Final Thoughts and Benediction

Romans 16:19-27

• 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
• 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
• 21 Timothy, my fellow-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives.
• 22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
• 23 Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings.
• 24 Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.
• 25 Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past,
• 26 but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him-
• 27 to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Introduction: Today, Lord willing, I will finish my series on the Book of Romans. Paul ends his book with a few final spiritual directions, some "Hello!"s to the Romans from some of Paul's friends in Corinth, and a famous "Benediction."

I have six thoughts to share with you today from this passage of scripture:

• I. Your reputation is very important.
• II. It's important to be wise about good stuff, and innocent about sin.
• III. God is the God of Peace.
• IV. Satan's doom is 100% sure.
• V. Even a church full of trouble is worth restoring.
• VI. In Jesus Christ we have eternal life and eternal security.

I. Your reputation is very important.

Paul says to the Romans, "Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you." Paul was writing from Corinth, so certainly the Corinthians knew about the church in Rome. Paul was quite a travelor, and a people person, and a letter writer, so the whole Christian world knew about the great church in Rome.

Reputation is important, because we are "ambassadors of Jesus Christ," as Paul wrote about himself:

• 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
• 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
• 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
• 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
• 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
• 1 ¶ As God’s fellow-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
  (2 Cor 5:17--6:1)

We are ambassadors. God has given us a ministry of reconciliation. We implore "on Christ's behalf." We are God's "fellow-workers."

If you lose your reputation it is almost impossible to get it back again. Consider the case of the Senator from North Carolina: John Edwards. He was a successful lawyer, a wealthy man, the VP running mate of John Kerry. But now he has admitted abandoning his wife in her hour of need (struggling with cancer); having an affair with a staff woman; having a child; lying about the child; offering to pay another man to claim to be the father, etc. etc. A nasty tale of dishonesty and disloyalty from start to finish. His reputation has been ruined, by himself, and it is doubtful that anyone ever again will trust him about anything. At the time his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he did an interview with beliefnet, and declared himself a born-again Baptist believer in Jesus, who daily relied on prayer.

What kind of an ambassador for Christ can he be now? Has he not lost his ability to witness for Christ?

What is my reputation, and yours? What is Wayside's reputation? What is the reputation of our denomination, the PCA? What reputation do all of us Christians have across the whole nation? The church in Rome had a reputation for being obedient to Christ. That's a great reputation!

II. It's important to be wise about good stuff, and innocent about sin.

From the very beginning of mankind, Satan has challenged this idea. Satan told Eve that if she ate the forbidden fruit she would become wise, and she would become like God, knowing good from evil. And that was the name of the tree: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan lied, Eve was deceived, and the whole world was plunged into misery and darkness.

Satan's helpers in the world will tell you and me that sin is fun. Sin is interesting. Sin is fascinating. Sin will help you become mature and adult. They will say, "You can't really understand what is good, unless you also understand what is evil. Sin will actually make you a better Christian. You will be able to council people who have problems, because you will feel in your heart where they are coming from, and you will understand, and you will sympathize." They may even point to some great evangelist as an example: "Look at the horrible sinful life he led; and God miraculously transformed his life; and look what a fiery evangelist he is now, etc. etc."

This is the voice of the Serpent. Don't listen. Be wise about what is good. Be unacquainted and innocent about what is evil. Don't long to experience it. Don't wonder what it is like. It is bad, it is awful, it is discouraging, it will drag you down and make your life miserable. What is God's will for his children, and the children of His children?

• 1 ¶ These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
• 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
• 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
• 4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
• 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
• 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
• 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
• 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
• 9 Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.
  (Deut. 6:1-9)

III. God is the God of Peace.

• 23 "Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
• 24 "‘"The LORD bless you and keep you;
• 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
• 26 the LORD turn his face towards you and give you peace."’
• 27 "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."
  (Numbers 6:23-27)

Psalm 4:8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 29:11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.

• 13 ¶ Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,
• 14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.
• 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
• 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.
• 17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
  (Prov 3:13-17)

• 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
• 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.
  (Isaiah 9:6-7)

We tend to blame our wars on God. We blame our marriage problems on God. We blame our financial problems on God. We blame hurricanes, earthquakes, global warming and tsunamis on God. But if mankind were at peace with God, there would be no wars. There would be no marriage problems. There would be no financial problems. There would be no hurricanes, earthquakes or global warming or tsunamis. We have ruined our lives, and ruined even nature itself by our own lust, anger, selfishness and hate. We blame God, but God is the God of peace. When we turn to Him, we will have peace.

IV. Satan's doom is 100% sure!

Christians make two errors about the Devil. We either don't think about him at all; or we think about him and worry about him too much. It is wrong to never think about him, because he is real, and he is our enemy.

• 8 ¶ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
• 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
  (I Peter 5:8-9)

But notice, Peter does not say to be terrified out of your wits. He says to do three things:

• 1. Be self-controlled.
• 2. Be alert.
• 3. Resist Satan.

We should never fear Satan, if we remember the story of Job. God made a hedge around Job, and Satan could never touch Job, except as God specifically allowed. In a sense, Satan is simply God's tool. Sometimes God uses him to get our attention.

Satan's doom is sure because God said so thousands of years ago (Genesis 3:14-15):

• 14 ¶ So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
• 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Satan's doom is sure because Jesus overpowered him in His death and resurrection.

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)

• 22 ¶ Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see.
• 23 All the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
• 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons."
• 25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
• 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?
• 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.
• 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
• 29 "Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.
  (Matthew 12:22-29)

Satan's doom is sure because he will flee from even weak Christians like you and me.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We CAN overcome the devil:

• 13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
• 14 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 2:13-14)

The final end of Satan is the Lake of Fire....

10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
(Revelation 20:10)

V. Even a church full of trouble is worth restoring.

In verses 16:21-24 there are many people who chime in with Paul to say "Hello" to the church in Rome. And what a wonderful group of people they are in Corinth: Timothy, Paul's relatives, some very generous and even influential people in the city government. Romans was written around 57 AD. I and 2 Corinthians was written about two years before that, 55 AD. And what troubles there were in the Corinthian church!

• 1. They had trouble with factions: Paul's fans vs Apollos' fans
• 2. They had trouble with counterfeit apostles who attacked Paul's authority.
• 3. They had trouble with sexual immorality openly accepted in the church.
• 4. They had trouble with people worshipping in the church and ALSO worshipping in the idol's temple.
• 5. They had trouble with people getting drunk at the Lord's supper.
• 6. They had trouble with an over abundance of speaking in tongues.
• 7. They had trouble with unbelief in the resurrection of Jesus.

Paul addresses all these things in his epistles to the Corinthians. But here, two years later, all is well and good, and the Corinthian church has been fixed and restored. There is hope for all of our churches!

VI. In Jesus Christ we have eternal life and eternal security.

Paul uses the word "established." We are "established" by the preaching of the Gospel. The Greek word is "steirixai," and means to "fix something very very firmly." It is used in Luke chapter 16, where Jesus says there is a great gulf "FIXED" between Heaven and Hell, that no one can cross over. That gulf was fixed there by God, and it is fixed firmly for all eternity. That's the idea of the word "steirixai."

In Jesus Christ, we are firmly fixed in Him. Our salvation is full and final, never to be lost.

• 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
• 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of my hand.
• 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no-one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
  (John 10:27-29)

• What kind of life does Jesus give His sheep? Eternal!
• When will Jesus' sheep perish? Never!
• Who can snatch them out of His hand? No one!
• Who can take them away from their Heavenly Father? No one!

You can't get firmly established any better than that!

CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY:

• I. Your reputation is very important.
• II. It's important to be wise about good stuff, and innocent about sin.
• III. God is the God of Peace.
• IV. Satan's doom is 100% sure.
• V. Even a church full of trouble is worth restoring.
• VI. In Jesus Christ we have eternal life and eternal security.

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him-to the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.