Romans 16:17-27 - Audio

We are excited to finally put the final touches on the Romans masterpiece!  What a great book and amazing study it has been! Like so many good preachers, Paul is struggling to close his sermon/letter. Just when it seems he has concluded, he opens up a new topic entirely!  Maybe it came to his mind, and without the “cut and paste” word processing options we have today, he has to tack it onto the end of his letter. But he wants to make sure it is included and it is really important. Having greeted 27 individuals by name in the opening sections of this final chapter the next few verses do not include names, but the catch-all phrases “those” and “such people”.  Who are they? What have they done? What is the problem? For full details you can listen in to the message, but here's the short version:  Paul had a list of 27 names of people who were to be embraced, but now he will warn them about people to be avoided.  That’s right.. avoided! After 27 names of people serving the Lord, there is now a nameless section of “those" serving themselves! King Solomon had it right when he penned those famous words in Ecclesiastes 3, “there is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing”.  Wisdom and success and longevity in our Christian lives is not just based on who and what we embrace, but who and what we AVOID!  Yes, the Spirit of God says there are people you should know exist and make sure you avoid them!  They are toxic, destructive, and used by Satan to trip you up. Listen in and find out how Satan gets crushed in our concluding message from Romans 16.