Wolves in the Fold

Letter to the Romans. We are nearing our end of this study, what we call the flyover, the final chapter of what is arguably the greatest treatise ever written. Not just the greatest treatise in scripture, not just the greatest spiritual treatise, but because this is the gospel, it is the greatest treatise ever written, Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

It’s been an invigorating and encouraging season, this flyover, a lighter treatment of Romans, and now it’s almost as if the train is nearing the station, and we can be a little wistful that we’re slowing to a stop on this study. We can eagerly anticipate Paul’s final words to this A dear body of believers.

We thought that Paul might be wrapping up this letter back in chapter 15. That’s what it seems like. In verse 13 of that chapter, he prayed a blessing over the Roman Christians. He expressed a tremendous confidence in them. And as would be typical in the close of any of his letters, he sought their prayers on his behalf. But what was surely a delight to his readers, Paul does not conclude his thoughts at the end of chapter 15.

He still has much to say, several more important things to communicate. As is typical of most of Paul’s letters, he opens chapter 16 with a lengthy list of greetings. It’s one of the longest of its kind. It begins with a commendation of a woman named Phoebe, who is quite likely the carrier of this incredible letter. That commendation gives way to greetings of more than 25 individuals or households. A few familiar names to us, Names like Priscilla and Aquila, fellow workers of Paul, but most of whose names are mentioned only here in Romans chapter 16.

Then in verse 17 through 20, Paul issues a very sobering warning to the church. And then he picks up with more greetings from gospel workers who were with him. And then in verses 25 through 27, how else would you end an epistle like this but with a doxology? He draws to a close with this rich doxology, glory to God himself. And so if people would, find your way to Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. In verses 17 through 20, Paul gives the Roman Christians a very clear warning, a caution about an almost certain presence of spiritual troublemakers, what he calls elsewhere wolves, in their midst.

Some commentators were quite perplexed about the placement and the timing of this warning. They feel that it’s abrupt and even out of place. Why would Paul, obviously in the midst of closing his epistle, and obviously in the very midst of greetings from and to various believers, why would he suddenly insert this solemn warning?

Why here? All I can say is I know why. Past elders of this church know why. Likely many of the saints of this body know why. Christians of any congregation know why. Because they no doubt have known and experienced what Paul describes here. You see, division in a church harms and or destroys that church. Paul had met with this scourge on many occasions and in many churches. He knew the destructive nature of division in the church.

As a former baseball coach, I remember a very true axiom that people used to cite. Baseball is a game, they would say, in which you have either recently been humbled or you’re about to be humbled. So it is in the church. The church is a place where you have either just recently faced troublemakers or you’re about to. Trouble and troublemakers are inevitable. Sure as you’re breathing, they’re coming. And so this warning is not out of place. It’s very much like Paul to include that one last thing as it came to his mind. The only surprise to us would be if Paul were not to warn his churches In Acts chapter 20, Paul issued a very similar caution. Just listen.

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, he cautioned the elders of the church in Ephesus. Be on guard. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.” It’s a dreadful picture. Paul says that wolves are coming. They will come. You will have troublemakers in your midst.

And that is true for every church. It’s true for this church. We’ve dealt with them in the past. We’ve dealt with them many times. On more than one occasion, I had to meet people literally at the door and say, I’m sorry, you need to find another church. On some occasions, we’ve had to discipline members. It’s never pleasant. but it is necessary.

If God’s people would glance down at verses 17 through 20, because what Paul gives us here is a strategy for combating spiritual troublemakers. They’re coming. And Paul gives us wisdom here in this passage. Verse 17, now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances, contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.

For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. But the report of your obedience has reached to all. Therefore, I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Paul sounded a similar warning to almost every church to whom he wrote. To the Galatians, to the Thessalonians, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, directly to them via Timothy, to the Philippians, to the Cretans via Titus. Paul knew firsthand just how prevalent these harmful individuals were.

I’ll say again that it seems unlikely that Paul was aware of any particular threats or troublemakers in the midst of the Roman church. Throughout this letter, there are no indications of division or strife or a developing trouble. And yet Paul was sure that they would come. So it should not surprise us. that although Paul may not have known of specific problems in the Roman church, he certainly knew of their potential.

He knew of the prevalence of spiritual troublemakers. He knew of the pernicious nature of the devil himself. And so he warns this yet pristine and precious church And in so doing, he provides them with four important elements to a strategy for combating spiritual troublemakers. If you would track back to verse 17, I wanna show you the first element. Four strategies really in combating spiritual troublemakers. The first of which is that the church must be watchful for spiritual troublemakers. Look at verse 17, I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned and turn away from them. As surely as Paul knew the prevalence of troublesome people in churches, he knew that he had to warn these churches and he had to warn the church in Rome.

No apostle that we know of had ever visited or taught there. No known evangelist had planted the church. It was a church that God himself seems to have raised up through the seeds of the gospel. Like any work of God, this church was too valuable to run the risk of just allowing these Christians to be caught off guard.

He had to warn them. And warn them he does. here in verse 17, and his instruction here in that verse is twofold. First of all, it’s a plea for watchfulness of troublemakers, and secondly, it’s a directive to avoid such people. Together, these comprise the initial aspect of Paul’s strategy. First, he says, I urge you, I urge you to keep your eye on potential troublemakers.

That word urge is a beautiful, flexible, and plentifully used word in the New Testament. It’s used more than 100 times. More than 50 of those are used by Paul himself. The word itself is very flexible. It can be translated as exhort, comfort, encourage, admonish, entreat, or as he does here, urge. And the specific plea that Paul makes here for these believers is to keep their eyes open, to be watchful for spiritual troublemakers. The paired verb that the apostle uses here is scopao, from which we get our word scope. It means to watch intently, to focus on something or someone, to observe so as to discover. And typically, Paul uses the word in a positive way. Listen to this.

2 Corinthians 4.18, we look not at the things that are unseen, but at the things which are not seen. Pardon me. We’re focused upon heavenly glory is what he says there.

Philippians 2.4. Do not merely look on your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. We should watch for opportunities to love and serve others. But here Paul clearly is using this word as a means to observing with a discriminating eye in order to scrutinize, to examine, to discover. You see, troublemakers don’t come into a church and announce themselves as such. They don’t come in telling you that they are prepared to bring heresy into your church.

They come in quietly. They blend in. For a time, they keep their head down. But slowly, they begin to press their teachings. They begin to subvert the leadership of the church. They begin to gather a following. And often, long before they’re detected, the damage that they will do is already unfolding. There’s a sense in which this watchfulness is the particular duty of the shepherds of a flock, but in measure, this is something which every mature believer should be engaged in, that if they sense that somebody is leading them astray, they should sound the alarm to the shepherds of the flock.

Paul tells us here exactly what to look for. It’s those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which they had learned. These two terms that Paul uses are a fascinating pair, dissensions and hindrances. The first word, dissensions, is the word from which we get our English word dichotomy.

The only other time it’s used in scripture is that very sorted list, the list of vices in Galatians 5, the deeds of the flesh. Listen to this, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions. What a perfect fit. That word belongs in that list.

This is the person, says Paul, that is divisive. He almost always is at the center of some controversy. No wonder many of our older translations translate this word as divisions. They come in and they cause division in the church. They are factious troublemakers.

The second word in this pairing, hindrances, is that Greek word skandalon. You heard it. It’s the word from which we get our word scandal. It’s a well-worn word in the New Testament, the Gospels, and the Epistles. They translate it most frequently as stumbling block. That’s who these people are. That’s what they do. Paul uses this word generally to warn of the wide variety of potential difficulties that these people bring.

But what is the nature of their scandal? Is it some outrageous or indecent behavior? Is it some financial misdeed that once discovered is going to be well known and frowned upon? I don’t think so. Paul tells us definitively the nature of the trouble that they bring. It’s contrary to the teaching which you have learned.

It’s their teaching that is divisive and scandalous. It’s their doctrine that leads to dissensions and hindrances. They teach, they promote, error, even heresy. They come into the church in order to trip up others with their divisive teaching and ideas. There’s no greater target for false teachers. Since they can’t get to Christ, they go after the gospel itself. They add to the gospel. They take away from the gospel. They muddy the gospel to the point that the simplicity of it is obscured. so that people don’t even know how to get saved.

It’s not so much scandalous behavior that Paul is cautioning against here. It’s the obstacle that inevitably comes from errant teaching. But discovering such people is only half the battle. Once discovered, Paul says they must be avoided. His admonition to turn away from them is an imperative. It’s a command. I’ve met people before that think that they could even proselytize or convert the devil himself. But there are times where a troublesome person just needs to be turned away. His admonition to turn away from them is a command. It’s a rarely used term, and it was used of soldiers who went AWOL, turned out of the way. Once such a man is discovered, Paul insists that the church keep away from him.

And as I said, we’ve done this several times. And it’s one of those things where, especially as a pastor, sometimes you hate being right. But the more you look at an individual, especially as time goes on, you’re so thankful that God gave you the grace and the guidance. This man’s trouble.

The church, in order to maintain the purity of its fellowship, is to have nothing to do with such a false teacher. This is Paul’s consistent approach to these kinds of people, even though he uses a different word. Listen to this, 1 Timothy 3, 5. Speaking of those who hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, avoid such men as these. The Apostle John says the same basic thing.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, That is the gospel, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith alone in Christ alone. Do not receive him into your house. Do not give him a greeting. So to begin with here, Paul urges that these believers be watchful for spiritual troublemakers. But he’s only just beginning.

There’s much more to his overall strategy in dealing with such persons. Would you glance at verse 18? In these strategies for combating these spiritual troublemakers, not only must the church be watchful for spiritual troublemakers, the church must be aware of the devastation they bring. Look at verse 18, for such men are slaves, not of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Christ, but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. Here in verse 18, Paul begins by discussing the nature of these troublemakers.

What are they like? And Paul says bluntly, they’re slaves. They’re slaves of their own appetites. They’re self-serving. They’re only in it for themselves. They’re not slaves of our Lord Jesus Christ. They came in, they presented themselves as humble and genuine servants of Christ, but that was in order to get their foot in the door to gain acceptance with God’s people. Such people will be seen in time for what or for who they are. They are no servants of Christ. They’re no servants of God’s people. A very telling sign. They’re only about serving themselves, greedily seeking to live self-pleasing lives.

Do you know that Paul issued almost exact, the exact same warning to the Philippians? Many walk, he told them in 318. Many walk who are enemies of the cross of Christ. Can we even imagine such hatred? Many walk who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

The appetite of these people varies. For some, it’s the need to be center stage, to be in control, to influence everybody, to direct an entire church. They wanna have a following. For others, it’s power, it’s influence, it’s a sense of personal importance, which is very telling. You wanna know why a man wants to be an elder? For still others, it’s money. Money they want. They’re charlatans at the core of their being. They’re seeking financial gain.

And we suppose that if that’s all that they did is please themselves, make themselves happy, we think that maybe they’re no big threat in the church. But look again at the sentence. The last line of verse 18 says that they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. There’s been a tendency to translate the people in view here as the simple. And that is not a harsh criticism of these people. If anything, it’s a commendation. They’re not simple-minded. They’re so pure in heart that they would never dream that anybody could be so deceitful.

They trust everybody. And so slowly, methodically, the troublemaker comes into the church, deviously doing his work, little by little gaining favor and a following with the unsuspecting, the trusting. Over time, they convince others of their views and their convictions. They bring confusion and strife and division. Someone might ask, how is it that they got this far? Why don’t people see them for who they are?

Paul anticipates that question and he gives the answer they employ smooth and flattering speech. It’s amazing. Paul here uses two words to describe the tactics of these deceivers, smooth and flattering. Regarding that first term, this is the only time the word is used in the New Testament. Smooth speech, it just reversed to that honey soaked speech that is almost fun, entertaining to the listener’s ear. This is a person that probably is somewhat pleasant to listen to. The root word just means good. And so such speech would be clear, articulate, nice, This is precisely the kind of speech, though, with which the devil came to Eve, right? Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? Seeking to confuse the woman. And then this, you surely shall not die. Seeking to cause the woman doubt.

Smooth speech. That second word translated almost always in the New Testament as blessing. It refers to an audible prayer on another person’s behalf. It’s a beautiful word, right? The word is eulogia. And you likely heard it right there. It’s the word from when we get our word eulogy. It means to speak a good word.

I’m always dismayed and quite disappointed. When I do a funeral and I hear a person stand up, ostensibly during a funeral to deliver a eulogy, but who stoops to telling some embarrassing story about the deceased, who’s not even there to defend himself. It’s a eulogy. It’s supposed to be the best thing that you could say about the person.

But here, and here only, Paul uses this word in a very dark sense. He uses it to refer to the masterful employment of language in order to manipulate people. Flattery. This is the person who compliments others simply in order to win them over. Or as Paul says it, in order to deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. The truth is they don’t really love or care for these people. They lavish them with praise, but they don’t really mean it. Their words are literally a baited trap.

Listen to this frightening and very similar warning that Paul gave to the Corinthians. Second Corinthians 11 verse three, I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. That is frightening. This is the reason Why this goes well beyond the watchfulness of just the shepherds. If you know you’re being played, if you sense you’re being played, manipulated, if you sense smooth and flattering speech, you should be alarmed.

It’s the unsuspecting believer. It’s that sweet, kind Christian who is slowly drawn into his trap. This is not the cold person who is suspicious of everyone. This is the person who’s friendly to all, who thinks the best of every person. It’s because they are innocent, they believe that everyone is trustworthy. What Paul gives us here is not a definitive identification of an individual.

Rather, he gives a clear formula of a scheme that plays out again and again in the church, day after day, century after century, church after church, and it’s an extremely common occurrence. Well, if the church is going to be watchful for troublemakers, aware of the potential for harm and the destruction they bring, not only to individuals, but even to entire churches. They are well on their way to protecting the flock.

But Paul provides a third element in this effort to combat spiritual troublemakers. We find it in verse 19. In this list of strategies for combating spiritual troublemakers, not only must the church be watchful and must be aware of the devastation that spiritual troublemakers bring, but thirdly, the church must be shrewdly realistic about spiritual troublemakers. Look at verse 19 if you would, please.

For the report of your obedience has reached to all, therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.” Paul provides here a fascinating reason for this sustained watchfulness over the church. He basically encourages the Roman Christians to consider themselves. but not what they had done, rather what God had done in them. God had saved them. He had transformed them. He had graced them, thereby enabling them to obey the teachings and commands of Scripture. And everyone knew it. Paul says it this way in that very first line, the report of your obedience has reached to all.

That is the remarkable thing about the Church of Rome. Very little, as I said, is even known about how the church came into existence. Again, there is no record of an apostle or a well-known believer even bringing the gospel to that city. The first time that we learn of the Church of Rome is in this letter.

If I may. Since we just considered Acts 2 last week, remember the giving of the Holy Spirit? Let me tell you this. One of the suggestions about the establishment of the Roman Church ties right back to Acts chapter 2 and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Let me show you how.

Remember how the people from all those cities and regions heard the Christians speaking in their own language? Fascinating. It was real language that they were speaking, and I don’t doubt that they were proclaiming the gospel. They heard a declaration of the gospel in their own tongue.

They may have even heard Peter’s first sermon to the crowd. And they may well have been among the 3,000 that were saved that incredible day. If any of these citizens of Rome were among those who came to Christ that day, they would have returned to Rome. with the seeds of the gospel? Well, it’s possible, regardless of how the church came to be in Rome, it was planted, it was flourishing.

The believers there were obedient. First of all, they were obedient to the gospel of Christ, placing their faith in him for salvation, but they were obedient in heart and life as well. They were obedient to the commands of scripture. That grace of obedience is a special feature of this letter. Just listen.

In chapter one, verse five, Paul acknowledges that it was his mission to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles. His caution in Romans chapter six, verse 16, you are the slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death or obedience resulting in righteousness. In 1518, his clear ministry focus, the goal was the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed. And then again in 1626, leaping ahead, the realization of that great goal, Paul said, he had made known to all the nations leading to the obedience of faith. The Roman Christians were obedient, first to Christ and then to his word. And that strong testimony went far and wide. So great was the report of their obedience to Christ that it stirred Paul’s praise to God for them.

I am rejoicing over you, he says. And this, Paul argues, is a powerful reason for watchfulness. Watchfulness for troublemakers. Everyone knows about your righteous conduct, including me, says Paul, and this peaceful and thriving fellowship was worth defending. It’s worth preserving. It’s worth watching.

For this faithful church to be suddenly torn asunder by false teaching would wreak havoc far and wide. So Paul gives them a simple admonition at the end of verse 19. Would you glance there? Paul urges, I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. If that appeal sounds familiar, it should. It’s almost a direct quote of Jesus, Matthew chapter 10, verse 16.

Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. Like Christ himself, Paul desires that these believers focus on what is good and righteous. But they can’t be naive. They can’t be unaware. They must know that evil is out there and often even in the church. Paul issued a very similar encouragement to the Corinthian church.

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking. Grow up, essentially he tells them, yet in evil be infants. Don’t even let it get a good start in your life, but in your thinking be mature. Or as Paul says it here, be wise in what is good, be innocent in what is evil.

Believers cannot be naive about the reality of evil in our world. True, it is that they should be intent on their pursuit of righteousness, but they can’t be unrealistic about the prevalence of sin and the inclination of others to bring it into the church.

The awareness of evil too is a means of protection. for their church. Well, there’s a fourth and final element to this battle plan against spiritual troublemakers, and we find it in verse 20. The church must be watchful for spiritual troublemakers. They must be aware of the devastation they bring. They must be shrewdly realistic about them. The church must know, fourthly, the church must know of the approaching end. of spiritual troublemakers.

If you look at verse 20, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Paul closes this short section with a twofold encouragement. First, he comforts his readers with a reminder that God is a righteous judge. He watches, he knows, and he will deal ultimately with the troublemaker that is the ultimate troublemaker, Satan himself. Secondly, he points his readers to the one source of real help, God’s grace. It must be noted here that Paul begins this encouragement with the God of peace.

He intentionally contrasts the dissension caused by false teachers in verse 17 with the peace that only God can provide. Beautiful. Please note, Paul is not suggesting here that these earthly troublemakers are Satan in disguise. He’s not even necessarily saying that they’re unbelievers.

One of the sad realities presented in scripture is that even though saved, sometimes people conduct themselves in such a way as to aid the enemy, even the devil himself. But what is more frightening, it’s more frightening that a Christian could realize that in the course of stirring up some kind of trouble in Christ’s church, that your leader of this action is really the devil. When Paul says that Satan will be crushed, he effectively pulls back the curtain to reveal the one who is really behind all of these difficulties in the church, that presents the troublemakers, these false teachers as pawns, really. They’re just instruments in the devil’s hands. What Paul is saying here is that Satan, Satan is the chief troublemaker.

If there is division in the church or strife in the church or factiousness, we can be dead certain that the devil is in the midst of it. There’s no greater delight for the devil, no greater delight than to see civil war in a church. He now exists, does the devil, only to steal, kill, and destroy, right? In Ephesians chapter two, Paul tells us that the prince of the power of the air, the devil, is now working in the sons of disobedience.

They’re pawns. They’re just instruments in the devil’s hands. And that means that there are also many unbelievers who serve as the devil’s troublemakers. They’re his henchmen. Paul here doesn’t wish to apprise these believers of the devil’s existence. Instead, he wants to remind them that Satan’s season of opportunity is fleeting.

This is an encouragement by Paul. It’s reminiscent of something that Paul said back in 1219. There he says that soon, soon the devil will be vanquished, he’ll be crushed, he’ll be destroyed. It’s that assuring principle of reckoning that Paul pointed to in 1219.

Troublemakers will certainly come. They will cause discord. You will experience strife and division for a season. But God will deal with it. Everything God will deal with in time. But I’d like you to notice one thing about this statement. God will deal with all unrighteousness in time. He will judge, but listen to this, the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. In some way, by some undefined means, God is going to crush the devil under our feet. The church is going to flourish to such a point that the devil himself is crushed and destroyed under the feet of the saints, those who believe in Jesus Christ, that event is coming soon.

Paul closes with words that are surely familiar to us. It’s the blessing of grace, Paul’s standard closing. Galatians, both Thessalonian epistles, First Corinthians, Philippians, Second Timothy, they all have these brief but important expressions, blessings of grace. The same time he points his readers nearby to the divine source of strength.

It is by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and by no other means that these Christians will be enabled to be watchful for spiritual troublemakers. It is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that they will be made more aware of the devastating effects of spiritual troublemakers. It is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we would be more and more shrewdly realistic about these troublemakers, It is by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we take great confidence in the approaching end of spiritual troublemakers. God will have his day and it’s coming soon. Would you humble yourself before him? Lord God, we humble ourselves before the very throne of grace.

Lord, we thank you humbly for protecting our church. We thank you for revealing those glimpses into individuals’ character, into what they were saying, into how they were carrying themselves, sneaking off and pulling people aside. We thank you, Father, that You gave us the strength and encouragement and the affirmation of God’s people to deal with such people decisively. Lord God, we thank you. We thank you for the salvation that we possess, our faith in Jesus Christ alone.

And Lord, we must be watchful about any attack upon the gospel, that would rob others from hearing the truth so simply articulated. Lord God, we do pray. Anytime we talk about judgment, we know that it’s coming and soon. But Lord, if there are any in our midst this morning who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ will judge every person.

And if If a person has not placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, they are lost forever. Father, we thank you that it wasn’t because of us that we’re saved. It wasn’t because of anything that we’ve done. It wasn’t any potential that we have in ourselves. It was purely by your mercy that we are saved and that we stand before you now. We stand before you now in Christ’s righteousness, not our own.

Lord God, we plead with you that if there are any who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior, make it today. Make it today that you move in their hearts. Make it today that they yield to the grace of God, wooing them to heaven for eternity. Make it today that you rescue them from the domain of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light. Father, grant us your grace and the protection of this flock. We pray all of these things in Jesus’ name.