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Turn in your Bibles, if you would 
please, to the book of Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. And I want to read verses 17 
through 20. So just a very short portion 
of God's Word from the last chapter of Paul's great epistle to the 
Romans. Just a few verses and then my 
remarks this evening will be confined actually to just one 
verse or to be open and honest just a part of one verse. So 
Romans chapter 16 and verses 17 through 20. Hear this word 
of the Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, 
Mark them that are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, 
contrary to the doctrine which he learned, and turn away from 
them. For they that are such serve 
not our Lord Christ, but their own belly. And by their smooth 
and fair speech, they beguile the hearts of the innocent. For 
your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I rejoice therefore 
over you, but I would have you wise unto that which is good 
and simple unto that which is evil. And the God of peace shall 
bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord 
Jesus Christ be with you, thus far the reading of God's word. My text this evening is that 
phrase, it's really a sentence, toward the end of those verses, 
actually just before or just prior to that benediction that 
appears there. And here the Apostle Paul writes, 
and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet. shortly. Now this verse, these words are 
a part of a section that in some ways appears out of place. And they appear, the words appear 
out of place because of what Paul has written in the opening 
verses of Romans chapter 16, this great magisterial epistle 
that is devoted to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. It's really, in many ways, Paul's 
magnum opus. And as he comes to the end of 
it, he sends his greetings to various people within the church 
whom he knows. Now, Paul had never been in Rome 
up to this point. The people that he knew, Which 
was a little unusual, as I mentioned this morning in another context, 
that Paul ordinarily would send or write an epistle to a church 
or to churches where he had been. More often than not, churches 
that he had established. But Rome was established a little 
bit differently. It was the center of the Roman 
Empire. People moved there for all sorts of reasons, not the 
least of which would be greater opportunities, work, and those 
sorts of things. It was the hub, the center of 
everything. And so along with a great many 
people, Christians would move there as well. And there are 
a number of people mentioned here that appear in other places 
in the New Testament. The second thing that is a little 
unusual about the city of Rome was that because it was so large, 
This text would seem to indicate that instead of one church per 
city, which you find in other places, Paul writes to a church. And we don't know how large the 
church is, but wherever they met it was large enough, or the 
church was small enough that they could all meet together. 
But that was not the case in Rome. It was rather large, transportation 
would have been difficult, getting from place to place. And so there 
were these various churches. And in fact, Paul uses the word 
church, several times in the context, and then he uses the 
word household as well, which is a kind of euphemism speaking 
of a church that meets in someone's home. So we must not think of 
them as Bible studies or cell groups or something along that 
line, but these were individual churches. And Paul sends his 
greetings, he's delighted with them, he thanks the Lord for 
them. He sends his greetings, he is 
pleased at the growth and the advancement of the kingdom of 
God, and then in verses 17, and actually he returns to that in 
verse 21. But in this paragraph in between, 
Paul draws attention to something else that goes on in the life 
of the church or churches, and it begins somewhat abruptly. That is, there's this transition 
that is somewhat abrupt, And it seems to deal with difficulties 
and troubles and problems and disaffection and division within 
the church. And then even the role of the 
evil one. And it doesn't seem to fit in 
some ways thematically, doesn't seem to fit ideologically. I mean, it's somewhat abrasive 
following all of those greetings. And it doesn't seem to fit either. 
as we think of Paul's interest in evangelism and so forth. And yet what's really and truly 
interesting about verse 20 is that even though Paul issues 
a series of imperatives, watch out for this, be careful of this, 
be on your guard against people that come in and would be disruptive 
and all of that. In verse 20, there's no imperative. There's no command. Again, you 
have these greetings and greet one another with a holy kiss. 
And then there's this shunning, this beware, watch out. Again, 
a series of commands having to do with difficulties that face 
most churches at one time or another. And then there's this 
great statement in which there's no imperative, there's no command, 
there's nothing to do. It's merely an announcement. 
Look at it again, in this context, and the God of peace. shall bruise 
Satan under your feet shortly. That's amazing. It stands in 
stark contrast to what has already been said. It's again surprising 
for several reasons. It's surprising that the God 
of peace should crush anyone. After all, isn't God love? God 
is love. So there's a certain surprise 
here that God is going to crush anyone or anything. And then 
the second surprise is that the crushing should be under our 
feet. Who are we? For one thing, we have no power. We have no strength. And besides 
all that, aren't we told to love our enemies? So there's Another 
surprising piece or element to this. And then the third surprise 
is that the crushing will happen soon. It appears to most of us 
that there's not much crushing of Satan going on. As a matter 
of fact, he seems to have free reign. Things seem to be getting 
worse rather than better. So here is Paul shifting gears 
radically. And then there is this statement, 
which prompts us to think and ponder and actually wonder, what 
is it that Paul is saying? Well, I think it's a great text. 
And my interest in preaching from it this evening is to encourage 
you, to encourage you as a body of the Lord's people, as a body 
of the Lord's faithful people, as a kind of island, an island 
of righteousness, an island of a godly desire, an island in 
the midst of great wickedness. Not that this city is any more 
wicked than any other city or where I live, but I think you 
know what I mean. It's a great text, a great text in which Paul 
says, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet 
shortly. The defeat of Satan along with 
all of his works is absolute. There is no question about this 
taking place. God will in fact triumph over 
all evil in all places, including a triumph over the evil one. God is warlike. Christ is warlike, and at some 
level the Christian, again, reminding ourselves that we are to love 
our enemies, the Christian also is warlike, each acting to crush 
the very same enemy, Satan himself. Now what does all of this mean? 
How does it work itself out? And how may we derive some encouragement 
from this text? Let's look at it under several 
headings. The first of all, or first of 
all, or the first thing is the person who crushes Satan. Who is it? Well, the text tells 
us the person is the God of peace. Now, when we think of peace and 
crushing, they seem to us to be opposite concepts. Furthermore, it is God who is 
described here as the God of peace. What is peace? Well, we 
tend to think in modern terms rather than biblical terms. We 
think of the absence of strife, the absence of war, the absence 
of turmoil of one kind or another. But the New Testament idea is 
taken from the Old Testament in which there's a common biblical 
idea or notion. Peace in the scriptures is not 
negative in the absence of something, but it's positive in the presence 
of something. It's prosperity, wholeness, soundness. And especially as God bestows 
it, it is spiritual soundness, wholeness, and blessing. And so whether we think of peace 
with God, which is reconciliation, or the peace of God and that 
tranquility that we experience, or even the peace that the Spirit 
of God brings into the context of the church, all of it taken 
together is prosperity, spiritual prosperity. Every spiritual blessing, 
Paul tells us elsewhere, has been granted to us, given to 
us, bestowed upon us. in Christ Jesus. Ephesians chapter 
1 and verse 13. God is the source of all spiritual 
prosperity. Again, seen at each and every 
level of that prosperity. Robert Haldane writing in the 
19th century said, God is the God of peace because he it is 
that is the author of all the peace that his people enjoy. Were it not for the overruling 
power of the Lord, his people would have no rest at any time 
in this world. No peace of conscience, no peace 
within the church, within the context of the people of God, 
no peace within the heart. There'd be no peace whatsoever 
at all. And the text here tells us that 
this peace comes from God. God is the author of peace. He's the one who does the bruising, 
and in doing the bruising, he brings peace. Or we could say, 
in bringing peace, it also necessitates the bruising of the evil one. Think of how many places in the 
New Testament where God is referred to as the God of peace. Romans 
chapter 15 and verse 33, one of the benedictions. One of the 
interesting things about Romans, Romans is very long. It's Paul's 
longest epistle. And as he comes toward the end 
of chapter 14 and moves into chapter 15, he gives a benediction. And then it's almost, and benedictions 
are usually the last thing that anyone pronounces. And then it's 
almost as if Paul thinks of something else, and he adds something else, 
and then he gives us another benediction. And then he says 
to himself, well, wait a minute, there's something else I need 
to say to these people. And then he says something else, and then he adds 
a benediction. So there are a whole series of benedictions in the 
book of Romans. And in Romans chapter 15, verse 
33, which is the last verse of that chapter, We read, now the 
God of peace be with you all, amen. That's a fitting benediction. 
It's a powerful benediction. It's one that I will use from 
time to time. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and 
verse 23, as Paul mentions the whole matter of sanctification. 
It's the God of peace who sanctifies you and me. He sanctifies us 
wholly and completely. The God of peace does that. Second Thessalonians chapter 
3 in verse 16, now the Lord of peace himself give you peace 
at all times in all ways. The Lord be with you all. And then again, there's that 
great benediction in Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 20, now the 
God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, 
that great shepherd of the sheep. So again, God is the God of peace, 
he's the Lord of peace and the source of all peace. And it's 
interesting that this person who brings peace, the text tells 
us, will bruise or crush Satan under your feet. This word crush 
or this word bruise means literally to rub together, even as someone 
might rub grain together, to separate the chaff. from the 
grain itself. It's a word that's used in a 
number of different contexts. It can be translated crush, grind 
down. When the tables of the law were 
thrown down by Moses from Mount Sinai and they were crushed, 
they split into what we might say 1,000 pieces. In the Greek 
translation of the Old Testament, that's the word that is used 
there. In Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 
2, there is a reference to shattering the gates of brass. Think how 
difficult that would be. Brass, a metal, but it's shattered 
into these hundreds and thousands of tiny little shards. It's used 
in the New Testament to refer to bones that are broken, and 
broken in such a way that they're shattered or crushed in a way 
that would be difficult to repair. So it's a word that's often used. 
But the important point here is that it is the God of peace 
who will crush Satan. And it's interesting that Satan, 
the definite article is attached to Satan. And Satan means adversary. And what Paul is saying here 
is it is the adversary of the believer shall be crushed into 
a thousand pieces. The adversary will no longer 
be an adversary, no longer be the accuser of the brethren. 
And by the way, if this text tells us anything at all, It 
tells us that Satan is no friend of yours. You may think, and 
often young people think this way, that once I get out from 
under Dad and Mom, once I get a chance to live on my own, I'm 
free. And I can do anything that I 
want. And I can do all of those things that Dad and Mom have 
told me repeatedly not to do. But let me assure you that this 
adversary of yours, Satan himself, who would lure you into that 
frame of mind, is not your friend. He will crush you if the Lord 
Jesus does not crush him for you. Well, the illusion here, 
of course, is to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, the seed of the 
woman, the seed of the woman whose heel would be crushed, 
but the serpent whose head would be bruised or crushed. And so we're getting ahead of 
ourselves. But what the Apostle Paul is alluding to here, of 
course, is that this crushing cannot take place and will not 
take place and has never taken place apart from the mediation 
of the Lord Jesus. So who is the one who crushes, 
who bruises, who destroys? It is God himself. Now secondly, notice with me 
from the text, and this is truly interesting, the place where 
Satan is crushed. Now I've just alluded to Genesis 
chapter 3 and verse 15, the first gospel promise. the introduction 
of the covenant of grace. Satan's head will be bruised 
or crushed and the seed of the woman will have his heel crushed. In other words, what Satan does will not be final 
and complete. Satan himself, however, will 
be destroyed completely, a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. We 
all recognize that. And so we would expect the Apostle 
Paul to say, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan through Christ 
shortly. But he doesn't say that. I mean, 
it's certainly true. It's an element of truth for 
that. And we'll come to that in just a moment, but notice 
the place where Satan is crushed. Under your feet? Under whose 
feet? Well, Paul has been writing to churches. He's greeted churches. A whole list of them here in 
Romans chapter 16 and verses 1 through 16. The church in this 
house and those who meet here and those who meet there. He's 
addressing the people of God and he's addressing the people 
of God who meet regularly as the people of God in assemblies 
gathered according to biblical teaching. And so the place where 
Satan is crushed is somewhat surprising. Satan is crushed 
in the church. As the seed of the woman has 
bruised Satan, So his people will through Christ likewise 
bruise him. It is not that we shall bruise 
him, we don't have that power, but God shall do it. Yet he shall 
not bruise him under his feet, but under our feet. So the church 
has a responsibility and the church has a role. And that's 
why I said early on that it is my goal this evening to encourage 
you as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a part of your 
calling. How does that work itself out? 
How is it that the church is involved in and the recipient 
of this great crushing that God does? Well, there are a number 
of things. First of all, Satan is crushed 
historically. God gave victory to his people 
at the cross. We talked about the cross this 
morning and the necessity of the cross and Jesus' death, his 
decease, his exodus taking place at the cross and to some degree 
what that meant and what that means for us. God gave victory. crushed him for us at the cross. Listen to these words from Colossians 
chapter 2, having forgiven all our trespasses, having blotted 
out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was 
contrary to us, and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it 
to the cross. Now notice this phrase, having 
despoiled principalities and powers, that's Satan and demonic 
hosts, having despoiled them, stolen from them power and authority, 
stolen from them their ability, having despoiled them, He made 
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. It is through our union with 
Jesus Christ that Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 comes into reality. And Satan has been crushed and 
he has been crushed for us and in our union with Jesus Christ 
we have participated in that crushing. Secondly, Satan is 
crushed judicially in our justification. That's what this epistle is all 
about. It's an epistle that is devoted to the doctrine of justification 
on account of Christ alone through faith alone. It's all about justice 
and judicial and legal deliverance. Again, listen to these words 
now from Romans chapter three, being justified freely by his 
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom 
God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. to 
show his righteousness because of the passing over of the sins 
done aforetime in the forbearance of God for the showing, I say, 
of his righteousness in the present season. Justification has to 
do with righteousness. And our accuser says, not righteous. God says, because of Christ, 
righteous through Christ alone. That he, for the showing I say, of his 
righteousness at this present season, that he might be just 
and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus. This statement It's a sort of 
a logical extension and logical conclusion of what Paul says 
as early as Romans chapter 3. There is in our justification 
the demonstration, the showing forth of God's righteousness 
and of his pardon all at the same time. And the accuser has 
nothing more to say. He's crushed. So Satan is crushed historically. He's crushed in our union with 
Christ. He's crushed judiciously, excuse 
me, judicially. He's crushed experientially in 
our experience. Think of Romans chapter eight 
and verses 37 through 39. Think of how Paul, speaks as he describes our safety 
and our security. And he says actually earlier, 
he says, who shall separate us from the love of God or the love 
of Christ? Tribulation, anguish, persecution, 
famine, nakedness, peril, sword, He quotes the Old Testament, 
for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted 
as sheep for the slaughter. We're about to be slaughtered. 
And then Paul goes on and he says, nay, in all these things, 
we are more than conquerors, hyper conquerors, super conquerors 
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither 
death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, again, another 
reference to the evil one, nor things present, nor things to 
come, nor powers, another reference to demonic forces, nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us 
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing 
can separate us. He's crushed. For us, God has crushed him and 
that's a part of our Christian experience, no matter how low 
we get, no matter how great our struggles, no matter the sorrow 
or the difficulty, nothing, nothing can separate us, even the evil 
one himself. As well, Satan is crushed ecclesiastically, 
that is in the church, not only for the church, but in the church 
as well. Paul has been talking about dissension 
here and he's warning the church to be aware of dissension and 
those who would lead away the faithful if they could. But here 
Paul says through this promise, the work of Satan in and through 
those spreading dissension will not prevail. Jesus said the gates 
of hell would not prevail against his church. Church exists today. More than 2,000 years after that 
statement, it's been attacked. I suspect this congregation has 
been attacked. Most congregations have been 
attacked, but you're still here. Down through the centuries, Ebionites, 
Gnostics, Arians, and a whole host of others have sought to 
destroy the church. God is the author of peace and 
he rules in the midst of his enemies. We ought to take great comfort 
in that. That God rules in the midst of 
his enemies and his people rule in the midst of their enemies 
through this God of peace who has crushed and who continues 
to crush the evil one. God's presence in the church 
is a reality. You may not feel that presence 
in any sensate sense. In fact, what you're feeling 
probably right now is excessive heat, not the presence of God, 
but he's here. Where two or three are gathered 
together, he's there in the midst, he's here. He loves his church 
and he protects his church and he crushes the efforts of the 
evil one in the context of his holy churches. Satan is crushed 
under the feet of believers as his strategy to destroy the church 
is detected and his people oppose that. Satan is crushed evangelistically 
every time a sinner is converted. Satan loses another one. He's 
crushed. His efforts are destroyed. And Satan finally is crushed 
at the end of days, eschatologically. He's not a sovereign. He's not 
going to win. And God, who is the God of peace, 
who brings spiritual prosperity, does so through the crushing 
of the evil one. Calvin wrote, Christ has once 
defeated Satan, but Satan is ever ready to renew the battle. 
Paul, therefore, promises them the ultimate defeat of Satan, 
though that is not always evident when the contest is being fought. We need to be men and women of 
faith and believe that word of God and not merely what we perceive 
or think we perceive with the naked eye. Well, it is the God of peace 
who crushes, and it's interesting that he crushes by bringing spiritual 
prosperity. Secondly, the place, it's in 
and through the church, for the church and in and through the 
church. There is a responsibility that we have in this crushing 
activity in darkness. Faithfulness is the evidence 
of our identifying with the God of peace. But the third and final 
thing is the proximity. That is the nearness of Satan's 
crushing. Notice that the text says that 
the God of peace shall bruise or crush Satan under your feet 
shortly. How short is shortly? Or how 
long is shortly? Some of us have been waiting 
for a very long time. And again, we look at the efforts of the 
evil one and the seeming effect of that in the world and we seem 
very small, very weak, almost impotent to hold off the efforts 
and the work and the strategies of the evil one. Well, this word 
is an interesting word, and it's capable of two different translations. 
Most of our translations probably say something along the lines 
of the way that I read the text, that this will happen shortly. And when we think of that which 
is short, we think in terms of time. And the word is used that 
way. It actually is used in reference 
to time. And so we might get discouraged 
thinking, well, 2,000 years have passed and we haven't 
seen a whole lot of this go on. Or we might say, well, the Lord 
counts days differently than we do, and a day is like 1,000 
years in the sight of the Lord, and so maybe he's counting time 
a little bit differently, all of which may be true. But the 
word has another meaning. And it refers or can refer not 
so much to time as to technique. And if the word refers to technique, 
then what Paul is saying is this, that the God of peace shall bruise 
Satan under your feet, surely, certainly, seamlessly, without 
a doubt. The emphasis is not so much then 
on as upon certainty. And I think that's actually what 
it means. And the promise has to do less 
with time and the unfolding of time. And it has far more to 
do with the certainty, the sovereignty, if you will, of God's action. That this, in fact, has taken 
place. is taking place and will take 
place until the Lord Jesus returns again. There is nothing to hinder 
God in the accomplishment of His purpose for us. Christ, the 
seed of the woman, crushed the head of the serpent at the cross. The church will now, through 
Christ, crush Satan likewise. And believers here are urged 
and encouraged to engage themselves in the battle and to sustain 
the combat. God is at work and God will be 
at work and he chooses to do that through his churches. And that means through this church 
as well as others. God gives to his people then 
a promise. A promise given to you. Satan is no sovereign. The vanquished is no victor. Evil is not eternal. And the 
devil and all his works are being overthrown, despite what we think 
we see, and will be overthrown. Or, to reverse that, the devil 
and all his works will be overthrown, and in fact are being overthrown 
right now. And God's peace allows for no 
appeasement, no truce with the works of the evil one. It is only through the destruction 
of evil that true peace, reconciliation, tranquility in the heart, and 
peace within the context of the Church and the members of the 
Church In other words, peace at any level is attained. Peace is attained only as Satan 
is continually being crushed. Putting it differently, nothing 
is ever to be gained by siding with the evil one and his works. Nothing will ever be gained by 
siding with him. It is the exclusive prerogative 
of God to bestow saving peace, to bestow every spiritual property, 
to give us spiritual prosperity. He is the God of peace. He is 
the only one who produces all of those elements of peace, reconciliation, 
peace with God, real spiritual prosperity. And he does all of 
that in the church and at the expense of evil and the evil 
one. And so Paul reminds us here and 
urges us here to look to God alone and solely to the means 
that he has appointed for peace. Our only security is in God and 
what a security it is. And our duty is to seek it from 
him in the very midst of a troubled and sinful world. Remember the words from the prophets 
or in the book of the prophets, there is no peace, says my God 
to the wicked. Peace belongs, prosperity belongs 
to the people of God. William S. Plummer, writing in 
the 19th century, the southern Presbyterian said, he can give 
a peace which earth and hell cannot destroy, as stable as 
the everlasting mountains. Oh, that men who are like the 
troubled sea would come to him for rest. Come, sinner, to the 
Lord Jesus. Come to God, the God of peace. for rest, and in that rest, Satan 
himself, all of his works and all of his effort is crushed. Christ is the victor, and his 
churches, his holy churches, are the victorious ones. Father 
in heaven, we thank you for the promise of your word, and for 
this Perhaps strange word when we first hear it, sandwiched 
in the very midst of a number of other words and verses and 
exhortations. But here is a word of promise 
for us, that the God of peace crushes and will crush, certainly, 
surely, definitely, Satan, our adversary. And he does so even 
now. through the work of grace in 
the church, through the church, for us, for your people. Send us on our way rejoicing 
this evening and reflecting upon this great truth. And again, 
we pray that should there be any at all, young or old, still 
estranged from Christ, that you might lay hold of them, that 
you might help them to find you as you lay hold of their hearts 
and lives and give to them, we pray, repentance and faith. For 
we pray these things in Christ's name, amen.