Introduction

  • Good morning, it is very good to be with you once again.
  • We are going to continue our study this morning - and as Lawrence mentioned two weeks ago -  we are embarking on an extended study of the book of Romans.
  • Unlike our approach with other books, where we covered larger passages of text - or entire chapters - we have broken this study down into smaller - more manageable bite-size chunks
  • This means that it is going to take us the better part of a year to complete - I don’t want you to be discouraged - rather I want you to see it as an opportunity for us to marinade in God’s Word.

The Influence of Romans

  • WHY? Why did we choose to do this for the book of Romans?
    • We were led to do so. As the eldership, every decision, no matter how big or small, is prayerfully considered.
      • Maurice doesn’t just randomly open up the bible and choose a book - rather we seek God’s guidance and direction - it is His church
    • AND - it is the responsibility of the elders to lead His church - to maintain sound doctrine - and to protect you believers from false teaching
      • When it comes to the book of Romans, no other book of the Bible has had more of an impact on our theology - our language - and our understanding of our faith than this epistle
      • Its influence on Christianity cannot be overestimated
      • Whenever the church has experienced reform - the Bible has been the source of the revival - and more often than not, it is Paul’s letter to the Romans that has played a central role
        • Billy Graham, arguably the most influential evangelist of our time - whoses crusades sparked revival in the 50’s and 60’s - heavily based his sermons on a structure known as the ‘Romans road’ - which outlined a clear path to salvation.
          • It presents the Problem of universal sin, “all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” - Romans 3:23 
          • It explains the Consequences, “the wages of sin is death” - Romans 6:23
          • It establishes God’s Solution, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” - Romans 5:8
          • Finally it explains how when when we confess Jesus as Lord and believe with our heart that God raised him from the death, that we receive salvation - Romans 10
      • God has used this powerful letter in remarkable ways and at key moments in church history
      • It contains some of the deepest theological truths in all of God’s Word.
      • And so in taking our time - we are able to - dive deeper and into greater detail.
      • Our prayer this morning, and for the year ahead, is that - by His Holy Spirit - we too may get to the point at which the apostle Paul finds himself in chapter 11, where he lets out this prayer of praise
        • “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”
  • And so it falls to me this morning to teach you ‘the depths of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God’… the enormity of that task and the inadequacy of God’s servant are acutely evident and weigh heavy.

PRAYER

  • Give thanks for His enduring Word and the impact that it has had down through the ages
    • Changing lives and changing nations
  • It is not the words of man, but the inspired Word of God
  • As we open your Word this morning we pray for understanding & that you would give your servant boldness
  • Give thanks for the believers at Medway & may the Word be light to path and lamp to feet

Okay, so what do we know so far

  • The book of Romans is written by Paul to the believers in Rome.
  • It is one of 13 letters he wrote and that we find in the New Testament.
  • Each of his epistles is arranged not in chronological order, but rather according to length, the longest (Romans) is first and the shortest (Philemon) is last.
  • We are familiar with Paul’s miraculous encounter with Jesus and his conversion on the road to Damascus. 
    • Where he is called from a life of persecuting the early Christians - to that of a follower of Christ - boldly proclaiming the gospel
  • In the opening verse he describes himself as ‘a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God’.
    • This word gospel appears 76 times in the NT, 60 times by Paul and 9 times in this book
      • The ‘gospel of God’ refers to the GOOD NEWS about Jesus - the Good News that despite the fact that we are sinners - God made a way through the sacrifice of His Son to reconcile us to Himself.
        • And what is the cost to us - NOTHING - it is a free gift
      • The gospel, however, isn’t just a message or a story, in verse 16 & 17, Paul presents us with the glorious theme for the entire letter: 
        • The gospel is the power of God for salvation and it reveals the righteousness from God, a righteousness received by faith that leads to life.
        • Last week Lawrence went to great lengths to explain that God's character is the definition and source of all righteousness
        • And it is because of the gospel that we have the righteousness of God attributed to us
        • That we might be something that we are not by birth - a son or daughter of the living God
        • Isn’t that amazing news?
        • Isn’t this the best news we could ever hear!
  • But why is this news so desperately needed? 
  • Why do we need righteousness from God?
  • Paul doesn’t pause or change the subject
  • Instead, in v18, he answers that question immediately
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Why must man be justified by faith?

  • Paul begins a lengthy section here in v18 that will run all the way through to Chapter 3v20
  • He begins to explain in great detail the sinfulness of the human race.
    • And in the first four verses, he gives a general indictment
    • It starts to portray the downward spiral of man's sinfulness, which Stuart will complete next week
  • Verse 18 begins with the word "For,"
    • Lawrence mentioned the connecting words last week, this “For” is one of those connecting word
    • Paul is using it to logically connect that which was in v17 with v18 - it isn’t random nor just a filler word - he is building a logical argument - he is pointing out a dependency
    • He is connecting the Good News and the revealing of the righteousness of God - to the Wrath of God and its revealing - not via the gospel but rather against the ungodliness and wickedness of mankind
      • Ungodliness being man’s offences against God
      • Wickedness referring to the sins man commits against man
    • What he is essentially saying is "Here is the reason the gospel is such good news… because you have been saved from God’s Wrath"
    • What he is saying here is that that these two things are fundamentally connected
    • You cannot have one with out the other
  • You see, to fully appreciate the power of a rescue, you have to understand the danger
  • To appreciate the cure, you have to understand the disease
  • To be saved - you need to be saved from something

The greatest peril facing the human race is the Wrath of God

  • Now I must admit this is NOT a straight forward passage of scripture
  • I have been struggling with it all week, in particular I have been struggling to connect the beginning of v16, or certainly to make sense of v16 in light of v17-20
  • I mean why does Paul in verse 16 say that ‘he is not ashamed of the Gospel…’
    • I mean why would we be ashamed?.. Isn’t this the best news we have ever heard
    • Why won’t we want to spontaneously share this with other people
    • If Andrew ever caught a fish - we would never hear the end of it
    • Why the reluctance to share the GOOD NEWS?
    • I don’t necessarily have a problem with telling people that I am a Christian… I am not embarrassed
    • The conclusion that I have come to is this…
      • In order to share the gospel - the good news - we need to give the bad news - we need to explain the human condition
      • In order for someone to fully understand and appreciate the Gospel - they need to fully appreciate that from which they have been saved… the Wrath of God
    • We may be called to explain to a friend or a family member, that they are deserving of God’s Wrath
    • That is much, much harder to do! 
    • We are reluctant to cause offence - and so we shy away from pointing out the dire position that is a product of our own making
  • It should then come as no surprise that when it comes to the Wrath of God, our modern world is completely out of sync with this concept
  • We try everything to remove guilt and the consequences of our actions from the equation
  • There are many evangelical believers and churches that will say that they believe in - the Wrath of God - because it is in the bible, but will steer clear of speaking about it from the pulpit - they are ashamed of the gospel and do not want to cause offence
    • Or they rationalise it away - relegating the vengeful God to the Old Testament, arguing that he has mellowed out by the New Testament
  • Modern ‘seeker’ churches are drawing huge crowds, but never mention sin or judgement
    • Rather they focus on the “positive” aspects of the gospel - God’s love and the abundance life he brings - attracting them to church
    • This is not what we are called to do!
    • There is more mention of God’s Wrath and the consequences to our sin in the bible - than there is to God’s Love
  • If we are to follow Paul's example - and we are not to be ashamed of the Gospel - then we need to share the Good News of salvation in Jesus - but equally we need to warn of the terrible consequences of God’s righteous Wrath on a sinful people.
  • When was the last time you were angry?
    • What was the cause of your anger?
  • I am far from a perfect person
    • just ask my wife she will give you a list
    • But when it comes to patience - I am a very patient person - I am slow to anger
  • WHY? 
    • I got this trait from my father
    • Despite having a fiery temper as a young man - God changed him
    • As a child I knew none of this temper - I only knew a man with amazing patience - I mean I put that to the test!
  • But I can tell you exactly the last time I was angry - this week
    • 2 x Solar Batteries
      • Paid for them
      • Went to go pick them up - it was a scam
    • I sat in the car seething! It took me a couple of minutes to calm down…
      • What was the cause of my anger?
        • Initially it was because I had been wronged
        • Embarrassed - I missed all the red flags
        • Frustrated - there is nothing that can be done
          • This person just got away with it
        • My anger was based on my emotions
  • Our anger, even our wrath are not the same as God’s Wrath
    • His wrath is not some petulant, emotional response to being wronged
    • We need to get rid of any human notion of some one with a bad temper
    • Rather God’s Wrath is a part of His Holy nature
    • It is His settled, determined, and active opposition to all sin
    • If God loves righteousness, He must also hate evil
    • If God were all love and no Wrath, then he would not be God at all
  • We know this to be true, if a judge were all hugs and kisses towards cold-blooded killers, then they would not be a righteous judge at all!
    • Even though our anger slips very quickly from righteous to unrighteous, we know that anger is - when it comes to our sin - the right response
    • God’s Wrath is righteous and just!
  • Later in chapter 5 Paul acknowledges the future day of wrath that is to come - the final judgement
  • But here he is drawing our attention to God’s Wrath revealed around us and that is evident both on creation and in human misery and suffering
    • We just need to look around us to see the untold death and suffering caused by earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, famine and disease.
    • As well as the more direct links between sin and judgement, in the form of sexually transmitted diseases, the terrible impact of drunkenness and drug abuse in the home, and the devastating effects of war and terrorism
  • As we look back on history, the bible too shows us the ongoing wrath of God
    • He destroyed the whole world through the flood
    • He poured out fire and brimstone on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
    • He punished both Israel and Judah allowing invading armies to kill many and send others into captivity
    • BUT the greatest example of God pouring out His just and righteous Wrath was when He put His own Son on the cross to bear our sins
    • Jesus on the cross took upon himself the sins of the world - with all of its consequences
    • So great was the burden of sin that God turned his face away - and Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
    • Jesus terrible death shows us that God cannot brush our sin aside
    • His righteous judgement must be satisfied!

Why is the human race guilty before God?

  • What is the source of this ungodliness and wickedness? Why is God angry with us?
  • Well in these four verses, Paul specifically points to three actions or attitudes of which we are all guilty:
    • v18 - We ‘suppress the truth’
    • v21 - We ‘do not honour him’
    • v23 - We ‘exchange the glory of God for images’
  • The root cause - we suppress the truth
    • God cannot tolerate sin because His nature is morally perfect
    • He cannot ignore nor condone willful rebellion
    • He wants to remove the sin and restore the sinner
    • And he is able to do so - as long as the sinner does not suppress or reject the truth
  • I have often wondered… if I were in Adam’s shoes, would I have done things differently
    • I mean is our situation just a result of someone else's bad choices?
    • Is this all just Adam’s fault?
    • The reality is that we would have been no different
  • Every truth revealed to man by God has been fought against, disregarded, and deliberately obscured
  • I have a mental image of a spring or a coil in a box - maybe a large industrial springs - and we have both our hands on the spring pushing it down - stopping it from jumping out of the box
  • In our wickedness we actively suppress the truth - deliberately
  • And it is because of this willful suppression that we do not honour God as we should
  • Does anyone have an excuse for not believing in God? What about those that have never heard about Jesus?
    • The simple and emphatic answer is NO
    • God has revealed what he is like in and through his creation
    • He shows us something of His eternal power and divine nature through creation
    • God has revealed himself plainly to all people
    • And yet - we have all rejected this very basic knowledge of God
    • We are all guilty of suppressing the truth about God that is plain to see
    • Don’t be fooled
    • When the day of judgement comes - no excuses will be acceptable
  • This passage is one of the greatest challenges and encouragements to share the gospel with others
  • Some people wonder why we need missionaries… I mean if God can be known through creation, why all the fuss?
    • The answer is simple
      • God has revealed himself in nature, not so that we might believe and be saved
      • Rather he has revealed himself in nature so that we are without excuse
      • Missionaries - with great sensitivity
        • expose error and point to a new beginning
        • And they persuade people of the dangerous consequences
  • Paul clearly portrays this downward spiral into sin
  • First people reject God and suppress the basic truth we know about him
  • Next we…
    • ‘We do not honour him as God - or give thanks to him’
    • Which leads to futile thinking and foolish hearts
  • The problem is not that we did not know God, but rather that we do know him and yet refuse to glorify Him as God
  • Instead of glorifying God - as we should - we transform our idea of Him into forms and images more comfortable to our corrupt and darkened hearts to accept
  • Our rejection of God’s does not make us smarter or better - rather it makes us foolish
  • And in our foolishness - We cannot resist the temptation to create God into our own corrupt image
  • The challenge that I would like to leave you with this morning is this…
    • As believers we have been saved from God’s Wrath - but if we are honest with ourselves we still continue to sin
    • We will not face God’s Wrath - but we are not free from the consequences of sin in this life
    • In particular - we guilty of creating and worshipping a self-made image of God
    • You see we fall into the trap of creating an image of God that is warped
    • For example we fool ourselves into thinking that our sin is not that bad
      • That God doesn’t really mind
      • I mean - I am not a murderer or rapist - he won’t mind if I don’t always keep my anger in check - or if I have the occasional lustful thought - or gossip just a little..
  • It is absolutely essential that we constantly compare our own concept of God against the reality of who God is as revealed in His Word
    • Romans 12:2, which says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”