Sermon Cloud

As a few of you know, last year I took up mountain biking.  Every since the first day I hit the trails, I’ve been addicted.  I’ve called it everything from, “my drug,” to “my moment of zen,” or as one friend puts it, “getting the ice out.” 

o       Now when I bike, the girls including Amy, get really nervous because I’ve already taken a couple of spills including one where I really could have been hurt.  Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad.

·        The trail is an interesting place because it is where I relax, but it also requires a fair amount of concentration. 

o       If I quit concentrating on the trail, I will wind up in a tree, fall down a ravine, or break a bone, but the element of adventure and risk keeps me coming back. 

·        What is required in biking is the correct amount of attention. 

o       Grip too hard and you won’t be mobile or agile and you probably won’t have too much fun. 

o       Get careless and get hurt.

·        The other day I was out riding, and I hit this awesome 20 or so foot drop.  I liked it so much, I did it 3 times in a row without a problem.  But later on in the day, I got a little fatigued and wasn’t paying attention and completely wiped out going around a simple curve.  I let the front tire veer slightly off the trail, it hit some loose leaves, and over the handle bars I went.

o       Now I don’t mean to bore you with the details of my mountain biking.  But I say that to point out that much of life is about finding the proper proportion of attention.  Sometimes too much is too much, and too little is definitely too little. 

·        This week at Sovereign King in the book of Romans, we are going to talk about something that has definitely fallen out of proportion within many churches.  We are going to talk about the wrath of God.

·        The wrath of God is typically handled in one of two ways with churches: 

o       It is either talked about so much, we get this picture of a really red-faced God really wanting to punish everyone but since Jesus is such a good guy, He relents and doesn’t kill everybody on the face of the planet. 

o       Or the wrath of God is ignored all together which leads to all types of sins and horribly God-dishonoring lives.  If you ignore God’s wrath, then there is absolutely no restraint taught and you wind up calling everything that is bad…good.  If there is no wrath of God, there is no punishment of sin and if no punishment then there is nothing that is actually…sin.

·        In these two views, God is either all love or all hate but convinced not to be angry by Jesus. 

·        Now, you don’t think we want to make either one of those mistakes right?  Last week we heard Paul proclaim that the Gospel, the announcement that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, was the power for salvation so that those who have faith in Jesus might know His forgiveness and restoration.  That is indeed good news for all of us, but here is the question:  what happens to God’s wrath? 

o       Where is that wrath before you believe in Jesus and where is it after you believe in Jesus? 

o       Where is the wrath if you don’t believe in Jesus? 

o       Is all that wrath something that happens after death or is it poured out now?

·        You can’t ignore all the passages in the Bible that emphasize God’s wrath and judgment though.  In fact, if you add them up, they actually total more than the passages about God’s love.  There are 600 alone in the OT.  Here is a sampling from the NT:

o       John 3:36:  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

o       Romans 5:9:  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

o       Romans 12:19:  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

o       Ephesians 5:6:  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

·        And those don’t even get close to detailing for you the number of passages that mention God’s wrath against sin. 

·        Obviously, ignoring the Biblical teaching on God’s wrath is not an option, so this week at Sovereign King, let’s ask this big picture question:

Big Picture Question:  If the Gospel is about forgiveness, what happens to God’s wrath and how should we live in light of that truth?

Romans 1:18-32

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

·        As we step into the waters of understanding God’s wrath today, let me chart a course for what we are going to see over the next few chapters.

o       You are going to find three ways in which the wrath of God is presently being poured out in Romans.  Notice, I’m talking about God’s wrath PRESENTLY being poured out.  The wrath of God about sins committed in the past and future will be discussed, but right now here on earth, we need to ask, “What is happening as a result of God’s wrath towards sin?”

o       We tend to think of God’s wrath as the whipping sinners are going to take at the end of the world sort of like going home from school with a teachers note.

o       But God presently pours out His wrath against sin.  In doing my reading, I found commentators who could list 7 ways God presently does that or 6 ways, but for conciseness’ sake, we see that in at least 3 ways. 

·         

·        God pours His wrath out presently in these 3 ways.

o       Universal human death is revealing the wrath of God.

§         Romans 3:23 “For the wages of sin is death”

o       Universal futility and misery are evidence of God's wrath.

§         Romans 8:20 tells us that all creation is subjected to futility and suffering because of sin.

o       The sinking degradation of human behavior reveals the wrath of God.

§         And that is where we find ourselves today.

·        Romans 1:18 makes it clear that God not only hates sin, his wrath is poured out against it.  His wrath is not a passive criticism.  We have a habit of thinking like that sometimes.  We think God hates sin like we criticize a contestant on American Idol but that is not the case.

·        There are many types of sins and therefore many ways in which God pours out His wrath and Romans 1 focuses on one particular sin. 

o       God pours His wrath out on any unrighteousness or sin that seeks to suppress the truth.

o       This is any truth of God that is known but is sought to be suppressed.

·        Paul makes mention of one specifically and it is a big one:  19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

o       Theologians call this natural revelation. 

o       Not everyone knows God as Lord, but everyone knows that the one true God exists.  God has shown them.  How?

o       God’s creation reflects the facts that God is

§         Eternal

§         All-powerful

§         And divine.

·        What is learned from nature is not sufficient to save.  Nature does not tell you of Jesus Christ who dies for sin, but it does tell you that there is one true God who is creator of all. 

o       These truths are reiterated in Psalm 19 and Job 38.  I encourage you pursue those and look them up.

·        Paul says these things are so clear that the knowledge of such condemns humanity’s heart.  People are guilty of sinning against God because their hearts know there is a God.

o       That’s why people love to commune with nature.  You hear it all the time.  But sadly, so often, they fall short of actually praising God for His creation and their time spent actually condemns them further.

·        Forgive another bike story, but I was biking a month or so ago.  I got to the trail before the group, and another friend was walking off the trail.  This person is quite adamant to me that they do no believe in Jesus, but they are generally respectful to me as pastor.  This friend walked off the trail and said, “It is beautiful today.  I just had to get out.  THIS (pointing to the woods) is my church.

o       Now, in recognizing the one true God as God, you can worship Him and be praising Him for His wonderful creation.

o       However, if you enjoy that creation yet walk away without recognizing His power, without confessing sin, without giving Him praise for who He truly is, then nature is not a church but a pathway to condemnation.

·        You want to know why that inflames the anger of God?  Paul tells us verses 22-23.  By denying one True God, people claim to be wise but actually prove themselves to be fools. 

o       Instead of worshipping and God thanking Him for His creation, fools worship creation thinking it God.

·        Now, this is the state of every non-regenerate, non-faith filled, non-believer on the face of the planet.  There is no middle ground.  It is either worshiping God as He is revealed in His scriptures, or it is worshiping creation and man-made things.

·        All people worship.  We are built for worship.  God demands we worship Him, and His wrath resides on any that worship anything other.

o       We are either worshiping God or we are making idols out of something else to worship.

o       Tim Keller defines idolatry as anything, even any good thing, that we raise to the level of ultimate…meaning our happiness and value is dependant up on it.

·        We do that with everything.  We do that with

o       Work

o       Appearance

o       Education

o       Children

·        Now, you may hear all of this and think, “Well, I believe in Jesus, so I’m not worried about God’s wrath.  And I would say, “Yes, the full wrath of your sin has been poured out on Jesus.” 

o       Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

·        However, that does not mean then that you are free to imitate behavior that elicits God’s wrath.  How do you do that? 

o       Anytime you know the truth, but do not do it, you are worshipping something other than God.

o       You are either worshiping your self or whatever else you are putting your trust in.

·        You do this every day.

o       You know lust is wrong but you take another look.

o       You know your impatient anger is wrong but you yell at your kids or spouse.

o       You know your neighbor needs to hear of Jesus but you keep your mouth shut.

o       You know you have made commitments to this church and to this people, but you do not keep them.

o       You know you should study the scriptures and pray, yet you do neither.

o        

·        Ultimately, if you life is not marked by God promised repentance and obedience, you have to wonder which person you are: 

o       One who suppresses the truth and is receiving the wrath of God

o       Or one who suppresses the truth just for a season and then asks for forgiveness.

·        Ask yourself which one you are and which one you want to be.

·        Folks, walk in repentance.  Do not imitate those who presently are receiving the wrath of God.  Jesus took all of the wrath you have earned, not so you can indulge sinful practices, but so that you might be renewed and walk in repentance and obedience.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

·        Now what we have here in these passages is a list of what God does when He pours out His wrath by removing the restraints of sin. 

o       Never forget that.  God every day retrains sin.  Though it is hard to believe, people are not as bad as they could be. Just imagine, if God removed His restraint on sin completely, every temptation would result in sin, but it doesn’t to God’s praise.

·        However, one aspect of His wrath is removing restraint and allowing people to pursue sin unabated thus storing up more wrath for the day to come.

·        You see when you know that God exists and you continue to live sinfully, in fact even pursue idolatry, God removes restraint and gives you exactly what you want.  He hands you over to sin.

o       Why does God do that?  Because it gives God glory to punish sin.  He shows His justice. He shows He is sovereign.  He shows He is God.  So, He hands people over to their sin because that is what they are worshiping anyway.

o       It is like God says, “Oh you want to worship the creature and the creation instead of the Creator.  Have it.  I won’t stop you.”

·        Paul specifically mentions fornication, adultery, and the like by referencing lusts and the impurities of the heart.  One wonders why Paul mentions specifically sexual sin here.  He easily could have mentioned any other sin, and “impurities of the heart” cover all sin, but Paul mentions outward noticeable sins.

o       Paul is saying that when sin goes from being hidden and secret to open and flaunted that is evidence of God removing restraints on sin. 

·        If you know someone who shakes their fist at God and openly relishes the unease of which they place you by bragging about their sin, they have been handed over and the restraint of sin is being removed.

·        What follows is a list of sins that God detests and to which He hands people over to. 

 

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.  28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

·        Whew what a list.  Some of the sins that God mentions here result when God removes His restraint and pours out His wrath.  We have homosexuality, coveting, malice, envy, murder, strife deceit, maliciousness, gossiping, slandering, hating God, insolence, proud, disobeying parents, foolishness, faithlessness, and on and on.

o       Essentially there is no sin that God does not hand people over to.

o       That also should be a pretty humbling list because somewhere in the midst of that list, you should all find yourself.

·        Now let me say a couple of things here before move on.

·        This passage is very clear and there is no amount of Greek translation work that can be done to make it say anything different.  I studied Greek in seminary just like the folks who twist this passage.  What is says is clear:  the passage is saying that homosexuality is a dishonorable passion, it is contrary to nature, the acts are shameless and merit penalty from God.

o       There is an entire theological library of work that tries to make this passage say something different than it does.  Many will say that this passage speaks of non-monogamous homosexual relationships, but that is quite a stretch no matter whether you read this passage in the Greek or the English.

§         There is no context enough here or anywhere else in scripture that speaks to God condoning homosexual behavior as long as it is monogamous. 

o       There is of course an entire theological and scientific library of work that speaks to homosexuality being genetic.

§         Well I’m neither a geneticist nor the son of a geneticist nor do I play on TV, or save a lot of my car insurance today, but I do know this.  Scripture says that we are born inheriting Adam’s nature of sin, so saying that we are born sinners is nothing new and not an excuse or a provision for sin.

·        So, yes, indulging in homosexuality is a sin, but let me make a big correction here.  The church for the past few years has read verse 26 and stopped right there and said, “See homosexuality is a sin and deserves the wrath of God.” 

 

·        Now that is a true statement but since the church so often stops at verse 26, we have made homosexuality the most evil of sins, the sin most deserving casting people out from our presence.  Failing to see that list of sins and our place within it has caused the most rank and hurtful damage to the reputation of Jesus Christ.  It has caused ugly, nasty, repugnant to God, self-righteousness.

·        Take a long look at the list of sins and see if you can’t find yourself; you will.  And once you find yourself, you should walk in humility as a sinner deserving God’s wrath.

o       Let’s say one of your co-workers tells you that your boss is gay.  As soon as you find out, you tell someone else.

o       God looks at both actions the same:  gossip and homosexuality.  Yet there is such a self-righteousness right now among Christians that we rarely consider the two the same.

o       Let’s say someone walked into this congregation and said, “I would like to worship with you because I’ve got a few questions, but I really struggle with envy.  So many of my friends and neighbors are doing better financially that I am.”  Would you have a problem with that person worshiping with us?

o       What if someone walked into this congregation and said, “I would like to worship with you because I’ve got a few questions, but I really struggle with homosexuality.”  Would you have a problem with that person worshiping with us?

·        The point of this passage is for each of us, whether believer or non-believer to look at it and recognize that those sins merit the wrath of God.  The intention is for you to walk in repentance and confession of sin.

o       If you engage in homosexual thoughts or actions, walk in repentance.

o       If you wish you had anything that your neighbor, friend or co-worker has, walk in repentance.

o       If you get angry and wish hurtful things on others, walk in repentance.

o       If your jealous of what others have, walk in repentance.

o       If you tell little white lies or outright lies, walk in repentance.

o       If you tell the juiciest gossip or take delight in others faults, walk in repentance.

o       If you get angry and hate God, walk in repentance.

o       If you take pride in anything you have done, walk in repentance.

o       If you disobey your parents, walk in repentance, walk in repentance.

·        Do you get the point?  We can’t just live and sin wantonly.  Sin is repugnant to God.

·        So again, I return to our original question:  what happens to the wrath of God because of our sin?

o       Well if that list describes you, and you do not have faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of those sins, then you will receive the due punishment for those sins:  the eternal pouring out of God’s wrath in justice as you reside in hell.

o       If that list describes you and you DO have faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of those sins, Jesus Christ has received the due punishment for your sin and the wrath of God has been poured out on Him.

o        

·        With that in mind, that list should move the church to

o       Thankfulness

o       Watchfulness

o       Compassion

·        The Gospel that Paul proclaims changes the wrath of God.

·        How is the wrath of God towards sin altered in the Gospel?  John Piper 

·        Well each one is fundamentally altered by the gospel of Christ crucified in our place.

o       Death is a gateway into paradise.

§         For believers, the sting and victory of death have been removed. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

§         For believers, death is not the wrath of God toward them; it is the last gasp of a defeated enemy who unwittingly opens a door to paradise.

o       Futility and suffering are pathways to holiness.

§         For believers, futility is removed from suffering. For those who love God and are called according to his purpose "all things work together for our good" (Romans 8:28).

§         Punishment is transformed into purification.

§         Destructive forces become disciplinary forces.

§         And the seeming chaos and futility of life's calamities become the severe, but loving, hand of our Father in heaven.

o       The power of sin is replaced with a love of righteousness.

§         Finally, not only is the sting of death replaced with hope; and the futility of suffering replaced with meaning; but the dominion and degrading power of sin is replaced with a love of righteousness (the point of Romans 6).

§         God does not give us over to a depraved mind, he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

·        The wrath of God resides on all that do not have faith in Jesus Christ.  The wrath of God is poured out on Jesus for all that have faith in Jesus. 

o       Your sin merits no less wrath.  In fact, I find the sin of believers, including my own, much more repugnant that I do the sin of non-believers. 

o       Why?  Because I know better.  You know better.  We have every gift of God and ever grace poured out and our stubborn selves keep sinning.

·        Folks, the wrath of God poured out on Jesus makes us thankful, watchful, and compassionate.

o       Thankful that God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus and not us.

o       Watchful that we don’t fall into sin or self-righteousness.

o       Compassionate so that proclaim mercy to those that are living under God’s wrath.