 18, the occult. 1
36:31: Kings 14, prostitution, ritual prostitution. But what does the Bible say in Romans?
36:38: Solomon writes, this is what God hates. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.
36:45: A heart that deceives wicked plans. Feet that run rapidly to evil. A false witness who utters lies.
36:55: And one who spreads strife among the brothers. Why is it so hateful?
37:03: Because it attacks the bride of Christ. Gossip divides.
37:09: Slanders divide. They try to make themselves look good by making other people look bad.
37:18: They ignore Proverbs 18. The first to plead his case seems right. Until another comes and examines him.
37:29: Proverbs 16, they forget about a dishonest man spreads strife. And a whisper separates what?
37:36: Close friends. Bethlehem Bible Church doesn't have a problem with false teachers creeping in.
37:44: But I think there is some problem with not necessarily even gossip. But there is a problem with receiving gossip.
37:54: Receiving slander. The Bible says of gossip and slander, it is the antithesis of righteousness.
38:02: It is the antithesis of faithfulness. It is the product of a corrupt mind.
38:07: It is used by wicked people. It stirs up trouble. It breaks relationships. It causes anger.
38:15: It is diabolic, contrary to the character of God. It is ego enhancing.
38:21: And the one that I would add is it destroys the body of Christ. The bride of Christ. There's a way to deal with sin in a local church.
38:32: It's called Matthew 18, which tries to minimize the effects of sin.
38:37: But what does gossip do? Gossip maximizes the effect of sin. Say, well, it's not gossip or slander if it's true.
38:51: If you say that, may I suggest to you that you're the naive person that Romans 16 talks about. I read this week, 1828 edition of his dictionary,
39:02: Noah Webster. Slander. A false tale or report maliciously uttered, tending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizens, by exposing him to impeachment or punishment.
39:20: I also read this week by Ken Sand, who deals with church's resolving conflict.
39:27: Even if the information you discuss is true, gossip is always sinful and a sign of spiritual immaturity.
39:37: Friends, I think we all know gossip is sin, but I want you to know that reception of gossip is also sin.
39:46: When someone steals somebody's property, for you to take that property, the reception of stolen goods is just as much sin.
39:58: What do we do with church dividers? We confront them. We shun them if they don't repent.
40:04: Listen to what John Wesley said. He made a covenant with other ministers who were Methodists in 1752.
40:10: Here was this covenant. This is what I'd like to be the covenant of Bethlehem Bible Church when it comes to church unity and the bride of Christ.
40:19: We will not listen or willingly inquire after ill concerning one another. That if we do hear any will of each other, we will not be forward to believe it.
40:29: That as soon as possible, we will communicate what we hear by speaking or writing to the person concerned.
40:36: That until we have done this, we will not write or speak a syllable of it to another person.
40:42: That neither will we mention it after we have done this to any other person, that we will not make an exception to any of these rules.
40:52: See, he understood the importance of Christ's church and the bride. If you have a problem with someone, you go to them.
41:01: If someone comes to you about someone else, then you say, certainly friend, I don't think you mean to be divisive, do you?
41:09: Or satanically energized, do you? Or I don't think you're trying to say to me that you think
41:14: I'm naive and immature, but I can't handle this. I don't want this. This isn't right.
41:20: It doesn't edify. It's not doing the right thing. I'm not part of the problem or solution. I'm going to hold you accountable to go to that person you just gossiped about.
41:31: Don't be Satan's pawn. There's a story about a rabbi who had been slandered, and the man finally came to him and said, please forgive me.
41:40: I want to make amends. The rabbi in the story of the folklore said, take two pillows, go to the public square, cut the pillows open, wave them in the air, and then come back.
41:50: The rumor monger quickly went home, got two pillows and a knife, hastened to the square, cut the pillows open, waved them in the air, and hastened back to the rabbi's chambers.
41:59: I did just what you said, rabbi. Good. Now, to realize how much harm is done by the gossip, go back to the square and collect all your feathers.
42:13: Question four, we've got to have two more questions. Question four, are you surging in discernment?
42:19: Verse 19. Your obedience, he says, to the Church of Rome is known to all, but they can step it up a little bit.
42:26: This is tied to division so you can see it better, so you understand Christ's unity and his bride better.
42:33: I want you to be wise as to what is good, and innocent as to what is evil. And as you grow in Christ, you gossip less, you hear gossip less, you divide less, you strengthen more.
42:46: And then finally, question five, are you self -reliant or self -confident?
42:52: Scope out, shun, see the motives, surge in discernment, and are you self -reliant?
42:58: Friends, who could do all this on their own? Who is adequate for these things?
43:05: How can we do all these things? This is a hard, this is difficult. It goes against what we've been taught or what we feel.
43:13: And here comes the great helper. Look at the
43:19: God of peace. What a great name for God. In the middle of all division, God wants peace.
43:25: God knows God will soon crush Satan. There's spiritual warfare going on.
43:33: And here we have a little allusion to Genesis chapter three. He's going to soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of the
43:39: Lord Jesus be with you all. God is alive. God is active. And He's more active than gossipers, and He's more active than people who receive slander.
43:49: Satan will eventually make it to the lake of fire. And the man and the person that's named the slander
43:54: Satan, the bride hater, the ultimate originator of division, will be gone.
44:02: The Lord is peace. Well, Paul says then at the end, he says,
44:12: Timothy, my fellow worker, greet you. So do Lucius and Jason, and so Scipiter, my kinsman.
44:18: I, Tertitus, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. Paul had him write that. His name is number three, by the way.
44:26: Gaius, who is the host to me and to the whole church, greet you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother number four, greet you.
44:33: That was an easy way to name kids back in those days. Just name them by number. I'm number three, number two, number six, number 14.
44:42: Number three wrote the letter. Number four's greeted. Who's adequate for all these things of service in 12, and submission to government in 13, helping weaker brothers and sisters in 14 and 15, putting up with the stronger brothers who seem arrogant, dealing with issues in a local church?
45:03: The gospel saves people, but it also strengthens people. You want to be strengthened?
45:08: You go back and replay the gospel, the gospel, the gospel. And look at what he says here in verse 25.
45:15: Now to him who is able to strengthen you, to make you firm, to say no to temptations, yes to righteousness, yes to build up the church, yes to help the weak.
45:25: He's able to strengthen you according to my what? Gospel. The gospel just doesn't save, it strengthens.
45:34: And the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed.
45:43: We didn't know all these details before God knew, but then he disclosed them over time with progressive revelation.
45:48: And through the prophetic writings has been made known, not to just Jews, but to the Jews first, and then the Gentiles, to all nations, according to the command of the eternal
45:57: God to bring about the obedience of faith. To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ.
46:06: Amen. What a great gospel. I close with a story about John White, who was a psychiatrist at a hospital serving a man he called
46:16: Howard. This man was diagnosed and admitted for psychotic issues, given medicine for weeks, no improvement, given electroconvulsive treatment, still nothing happened.
46:29: And then the doctor, John White, talked to the man about Christ Jesus. This man had done things in the
46:35: World War II, and he didn't know about forgiveness. What about forgiveness? The psychiatrist asked him.
46:41: I want it so bad. What's your religion? Russian Orthodox. What does your priest say about how you get to be forgiven?
46:51: Well, he doesn't talk too much. We go to confession. And what does that do? I don't go often.
46:57: The doctor said, but if you do go, why would God forgive you? The only answer
47:03: God would forgive you is not because of confession, but because Christ died. He shed blood. I'm too bad for that,
47:11: Howard said. Psychiatrist said, unaccountably, I grew angry. No logical reason, it just happened.
47:17: What do you mean you're too bad? I don't deserve to be forgiven. I got angrier.
47:23: You're darn right you don't. Yes, but doctor, I can't be a hypocrite. I've got to make amends.
47:30: Who are you to say that Christ's death was not enough for you? Who are you to feel you must add your miserable pittance to God's great gift
47:39: He offers you? Is His sacrifice not good enough for the likes of you? The staring turned into crying.
47:52: And this man's first prayer, before he knew prayer talk, went something like this.
48:00: God, I didn't know. I'm real sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.
48:07: Box of Kleenex passed. God, thank you. It's amazing.
48:13: I didn't know it worked like that. But God, I don't know much.
48:20: Gee, God, I don't know how to say it. Thank you. Thanks an awful lot. Gee, God, thank you.
48:33: The doctor prayed, wiped his face with the Kleenex and heard the man say,
48:38: Doc, thanks a lot. How come nobody ever told me before? And you've been told.
48:46: We can't add anything to grace. Jesus paid it all, all to Him. Father, thank you that you have inclined our hearts and eyes to worship the lamb who was slain, who is now standing in heaven.
49:07: Thank you that you purchased us out of every tribe and tongue and nation. And Father, we just pray that we would honor you with our lives, our words.
49:18: You'd use Bethlehem Bible Church in a great way that you would keep us unified and serving you.
49:25: Father, help us to be men and women of the book and men and women who respond to your salvation with wonder, love, and praise.