S E R M O N : The Day of Wrath (Allow me RECAP last week and what we covered…) We heard the Gospel from Paul, and this letter that he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is one of the most comprehensive books/letters in the New Testament The overarching theme is summarized in this statement: The just shall live by faith! And Paul will go on through the rest of this letter to the Roman believers, to explain that God has called us all to be righteous by faith, as Gentiles (the Jews thought they were just grandfathered in because of their great-great-granddaddy, Abraham) The Believer’s standing before God was a function of faith, not works, nor genealogy, and we must never forget that! Faith alone by grace alone Paul lowered himself to become a DOULOS - a bondservant to Jesus and to the Church He who had been served, now gladly stooped to serve others and bring the Gospel to the known world, at that time But he was also called to be an APOSTOLOS -an Apostle - which is “one sent with a message” In this case, it was the call to take the Gospel to the nations And that call belongs to you and me now by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ And when it comes to God’s power, the power IN us is a function of holiness The more holy a person is before the Lord, the more can be done by the Spirit in that person The less holy, then less can be done through us The mission was to bring about obedience to the faith, not at the end of a sword, not coerced, but freely To this end, God gives gifts to His holy ones (that’s you and me), and I don’t know about you, but I am longing to see Jesus, but also longing to wade into the Word again this week! I want to use my spiritual gifts to extend love to those who don’t yet know Christ! And I hope you do, too So with that, let’s get to this morning’s text… // TEXT & EXPOSITION Rom 2:1-29 (1) Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. (2) We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. There is a phase - a saying - that I have heard almost my entire life And people who use it lightly come under a particular condemnation So allow me to briefly explain Inevitably, someone in a debate or argument will contend that he or she is being judged (which is not necessarily a bad or wrong thing) Now, our culture has made it so that we’re afraid of our shadows, so nobody wants to rock the boat when it comes to taking a strong position on a moral issue (this isn’t ALL people, mind you, but it is a large swath of our culture today) I heard it on the college campus when I was a student, and then later as a campus minister at the University of Georgia And now I hear it everywhere The phrase in question is, “Judge not!” It seems relatively innocuous, but as it turns out,it is a heavy-handed way to shut down any dissension in a debate or even a friendly conversation But when you stop and analyze it, you see that it’s actually a way of squashing other opinions You find yourself talking with some college students about the current Presidency, or find yourself in a situation whereby you’re the minority when it comes to a specific theological or societal position, but you’re wanting to have conversation and clear thinking from your opponents Yet all they can say is, “Well, judge not!” And with that, it would seem that the issue was firmly put to bed, but was it? I don’t think so In truth, when anyone responds to your position or argument with, “Judge not!” that person or persons are actually judging YOU and YOUR position! So in reality, the person telling others to JUDGE NOT is actually making a judgement themselves, which is ironic, since the other side or person has already established that we’re not supposed to judge each other, or even the content of the conversation So at the end of the day, it's just pablum - it’s stuff that people say that doesn’t really mean much, if it means anything at all In truth, American society has been so dumbed down that we’re almost to the point of being unable to think or reason well, at all! But getting back to the point I was making, the warning is not to be hypocritical in your judgments So judge away! But use the right standard for judging (and in doing so, try to win people over to your side) Be winsome in order to win some Utilize the Bible, memorize verses, and pray to the Lord when you find yourself in conversations like that He is good to give you what you need in that moment! So yes, we can judge, but judge with a right judgement or correct standard (3) Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God? (4) Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? What Paul is really asking is, “Are you now, or have you ever been a hypocrite?” I’d venture that every single one of us have been at some point in our lives I certainly was when when I was in high school and college (back when I knew everything), but I won’t bore you with the details But do you know where that term “hypocrite” comes from? In ancient times, hypocrisy was the practice of feigning or pretending to be what one was not It became the label that stage actors were called - Hypocrites - people simply playing a role or character that wasn’t really who they were But now, unfortunately, many in our culture have a hard time letting go of that, in order to live honestly in forthrightness So don’t live a life of hypocrisy Don’t be someone who judges the people around them while actually doing the same thing Oh, there is a time to make a right judgment, to be sure, but avoid hypocrisy at all costs because it is tied to presumption And this is the worse quagmire…when others see you for who you are, play acting with great piety, but living in sin, you lose credibility This is the bane of many mega-church pastors, who get too big for their britches But I won’t go “all-in” on this, knowing that I am susceptible to the lures and bait of Satan, as well, if I’m not walking and living in the Spirit daily So we all must keep a clean record And even if some of us have been hypocrites, or currently are, there is grace for that, when there is honesty and contrition And that is why we must be careful not to presume on the riches of Jesus, our Savior and Lord His forbearance and patience keep the wrath of God away…for now, but I think it is not far off for the inhabitants of the earth And this is why I’m always bringing in evangelism and the need for people to know Jesus I watched several news stories that last week about the natural disasters, and especially they camp where many young girls were washed away, out of their beds and cabins, and still many have not been recovered These things are horrific, especially when it comes to little ones But I put it to you that those girls at that camp who were swept away, were swept right into the arms of Jesus that horrific night And we will see them in glory So in all of this, Paul asks us a rhetorical question “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” In truth, there are many in the world who do not know Jesus, or even know OF Jesus This is why we send and support missionaries They go to places that we don’t so that the knowledge of God is explained (because everyone has access to it through the Creation, but not all understand it) And the goodness of God comes through the Word of Scripture, particularly in the Gospels, which are focused on Jesus life and sacrifice And yet, there are many people who presume upon Good graces, especially His forbearance He hasn’t taken us home yet for a good reason WE are the Church! We are a witness to the world concerning Jesus, whom we love and worship! And as long as we’re still here, the Lord wants us to make Himself known to the nations, as well as our neighbors And we ought to be warning people that God’s goodness and forbearance is coming to an end One day soon, there will be a great trumpet that sounds a great blast, calling all His redeemed men, women, boys, and girls home And then the Lord will unleash Hell, literally on earth, making way for the Antichrist’s Kingdom Praise the Lord, we won’t be here! So let’s do NOW the one thing we won’t be able to do in Heaven!! And that would be to tell people about Jesus and His sacrifice God Himself has given us this task! (5) But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. So the Lord, through Paul, was warning the ancient world about the wrath of God Impinitent hearts Impinitent = not repenting of sin; not contrite Impervious to moral persuasion Hard hearted stubbornness But did you know that YOU can make yourself impenitent? Many today live around Christians and interact with them, but have no interest in Jesus Christ And that’s actually one of the ways to harden your heart (though many who are hardened wouldn’t admit it) One of the Indiana Jones movies had the wrath of God in it I think it was when they opened the Ark at the end of the first movie But the point is that God’s righteous judgment was revealed when they opened the Ark, and that’s nothing to toy with The Lord is serious about sin! Now, many people know more about Christian lore from movies rather than knowing it from the pages of Scripture In the movie, men wanted the power of the Ark to bring nations to their knees so they could subjugate people and rule over them (which is why they “lost it” in that huge warehouse at the end of the movie) But the power was never IN the Ark The power was from God Himself And that’s precisely the problem - it’s not about having a supernatural object that does Man’s will It’s about having a supernatural, perfect Deity - an all-good, all-loving God who loves all that He has made And He is the One in charge, not us But back to impenitence…it’s hard to convince people that they need to repent (saying sorry, doing a spiritual 180, however you want to phrase it) The reason is that today, everyone, especially people 25 years and younger, don’t think they’re doing anything wrong at all Many today believe that there is no such thing as objective RIGHT or WRONG at all, and when a culture embraces that perspective, the ship is sinking fast (6) He will render to each one according to his works: (7) to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; (8) but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. He gives to each according to our works This can manifest in this life now, and it can also apply regarding one’s eternal destiny If you haven’t already, take time to examine yourself to see what kind of person you really are, because He will render to each one of us based on our works Now, works don’t have anything to do with salvation, except to say that true salvation is going to show itself by good works Not in a gaudy, showy way, but in truth, and in love So we need to practice patience in well-doing It’s actually a form of seeking glory and honor, but not in the usual way Not on a battlefield or in an arena killing other people, or toppling cities and states and nations The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul is letting us know that there is a glory to be had, but not the way the world attains it, or even thinks about it Whereas many people seek to make much of themselves and their achievements, they will find that the Kingdom that is coming is an inverted Kingdom The first are last and the last are first So when it comes to all our stories of knights and maids and dragons, there is something to be learned, even in adulthood Don’t waste your time on trying to gain immortality here and now, in this life, though it’s not a bad thing to stand up to a dragon or two along the way Just make sure you are wearing the Armor that the Lord has given to us all If you have faith in the Son of God, you will receive it But it’s up to you to put it on and put it to use There are those who do not obey the Truth Will we go to them and plead for them to put their faith in Christ? And there are those that obey righteousness, and they will l shine like stars in the universe But when it comes to unrighteousness, the only thing that awaits a person who refuses to repent and put faith in Jesus is wrath and fury (9) There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, (10) but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. (11) For God shows no partiality. There is, what is called a “historically far application” related to this idea of distress and hardship When a culture can no longer provide for the essential physical and psychological needs of its members, it inevitably starts to disintegrate Its members may try to revolt, or they may just walk away and leave the culture to collapse It depends largely on what options it’s citizens have, and what opinions they hold But it starts with the pervading sense that the culture is no longer meeting its own essential needs I’m not talking about entertainment or frivolities, but essential needs An one of the chief indicators of this is the breakdown of the family, and we’ve been seeing that for decades When a culture takes the leap of revolution or abandonment, (we are in the early stages of abandoning our culture, according to many talking heads), then that culture is deemed more risky than staying with the sinking ship of state, and all of this manifests itself as a cultural train wreck And the effects are not limited to merely humans The effects impact all kinds of things, but what is mostly impacted is the core sense of identity It’s the same kind of thing that people exhibit when a country goes to war and then lose All the air is sucked out of the room, if you will National pride is put down, and morale with it What most manifests at this early stage of social collapse is a moving away from caring for one another Caring for one’s fellow community members, families, and for the shared qualities of the culture, all come at a high emotional cost When caring becomes too much to bear , some of the coping mechanisms are to detach, disengage, disconnect, even dissociate from one another And the reason I’ve brought all this up because we’re in it Oh, many of us haven’t FELT it yet - the heaviness and pressure of what’s coming, but it is happening now So how close are we? I don’t know But I keep going back to the promises of God in Scripture, and I read in Hebrews 13:5, “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” What tremendous promise of God! Men and women, I believe this is near and coming quickly Just take a survey, as you look around at our culture What’s happening now in our world today? Wars and rumors of wars all intensifying, just as the Bible predicts Societal breakdown, the fury of nature, and on and on…. These events are not going to skip over us, but my hope is in the HARPAZO - the Rapture of the Church So I’ll pull this little tid-bit back out for us, as we dealt with it in Hebrews 10:35–39 [35] Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. [36] For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. [37] For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; [38] but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” [39] But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. We must continue, steady on, full steam ahead until the moment that the angel sounds that trumpet and we’re all caught up in the air so as to be with the Lord forever! What day, glorious day, that will be! But until it happens, we’re still on mission 24-7-365 We must engage with the Great Commission, and loving the Church, as the days grow darker (12) For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. (13) For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. There is no excuse! Whether you know God’s Law or not, you can’t escape it God wrote in the Bible that His Law is also written in the hearts of human beings, who are in the Image of God (the Imago Dei) So all of us are guilty of sin, and deserve eternal Death and Hell We have to agree on that to be able to see the grace of God Simply hearing and knowing about God’s Law doesn’t get you far It has to be embraced and put into action Our faith is going, moving, reaching, and loving, not sitting and waiting and watching the hands of the clock, and hearing them chime every hour Our faith is active, not passive We are told to SEEK and SAVE the Lost How many “Christians” are engaging in those conversations? I don’t know, and I don't speak for anyone outside of this room But I know that we have to find creative ways to engage the culture and open the door to the Gospel If the Born-again Saints won’t do it, who will? (14) For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. (15) They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them (16) on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. Remember that the Bible was written by Jews, and this is a good example of what people without God were in Paul’s day were like (though it’s not that different, really…) How many people just ignore our laws, be they speed limits or illegal entry into our homeland? So many all around the world, and in our nation, are LAWLESS And when a person becomes lawless, they become a law unto themselves What that means is that it becomes rigid for the everyone else, but generally free-wheeling for the individual To be lawless is to be contrary to the law, or to act without regard to the law But laws are necessary in a sinful world and those who choose to act lawlessly further sin in the world 1 Timothy 1:8–11 [8] Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, [9] understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, [10] the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, [11] in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted. And actually, the word for “lawlessness” in the Bible is often translated “iniquity” And according to the Bible, the root of all lawlessness is rebellion, which manifests in the heart of a person 1 John 3:4 defines sin as lawlessness: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” To commit sin is to be lawless - when the sinner breaks God’s law In this way, lawlessness is a rejection of God Satan, who models the ultimate rejection of God, will one day empower THE Antichrist (there have been many, but there is one who is coming), and he is called “the lawless one,” And he will rise to power “in accordance with the working of Satan” as written by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 And again, I believe we’re seeing this happen at a level we’ve now known in our lifetime // APPLICATION When a culture can no longer provide for the essential physical and psychological needs of its members, it inevitably starts to disintegrate Inevitably, its members may try to revolt, or they may just walk away and leave the culture to collapse It really depends largely on what options those citizens have It starts with the sense that the culture no longer meets its essential needs of the people, and then grows rapidly to the point the drastic step of revolution or abandonment Either option can be risky: whether staying with the sinking ship of state, or breaking away from it… But what most manifests this early stage of societal collapse is a moving away from caring, especially for one another And don’t we see that more and more? Caring for one’s family and community members has been a staple of our culture, but that’s all changing very rapidly! But I don’t want you all to go away from here heavy hearted! We should always be looking up to Jesus, and in these days, we need be listening for a heavenly trumpet blast! Oh, don’t worry! It’ll be hard to miss! Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming! Make way for the King! Repent and believe, if you haven’t already! Stay awake! (spiritually speaking) - don’t let the culture lull you to sleep Keep the faith so that you can SHARE the faith! 1 Peter 3:15 - But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect… Pray for the Lord to give us endurance and stamina to obey Him as we engage in the Great Commission And just to remind you, here’s how Jesus put it: [18] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20 Put the flesh to death by the Spirit! Do it daily - hourly, if you have to! And set yourself to obey him, by the words of Scripture, and by the unction of the Holy Spirit who lives in you! Hebrews 12:1–2 [1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God Finish the race! Look to Jesus! Trust him for his grace daily! Hour by precious hour! He is coming to judge the world in righteousness! Our redemption is drawing nearer and nearer! PRAISE GOD! AMEN! Let’s pray! // BENEDICTION AND NOW… Go out in the grace and love of Jesus, and may He be near you in these days May He speak to your heart to do His will, and lead you in paths of righteousness for the sake of HIS great and holy Name! EMMAUS ROAD CHURCH, YOU ARE SENT!!