When God breaks up!!

Ghosting, simmering and icing are colloquial terms that describe the practice of 

suddenly ending all communication and avoiding contact with another person without any apparent warning or explanation and ignoring any subsequent attempts to communicate

Romans 1:18–20 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

Intro:

-11 symptoms of final decay observable in the fall of both the Greeks and Roman civilization:

1. No fault divorce  2. Birth Dearth: increased disrespect for parenthood and parents  3. Meaningless marriage rites/ceremonies 

4. Defamation of past national heroes 5. Acceptance of alternative marriage forms 6. Widespread attitudes of feminism, Narcissism, and hedonism.  7. Propagation of anti-family sentiment 8. Acceptance of most forms of adultery  9. Rebellious children 10. Increased juvenile delinquency  11. Common acceptance of all forms of sexual perversion.... Dr. Carl Zimmerman "Family and Civilization"

Review

The Church has lost it’s saltiness

The church is here to slow down the decaying process of the Cosmos.

The Church is also here to bring supernatural wisdom from God to everyday earthly situations. Folks should be able to look at how the church solves problems (Race, Poverty, Classism, and violence) and learn.

My concern is the church first. We got to get right first before we go around policing the world. Getting right does not mean sinless, it means faithful.

You will remember I said in a sermon two weeks ago that it is unwise to ascribe God to Natural Disaster confidently stating “God brought that judgement on this area because of their sin” This is related to God’s active judgement.

I do however believe that God’s passive judgement can be tracked with more accuracy because he has given us some markers to determine if someone or a nation is under the judgement of God.

Paul helps us today.

I. The Wrath of God revealed

Romans 1:18 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

(EXP)(18) For God’s Wrath

What is the wrath of God?

The famous skeptic Bertrand Russell explained that the primary reason he could never believe in Jesus was that Jesus “so clearly believed in the wrath of God.” He called it “the one profound defect in Jesus’ character.”

As C.S. Lewis said, “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power.” There have been times in my life where I too have thought, Give me a divine eraser and 10 minutes, and I’ll take wrath out of the Bible.

(EXP)(18) “The Wrath of God” manifest in two ways:

a. God’s Active wrath-This is when God supernaturally intervenes and brings judgement by his own hand….e.g., The Flood, Ten Plagues of Egypt, Sodom & Gomorrah, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Second coming of Jesus Christ.

b. God’s Passive wrath-This is when God pulls back (abandons) a person or nation and allows them to totally satisfy all of their desires leaving them in spiritual darkness e.g., the Israelites Captivity in Syria, Babylon, Persia, & Rome, and Saul( he literally went crazy) eventually killing himself.

Proverbs 1:23–31 CSB

23 If you respond to my warning, then I will pour out my spirit on you and teach you my words. 24 Since I called out and you refused, extended my hand and no one paid attention, 25 since you neglected all my counsel and did not accept my correction, 26 I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when trouble and stress overcome you. 28 Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will search for me, but won’t find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge, didn’t choose to fear the Lord, 30 were not interested in my counsel, and rejected all my correction, 31 they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes.

Romans 1:18 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

(18) “is revealed from heaven”-Is constantly revealed-Present(continual) Passive. This word means to “uncover”

This is a passive judgement, is not just happenstance.  This judgement has happened to dead cultures e.g. Canaanites, Hittites, Sumerians, the Mighty Egyptians, Greeks, & Romans. We can look back into history and literally categorize the fall of these cultures. Rome fell on top of itself.

-“against” Paul spells out the reason for God’s justified Wrath.  He names two things:

a. Ungodliness (internal)-lack of reverence towards God, irreligiousness…..this is when God becomes the punchline to your jokes, and there is no fear at all of his presence….

b. Unrighteousness (external)-No respect of the Law of God. The word means unjust. As christian we should be “just” or righteous in our dealings. Justice is not just spiritual. It measured in our conduct towards our fellow man.

-“of people” in this phrase people is in plural form. Paul is not talking about the individual sins of scattered groups of people, but he is talking about a nation that not only excuses the sins of the people, but sanctions them.   Remember he is writing to Rome the biggest most glorious city the world had ever seen at this time.  This was a nation that sanctioned: Abortion, homosexuality, adultery, prostitution, idol worship, and mass murder of whole nation, and Imperialism(Colonialism)  Paul is not just referring to the sins of the people, but the corruption of the leadership in a country that has capitulated (give in) to the people and has adopted (made into law) sinful policies. We might call this sanctioned sinned.

There is nothing impersonal about God’s wrath; it is the necessary response of his holiness to persistent wickedness.

Frederick Fyvie Bruce (Professor)

Transition Statement: What do unrighteous people???

II. The Truth of God Suppressed

Romans 1:18 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

Define Truth-That which corresponds to reality

Truth: that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality. Oxford

John 18:36–38 CSB

36 “My kingdom is not of this world,” said Jesus. “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 37 “You are a king then?” Pilate asked. “You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 “What is truth?” said Pilate. After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no grounds for charging him.

(37) Jesus says “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” Christian ought to be known for being fair, consistent, honest and real. Because of Jesus.

(38) Pilate says “What is truth?” Pilate was being cynical.

Pilate comments tells me what kind of ethical system Rome ruled under “Might makes right”

"Might makes right" or "might is right" is an aphorism that asserts that those who hold power are the origin of morality, and they control a society's view of right and wrong.[1][2][3]  Montague defined kratocracy or kraterocracy (from the Ancient Greek: κράτος, romanized: krátos, lit. 'might; strength') as a government by those strong enough to seize control through violence or deceit.[4

The idea, though not the wording, has been attributed to the History of the Peloponnesian War, written around 410 BC by the ancient historian Thucydides, who stated that "right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."[7]

In the first chapter of Plato's Republic, authored around 375 BC Thrasymachus claims that "justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger", which Socrates then disputes.[8] Callicles in Gorgias argues similarly that the strong should rule the weak, as a right owed to their superiority.[9]

The Book of Wisdom, written around the first century BC to first century AD, describes the reasoning of the wicked: "Let us oppress the righteous poor man; let us not spare the widow nor regard the gray hairs of the aged. But let our might be our law of right, for what is weak proves itself to be useless."

Why is this wrong?

Its wrong because truth is not something we make up Truth is something we discover through Natural, Special and Moral Revelation. Remember Truth is that which corresponds with reality:

Arguing in grade school about who are girlfriends were: Jayne K, Irene C and wonder woman. Neither of these corresponds with reality.

Yall we make Truth complicated. Truth is the clearest thing on the earth. It is us that convolutes and tries to complicates it.

(EXP)(18) it says that men “suppress” truth: Suppress means hold back, or repress.

(18) General Revelation: The “truths” in this text are not the gospel, but it is the general truths that all men and women experience/observe while living in the external world.

(18) This text says men suppress or hold down truth.  Paul is observing a culture that has totally abandon base level morality.  In order to suppress something you must have some knowledge of the truthfulness of what you are suppressing....Mankind does not suppress lies.  Mankind by nature suppresses truth.

Where does this suppression start at?

Man suppresses the four institutions that God has created to restrain evil.

Romans 2:14–16 CSB

14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, 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. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them 16 on the day when God judges what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.

The Conscience-Our conscience purpose is to slow us down. It is there to guide us, and keep us from falling off the cliff. Notice in this text. Even the Romans had systems of laws that closely resembled the Law of Moses. In an Ethical country laws against abuse, murder, or fraud protect everyone from injustice. Both the weak and strong.

Ephesians 5:31–33 CSB

31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

the Family-The Christian Marriage is a visual picture of God’s relationship to the invisible universal church. Marriage points to something beyond itself. The permanence of marriage points to a transcendant savior.

Romans 13:1–4 CSB

1 Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.

the Government,-God created government as a tool of reward and judgement. The government role is protect justice and fairness. The government role is to not allow a society to descend into anarchy and that comes through a fair and just system for all of it’s citizens. This serves to restrain evil

Matthew 5:13–16 CSB

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

the Church-The church role is to provide a visual example to the world of what being a christian should look like. The churches roles is too preserve the world from decay and to provide practical wisdom to everyday life struggles.

Application:

The Conscience-Rather than let our conscience guide us to God. Man is constantly justifying, obfuscating, and searing their own conscience to the point we don’t hear it anymore. When you ignore your conscience you are teaching yourself to avoid internal accountability. This when you become a God to yourself.

Human Government-When the government descend into propaganda and lies to maintain power it can longer be trusted to provide the necessary guard rails for human behavior.

The Family-You understand why Satan is working hard to redefine gender and sexuality, because the family is the primary mechanism through which truth is taught. The Father teaching his children wisdom and truth, then his son doing the same thing in their families. Now we are having debates about Male and Female.

Genesis 1:27 CSB

27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

if we can’t even agree about this basic rudimentary truth gender, then how can we have productive debates about anything else. When a society does not know the differences between a Male and Female you are in trouble.

Healthy Families lead to Healthy civilization. The current condition in the world are a reflection of what’s going on in the nuclear families.

When you destroy the Family you have just destroyed civilization. Satan knows this! Yet we as Christian are surprised by what’s going on.

The minute you see Men act like women and Women act like Men not just in mannerism but also in leadership that was God’s warning. We ignored the warnings. For decades we have seen men leave the church yet we did nothing about it now we are reaping the results of that. Can it be turned around yes!! But we got to acknowledge it first.

4. The Church-This another area Satan is reeking havoc. The world particularly in the Western World is sick of the church. Church attendance is going down at a rapid pace due to at least two reasons:

Progressive Christianity-This is when the church is so loving it does not make any demands on peoples lives at all. Come as you are and stay as you are. These are the churches “that say when you can’t beat them join them!”

Christian Nationalism-Folks are starting to see that the Western Church has large used the church as a vehicle of power and control and not piety.

At the Last Supper after having dinner Jesus told Judas what you do, go and do quickly. Jesus knew and Judas knew what that was. The other disciples were clueless as to what Judas planned on doing. After saying this the text says “And Satan entered Judas!” prior to this Judas was flirting with Satan now they got married. Jesus allowed Judas to do what he wanted to without any restrains. Judas committed suicide

The signs of God’s love is getting caught in your sins and dealing with them. When you are able to sin and not get caught and you got everyone fooled that might be a sign you are outside of the grace of God.

Open the Doors of the Church

III. The Creation of God clearly seen

Romans 1:19–20 CSB

19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

Conclusion: