Every gardener knows that thriving vineyards attract destructive pests. Satan works the same way, targeting healthy ministries with his favorite weapon, division. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl addresses one of ministry's most painful realities, well-meaning people who nevertheless sow discord and undermine God's work. Our in-depth study in Paul's letter to the Romans has taken us to the final chapter. In this passage, Paul equips church leaders and members alike to recognize, confront, and protect against those who, intentionally or not, ravage the vineyard that God is cultivating.
Occasionally, an individual will save the best for the last. And Paul seems to do that as he gets toward the end of the Letter to the Romans. While it isn't necessarily the longest of the letters he wrote, it is certainly. the one that has become for the Christian faith the most significant. I doubt that Tertius, when he took up the pen and began to write on parchment.
ever thought that he was writing the Christian Constitution. But Romans is that. but it is not without those personal vignettes along the way. Occasionally there are Very strong as today. Very strong words of counsel and even warning.
given to the flock of God. I'll be reading from Romans sixteen, verses seventeen through twenty. Romans sixteen. 17 through 20.
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. 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. The God of peace will soon. Crush Satan. Under your feet.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. And all God's people said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org/slash offer. Chuck titled today's message, Boars in God's Vineyard.
Probably with tongue in cheek. The seasoned veteran pastor Stuart Briscoe. offered this definition of a pastor. He needs to have the mind of a scholar. The heart of a child.
and the hide of a rhinoceros. All who are called into ministry, and that would be everyone involved. in leadership of any kind of Christian organization. whether at home or abroad, must have that hide of a rhinoceros. We must model both tenderness and Toughness.
We must be devoted and yet at the same time. Determined. We must be Willing to work with those who are struggling and in need of compassion. And yet, unwilling to be manipulated or controlled by anybody. No matter who they are or how much they give.
or how significant they are in the world about us. We are to be sensitive with the sheep. yet strong and even stern. when dealing with wolves. Committed to unity and harmony for the sake of grace.
At the same time, unwilling to bend or compromise. Because of the truth. Being a faithful shepherd has nothing to do with. trying hard to be liked. Or cultivating um popularity group that follows you around.
Or flattering the flock by telling the sheep, what they want to hear. Good, faithful messengers. communicate what sheep need to hear. There's a great difference. There are times it means standing all alone.
On your principles, even at the risk of being misunderstood. It means pressing on without the need to defend yourself publicly. It means doing right, though others may choose to do wrong. You see, there have always been wolves in sheep's clothing. There have always been boars.
who ravage gods Vineyard. That word picture is not original with me. It comes from the. The era of Martin Luther, when he, like a prophet out of the Old Testament, stood against. the medieval church and all of its corruptions.
Pope Leo X issued a Firm and stern document against him called a papal bull. In which the Pope announced that there is a boar in God's vineyard. as he was referring to the Maverick monk. Named Luther. On the contrary.
On the contrary, if there was ever a case of the pot calling the kettle black, that would qualify. It was the one promoting corruption. Not the prophet standing alone and really hiding out for his life. though they were out to get him. Had an interesting experience this past couple of weeks.
My publisher set up a opportunity for me to connect at a central location with Pastors from all over the country. I didn't know any of them, frankly.
Some were in Florida and the East Coast, up all the way into New England, across New York.
Some Coming into Minnesota and down into Tennessee and Kentucky, and then across. Colorado and Arizona, California, Oregon, many of the states didn't get to speak directly with. Most of them, but I did with a number of them. There was sort of a theme that was threaded through our conversation. It had to do with how do you deal with difficult people.
Isn't that interesting? I thought that was just a problem in the South. I've served five churches in my 45 years in ministry, and in every one, there have been boars ravaging God's vineyard.
So let me say this before I go further. If you qualify, you know that. I have never made it a point to fight my battles from a pulpit. And you who have been around a while know that I don't do that.
Some pastors find delight in doing it. I find that that disturbs the sheep more than comforts them.
However, if you are among that category, take this to heart. God is speaking today to you. I'm not. God has you in mind. If you qualify in that category, and we'll be looking at in Romans 16:17 to 20.
If it fits. Hear it well.
Now, this is nothing new. The early church was plagued with boars ravaging the vineyard. Throughout the ministry of Christ, the Pharisees dogged his steps. Ultimately, we're the ones who did thumbs down on his effectiveness and his veracity and with the help of the Romans made sure he went to a cross. Stepping away from Christ when you get into the era of the early church, Paul himself admits that he was ravaging the church.
Luke writes of it in chapters eight and nine of the book of Acts. When Paul got to the Ephesian elders, he warned them of wolves from their own midst that would enter in. And in fact did. Among the Ephesians. There have always been heretics, there have always been defectors, there have always been deceivers, there have always been fighters.
Matter of fact, Paul names one of them in Second Timothy 4. calling him out by name, Alexander did me much harm. He tells Timothy, watch out for him. He's still on the loose. When I read that, I get a chill up my back.
I'm so grateful God is no longer writing His word. putting names in there that preachers can talk about for centuries to come. How would you like to be Alexander? There's another one. We don't hear much of him.
Turning your Bible over to Third John. Third John, almost to the end of your Bible, just before Jude. Which leads to Revelation. Go to that tiny little one-chapter letter and look at verses 9 and 10. I'll introduce you to a man you've not heard of in a long time, maybe never.
Verse 9. John writes, I wrote something to the church. But Diotrephes who loves to be first among them. Does not accept what we say. Did John ignore him?
Look at the next verse. For this reason, If I come, I will call attention to his deeds, which he does. That's called confrontation. unjustly accusing us with wicked words. There was gossip.
Not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren. That's arrogance. He forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church. That's an unwarranted role of authority he took upon himself. Simple terms, he's a church boss.
And John exposes him. Calling him by name. When I come. I'll confront him. The great Baptist scholar A.T.
Robertson, who taught up in Louisville at Southern Baptist Seminary for many years, taught Greek in his left in his legacy magnificent tools in the Greek language. Robertson tells in his six-volume work on Word pictures in the New Testament, wonderful, wonderful volumes. He writes this in the sixth volume. He tells this true story.
Some 40 years ago, I wrote an article on diatrophies for a denominational paper. The editor told me later that 25 deacons stopped the paper. To show their resentment against being personally attacked in the paper. Were they named diatrophes? No, they were just diatrophies like.
And if they were, they should have resigned. Straight talk. Hard truth. Necessary for the flock to hear. The pastor to remind himself of as well as.
those to whom he ministers. There was trouble brewing in Rome. And because it was like all other churches, It needed to be addressed. On your way back to Romans 16, stop off at 2 Timothy 3. Let me read five verses that tell you about our times.
In case you wonder what gives birth to Alexander's and Diotrephes, Where do boars and wolves come from? Look at 2 Timothy 3. Realize this. In the last days. Difficult times will come.
One of my mentors always rendered that first verse, savage times. will come. That's an awfully good word in the place of difficult. It means hard to deal with. Harsh.
Perilous. And now he describes it. For men and women will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant. revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy. unloving.
Irreconcilable. Malicious gossips. without self-control, brutal, haters of good. treacherous, reckless. Conceited.
Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And notice the cloak of religion about them. holding to a form of godliness, looking pious. Although they have denied its power, there's no Holy Spirit presence. There is only the work of the flesh as they ape A spiritual life.
Holding to a form of godliness, they have denied its power. Look at the last five words. Among the least obeyed words in the New Testament, among churches today, avoid Such Men as these Avoid them.
Now, I think we're properly prepared to hear what Paul writes in Romans 16. As we think of the church at Rome, there are three questions I want to answer. First of all, what was happening there? And second, the question of motive. Why was it happening?
And third, how was it to be handled? All three are appropriate for us living in the 21st century. in the church that we love and serve. First, what was happening? Verse 17.
Now I urge you brethren Before going any further, notice he is writing to believers. This is not the gospel for those who don't know Christ. This is church talk. This is counsel for the believer, for the saint. Engaged in the work of ministry, he says to the people of Rome, Brothers, sisters, I urge you.
Keep your eye on those who cause dissensions. That's the first thing to write down. What was happening? Dissensions. The original Greek term denotes Divisiveness.
Polarization. Dividing SEPARATING The Greek term rendered here dissensions is found only one other time in the New Testament. That's Galatians 5, 20 in the list of the deeds of the flesh. Dissensions is one of them. Dissensions never come from the Holy Spirit.
They come from the flesh. They may be prompted by the flesh itself, they may be prompted by the enemy, Satan himself. They may come from the world system around us, whatever. They come. And they divide.
Whoever is involved in dissensions brings strife. Disturbs peace.
So's discord. Among the brothers and sisters. of the organization or the church. They introduce trouble. They question.
Authority. They lack respect. They fail to model a submissive spirit. They cast doubts. I have a simple word for them.
They stir the pot. They stir the pot. They take delight in stirring up the pot. They release faulty information. making it sound true For the purpose of causing people to believe them.
Rather than The truth. I hope you're hearing this. I hope you're hearing this. These are words carefully chosen. pondered for days.
And now delivered for your knowledge and application. What was happening? Dissensions. were being caused. Look next.
And hindrances. Hindrances. This is the Greek word scandala. Guess what word we get from that? But it means more than scandal.
This is putting a hindrance in others' way, making it hard for them to trust. Whereas they once trusted, they can't any longer because you hindered them. from trusting. The skandala would be those agents of disunity. Who blocked the free-flowing work of the Spirit.
They delight in sounding believable. But they desire to undermine and dilute the effectiveness of a ministry. And may I add, they are seldom overt. Almost always subtle. Small group stuff.
Quiet conversations. Statements given that offer innuendo and suspicions. William Barclay writes of this individual: He is a man who speaks well but acts ill. The kind of man who, behind a façade of pious words, is a bad influence. who leads astray, not by direct attack, but by subtlety, who pretends to serve Christ, but in reality is destroying the faith.
You often can't tell by first glance. Or in the early sentences. That's what makes them so effective. That's why the venom spreads.
So easily. among the sheep. Notice what's wrong with all of these. hindrances and dissensions. Look at 17 again.
because they are contrary to the teaching which you learned. They don't square with scriptural truth. Either in precept or in principle.
Now second, why was all this happening? Why would that kind of thing been going on?
Next verse, 18. See the little particle to begin the verse. This is called a connective particle, an explanatory particle. F-O-R, four. Or Let me explain.
These things go on because Such men are slaves. of their own appetites. Let that sink in. They are self-serving individuals. Literally, the text says they are slaves of their own belly.
Stott says this is a graphic metaphor of self-indulgence. They're serving themselves. Though they never say so. They are willing slaves of their own ego. We would say they want their own way.
And don't miss the contrast, they do not want the way of the Lord Christ. Literally, the sentence reads, For such men our Lord Christ they are not slaves of. They are characterized by an aggressive carnality that is bent on having their own way. It's called being enslaved to your own belly. Your own agenda.
What you want. Notice secondly, we read They deceive. the hearts of this unsuspecting. I left out an important part of verse 18. by their smooth and flattering speech, They deceive the hearts.
of the unsuspecting. Look closely. Smooth, flattering speech. They deceive. That's how predators get children to get into their cars.
so they can kidnap them. By smooth and flattering speech. That's how cults get their way. When they want to bend your mind around their way of thinking, it's never rude, it's never illogical. It's smooth.
It makes you feel better. It's flattering. It convinces you, this will be good for you to know this. This will help you. when in fact it is self-serving and deceptive.
It is not the way of Christ. If you casually read Romans chapter 16, you might overlook the significance of Paul's parting words. But there's much to learn from this last chapter in his letter. You're listening to Insight for Living. We'll hear some closing comments from Chuck Swindahl in just a moment, so stick with us.
Chuck titled today's message, Boars in God's Vineyard. Its message number forty-two in a comprehensive study through the entire book of Romans. This series will conclude next week on the 16th, so while there is still time, we invite you to request the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook for Romans. This Bible study comes in two spiral-bound volumes. You'll find all the details for ordering them online at insight.org/slash offer.
You can also listen to Chuck's message from start to finish by using the Insight mobile app.
Well, I'm sure you'd agree that our world is fraught with turmoil these days. Even as followers of Jesus Christ, it's easy to lose hope. and yet Christmas represents the highest form of hope. Jesus not only arrived as God in flesh, but ultimately was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. In fact, Peter said that because of God's great mercy, we are born again to a living hope.
And that is very good news. Here's Chuck.
Sometimes the word hope is misconstrued. Hope isn't making a wish on a star. It's not like throwing pennies into a fountain and crossing your fingers. Let me give you a better definition of hope. It's trusting God's promises.
Before we see the results. That's the earth-shattering power of Biblical hope. Every day through Insight for Living, We open the Bible together and I've witnessed how his word sparks hope in hearts around the world. It's like dawn chasing away the night. Sure, this year has been particularly dark.
We've lost some beloved spiritual leaders, some to age, others taken suddenly. Our hearts have been broken. Plus there's unrest in the public arena. A spirit of darkness is moving across our land. But here's what I know, and it thrills me.
the light of Christ still shines bright. and together we have the privilege to carry his torch into the dark corners of our world. This Christmas, we celebrate Jesus. the baby born in Bethlehem who is our everlasting light. He came to pierce the darkness with hope that cannot be extinguished.
And that same hope is what we share every single day through this ministry. Through radio broadcasts, through millions of visits to our website and mobile app. And through countless social media connections, Insight for Living continues sharing the hope found only in Christ. But we cannot do this alone. We need partners like you.
This Advent season, your generous contribution Ignites hope. It lights a flame in someone's life who is sitting in darkness right now.
So go ahead. Reach out today. Together, let's shine the light of Christ into a dark and despairing world. And here's how to respond to Chuck's window. To send your donation in the mail, you can address your envelope to InsightForLiving.
Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas 75034. That's Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. If you're listening on the Insight mobile app, just click the heart that says donate and follow the instructions.
If you prefer to call us at Insight for Living, the number is 800-772-8888. Or you can give online at insight.org/slash donate. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues to expose what he calls boars in God's Vineyard. Tuesday on Insight for Living.
The preceding message, Boars in God's Vineyard, was copyrighted in 2008, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
