False Teachers
Romans 16:17-20
Introduction: From very early in the history of Christianity there has been a problem with false leaders. Jesus Himself warned about these false leaders in Matthew 7:15-20:
Sometimes in the Bible they are called false prophets, other times false apostles, and sometimes "savage wolves." Paul warned the Ephesian church about them in Acts 20:28-31:
Paul warned Timothy twice (I Timothy 4:1-2 and 2 Timothy 3:1-9):
The Book of Revelation informs us that the false teachers were a problem in the churches in Pergamum and in Thyatira:
The Apostle John wrote in I John 2:18..."Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour."
Jude verse 4: "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord."
In Romans 16 Paul is repeating for the Romans what he did for the elders of the church in Ephesus. He is warning them to watch out for false leaders, prophets, Apostles, teachers, whatever you want to call them. Watch out! Because they WILL show up, if they haven't already! In this passage in Romans 16, Paul speaks of ......
I. Their deeds
They cause divisions - splits.
Church splits have been a problem for 2000 years. We now have thousands of denominations. Sometimes our differences are very small. But there are people, who insist on having everything their own way. If they can't have it their own way, they split the church. Sometimes they split entire denominations. Sometimes they start well. Our own denomination, the PCA, began by splitting out of the PCUSA. There were good reasons for that. The PCUSA was allowing unbelieving pastors and seminary teachers. At one time there were two PCUSA churches on Signal Mountain: Wayside and SMPC. Wayside joined the PCA. SMPC joined the EPC.
That's fine. But if we begin splitting over non-essentials, or over personality clashes, we have fallen to false leadership.
Jesus said, "By their fruit you will recognize them."
They raise obstacles -- the Greek word is "skandala" from which we have our English word "scandals." There are people who create scandals, and these scandals become obstacles in the path of the church.
A famous television evangelist recently created a scandal by implying that God sent an earthquake on the people of Haiti because their ancestors 200 years ago asked Satan to help them get free from the French.
Jesus Himself taught us that we should not look at natural disasters like that. For example, He said that "God sends rain and sunshine both on the just and the unjust." He doesn't tailor the weather to the advantage of believers. Besides, we all love together in one place: believers and unbelievers. I can assure you that of the 100,000 people killed, and 2 million injured and suffering in Haiti, many of those people are God's children, true believers. Our own Christian radio station, Radio Lumiere, was put out of action by the earthquake.
Jesus also gave a specific example:
There was an earthquake, or maybe just a decaying building. It fell and killed 18 people. Jesus said: It's not because they were greater sinners than others.
When Christian leaders are the source of scandals (and there have been many): This makes God's enemies rejoice, and it creates obstacles in the path of Christians who are trying to bring God's light and Gospel to the world.
They contradict established teachings -- This was Satan's tactic from the beginning. He questioned Eve and challenged God: "Do God say THAT? Oh, it's not true. You WONT surely die!
For the past 200 years religious leaders, false leaders, have been challenging the truth of Christianity. Pastors, seminary teachers and other church leaders have been challenging the inspiration of the Bible, the Virgin Birth, the miracles of Jesus, His resurrection from the dead, His return from Heaven, and so on.
We must identify these people for what they are: false teachers, false leaders, false Apostles, false prophets.
II. Their motivations -- They serve their own appetites.
Paul says in Romans 16:18 that they serve their own bellies.
L. Ron Hubbard (Founder of Scientology) once said "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."
The majority of false teachers are trying hard to become wealthy, and they are becoming wealthy by fleecing God's sheep. Examples? I am not going to name names this morning, but just open your eyes and look around. Choose your favorite evangelist and do a Google search, and see what you find. You will find some good Bible teachers on television, just trying to win souls and spread the Gospel. Thank God for those people. But you will also find some "snakes in the grass."
Many famous televangelists live in multiple multi-million dollar mansions in the most expensive suburbs. They own large ranches. They travel in multi-million dollar private jets and have private airstrips at their homes. They drive the most expensive cars, and often have multi-bayed garages for their car collections. They have the best of everything. Their telivision and publishing empires bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each year. They wear expensive hand-tailored clothing. They wear gold and diamonds. They have private hairdressers and manicurists. They are accompanied by servants and body guards. They appear on the Larry King show, where Larry describes them as "evangelism's hottest rising star." They have private lawyers who create trusts and find tax loopholes that enable them to keep their multi-millions safe from government taxation. They operate oil and gas wells.
One female evangelist who calls herself a Prophet, was married a few years ago to a man who calls himself a Bishop.
The wedding featured a wedding party of 80 (all dressed in outfits made especially for the wedding), 1,000 guests, a 12-piece orchestra, and a 7.76-carat diamond ring. The black-tie wedding cost "more than a million," the bride said, and included flowers flown in from around the world. "My dress," she says, "took nine months to make. All of the crystals (Swarovski) on the gown were hand-sewn. The train on the gown was 50 feet long. The bride's tiara was solid sterling silver, hand-designed, one of a kind. "As a young girl, I dreamed of having a beautiful wedding," she told a Christian magazine. The wedding party included family members and other famous television preachers. There was an eight-member camera crew from the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).
III. Their methods
They use smooth talk. What is smooth talk? It should be easy for us to recognize, because we hear it constantly from both politicians and preachers. Politicians say something like..."This health care plan will not cost the American people a penny! We will have tremendous savings from cutting out waste and un-necessary expenses. And so on." How do you know when a politician is lying? His (or her) lips are moving.
What about preachers? The same principle holds true. I mention Larry King again. He often interviews preachers on his nightly talk show. He likes to ask Christian preachers about people who aren't Christians. "Will they go to Heaven," he asks, "or only Christians?" You hear some very "smooooooth" answers, because these television evangelists don't want to offend ANYONE.
I believe the best thing a preacher could do on the Larry King show, in front of millions of people, would just be to quote Jesus and the Apostles:
John 14:6 "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me."
Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter three: "You cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven unless you are born again."
They use flattery. Flattery is a trap that catches fools. People who want to take advantage of us try to make us like them, or trust them. One way they do that is by complimenting us. They tell us how smart we are, how handsome we are, how great our children are, what good decisions we make, how trustworthy we are, etc. etc. etc.
They deceive those who are naive. We are won over by a combination of smooth words, lies, and flattery. And when that happens we are lost. We are sheep ready to be eaten by wolves, or fleeced by a false shepherd.
IV. Their nullification -- how to deal with these false teachers?
Keep away from them. The Greek word is not so much "keep away" as "get away." When you find you are in their presence, LEAVE. Don't sit under their ministry. Don't watch them on TV. Don't listen to their speeches and sermons. You too might get deceived.
Obey the truth that you already have. This is very plain. This is meat and potatos. It's not clever. It's not special. But OBEDIENCE lies at the heart of the Christian Faith. Read the Word of God, and obey it, and you won't have any difficulties with false teachers. But if you don't know the Word, the false teachers will twist it and use it against you. Do you remember the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan? What was Satan's tactic? The mis-use of Scripture. He tried to give authority to his words by taking them from the Bible. So watch out. You need to be a better Bible student that the one trying to lead you astray.
Be wise about what is good. Be innocent about what is evil. The Greek word for innocent here really should be translated "pure" or literally "unmixed." We need to be single minded and single hearted, not partly good and partly evil. This is the process of sanctification, and we need to keep working on it. Resist sin. Follow the Word of God. Don't ever say "Well in order to fully understand what is good I also need to experience evil." That is a lie from the Devil. It is totally wrong.
V. Their end - They will be crushed.
Who is "Satan" in Romans 16:20? Sometimes the Bible speaks metaphorically using the word Satan. A simile is when you say that something is LIKE something else. "The distant clouds look like mountains." Or "The hard rain fell like bullets from the sky." Or "That boy swims like a fish!" A metaphor is when you say that something IS something. For example: When Senator Kennedy died, the news commentators said "He was the lion of the Senate." Or, some Republican might have said of Ronald Reagan, "He was a giant." Or, you might say of a fat man, "He's a real marshmallow." Jesus used a metaphor when He spoke to Peter and said "Get thee behind Me, Satan!"
So, Satan in this verse, may not actually be Satan in person. Paul might be using a metaphor to describe how the Roman church would handle the false teachers.
It could also mean that the Church in Rome would be able to withstand the persecutions of the Roman emperor and Roman empire.
It could also mean that the Church in Rome would be able to withstand the persecutions of the Jewish community in Rome. Jesus in John 8 accused the Jews in Jerusalem of plotting His murder. He said that the Devil was their Father.
We don't know for sure if Paul was using "Satan" as a metaphor or not, but we do know that he was encouraging the Christians in Rome by telling them that they would crush Satan under their feet. Satan is a defeated enemy, and Christians can and do conquer him. The Bible says, "resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." John the Apostle wrote to Christians in general about their strength and victorious living:
"I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one."
I John 2:14
And of course, being crushed IS the final end of false teachers. They will be crushed, they will be punished for their wilful and ungodly sin of trying to devour God's people, like wolves devour helpless sheep. Jude writes of them....
And I close with these words from Jude...