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Romans 9-16

Conclusion

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 30 November 2025 · Romans 15:14-16:27 · 1:01:05 · 10,510 words

Romans S32 · 15:14-16:27 Grand Blanc

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon concludes Romans by examining Paul's final words, emphasizing his confidence in the believers' identity as God's family, their goodness, and their knowledge of Scripture. It shows how Paul's grace and his call to the Gentiles shaped his ministry as an offering to God. The message also warns against false teachers who use flattering speech to deceive, urging listeners to be wise and simple concerning evil. Ending with God's promise to crush Satan, the preacher invites anyone who does not yet know Christ to turn to him now.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

people 110 try 49 miracle 16 goal 19 offer 24 wolf 6 lord 80 decide 14 pull 15 false 13 aim 8 brethren 7

Topics

The Gospel 10 Faith 4 Mission & Evangelism 2 Prayer 2 Grace 2 Salvation 1 Hope 1 The Holy Spirit 1 Israel 1 Death & Resurrection 1 The Law 1

Scripture referenced 39

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 15 1:10 Romans 15 1:26 Romans 15:14 1:28 Romans 1 4:11 Romans 16 4:14 Romans 16:14 5:15 Romans 16:14 5:23 Romans 16:14 8:34 Romans 16:14 9:36 Romans 16:14 10:02 Romans 16:15 10:22 Romans 16:16 14:33 Romans 16:17 21:04 Romans 16:18 23:21 Romans 16:19 24:44 Romans 16:19 28:55 Romans 16:19 28:55 Romans 16:20 35:16 Romans 16:20 36:58 Romans 16:20 37:08 Romans 16:22 38:21 Romans 16:23 38:22 Romans 16:22 38:30 Romans 15:30 39:31 Romans 15:32 39:56 Romans 16 40:18 Romans 16:1-2 40:27 Romans 16:3-16 41:22 Romans 16:16 41:29 Romans 16:17 41:41 Romans 16:17 42:41 Romans 16:17 43:02 Romans 16:17 49:38 Romans 16:17 49:42 Romans 16:18 55:05 Romans 16:19 57:46 Romans 16:20 57:56 Romans 16:20 58:39 Romans 16:25 59:04

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 13 lines, 0:41. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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All right.

Well, good morning again to you.

Good morning to all of you joining us again online.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

You know, even through all the difficulty of life,

there is much to be thankful for.

Hope you were able to pause and reflect on those things.

This morning, we come to the end of the book of Romans.

So if you have a Bible, I am going to ask you to open it up to Romans chapter 15.

And we began Romans 30 weeks ago today.

And we bring it to an end this morning.

Romans chapter 15.

And we're going to begin in verse 14 here in just a moment where we left off last week.

But before we do, let's just one more time, let's prepare our hearts.

Let's go to the Lord, ask him to speak today.

Okay, Lord, we just need you.

We ask for you to open your word to us.

We pray you would help us to hear from you, Lord.

We need you.

We look to you now.

We pray you would speak.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

When was the last time you wrote someone a letter?

If I've been a while, I would think.

After Bible college, I moved back home to Michigan.

I wrote letters often, weekly, sometimes multiple times a week

to my best friend and future wife, Aralia.

I would write, I would tell her about all the different things going on in my life,

in my world, updates on things I had already told her, and she would do the same.

She would write to me and tell me the things going on.

And we would wait for letters to show up in this thing called the mailbox.

Right.

And so every day I would go to the mailbox hoping that there was a letter from her there.

And man, just so excited when there was.

And some of you are like, well, why didn't you just text her?

And the answer is texting didn't exist.

I'm old and no one asked you.

Okay, so stop being so judgy.

Anyway, so anyway, I still have those letters.

And from time to time, we look at them.

And one of the things that I see in letters that we wrote is something that Paul actually

does here at the end of Romans.

It's sort of like after I said all the main stuff I was trying to say, there was like

a bunch of things at the end that were just sort of...

It was sort of like, oh, and this and also this and this, you know, this is happening.

And so just kind of a little rapid fire of everything I felt like she needed to know

right there at the end of the letter.

And so it was like, you know, this is coming up and mom and dad say hi and don't forget

this when you come to visit and, you know, make sure you listen to this song.

It's really cool.

And right, like, so all this stuff was like at the end of the letter.

That's sort of like what happens here at the end of Romans.

It's like what Paul is doing.

The main things have really been said.

Now he sort of rapid fires these like, oh, yeah, don't forget about this.

Oh, yeah, this is really important.

Oh, yeah, say hi to these people, that sort of thing.

Okay.

And so that's what the end of Romans really ends up being.

Now, before you jump into it, we got to mention something, and that is that the second half

of Romans, so the first half of Romans is chapter one through eight.

Second half of Romans is nine through chapter 16.

It's been, it's been instructive.

The second half has been instructive.

But it's also been a little bit corrective.

Okay.

And so this means he has instructed them on many different things, but he has also corrected

potential issues, potential wrong thinking.

Okay.

And so it's because of this that Paul sort of anticipates that maybe when they were reading

the letter, they kind of, maybe they were feeling like maybe Paul thinks we are a problem.

Okay.

And so.

And so, you know, it'd be like if we got a letter from the apostle Paul, you know, to

the grand blank church and it was filled with instruction, but also correction, we might

think, man, have we been doing something wrong, right?

We're getting, you know, correction, but to assure them, Paul says here at the end of

the letter, he tells them what he thinks about them.

And it's really amazing.

It's really beautiful.

And he begins in verse 14.

Here's what he says.

He says that he is sure about who they are.

Okay.

He's sure about them.

Look at this verse 14.

Paul says, now I myself am confident concerning you.

The word confident there means decided.

It means I'm convinced.

And so it's a word that means that you have made up your mind about someone or about something.

And what Paul says here is, is really beautiful because he is saying he is sure about the

Roman Christians.

He is sure about the kind of people that they are, the kind of Christians.

That they are.

He's, he's like, I know who you are.

You are real Christians.

You really are followers of the Lord Jesus.

That is not in question in his mind.

He knows they are not pretenders.

They're the real deal.

He says, my mind has been made up about you.

And I would ask you, do you have people in your life that you've done this with?

You've just made up your mind about who they are.

They are your friends.

It doesn't matter what happens.

You have determined, you have decided this is who they are.

They are your family.

Maybe they're not your blood family, but you've just decided they are my family.

I have decided that's what you are now.

It is, it's done in my mind.

That's all it is from now on.

And some of those people I have just decided are my family are sitting in this room right

Right?

And so I have that people.

We just decided they are our family.

Come what way, come what may, we have made up our minds about each other.

This is what it is.

And so, but I also have people that have done the same with me.

They have decided this about me or my family, that I am their family, that I am their friend,

that they will love us come what may.

And that's what this is.

It's like, it's not in question.

It's already been decided.

It's not a matter of what anyone does or doesn't do.

It's already done.

It's a done deal.

It's been decided.

That's what Paul is saying to them now.

And you know, if there's issues, it's okay.

We're going to work together.

We're going to work out those issues, but it's not all in question.

And I can't tell you what a blessing that is for me to have people who have simply decided

this concerning you.

It's a blessing.

The opposite of this is to always be skeptical, to always keep people in your life, having

to prove themselves, to have it, you know, having to sort of, you know, it's always in

question whether they're going to be your, really your friend or really going to be your

If they do the wrong thing, maybe.

Maybe they're out, you know, that kind of thing.

That's never a blessing to anybody.

And some people, that is how they maintain relationships in their life.

It's constantly in question.

It's a matter of constant proving and always a question of whether they will stay committed

or not.

Don't do the wrong thing.

I will walk away from you.

Don't, don't say the wrong thing.

I will turn away.

And that's just, that's not a blessing at all.

This is the opposite for Paul.

Paul's saying, listen, we love you.

We know you.

He says, you.

You are our family.

Look what he says there.

He says, you are my brethren.

We are family.

What a thing to decide about another person.

You're my family.

And, and this means at the core, you are committed to them in that way.

What a beautiful thing to decide about someone else.

Second, he says he was sure about them that they were full of goodness.

The word goodness there is a word that means active goodness, active benevolence towards

other people.

And so what Paul is saying is, is I know you are doing good.

You're serving the Lord.

You're a blessing to others.

You're trying to do what is right.

And Paul knows this because he has heard of their faith.

He has seen the effects of their service to the Lord.

They are known for their service to the Lord.

He knows they are the real deal.

I love it.

So he says, I know you love the Lord.

I, I know that you're a blessing to others.

And then he says, I also know verse 14 there.

You are filled with all knowledge.

Paul knew that they knew God's word.

That's a wonderful thing to say about someone.

I know, you know, the scriptures.

I know, you know, what God says, the teaching of Jesus Christ, you know, what it is to follow

the Lord.

So again, Paul's trying to reassure them.

I'm not trying to correct you as though you are wicked.

I'm not trying to correct you as though you don't know.

It's been instruction.

It's been correction, but there's a reason he says here in verse 14, I know you're also

able to admonish one another.

You're able to correct.

You're able to warn each other.

You're able to exhort or help each other.

I know this.

I know these things, but I also, I wrote to you because you need to be reminded.

That's what he says in verse 15.

He says, nevertheless, brethren, even though I know all of this, right?

I have written more boldly to you on some points as reminding you because of the grace

given to me by God.

So what Paul writes in.

Romans is first of all, a reminder to them of things that they knew.

And for some of you, that's what Romans has been, right?

You've gone through Romans.

Now, maybe you've gone through Romans multiple times.

And so these things, they, you, you've known these things or you've learned these things

and Romans now has been a reminder to you of the things that you knew.

But, um, isn't it true that we all need to be reminded of these things?

Um, as I went through all of Romans, I was not like, oh yeah.

Yeah, I know that.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

I've been there.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I got that.

I need the reminder.

I need to hear the words of Romans.

In fact, here's what I would say.

I actually messed around in my, in my mind with an idea that maybe we just started church

and it's called Romans and we just preach Romans all day, every day, you know, because

it's like that important.

It's that impactful.

I need to live under the words of the, of Romans every day of my life.

And so Paul says, I'm writing all of these things to remind you, but also he wrote because

of the grace.

That was given to him.

You know, Paul is amazed by the kindness of God towards him.

And we talked about this a couple of weeks ago.

This is what grace does.

It, it makes us a debtor to everybody around us.

We feel like we owe a debt to others because we have been given so much because God has

We feel we, we must help others.

We feel a debt of kindness to others because God has been so kind to us.

And so Paul,

having been shown tremendous grace, he writes what is called the gospel of grace, the book

of Romans, right?

I'm going to talk about God's grace because God has shown me such grace.

But he says there's a third reason also that he wrote this letter to them and it is because

he was told to do so by the Lord Jesus.

Look at verse 16 that or so that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles

ministering the gospel of God.

This is really interesting.

Although Paul was a Hebrew, a Jewish man, uh, he, he loved the Jewish people so much.

He had a passion to see them saved.

I find it very interesting that God did not send Paul to the Jewish people, but instead

sent them, sent him to the Gentiles.

You would think, Lord, no, no, you got that backwards.

Paul should go to the Jews.

He should go to the Hebrews.

He knows them.

So well, but God sent Paul to the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people.

And early on, we see Paul, he tried to, to be a servant to the Jewish people.

He tried to bring the gospel message to his own people and, and it, it, it didn't go well,

right?

It did not go well.

And this is because Jesus sent him to the Gentiles to tell them the good news of what

Jesus had done to save us.

And so there came a point in Paul's life when he actually made the decision.

He had to decide to primarily go to the Gentiles.

Now he tried to reach Jewish people his entire life, but he primarily decided he was going

to the Gentiles.

And he began after that to see a lot of fruit.

He began to see the success of the gospel going into areas nobody else had been.

And this could be a whole message in and of itself.

But listen, to sum it up, when you are where you're supposed to be doing what you're supposed

to be doing, there's going to be fruit.

There's going to be fruit, okay?

So then Paul gives this beautiful picture of what it is for him to do what God has called

him to do there in verse 16.

Here's what he says.

He says that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy

You know, it was not easy for Paul to do what he did.

It never is.

It's never easy, anybody, to do what God wants you to do.

It's never easy.

It often means difficulty.

It means trouble.

It means sacrifice.

And this was especially true for Paul.

To go to Gentile, pagan, heathen, cult-following nations meant trouble for him, and a lot of

it.

I mean, it was hard for him.

It took a tremendous toll on him and on the people who were with him.

But there was also, as we just said a moment ago, there was also this blessing that only

comes from being where you're supposed to be, doing what you're supposed to be doing.

There's a blessing that comes in the midst of all the trouble of being where God wants

you to be and doing what he wants you to do.

But it doesn't mean that it's easy.

And so Paul gives us here a beautiful picture.

I hope this will be a help to you.

But Paul gives us a beautiful picture of what it was for him to do what God had called him

to do.

He sees it as an offering made to the Lord.

And maybe this is your story.

He sees his life as an offering to the Lord.

Like, he's going to...

The words he uses, it's like he's going...

He's going to the temple, and he's going to offer a sacrifice to God on the altar.

And the offering is not just his effort.

It's not just his trouble.

It's not just the pain and the hardship of everything he was going to go through to do

what God said.

But here we're told that the offering was also...

This is just beautiful.

It was every single Gentile believer who had turned to Christ.

It's like Paul's there.

He's there before the Lord, and he says,

Here, Lord, here they are, those that you sent me to, those I told, those that have

responded, here they are.

He's got names going through his head.

He's got faces going through his head.

Lord, I give them to you.

You sent me to them, and here they are.

They are yours.

You entrusted them to me, and here they are.

I give them to you.

What a beautiful picture this is of our work for the Lord.

What do I mean?

Again, maybe this is your story.

For you to stay where you don't want to stay, and it causes you trouble, and it's difficult,

and it's hard, and it means a lot of sacrifice, but you know it's what God wants you to do,

it's an offering to the Lord.

It can be an offering to the Lord.

For you to stay serving your husband or caring for your wife and all the effort and all the

nuances that are involved in that, it is not just that you're doing it.

It can be a daily, intentional offering that you are giving back to the Lord.

Lord, this marriage is hard, but I give every moment, I give everything to you as an offering.

Man, this changes everything when you begin to see life like this, when you begin to do

this, right?

The wife that has labored in prayer for her unsaved husband, maybe he turns to the Lord,

maybe he doesn't.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

Listen, no matter what, it is all an offering.

It is all an offering now to the Lord.

All the sleepless nights, all the time spent in prayer, all the labor, she gives not only

all of that to the Lord, but also him as an offering.

Lord, here he is, everything you've told me to do, you sent me to him, you've entrusted

me with him, you've tasked me to share your love with him, I give it all back to you as

Man, this mentality changes everything we do.

The father that has loved and served his family.

Maybe they come to love the Lord, maybe they do not.

But all of that effort, all the prayer, all the love that he has tried to show, is given

back to the Lord as an offering.

I've done what you have told me to do, Lord.

Here it is.

I give it to you.

We're not guaranteed the results, are we?

But the work we can give to the Lord, ourselves we can give to the Lord.

We're not guaranteed the result.

But man, what a beautiful motive this is.

To give to God.

Our effort, our work, all that he's given to us, sent us to do in the lives of the people

Now, as with any sacrifice, the person made the offering, but it was the Lord who either

accepted it or rejected it, right?

And so here, Paul says that he is praying that this offering of the Gentiles, he wants

it to be acceptable, a word that means well-pleasing to God.

And isn't this the goal of our lives?

Here's the question.

What do you want?

Do you want God to be well-pleased?

Is that the goal?

Is God, I don't care what everyone else says, if you are pleased, then this is good.

If everybody is pleased with me and you are not pleased, then what does it matter?

Here, Paul is saying, I've given up my whole life to do this, God.

I've gone the way you've wanted me to.

People look and say, you're crazy, Paul, to keep doing that.

I've seen people look and say, you're crazy for staying with your spouse after they've

done these things.

You're crazy for doing this.

You're crazy for doing this and staying in it.

And they say, you're crazy.

And the whole world would support you to go the other direction, but you do what God told

you to do.

And it's well-pleasing to the Lord.

It's well-pleasing.

And this is the goal, that whatever you and I give to the Lord, that he will be pleased

with it.

Your suffering given to the Lord as an offering, as you stay near him, trusting him, this is

a well-pleasing sacrifice.

But Paul knows, as we all do if we're honest, he knows that anything good has been from

the Lord.

Not himself.

So he says in verse 17, therefore, because of all of this, right?

I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in, watch this, the things which pertain to God.

So here, Paul, such an interesting verse here.

Paul glories, he rejoices, he celebrates, okay, the work that the Lord has done, watch

this, in other people's lives through him.

What an interesting thing.

Do you ever stop to celebrate?

What God has done in and through you and your life.

Do you ever stop to celebrate that?

I gotta be honest with you, I have a very hard time doing this.

I have a very hard time doing this.

If you, you know, the Lord used you, right?

You taught your kids, they grew up to know the Lord and love him.

Do you ever stop to thank him for using you in that process?

Do you ever do that?

Again, I have a really hard time doing this.

I tend to never.

In fact, Josh Combs gives me a hard time all the time.

He's like, you can never accept a compliment.

And, you know, it's like, I'm always trying to prevent pride in my heart.

And he's like, Chuck, it's okay.

Just accept the compliment.

And I'm like, no, I won't do it, you know?

Right?

It's like you're trying to prevent pride in your heart.

So you just, you can't even stop to reflect on these things.

But I would encourage you, as I had to do this week, just to reflect on some of these

things.

And really, not to, it's an every day thing.

It's not an effort to lift ourselves up.

It's to lift the Lord up.

Paul's doing it in the right way.

He's celebrating what God has done.

What God has done through his life in the lives of other people.

So again, he's seeing faces of people that have turned to Christ.

He is seeing people that the Lord sent him to.

He's thanking the Lord for these things.

It's beautiful.

And he's careful to say, this is not a celebration of his work.

It is what has been done in Christ, right?

So it's Jesus's work.

It's only the things which pertain to God's work.

So Paul, again, not celebrating himself.

He's celebrating the Lord's work through his effort in life.

So he says in verse 18, for I will never, I will not dare to speak of any of those things

which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient.

So Paul's saying, I will never talk about my own effort.

In other words, if it's just Paul's effort, if it's just human accomplishment, it's not

even worth mentioning.

What's the point in even talking about it?

But what God does is amazing.

And so Paul says, I'm going to celebrate that.

Have you ever seen God move?

Maybe that's a broad question, but you know it because it's clear that God is at work

and it cannot be people.

Have you ever been aware of that?

It was like you're driving down the road and you're aware of it, or you're somewhere and

you're aware of God sort of invading whatever that is and moving and working.

Isn't it amazing when God is working and moving?

It's so clearly him.

It's so clearly not people.

It's so clearly God that is working.

This is what Paul is celebrating.

We came in and we began to share and God began to move and people's lives were rescued.

This is worth celebrating.

Well, it's evidence there in verse 19, God moving, not people.

He says it's in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of God.

Very simply.

Paul saying, uh, God moving and it's, it's yes.

Miracles of God's power in, in people's lives, evidence of him working and moving.

And, and listen, it can be definitely miracles as we think of them, but please hear this.

This is so important to hear the mighty signs and wonders of God.

Please hear this.

They are seen everywhere today.

They are all over this room.

It is the transforming.

Formed lives of people.

That's the mighty signs and wonders.

You see the greatest miracle.

Please hear this.

That can ever occur is not someone being healed from cancer or their site being restored or,

or, you know, someone's life being protected in a car accident.

Those are, those are amazing things, right?

We hear those things.

We go, man, that's a miracle that that occurred.

Listen, those are miraculous for sure because God intervened, but the great, that those

are nowhere near the greatest miracle.

That could ever occur.

The greatest in your miracle that, that can ever take place that ever occurs happens right

inside your heart.

When a person finally sees their need for salvation, this is the greatest miracle that

can ever occur.

When they finally see that they need the Lord and they turn to him for salvation, finally

receiving what he has been trying to give them.

The miracle of all miracles has occurred.

A person, the Bible says, passes from death to life.

Literally raised from the dead to newness of life.

That is the greatest miracle.

A person moves from darkness to light.

A person moves from being lost to found.

And this is what Jesus was talking about when he pointed to the miracles that he did.

Watch this.

Jesus pointed to the miracles he did and then said to his disciples, most assuredly, I say

to you, he who believes in me, watch this, the works that I do, he will do and greater

works than these.

He will do and see, um, here greater works than what Jesus did.

What is a greater work than what Jesus did?

He raised Lazarus from the dead.

What is greater than that?

The answer is your life.

He has raised you from the dead.

Lazarus died again.

You will live forever.

God has rescued you, right?

The lives of people.

Listen, we, it's not healing illnesses.

It's not saving people's lives for a few years.

It's not even, it's not saving people's lives for a few years.

It's not even restoring sight to the blind so that they could see again.

The greatest miracle.

It's the preaching of the gospel that will save a person's soul forever.

And listen, some people get this all wrong in the church, all wrong.

They want to be like little miracle workers.

You ever met, um, people that are, uh, have this view, right?

They are, they are healers.

Got this idea, right?

That they are little Christ's on the earth, that, uh, whatever Jesus did, they can do.

They have completely misunderstood this.

We don't need them going around trying to raise the dead.

We don't need them going around trying to restore sight to the blind.

We don't need them going around trying to heal people of their illnesses.

Jesus said, there are greater works that you're going to do.

And that greater work is the gospel message.

It is sharing the gospel with the lost.

The miracle is people being saved forever.

This is so much more important than, than sight or so much more important than physical illness.

And so, so this is why Paul says in the rest of verse 19 here, he says, listen, verse 19.

So that from Jerusalem and roundabout to I lyric him, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Please notice what Paul went everywhere sharing.

He did not go around with a healing ministry.

Paul didn't do that.

Paul did not go around with a miracle ministry.

He didn't do that.

He didn't go around with signs and wonders.

He was not on a prophecy tour, a political tour.

A humanitarian tour.

Paul could have been about so many things.

What was he about?

He went everywhere he could with the message that saves forever.

He went with the gospel, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The good news of what Jesus did to save us.

This was Paul's message.

He did not do what many Christians do.

He did not go to other Christians trying to convert them to pet doctrines.

You think, really?

Oh, it happens.

So many Christians do this.

They do not preach the gospel to the lost.

They instead only try to convert Christians to their particular doctrinal views.

If this is you, stop it.

It's a waste of time.

Take the gospel to the lost.

That's the message.

That's all this is.

It's a waste of time to do these things when we are trying to convince other Christians of our particular views.

Our view of election, or free will, or our view of the end times, or politics, or whatever.

Listen, no one cares.

No one cares.

It's a huge waste of time.

Because, here's the thing.

It makes you feel like you're doing something because you're actually doing nothing.

You're doing nothing.

You're ranting about things that don't accomplish anything.

They're doing nothing.

But you feel like you're doing something.

I'm going to get everybody to believe the same thing I believe about how evil the government is.

Leader of the country, or this country, or that country.

Who cares?

No one cares.

You're the only one.

You're distracted as anything.

No one cares.

They really don't.

You're not doing anything.

If you put half the effort into trying to reach lost people, you will do something that actually means something, right?

I'm going to get every Christian around me to believe in a pre-trib rapture view.

Happens to be my view.

I do believe in a pre-tribulational rapture view.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, one day you're going to disappear if you're a follower of Jesus Christ.

We can high-five each other in the air.

And it'll be fantastic.

But listen, who cares?

No one.

Seriously, no one.

It's not that we can't talk about these things, but don't make it your mission to convert other Christians to these things.

Make your mission to take the gospel to the lost.

Not trying to convert Christian people to stupid things.

That is not the gospel.

That's not the mission.

Don't you want to be able to say what Paul says here?

What a wonderful thing to be able to say.

I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

It means the gospel has been my message.

The salvation of lost people has been my mission.

And he's saying here he has done what God wanted him to.

And so can you say this?

That's the question.

Can you say this?

Really think about it.

The Lord has sent you to the people in your life.

He hasn't sent you into the whole world.

He's only sent you into your world.

Your boss.

Your co-worker.

Your family members.

He has sent you into your world.

And he has said,

This is what I want.

This is what I want you to do.

This is your mission.

Not to convert everybody to weird views or ideas.

But preach the gospel.

Can you say with Paul,

I have fully preached the gospel of Jesus to the people in my life.

Or are there people in your life?

Are there people that you have never really shared the gospel with them?

Maybe you've said a few things,

you know,

subtle things here or there.

But it's not been the gospel.

It's not been full.

It's not been complete.

The question, right?

You're like,

Well, you know,

they know where I stand.

Do they?

So we as Christians,

so often have so little understanding.

You're assuming an unsaved person has that level of understanding.

They knew.

I've given the example before.

They know the full gospel that they are unsaved people separated from God forever in need of salvation,

cannot save themselves,

have to turn to him in repentance and belief.

They know all of that because you smile at them in the morning.

Not a chance.

Have you fully preached the gospel to the people around you?

Can you say it about your kids at whatever age they are?

Can you?

Say it about your spouse?

Can you say it about your parents,

your family members,

your coworkers,

your neighbors,

your friends on and on?

We could go right.

The people in your life.

The question comes down to this.

What is your goal?

What are you trying to do with your life?

Is the,

is the goal to get people to see things politically the way that you do?

What a waste of time.

What a waste of time.

This whole world is going to dissolve.

Who cares to get people to see the end times the way that you do?

What a waste of time makes no difference to get people to see the earth the way that you do.

Again,

what a waste.

None of this means anything.

I have a favorite phrase when people come and try to sit down with me to tell me about things that do not matter.

Here's what I do.

And I try not to frustrate them.

I try not to be mean to them,

but they tell me all this stuff,

all these things they want me to believe or whatever.

And I look at him and I just say,

I don't care.

And they go,

what do you mean?

I don't care.

I just don't care.

It doesn't matter.

People are lost.

They're dying.

Eternity is forever.

So watch this verse 20.

Here's the goal.

This is the goal.

And so I have made this goal.

I have made it my aim,

my goal.

Paul says to preach the gospel.

That's the goal.

It's been said.

If you have no target,

you are sure to hit it every time,

right?

So someone goes just out into the field back here,

takes no aim whatsoever,

pulls the arrow back and,

and,

and pulls the string back and lets the arrow fly.

It might hit someone or something,

but they're never going to hit a target because there wasn't one.

And so if you got a bullseye and you pull back to aim and you shoot,

you might hit the bullseye,

the first time you might not,

you might hit it the fifth time.

You might hit it the 10th time,

but eventually the aim finds its mark.

What's the goal of your life?

Do you have one?

What are you aiming at?

Is it worth aiming for?

Let me just say this.

If your aim is to preach the gospel to the people in your life,

what a worthwhile target that really is.

What a worthwhile aim.

But the enemy would love for us to spend our time on every other possible message.

Except this one,

anything else you could be a part of and he will not,

he will not bother you.

He will confirm it.

Yeah,

You're doing something.

What a worthwhile target it is to share the gospel with the people in your life.

What a goal,

what a purpose to see people saved forever.

What could be more worthy than that?

And here's what I would just say to you.

keep at it.

You don't hit a bullseye the very first time.

That's okay.

Keep at it.

You might hit the bullseye.

Keep going.

in the end of verse 20,

Paul says that while he went,

he went everywhere,

to preach the gospel.

He avoided places where someone was already doing it.

I want you to see this.

Look what he says.

He says,

not where Christ was already named,

lest I should build on another man's foundation.

But as it is written to whom he was not announced,

they shall see.

And to those who have not heard,

they shall understand.

So what Paul is essentially saying here is there's an urgency to this.

That's what Paul's saying.

I'm not going,

to people that,

that no one else,

you know,

I'm going to go to people that,

I'm going to go somewhere where no one's gone because the message is that

It's that urgent.

And this is,

this is what I would encourage you and I to do,

right?

Like if you don't go to your parents to share the gospel,

who's going to do that?

if you don't go to your siblings or your neighbor,

who's going to go to them?

How many people do you think are going to your unsaved friends or your

coworkers to share the gospel with them?

Probably not many.

Paul says,

I'm going to go to people.

No one's going to,

I'm going to share the gospel with them.

I'm going to share the gospel.

And we all have these people in our lives.

You say,

I wish God would bring a Christian into my family.

He has just point at yourself.

I wish somebody was bold enough to share the gospel.

Yeah.

Pray for that and share the gospel.

So in verse 22,

down to verse 23,

Paul tells them why he's been delayed in coming to visit them.

We're just going to read this section.

Paul says there,

for this reason,

I have also been much hindered from coming to you,

but now no longer having a place in these parts.

And having a great desire,

these many years to come to you.

Whenever I journey to Spain,

I will come to you for,

I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you.

If first I may enjoy your company for a while,

but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints for it.

Please those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the

poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.

It pleased them indeed.

And they are their debtors for if the Gentiles have been partakers of their

spiritual things,

their duty is also to minister,

to them and material things.

So the church in Macedonia had sent,

had taken up a collection to try to bless the suffering Christians in

And so Paul says there,

when I have performed this and have sealed to them,

this fruit or the gift,

I shall go by way of you Rome to Spain.

But I know that when I come to you,

I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

So he says,

Now I beg you brethren through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of

the spirit that you strive together with me,

in prayers for God,

for me,

that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe and that my

service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints.

So Paul's going to go into Jerusalem and he's praying that God would give him

protection as he goes back into Jerusalem to bring this gift.

that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed

together with you.

Now the grace of peace be with you all.

So Paul's asking for prayer for this because he knows if it doesn't go to

go well,

he's going to end up in a another prison cell right inside of Jerusalem and

he's going to be delayed from coming to them in,

in Rome.

Now chapter 16 is the wrap up of the letter.

There's large sections here.

We're not going to look through,

but there's a few little areas I want you to see here.

Okay.

And the first is a woman that he points out in verse one and two.

Her name is Phoebe.

He says,

I commend to you Phoebe,

our sister who is a servant of the church in Centuria that you may receive her

in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever

business she has need of you.

Watch this for indeed.

She has been a helper of many and of myself also.

I just love this.

I love that this woman,

Phoebe is specifically called out and mentioned here.

What a blessing this woman must have been.

She's known as a servant of the church.

What a beautiful thing to be known for.

She is,

she's known for being a help to so many people.

I love it.

And this woman,

like so many in the Bible,

like so many here is clearly using her life to serve the Lord and help others.

And this is what she's known for.

It's beautiful.

What a thing to be known for.

Verse three through 16,

Paul gives various greetings and I am not going to try to say all of those names for your benefit.

Okay.

So verse 16,

he says,

greet one another with a holy kiss.

Please don't do that.

Please don't do that to us.

Okay.

The churches of Christ greet you.

So what Paul says in verse 17,

very important here,

very important to pause and consider.

He tells us something that is true.

Please hear me of all churches.

If you've been in the church for a minute,

you know,

this is not going to be a revelation to you.

There are problems in all churches.

You're like,

really?

Here's what I would say to you.

If you find a perfect church,

don't join it.

You're going to mess it up.

There's always problems,

always trouble in the church.

No church is ever problem free because churches are made up of people.

and I'm being very careful with my words.

Sometimes there are evil people among us.

Say what?

It was true in that day.

It is true today.

I've been a pastor now for over 25 years.

This is always a concern.

Evil people among the church.

Look at verse 17.

I think it's so interesting here at the end of the letter,

he's telling them how to identify and protect the church from people who are evil.

Look what he says.

I urge you,

note those,

who cause divisions and offenses,

contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them.

How do you identify evil people among us?

The answer is verse 17.

We are told to note people.

What does this mean?

Well,

the word note means to look out for.

It means to pay attention to.

It means to be careful to notice.

And I don't know if you,

you know,

if you know this,

we're constantly doing this.

We're watching out.

It's one of the things I am commanded to do is to watch over the flock of God,

to watch over the flock of God,

to watch over God's people,

to be careful.

I am not the shepherd.

I'm just an under shepherd.

He's the shepherd,

right?

But he tasks me with taking care of his people.

And so I have to be careful with his people.

And I have to watch out for people who might want to do damage.

So he says here,

you've got to be careful.

You got to watch out for people who are doing two things.

they're causing division.

The word means separation.

It means dissension.

It means very simply,

there are people who will come into the church.

ours and others who are trying to separate people from the Lord and from each

other.

Okay.

They are,

they're,

they're,

they're causing separation division.

And then the second thing that they're doing is they're causing offenses,

a word that means literally it's the word for a trap,

an animal trap.

They're trying to trap people.

And it's referring to people who are,

who are trying to tangle people up,

in doctrinal error.

So people are coming in who are trying to divide you from each other,

you from the Lord and tangle you up into false doctrine.

There are people in every church attempting to do this,

this thing.

So the way that they cause division and offenses,

catch this,

it's through false doctrine.

That's what Paul says,

says that they come in and they do all of this contrary or literally opposite to the doctrine,

which you have learned.

So this is why we teach the Bible so that we know what is true.

So that when someone comes in and begins to tell you something that is not true,

you may not know exactly why it's not true,

but you know,

it's not true because you've learned this,

you know,

it's not true.

And this is why this is a protection to you.

Not just on Sundays.

You should be reading God's word every single day of your life should be taking in God's word every single day of your life.

Every single day as a discipline.

But it means that in every church at times,

there are people that are not just here.

They are here with a purpose.

The goal for them is not to hear from the Lord and love the Lord and grow in the Lord.

They are here with the goal to separate people from the Lord and from each other.

And they separate people from each other.

Let's talk about the first part by spreading lies about people.

Tell me how common this is.

Isn't it amazing?

How quickly we are to believe lies about another person.

Did you hear that this person did that?

We're so tempted to go.

Really?

We don't even like suspect it.

We just immediately believe it.

We're so wired as people to be like that.

It's so wrong.

But this is what happens.

They come in and they spread lies,

getting you to believe things about others that are not true or not fully true.

There's always a seems to be a kernel of truth in every lie.

They go around doing this.

Well,

you know about them,

right?

And you've heard about that,

right?

And the goal is,

is to separate people from each other.

They're not trying to unify and bring peace.

They're always critical.

They're always finding problems.

they are never the problem.

They never cause problems.

It's amazing in their life.

They never cause problems.

This was me as a kid.

I'd come home from school every single day.

I got in trouble at school and every single day it was the teacher's fault and they hate me.

They don't like me.

They're picking on me.

I was the problem,

right?

They're never the problem.

They're experts in exposing the problems,

but they're not.

They're not the problem.

So they're trying to separate people from each other.

But then the second thing,

they try to separate people from the Lord.

Now their goal,

the way they do this,

they spread false doctrine.

And the goal is to get you to believe something that will tangle you up in error,

right?

Wrong teaching about who God is,

about what God says.

And this,

this can,

this can spiral you.

This can cause you to,

to,

to distance yourself from God.

And they know that,

they're doing this intentionally.

It causes people to change the way they see the Lord and,

and what God says.

And so Galatians two,

verse four talks about false brethren.

These warnings are all throughout the scriptures,

false brethren who come into the church.

Watch this under the guise of being believers.

They come in secretly.

It says they're trying to deceive.

They are actually not believers.

And they were trying to pull people back into legalism and Judaism and law.

And they were trying to pull people back into legalism and Judaism and law.

So they were coming in pretending to be believers just to pull people away for a second.

Peter warns about this.

It says,

but there are also false prophets among the people,

even as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly see it's always concealed.

They'll secretly bring in destructive heresies,

false things,

right?

Even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction.

And,

but watch this.

Many will follow.

Their destructive ways because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

they do this because they gain followers.

People follow and believe their doctrine and it leads to error.

if,

if it's true,

what Jesus said,

that truth is what will set us free,

then lies,

tangle us up,

right?

And hold us captive.

You believe what is true.

what are we supposed to do with these people?

Well,

you just got to love them.

Got to love them.

Lead them back to truth.

accept them.

you know,

just maybe ignore them.

Hope they don't infect anybody.

Look at verse 17 says,

and it might,

this might shock you.

What does it say?

Avoid them.

Did you expect the Bible to tell you to avoid someone?

Cause it does.

And you go,

well,

what does that mean though?

Okay,

The Greek word means to turn away from them,

to avoid them,

to stay away from them.

We are to turn away and stay away from people.

That is,

that do these things.

Again,

this is how we're to treat.

Watch this people within the church.

There's a distinction.

We're not to turn away from the people in the world.

Paul makes that very clear.

We're not to,

we're trying to reach the people in the world.

We're trying to love them.

We're trying to show Christ to them.

But when people come into the church and they name the name of Christ,

and they're trying to do this,

they're spreading false doctrine.

They're trying to divide people.

They're doing these things.

We are to turn away from them.

We are to put them out of the church.

You ask,

have you ever had to do it?

we have.

We have had to tell people they are not welcome here.

They cannot be here.

And that came after multiple warnings.

It's not like the very first time,

but they,

we had to remove them.

I'll never forget being out in California at the church we were serving at out

there.

It's a very large singles ministry.

And I was the pastor of the singles minute over the singles ministry as one of

the things there.

And you know,

there's 400,

500 singles every week gathering on a Friday night.

And I remember one Friday night,

a woman who came and immediately it was so clear something is not right.

And this woman was trying,

she was determined to seduce as many men as she possibly could.

It was blatant.

It was crazy.

We pulled her aside.

We tried to correct.

She was there for one reason,

one reason only.

She was trying to get somebody to follow her,

essentially pay for everything for her,

take care of her.

And she was throwing herself physically at every single guy that was there.

These guys are trying to follow the Lord.

They're trying to serve the Lord.

They're trying to stay pure and holy.

And this woman was evil.

And I had to look at her and say,

you need to walk through that door and off this property.

And if you do not start to move now,

I will call Riverside police department.

We will have you forcibly removed.

She's like,

that's not loving.

I was like,

actually,

it's very loving.

You know,

we need the Lord.

You are lost,

but you're also evil.

You're a danger to every person that's here.

And we had her removed.

And then we called every church around us and they all knew about her too.

And so like,

there's times where this has to happen,

right?

It might seem harsh to you.

It says,

These are people within the church.

They're trying to divide.

They're spreading lies about others and about the Lord.

And sadly,

there are many people in many churches that should have been dealt with this way.

And they were not.

They cause lots of problems for lots of people,

but we're doing it.

We're told this all over the scriptures and second Thessalonians were told,

but we command you brethren in the name of the Lord Jesus,

that you watch this withdraw from every quote unquote brother who walks

disorderly and not according to the tradition,

which was received from us.

Second Thessalonians three 14.

If anyone does not obey our word in this epistle,

note that person and do not keep company with him,

that he may be ashamed yet.

Do not count him as an enemy,

but admonish him as a brother.

First Timothy six five tells us,

to withdraw from people who say they are believers and yet spread divisive and

false doctrine.

Second Timothy three five tells us to turn away from people who claim to be

but live like unsaved people.

It says that they have an outward form of godliness,

but there's no reality to it at all.

Titus three 10 tells us to reject as a believer,

a divisive man.

After you've corrected him twice.

Second John tells us that if someone is saying they are believers and spreading

false doctrine,

we are not even to welcome them into our homes.

We are to turn away from them.

We are to turn away from such people.

And so the idea is in all of these passages,

we pull back from these people so that here's the point so that they might

recognize what they're doing and hopefully be ashamed of it.

Now the worldly and false Christian looks at this and says,

well,

that's not godly.

We are to welcome everybody.

And to that,

I would say,

we welcome everybody.

We love everybody.

But let me ask you a question.

When a wolf hiding,

as Jesus says in sheep's clothing,

so that they look like sheep to deceive,

to tear and,

When that wolf is finally seen for what it is,

isn't it wise?

Isn't it good?

Isn't it loving to deal with the wolf,

to drive it out?

Or is it loving and wise and good to just let the wolf be among the sheep and

hope it doesn't eat anything,

right?

Isn't it?

It's,

it's,

it's not unloving to drive the wolf out for the benefit of the people,

but also for the benefit of the person.

That's the difference.

So these people are not well-meaning people.

You say,

how do you know that?

for those,

who are such,

they do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ,

but their own belly.

And by smooth words and flattering speech,

they deceive the hearts of the simple.

They are fakers.

They appear to serve the Lord.

Paul says they do not.

They are liars.

They are not driven by the Lord.

they are driven by their belly means their wants,

their desires,

their own will,

not his,

their own ways,

not his,

their own words,

not his,

their passions,

not his.

They lead themselves,

not,

not him,

no matter what they say.

And they might say,

we are the Lord's,

but,

they prove continually that they are not.

And I remind you,

Paul's warning about people in the church.

So he says that one of the marks of a wolf

is that they will use smooth words.

Easy to accept is what it means.

Words that are,

that sound good.

Words that sound like they know what they're talking about.

They're easy to accept.

That's how they get in.

He says they use flattery to endear themselves to you.

Some of the most divisive people I have ever met in my entire life

have been the most complimentary.

when you,

when you speak,

it's just so amazing.

And I'm like,

They use flattery to endear themselves to you.

The underlying goal,

Paul says,

is to deceive the hearts of the simple.

And this is,

this is literally to seduce the hearts of people who don't know.

That's what it means.

And again,

the goal is pull you into false doctrine,

pull you into sin,

into error and separation.

As youth pastor,

I watch this happen often.

As soon as one of the youth kids would start to try to do well with the Lord,

almost immediately,

there was a boyfriend or a girlfriend that would come into the picture

and would always pull them away,

pull them back in every single time to separate them from what was happening.

It happened so much.

They began to,

that person began to separate them from the Lord,

but also from their family.

And they began to hate church and they began to hate their parents and turn away.

All this started to happen.

And it happens so often that when a kid started to do well,

I would immediately sit down and warn them.

Just so you know,

I know you haven't had a girlfriend.

You're about to.

You're about to.

She's about to.

She's about to be right there,

I'm telling you why,

because you are starting to follow the Lord and this girl,

she's not going to know the Lord,

or maybe she,

her family goes to church or whatever.

She doesn't really know the Lord.

She's going to pull you back.

She's going to seduce you unsuspectingly back into error,

sin and separation.

And so Paul says,

Verse 19 for your obedience has become known to all.

I am glad on your behalf,

but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil.

And then finally,

and the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.

I remind you of this promise this morning.

It was given back in the garden of Eden that one day the one who was bitten

would crush the head of the serpent,

the devil.

Jesus came.

He came.

He was the one bitten.

He died on a cross for our sins.

That was his first coming.

But in his second coming,

he is going to crush the head of the serpent forever.

And man,

The devil will have no power again ever to,

to even,

I remind you of it today that this will soon all be over.

So let's read out the rest of the chapter.

It says there,

the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

my fellow worker,

so sip it or my countrymen greet you.

I,

tortillas who wrote this epistle,

greet you in the Lord.

It means he,

he wrote for Paul Gaius,

my host and the host of the whole church greets you.

the treasure of the city greets you in Cordas,

the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And then Paul talks about the Lord here.

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 has been 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,

wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

There is only one person that can establish you.

It is the Lord Jesus.

Have,

you turned to him.

If you have not,

you can,

you can turn to him.

If he's,

you can feel him pulling at you.

Don't resist that.

Don't,

don't console yourself that you've gone to church or that you have a Christian family or anything else.

Turn to the Lord in this moment.

He's pulling at you because he knows the Lord knows those who are his.

Are you his?

Do you belong to him?

You can,

can turn to him right now.

Let's pray together.

We love you,

We thank you for loving us.

We thank you for your mercy and kindness towards us.

We don't deserve it,

but you have been so,

so good.

I pray for any person this morning watching online or here today that does not know you.

I pray they would turn to you right now and let you save them.

If that's you this morning,

will you let the Lord save you?

Will you turn to him and admit that you need the forgiveness of your sin?

Salvation that only comes through him.

Will you turn to him and ask him?

He is listening to you.

Talk to the Lord Jesus right now.

He's listening to you.

Humble yourself before him.

We thank you,

we love you.

We give our lives to you.

It's in Jesus name.