Sermon Tone Analysis

The topic that we have been discussing has been on the doctrine of election.

A highly controversial and debated doctrine within the church.

We have discussed the controversy , both historically and contemporary.

Then there is just no way to avoid controversy when discussing this subject.

So then, is the solution to the controversy is to avoid it?

Absolutely not.

That is not an option for god's people to do.

So we as a ministry are not doing it.

And while it is controversial and while it is difficult to teach through, it is essential that we understand who we are in order to understand what Paul is trying to say here.

The problem is not the word of God, and the problem is not with the doctrine of election.

The problem is the pride of man.

The pride of mankind.

And do not think anyone of you in here are immune to this kind of pride .

You are not.

And chances are you are exposed to it more on a daily basis then you might imagine.

This is true of both the secular world and the church.

There is just as much pride if not more within the church as there is in the secular world.

So our issue here , is us.

It is pride that caused the fall to begin with .

There is just far too much selfish pride in the human heart.

So much so that we think Salvation begins with us .

So much so we think Salvation is about us.

We think the cross is about us.

We say thing in churches that Jesus died to show us what we are worth.

The selfish prideful behavior is only increasing.

It has always been around, and you can trace it's all throughout time.

But there is most certainly in increasement of selfish pride taking place read and all you have to do is turn on your local Christian radio station and you will find it.

Some of the old hymns, not all of them, but some of the old hymns were so theologically centered.

It was obvious that God was the object of worship that God was the center of the hymn writers very thoughts.

Sure some of the old hymns would say something like God you are magnificent or God you are just God you are mercy.

There was this absolute focus on God.

There are hymns in our hymnal where they are selfish or person might get personal in some areas but wind up magnifying God, but there, for the most part, this God centered form of songwriting.

And today, not just in music but in all areas of life, I see people using God to talk about themselves.

I had a conversation with my brother in law this week about this very topic .

I see people using God to talk about themselves.

And this is how we miss that selfish pride that is steadily increasing, because the name of God is pulled into it and people are not realizing that this is just a man centered approach to worship to theology, to Salvation, and in application.

So you will hear songs that will go God you have done this for me.

You have rescued me, you have saved me, I was this last being you came and rescued me.

And some may ask what is the problem with that?

Well in small doses nothing is the matter with that.

Recognize that some of the older stuff would say God you are this God you are that God you you you.

Where versus today it is God you have done this for me you have rescued me you have saved me you have provided for me me me.

Do you see the switch .

A subtle difference but a difference nonetheless.

So now we are to the point where it becomes a conversation of telling your own story .

Share your story, tell your story talk about yourself.

This has become so impactful on our minds that we have churchgoers wishing that they will fall into horrendous in only to be rescued out of it .

You have faithful church goers who wish they had that very strong testimony so they would have a story to tell .

Is that what we have created in this man centeredness, that we have to have the better story?

It is no wonder why we think Salvation begins with us.

We say when I was saved verses when God saved me.

we say when I accepted Jesus instead of when Jesus accepted me .

We like to begin with us.

Selfish pride .

And it is only selfish pride at blinds us from the truth of what we see in the pages of scripture.

In the truth what we see in this chapter right here.

so now here we are and Paul is dealing with the righteousness of God.

Is there any injustice with in God.

Paul said of Jacob and esau before they were even born before either one of them can perform for God, before either one of them can do good or bad he said Jacob I loved the esau I hated .

And before they were born the older shall serve the younger .

And now this objection is being raised, how can God find fault in me if there is no resisting god's will?

Why does he still find fault?

And paul fired back with who are you to answer back a God.

not that we cannot ask questions, but that the question is coming from that selfish pride point.

Are we asking questions because we love God and we want to know God more or are we asking questions because we are more concerned with our rights with our position with our standing.

Where is our heart truly at?

And the verses that we will be covering today we're verses that I went over last week and we're going to recover the ending portion of the verses that I covered last week .

There is just a far too important subject to cover before we can move on to the rest of this chapter.

So let's look at these verses in more detail.

What we have a very important question here that Is being asked for more than just the purpose of discussing Gods Wrath.

What if God although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known.

We have to focus on that for a bit.

We have to understand what Paul is saying here.

He is not asking what if God is willing but what if God, although willing.

Meaning right now.

That God is willing to bring justice now .

That God is willing to make his wrath known.

What if God , although he's willing to do this now, is being patient with you.

Now that is the short way of explaining what Paul is saying here we need to expand on this further.

Let's talk about wrath for a second.

very rarely is wrath discussed within context.

We know that there are ministries out there that love to focus on the love of God, and that's good we should be focusing on the love of God we should never take our focus off the love of God.

The type of focus that I am talking about though when I say there are ministries out there that have this focus is that they have a very strict and narrow in on focus on the love of God where they tend to ignore the other attributes of God.

I think most of us are well aware that there are ministries out there like that.

And so you may never hear about the wrath of God within a ministry like that but if you do it is stated just as that just wrath in passing.

(If fitting discuss in Christ Alone, “on that cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satsisfied.

And then you have other ministries that some may call a fire and brimstone type ministry.

Where the focus is strictly on the wrath of God.

And just like it is good to have a focus on the love of God it is good to have a focus on the wrath of God as we're talking about God.

We as the followers of Christ shall not ignore anything about God.

We have no business trying to ignore attributes or things about God.

So even the wrath of God is good for us to talk about to meditate on to dwell on.

But there are ministries out there that have this strict narrow focus on the wrath of God where they never proclaim love .

And here is the kicker of it all people prefer one over the other.

We are talking about one God the people prefer one over the other .

So wrath is rarely within context Because people refuse to tell god's whole story.

People refuse to tell all of who god is.

So what is the wrath of God?

The Wrath of God is the just response 2 a guilty lawbreaker who has broken divine laws.

I will say it again so you all can hear me very clearly, The wrath of God is the just response to a guilty lawbreakers who has broken divine laws.