In Romans 16, as Paul is giving
his closing remarks, and he mentions by name several of the brethren. he issues forth and this is understand
now that everything that is written in this book was revealed and
empowered by the Holy Spirit. So this is not afterthoughts,
this is not Paul's own thinking on his own, it is his thinking,
but it's the word of God. And right in the middle of his
closing remarks, mentioning he's by name, here's what he says
in two verses. He says in verse 17, now I beseech
you brethren, I beg you, I implore you, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned
and avoid them. And he says in verse 18, for
they that are such, they who are bringing forth these divisions,
contrary to the doctrine which you've learned, for they that
are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ. They don't serve Christ,
but they serve their own belly, their own fleshly appetites. That's what that means. And by
good words and fair speeches, deceive the hearts of the simple.
Now I put to you this, that these two verses, I would say that these are two
verses that a lot of people wish weren't even in the Bible for
several reasons. First of all, The last thing
that people by nature, and I'll say it this way, even those who
claim, many who claim to believe the doctrines of sovereign grace,
many who claim to be what they call Calvinist, the last thing
they want to establish a judgment upon, and that's what he's talking
about when he says mark them, He means you notice them, you
single them out and you keep your eye on them because of what
they're doing and you avoid them. But most people, the last thing
that they want to make a judgment like that based on is doctrine. Now, if we saw a person who claimed
to believe the gospel, who started living an immoral life, you know,
something, you know, who was a drunk or a thief or something
like that. I mean, we'd all gang up on that
person, you know, and of course the way we should do, we shouldn't
gang up on anybody, but what we should do is to try to draw
that person back with godly sorrow and sin, realizing that if it
weren't for the grace and power of God, we would be in the same
shape. And Galatians 6 talks about that,
you that are spiritual. You do it not in a self-righteous
way. But when it comes to doctrine,
man by nature is just so willing to give too much leeway, too
much rope, and a lot of it has to do with family, a lot of it
has to do with respective persons. But here's one of the greatest
dangers of the church in this world has to do with false preachers
and false professors seeking to divide and destroy the fellowship
of brethren. Our fellowship in the unity of
the faith, in the unity of grace is so important. And we know
the true church cannot be destroyed and true believers cannot be
finally separated from Christ because Christ has redeemed us
to himself. And he preserves and protects
us under final glory. Christ told his disciples, he
said, he built his church and the gates of hell will not prevail
against it. The gates of hell, that means
the armies of hell. Satan and his prophets, his preachers,
his followers, they will attack the church but they will not
prevail because Christ is our victory. His death on the cross,
his resurrection from the dead. People are talking about his
resurrection. What is the doctrine of The teaching,
that's what the word doctrine means. What is the doctrine of
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? That's the gospel,
and we'll get to that in just a moment. All who are truly saved
by grace will bear the fruit of faith, they will be brought
to repentance, and they will persevere unto glory. The scripture
says that. There's no doubt about that.
So when Paul writes this, he's not worrying about the devil
and his army getting a hold of one of Christ's true sheep for
whom God chose, whom Christ, who are justified before God,
and for whom the sheep have been brought into the fold. and saved
by the grace of God, for whom Christ died and was buried and
arose again the third day, one who's been regenerated by this. He's not worried that somebody's
gonna lose their salvation at all. That's not the issue here.
It's not losing salvation. The issue here has to do with
the glory of God in the witness of the gospel, bringing people
together in the fellowship of faith, staying together in the
fellowship of faith. But here's what the Bible teaches
us, that all who claim to have faith in Christ will be tested. will be tried both individually
and collectively as a church. And these trials, what do they
do? Well, the Bible says that there must needs be schisms,
divisions among you, that they who are true will be revealed. In other words, these trials
will reveal and strengthen true faith, but many times they will
expose false professors. Remember John in his first epistle
dealt with that when he talks about those who went out from
us. but they were not of us. Had
they been of us, they would have no doubt remained with us, but
they went out that it might be revealed what they really were,
that they'd never been saved to begin with. That's 1 John
2, 18 through 19. So as believers, therefore, we're
commanded to be ready and prepared for this and act accordingly
in truth when false preachers and false professors bring in
strange doctrines. or change their doctrine from
the gospel. He says, you remember, he says,
contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. The doctrine
of the gospel is what he's talking about. The doctrine of grace
and anything that is contrary, opposed to that, all right, which
you've learned. And how did you learn it? Well,
you learned it through a preacher, but you learned it because God
taught you these things. The Holy Spirit's convinced you
of these things. and they're consistent with the
word of God and that's how we're to judge these things. Paul wrote
to the Ephesian elders when he had his last meeting with them
in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28. He says, take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which
he hath purchased with his own blood. And the reason he told
him that was because that in the last days that people, there'll
be wolves in sheep's clothing will come in. So he's warning
the saints in Rome to do the same thing. Take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to the flock of God. And those who come in,
who enter in, and they introduce doctrines that are different,
that are contrary to the doctrine which you've learned. And this
is serious business. He starts out in verse 17. He
says, I beseech you. This is no light matter. This
is not to be tolerated or ignored. And he begs them to listen to
him on this matter. He says, mark them, which cause
divisions and offenses. As I said, to mark them means
to point them out. It means to name them. And I
know somebody said, well, we shouldn't name names. Well, Actually
we should, but really he means you keep your eye on this person.
You don't follow this person. This is not some kind of self-righteous
or self-serving witch hunt, simply trying to find fault with others.
I often tell people that when you listen to the gospel, when
you listen to a preacher preach, listen critically. And what I
mean by that is not to listen trying to find fault, but it's
to listen as I always use the example of the noble Bereans.
When I hear a preacher say something, and especially something that's
different, I want to make sure that they're preaching consistently
with the word of God and the gospel which I've learned. And
if what they preach is not consistent with the word of God or the gospel
which I've learned, then I'm to mark them and avoid them.
I'm not to ignore it. You say, maybe my brother, our
physical brother, maybe my daddy, maybe my cousin, maybe my uncle
or whatever. It doesn't matter. Maybe my best
friend in this world. If they're preaching doctrines
that are contrary to the gospel, contrary to the word of God,
different things, then I'm to mark them. I'm to beware of wolves
in sheep's clothing. The scripture says, test the
preachers. And how do you test them? Not
with a self-righteous standard of judgment. you know, like they
were doing in Corinth, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, you know,
I like to hear this one preach, I don't like to hear that one
preach. You don't test them that way. You test them by the word
of God. Are they preaching Christ and
him crucified? Are they preaching salvation
by the grace of God? Paul had clearly laid out that
doctrine. all through this book of Romans.
What is the gospel, for example? He says it's the gospel of God
back in Romans chapter one. He said it concerns his son,
Jesus Christ, which was made of the seed of David according
to the flesh, declared to be the son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
He said this gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth For therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
What is the righteousness of God there? Well, it's the entire
merit and worthiness, value of the obedience unto death of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the surety, the substitute, the redeemer
of his people. Yes, it is his death, his burial,
his resurrection. But what is the doctrine of his
death and his burial and resurrection? People today, they talk about
the death of Christ. Well, what does the Bible teach
about the death of Christ? For whom did he die? What did
he actually accomplished when he died for those for whom he
died? And there are different teachings
around the world on that. Most people today who call themselves
Christian, they'll say, well, he died for everybody without
exception, and therefore did not accomplish salvation for
any one individual, but merely made salvation possible, made
it available to everybody. And the reason they say that
is not because that's what the word of God teaches. The reason
they say that is because they think that's the only fair way
to do it. But that's not what the Bible teaches about the death
of Christ. The death of Christ is a particular
death. He said himself in John chapter
10, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And who
are the sheep? Well, he tells us they're those
who hear his voice and follow him, they're believers. The Bible
reveals them to be the elect of God, chosen before the foundation
of the world. That's what God's word says.
You say, well, I don't like that, that doesn't seem fair. It doesn't
matter if you don't like it, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't
seem fair to you. This is what the Word of God
says, and to you who would object to it because you think it's
unjust or unfair, I suggest you read the Word of God, especially
Romans chapter nine, where Paul answers your objections as he
was led by the Holy Spirit to do so. God is a God who is holy
and just. People today, when they talk
about the doctrine of God, who God is, they want to emphasize
God's mercy, God's grace, and God's love. And that's fine. I want to emphasize God's grace,
God's mercy, and God's love. But people today do that at the
expense of and in opposition to God's justice. and God's holiness. For example, if Christ died for
an individual, that means their sins had been imputed to him,
charged to him, and he purged them away. He paid the debt.
He satisfied justice. Now, if you say they would go
to hell and perish because they don't do their part, you're attacking
and denying God's justice. And that's not the teaching of
the scripture. That's not the doctrine of the gospel. If Christ
died for an individual, that individual is justified before
God. God cannot charge them with sin.
Read it in Romans chapter eight, Romans chapter four, Ephesians
chapter one, Ephesians chapter, I mean, we go all through the
scripture. This is not just one isolated verse, you see. Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that
justify. What does it mean to be justified?
It means to be forgiven of all my sins. It means my sins cannot
be charged to me, imputed to me. I'm guiltless in the sight
of God legally. It means that I've been declared
righteous in the sight of God. I have the righteousness of God
imputed to me, the righteousness of Christ. I'm not righteous
in myself, I'm a sinner. But God has put away my sins
through the death of Christ. How do you know that's accomplished?
Because he arose from the dead. We talk about his resurrection.
What is the doctrine of his resurrection? What is the teaching? It means
righteousness has been established. It means sin has been put away.
Who can condemn us? It's Christ that died, rather
is risen from the dead, is seated at the right hand of the Father,
making intercession for us. We talk about the doctrine of
man, the sinfulness of man, the depravity of man. What does that
mean? That means we all fell in Adam.
The scripture teaches that. What did we fall into? We fell
into sin and spiritual death. We're born spiritually dead.
So much so that everything about us, every faculty of our being
is enslaved to sin. That means our hearts are deceitful.
He talks about here, he says in verse 18, that these preachers,
these false preachers, by good words and fair speeches deceive
the hearts of the simple. Well, our hearts are naturally
deceived. And so it doesn't take much for
a false preacher to deceive us. And so if our wills are in bondage
to sin, people talk about free will today because we do make
choices every day. But the Bible doesn't teach any
doctrine of free will. In fact, the Bible teaches that
if left to ourselves, we will not come to Christ. That's the
depravity of man. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them that believe not. The natural man receives
not the things of the Spirit of God, nor can their foolishness
to him, and they're spiritually discerned. And he doesn't have
that spiritual discernment because he's dead spiritually. He's got
physical ears, he can hear what I'm saying. He's got physical
eyes, he can see physically, but he doesn't have the spiritual
faculties to know and believe and love the truth of the gospel.
That's why Christ said you must be born again. And there's the
doctrine of the new birth. What does the Bible teach about
the new birth? Well, it teaches that God the
Holy Spirit brings the resurrection life of Christ. to one of God's
sheep and raises that sheep from spiritual death to spiritual
life, gives him eyes to see and ears to hear and heart and mind
to understand and know, and brings that sinner to faith in Christ
and repentance of dead works. And people try to make that more
than what it is, to talk about some kind of a perfection or
righteousness within. Well, that's doctrine that's
contrary to the gospel, which we've learned. So Paul says all
of the doctrine of perseverance and preservation. Can a sinner
saved by grace lose that salvation? No. The Bible teaches that every
sinner whom God saves shall be saved unto the end. Christ will
save them to the uttermost. He will preserve them. He will
keep them and bring them unto glory. And it's because it's
all based upon the righteousness that he's imputed to us, evidenced
by his resurrection from the dead. Now this is the gospel,
you see. And so when those who come and
preach any doctrine that's different or opposed, contrary to the doctrine
which you've learned, he says, avoid them, mark them, keep your
eye on them, be a noble Berean. Test them with the scripture.
How many times have I said this? I know a lot of preachers, they'll
brag on the noble Bereans out of Acts chapter 17, but if they
ever meet a noble Berean, they don't like them because they
don't want to be questioned. The Bible tells us that one of
the objects of the Lord's hatred are those who sow discord among
brethren. Listen to what he says again.
Verse 17, I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses. That word of, you know what division
is, that's schism, that's dividing brethren. That's sowing discord
among brethren. And offenses is like a trap,
a set of trap. You know, just like those who
are claiming to walk by faith, looking unto Christ, the author
and finisher of their faith, they put some object in front
of them that they trip over. And it may be a confusion, it
may be an open denial. A lot of times it's not an open
denial of the gospel. It's just some little nuance
that'll confuse people. And some new doctrine, some new
way of stating things. And I know men who've done this.
They've done this, they've taken, they've got a take on some doctrine
that they think they've got a better way to say it or a new light
on it. and they make it an issue of
faith and fellowship and they divide people. They go off and
they start another church or whatever. All of these things. The Bible says God hates those
who sow discord among brethren in Proverbs 6. So this is a serious
matter. And these false teachers, they
seek, it's kind of like the old adage, divide and conquer. That's
what they want to do. And they want to destroy God's
preachers. But the gospel which we've learned, the gospel of
God's grace, is what brings God's people together. And preachers
sent of God are to preach those things, and those things consistent
with the gospel doctrine, the teaching of the word. to preach
those things that build up the church, edify, that bring us
to love and unity and grow in grace and knowledge, not divide
us or make us suspicious of each other. That's not the way. So
again, the issue here is right doctrine that's consistent with
the true gospel of God's free and sovereign grace based on
the glorious person. and finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ for the complete salvation of God's people. I
know men who have taken single words out of single verses and
put a nuance on them to the point that it has confused and divided
many people. And that's sad. For example,
the doctrine of the person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ?
He's God, manifest in the flesh. That's it. And it's true, that's
a mind-boggling truth. We can't explain it physiologically
or anatomically. He's God, every bit God, and
he's man, every bit man without sin. And there's those who come
along and say, well, on the cross, he was made a sinner. Well, that's
contrary to the doctrine which we've learned. It's contrary
to the gospel. The only way that Christ was
made sin was by the imputation of our sins to him, to his account. And the only way we're made the
righteousness of God is the imputation of his righteousness to us. That's
the simple gospel. Now out of that comes life given
to his people. And you know, Paul in another
place in 2 Corinthians 11, he spoke of the simplicity of Christ. And there he's talking about
the single message. that all that we are and have
by way of salvation, by way of justification, by way of sanctification,
regeneration, preservation, by way of a right relationship with
God, it's all in Christ. It's all conditioned on Christ
who fulfilled the conditions. It's all to the praise of the
glory of God's grace in Christ. That's the simplicity. That's
the singleness, you see. And he, and Paul was, warning
the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11 to don't tolerate those who
would corrupt your minds from that simplicity. Look over at
Romans 6. Listen to this in verse 17. He
says, but God be thanked that you were the servants of sin.
Now, servant of sin there is an unbeliever, an unregenerate
unbeliever. But you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine, that teaching, which was delivered
you or which you were delivered to. Being then made free from
sin, you became the servants of righteousness. You became
a believer, a follower of Christ, a sinner saved by grace. Now
anything contrary to that, any preacher who brings anything
contrary to that, avoid them. Don't follow them. Don't support
them. They're trying to divide and
put offenses contrary to the doctrine which we've learned.
This doesn't mean that we're to be mean to them, or even treat
them harshly. Even though they may see it that
way, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't pray for them and seek
their recovery or their salvation. But it means we're to turn away
from them, turn away from their teaching. Don't be part of their
division. Don't be part of their dissimilation. They're to be avoided in all
their instructions, contrary to the simple gospel doctrines
of which every true believer is taught by the Lord and convinced.
shun their ministry. That's what he says. Now look
at verse 18. He says, for they are such who serve not our Lord
Jesus Christ. They don't serve Christ. You
see, if you preach or teach doctrines that are contrary to the gospel,
confusing the gospel, adding to the gospel, you're not serving
Christ. You may outwardly appear to be,
but you're serving your own belly. That means your own sinful fleshly
appetites. It could be self-righteousness,
it could be self-promotion, make a name for themselves, get a
following for themselves. You know, I've often said that
the worst thing that can happen to any preacher, even true preachers,
is to gain a following for himself. It could be money, it could be
power, position, approval of men. Whatever, but they're not
serving Christ. They're serving their own fleshly
appetites. And those who seek to divide
the church in the name of Christ and in the name of truth do not
serve Christ. And listen to what it says here.
It says, by good words and fair speeches, they'll say a lot of
good things. They'll say it pleasantly. They
may be eloquent. You see that? You see, many false
preachers have an appearance of great sincerity, great love
for the truth and the people of God, but they don't. They
creep in unawares, Jude said, stealthily. Wolves in sheep's
clothing, Christ spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount. Disguised
as messengers of light, apostles of Christ, ministers of righteousness,
he wrote in 2 Corinthians 11. They don't openly deny the gospel,
they don't openly deny Christ, but they speak much truth and
introduce new teachings, hard to understand, strange. foreign
doctrines that upset and confuse and divide the children of God,
instead of bringing us together, building us up and establishing
our hearts with grace. That's what they do. And it says
in verse 18, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the
hearts of the simple. Simple there doesn't mean they're
dumb, doesn't mean they don't have high IQs. I put here it
doesn't mean they're ignorant, but they are ignorant of some
things. A person can be smart and be
ignorant of a lot of different things. But what it is, is the
simple here refers to those who are innocent, unwary, and unsuspecting,
not on their guard. They're just not ready to do
what Paul's saying here. Proverbs 14, 15 says, the simple
believeth every word, but a prudent man looketh well to his going.
They believe everything they hear. And it's because they don't
want to offend anybody. They refuse to test the preachers.
They refuse to do what Paul says here, mark them and avoid them. They're like the believers in
the book of Hebrews who are unskillful in the word of righteousness
so as to discern good and evil. So that when a preacher comes
in and by good words and fair speeches, preaches these things
contrary to the doctrine, the gospel, confusing to the gospel,
they don't recognize it. And it may be they just simply
choose not to recognize it because the preacher's somebody they
like or some relative or something like that. But you see, we've
got to put all that aside. The Bible says, Isaiah spoke
of those who came preaching false doctrine. In Isaiah 820, he said,
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
this word, it's because there's no light in them. So the simple
describes those who follow these false teachers in their error
and division. And we don't want to become suspicious
of everyone, but we don't want to be simple, simple-minded,
gullible, and be deceived. So remember, the law of the Lord,
the word of God is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Go to the word of God. Oh, in Proverbs 8, 5, the wise
man said, oh ye simple, understand wisdom, and ye fools, be ye of
an understanding heart. And then in Proverbs 22, 3, it
says, a prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself,
but the simple pass on and are punished. Well, we don't want
to be deceived. We know the heart is deceitful,
above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Well,
Lord, search my heart. That's what the scripture says.
I, the Lord, search the hearts. And I, the Lord, the Lord makes
wise the simple. All right, we'll close there.