SAVED FROM WHAT?
Notes
Transcript
Last week we spoke on the Gospel and Faith. As someone put it, “unrestrained loyalty.”
The Gospel is the power of God for salvation
It is Gods righteousness revealed to man
It is applied to faith.
It starts with Jesus and ends with Jesus - AMEN
Today we look at the flip side
Paul’s talks about salvation first then a logical question is, saved from what?
Lets read Romans 1:18-23
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
That word FOR in vs 18 can also be changed to the word BECAUSE
This is why we live by faith
WRATH - Gods righteous indignation of Sin - His dealing with it.
One theologian said, “it is when we understand the bad news can we fully appreciate the good news.”
We see this is throughout scripture. It isn’t just slated for the end times
Isaiah speaks of it, Ezekiel speaks of it
Zephaniah speaks of it
Barkley says it is the annihilation of sin.
13 ‘Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.
6 Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which do not know You, And upon the kingdoms which do not call upon Your name.
His wrath or punishment is against ungodliness and unrighteousness
Wrath is pitted against the lie and against those who who hold t back the truth or as the word says suppress it( restrain it or hold it back)
God has made His truth evident to us in His creation. His power, His nature, His morality, all evident to us.
It is possible to recognize God in creation but still not honor Him and give Him thanks for it. Satan and his demons know God exists, they understand he crated everything - they saw it but they refuse to honor him and in the end will be judged.
Even today many people know of God but are not known by God unto salvation.
Knowing that God exists isn’t good enough.
It is the ultimate self centeredness. The sin of Satan was pride, nothing has since changed.
Th reality of the matter is we are without excuse. ( we have no reasonable defense)
God isn’t a respecter of persons. all will be judged. Sin is to be judged and His power will be displayed.
It is very possible to know God but not honor Him ( as in Satan and His demons)
It is even possible to be abundantly blessed and not give him thanks.
In our day and age we cannot fathom Gods wrath. We see mans wrath all over the place. We seem to be unable to separate the two.
Gods wrath is from a heart of righteousness, it is completely dealing with sin, Mans wrath can come from many sources, Pride, Idolatry etc it is meant for the destruction of the individual not the source of sin.
Sin leads to something - “ It is progressive”
What starts out as something minor turns into an obsession
Sin leads to futile thinking, to be futile v. — to be or become useless as a consequence of being purposeless or incapable of producing results.
Our hearts are darkened by it “ deficient and unable to perceive the light.
Illustration ; I thank God i got saved in my 20’s - I thought i was so right and everyone was so wrong. I didn’t realize a lot of my thinking was incorrect. Not filled with truth and corrupted .
I was a fool and didn’t know it.
I wanted my corruptible to be the incorruptible - It was an exchange. I’m right , its all about me, and you are wrong. And who is God to say i’m wrong. Who does he think he is?
I can look back and say - wow that is some pretty stupid thinking.
It is about as dumb as Telling Jesus to “come off that cross,” while he was being crucified. What if he would of?
What is the progression, where do we end up
We are turned over in other words God allowed you to turn yourself over to lust and Shame. You have Free will
It is like the addict you are trying to help and he or she says I can do this on my own. You know they don’t have the capacity but the will not be told what to do and you just watch as they implode.
I asked Bob Murray a very good friend of mine who ran the program how long did he think it took to really change and stay the course. His answer was 2 years. It was evident to us that a one week or 30 day program for most is a complete waste of time. You have to be committed over the long haul. You have to work it out , stay the course get mentoring, prayer, support etc.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,
27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
WOW it is just as bad or worse for the people who approve of these things as it is the ones who do these things. That presses the issue further doesn't it.
This Idolatry leads to LUST ( evil cravings, misplaced affections, degraded passions) to impurity ( dirty impure sexual sins)
Homosexuality -also called gross immorality, a slippery slope in which it is very difficult to get out of.
DSM - Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders - Published by the American Psychiatric Association- kept it as a mental order until under pressure from what i am going to call special interest groups. forced them to change it. It wasn’t science it was based more on lets not hurt peoples feelings. Mental illness is now a metaphor for whatever you want it to be.
We no longer treat people we coddle and drug people.
The APA now follows opinion above science or proper diagnosis. They have become politicians rather than clinicians. drug distributors rather than treatment creators , masking instead of healing. HOW Terrible
Why because they feel there are no moral absolutes. No societal norms.
Scripture isn’t so polite
7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Pleasure above reason reason, Everything degrading more and more until there is no moral truth left, no moral absolutes. ( if it feels good do it there are no consequences)
Not only are you turned over to lust and shame but also.
Its interesting to note that Paul talks about Males and Females. He talks about Gender specificity or what we could call gender distinction which is the the natural order of things. - I said “Gender distinction” not Gender identity. If you change Gods design then it is a very small leap to to Identify as anything you want to ( like a cat)
Identity and Moral order is Gods order. It is not subjective, it is not subjected to how you feel It has no root in relativism. It is the truth. The challenge I think is the truth sometimes hurts your feelings but it is still the truth.
We are in an age of Moral suicide. The sickness of immorality has become a fast growing cancer. God has to deal with it.
If this isn’t enough lets take a bunch of people down with us. Lets look at where this all leads.
unrighteousness, - moved out of a right relationship with God
wickedness, ( filled with wickedness. depravity and perversion of moral principles) bad to worse
greed - excessive desire for more and more. How much is enough, just a little bit more
Evil; - describes behavior or attitudes characterized by extreme wickedness and intent to cause social, physical, psychological, emotional, or spiritual harm. The concept encompasses moral, ethical, behavioral, and spiritual dimensions.
An evil person robs people of their rights. They embody the things we talked about.
full of envy, -spite and resentment to the success of others
murder, - violent slaughter of people - perfectly depicts abortion
strife,- bitter conflict - comes from a heart of jealousy
deceit, - the skill of deception - this person has a torturous and twisted mind.
malice; - the need to see others suffer
they are gossips, whisperers
slanderers, - someone who attacks the reputation of others
haters of God, - dislike or apathy towards God
insolent, - offensively disrespectful
arrogant, - overbearingly proud person
boastful, - wanderers who pretend to have something they do not possess
inventors of evil, - those who seek out new forms of evil, they want to go deeper in it
disobedient to parents,
without understanding, - don’t comprehend what is important
untrustworthy, covenant breakers
unloving, - lack in affection to others
unmerciful; - don't show mercy
approve of evil - approve with others evil. ( like Saul did when he held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen.
CONCLUSION
Some might say pastor that was hard to hear what you have to say today. Yes it is.
None of us need to be enabled , we need to be transformed.
Why do we live by faith? Why do we trust the gospel? Why do we make Jesus the center of it all?
Our faith has to be bigger than our preferences.
Because on the other end of the scale is Gods wrath.
The annihilation of sin. It doesn’t just come at the end - it is poured out on ungodliness and those who suppress the truth.
Where do you want to be?
God pours out his love everyday. He says today is the day of salvation. No one is assured of tomorrow. This week in a matter of moments as earthquakes and floods ravished cities, thousands were killed.
God extends his hand to you, It is a hand of love and compassion, a hand that wants none to perish. A hand that says I got you, come spend eternity with me. If you think this amazing creation is something, wait to see what I have in store after this.