17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
— Romans 16:17-27, ESV

This is my 47th and final sermon from the book of Romans.  To show you what a lightweight I am, consider one of my heroes in the faith, the late Rev. Dr. James Montgomery Boice, who served as Pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia from 1968 to his passing in 2000.  His four-volume commentary on Romans contains not 47, not 50, not even 100, but 239 sermons!  He wrote and preached every one of them in the light of the last line in Romans, “to the glory of God forever through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen!”

Last lines can be especially illuminating.  Take some of the greatest works of literature for example (all of which were made into motion pictures).  They are often capsulated perfectly by well-worded last lines.  

“There’s no place like home.”
— The Wizard of Oz

“I used to hate the water, I can’t imagine why.”
— Jaws

And it wasn’t Rhett Butler who had the last word, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a …,” well, you know. It was Scarlett who closed Margaret Mitchell’s book:

“Tomorrow, I’ll think of a way to get him back.  After all, tomorrow is another day.”
— Gone With The Wind

Then there is my personal favorite last line from the Charles Dickens novel:

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
— A Tale of Two Cities

The last line of Romans is one sentence that stretches in chapter 16 from verse 25 to verse 27, with a particularly powerful punctuation at the end:

To the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
— Romans 16:27, ESV

All of Romans is about all of the Christian life.  It covers the doctrines of salvation (chapters 1-11), the life of love to be lived by Christians (chapters 12-15), and this personal and powerful benediction to the author and finisher of the Christian faith (chapter 16).  All is for the glory of God!  All can only be obtained by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  And, all who come to God through Christ will live forevermore.  Amen!

Now, let’s look at these last lines to the book of Romans.  Like Dr. Boice, Paul leaves us with four volumes of precepts of his own.

Stay Away from Those Who Take Away from the Glory of God

Paul begins these positive and powerful thoughts with a negative prescription.  It is a warning to true Christians, “brothers” (and “sisters”) about those who preach false doctrines to pull people away from the true church and into their own pockets.  Since our theme is the glory of God, he is telling us to stay away from those who take away from the glory of God.

For the sake of illustration, I want you to compare the ministries of three men: Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, and the Apostle Paul.  I am not condemning the first two to Hell by any means, and the third one is already safely in Heaven.  But consider who these men glorify.

Benny Hinn ministers to glorify himself.  He claims false powers to perform false miracles to put real money into his own pockets.  His crusades are conducted in a well-known format of exuberant, emotional music, staged healing episodes, and when he takes center stage to start preaching, it is only after his people sing the same hymn every time, “How Great Thou Art,” and it is obvious who the great one is, or at least thinks he is, and it ain’t God.  Stay away from him, he only ministers to glorify himself.

Joel Osteen is another example of someone to stay away from.  To his credit, Joel does not minister to glorify himself.  At least he has a little humility.  But he does serve to glorify you, to put you on the throne and in control of your own best life now.  With the false doctrine of the prosperity gospel and the clever phrasing of audience tested sermons, he has succeeded in creating his own financial empire.  Stay away from him, he only ministers to make money by glorifying you.

Then there is the old, aged, worn out, sometimes grumpy, often sarcastic, extremely demanding Apostle Paul.  He never cashed in on the books he wrote.  He never lived in a mansion or drove a Mercedes Benz.  He never got on television or had his own podcast.  But he is an Apostle and saint and preacher and minister extraordinaire, because everything he did, he did according to the last line of his most famous work, to the glory of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  And now Paul is alive, forevermore.  Amen!

Don’t let anyone “deceive the hearts” of you or people you love.  If it’s new (like many prerogatives of pentecostalism and the prosperity gospel), it probably ain’t true.  If it bypasses the mind and aims for the heart (like so called altar calls and emotional appeals for money), it probably is deceptive.  If it causes “obstacles,” literally “scandals” (like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart and Robert Tilton), run for the hills.  

Live in “obedience” with your mind focused on the word of God and those who preach it exegetically and faithfully.  Bend your will to the gospel of Jesus Christ and follow Him.  Then your heart will follow, all the way to Heaven, forevermore.  Amen!

The Punishment of the Chief Thief of the Glory of God

I know I’ve named a lot of names and some of them may be people you like.  Again, I’m not condemning them outright, I’m just commenting on some of their bad fruit.  Besides, it’s not all their fault.  They were deceived before they started deceiving others.  

Who is the culprit?  It is the chief deceiver, the ultimate liar, the principal adversary of God and the people of God.  Paul uses his most familiar name in the text, “Satan.”

Right now, Satan is running around loose (ref. 1 Peter 5:8).  He has legions of demons in his invisible, spiritual army.  His motive is sinisterly simple.  He wants to rob God of His glory by keeping people away from God, the word of God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

One day, Satan will be caught, contained, and punished.  Paul said two thousand years ago it will be “soon.”  When his crushing punishment comes, it will occur “under your feet.”  What does this mean?

Paul used the word “soon” in the same way as our Lord Jesus Christ (ref. Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) and the Apostle John (ref. Revelation 3, 22).  We do not know when Jesus Christ is coming again, we’ve been waiting for two thousand years so for, but when He comes, it sill be quick, sudden, swift, “soon.”  All the saints of all time will be caught up, raptured, to meet the Lord in the air.  

Under our feet will be all the lost people of all the ages, and the one who deceived them all, Satan.  Judgement will come.  Punishment will fall.  And the chief thief of the glory of God will meet his end.  He will never trouble the people of God nor rob the glory of God of again for the rest of eternity.  Amen!

Since we are still waiting for this time to come, we need “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” to be with us to sustain us in our faith.  God provides it in abundance.  He has also given us some good examples to follow. 

The People on the Road to the Glory of God

The last chapter of Romans is a very personal chapter.  We looked at 26 names in verses 1-16, now we get 8 more in verses 21-23.  They are “Timothy (well known) … Lucius and Jason and Sosipater (fellow Jewish Christians not so well known) … Tertius (whose name means “third,” who served as the scribe for Paul) … Gaius (well known Elder from the church in Corinth) … Erastus (a Christian politician, if you can believe it) … Quartus (whose name means “fourth” after Primus, Secundus, and Tertius).  

Like those mentioned earlier in the chapter, this was a diverse group of unified Christians who were sold out to the gospel, committed to Holy Scripture, and steadfast in their desire to live for the glory of God.  They had a faith that worked, each a “fellow worker” with Paul.  They helped Paul write Scripture, hosted people in their homes for church services, and traveled to tell people about Jesus.  

The active, churched, evangelical Christian life is the life that glorifies God.  These examples lived it.  So must we.  For in this way we get to glorify God.  Amen!

The Final Line to the Glory of God

Now we come to the final words of the final line in the book of Romans.  It is to “the glory of God.” It leads to a life that lasts “forevermore.”  And it can only be found in the person and work of “Jesus Christ.”  Amen!

The “God” who is “eternal” and “wise” is God the Father.  The God who saves is God the Son, the Lord “Jesus Christ.”  The God who gives “revelation” is God the Holy Spirit.  He is the one, true, and living God who has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  To God be the glory, amen!

The God described throughout the entire book of Romans is the God who elects before the foundation of the world, justifies by faith alone, sanctified by His Spirit and His word, and guarantees glorification, “forevermore” to all who come to Him by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  To God be the glory alone, amen!

Drink in those final five words one more time.  “Forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen.”  We will live forever, all who have come to faith in Jesus Christ.  Glory to God!  Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen!

Amen, amen,
amen, amen, amen.

— African-American Spiritual, arranged by Richard Smallwood