The Judgement of God Revealed
Download MP3Good morning. Good morning. It's nice to see you all and to preach inside. It's quite quite a luxury. But it is a privilege and a joy to be with you all this morning.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna be continuing our study of Paul's letter to the Romans. We're gonna be in chapter 2. Chapter 2, we're gonna be looking at verses 1 through 5. So, Romans chapter 2 verses 1 through 5. It is also printed in your worship guide.
Jeffrey Heine:Romans chapter 2, beginning with verse 1. And let us listen carefully, for this is God's word. Therefore, you have no excuse, oh man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourselves, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
Jeffrey Heine:Do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourselves, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and his patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. This is the word of the Lord. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's pray together. Oh Lord. Will you bless the reading of your word and draw near to us by your spirit? Lead us, Spirit, away from the lies we so easily believe, and lead us to your truth. Lead us in the hearing and understanding and responding to your truth today.
Jeffrey Heine:Because whether we know it or not, each and every one of us in this room, we are desperate for you. So will you meet with us now and speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Rome, the Roman church was a mess.
Jeffrey Heine:It had started out strong. Years before this letter was written, after Pentecost, believing Jews made their way from Jerusalem to Rome and established a new church. In time, Roman Gentiles began to follow Jesus too, and joined with these believing Jews in the Roman congregation. But not long after that, the Roman emperor Claudius expelled the Jewish families from the city. And that left the Gentile Christians to lead the congregation until slowly, the Jewish Christians could return to Rome.
Jeffrey Heine:But when they returned, the differences between the Gentiles and the Jews were more striking than ever. And these differences began to produce confusion and conflict in the community. Conflicts over what foods they could eat, about Sabbath and worship, about feasts and fasting, about cleanliness laws. There was confusion and conflict. Paul had great expectations for Rome.
Jeffrey Heine:In his missionary dreams and desires, he saw this important city as a gateway for the gospel of Jesus Christ to go further West, particularly to Spain. But how could the church in Rome be an influential base of operations for the great commission, if there was infighting and relational disarray. These conflicts prompted Paul to compose his most systematic theological writing, the letter to the Roman church. Paul's response to the problems in Rome demonstrate for us an essential principle, which is this. When there is confusion and conflict, we must go back to the basics of the gospel of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:We return to the fundamentals of faith in Christ. And within the Christian tradition, we do not base our theology, our hope, our trust on mere ideas and opinions. We base our theology, our hope and our trust on the truth of God. Foundational to our faith is the belief that God has revealed truth about himself. God has disclosed himself through revelation.
Jeffrey Heine:We believe God can be known, because he has made himself known through revelation. Revelation is a central theme in Paul's letter to the Romans. In particular, we see the repeated theme of revelation of God's righteousness. And so, 2 weeks ago, we looked at Romans chapter 1, including verses 16 and 17. If you wanna look with me, it says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel.
Jeffrey Heine:For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, meaning the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. Through the gospel of God, that is the news of salvation and redemption through Jesus, By the gospel, the Spirit reveals the righteousness of God. And last week, we looked at Romans chapter 1, including verse 18, which says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Paul is saying that God has revealed his righteous wrath against unrighteousness.
Jeffrey Heine:That is, God has revealed his justified anger against all sin. And in our passage today, we read of another revelation of God's righteousness. God's righteous judgment. We see in verse 5, but because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Paul begins this section by engaging in a dialogue with a person.
Jeffrey Heine:But this person is imagined. Paul imagines a disagreement, which at that time, this was a common rhetorical device. You're presenting an argument. You come up with a person who is opposed to you. And you have a dialogue with them.
Jeffrey Heine:The imagined person has heard Paul describe the wrath of God against sin, such as envy, murder, strife, gossip, slandering. They have heard of God's wrath and they even agree with it. They affirm God's wrath, but they don't think it has anything to do with them, not personally. The imagined person doesn't think they are guilty of any such sins. That wrath that they agree with is for someone else.
Jeffrey Heine:And those other people should definitely be judged by God. But that's not me. So Paul responds to this line of thinking, and says, if you just heard me list all of these sins against the Lord, and you are judging other people for those sins, and feeling great about yourself, then you need to know that your judgment of others is bringing judgment upon yourself. Paul poses 2 questions to the imagined person, this person who thinks that by their own good deeds and their character, that they are right with God and do not deserve God's wrath or judgment. He asks 2 questions.
Jeffrey Heine:The first question is this. Look at verse 3. Do you suppose, oh man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God? Paul's asking, do you think that this doesn't apply to you? Are you so self deceived that you think that you are perfect and faultless before God, And through your own righteousness, you will escape judgment from God.
Jeffrey Heine:Do you think that somehow you are good enough to deserve a pass from God's judgment? Paul follows up with a second question, Verse 4. Or do you presume on the riches of God's kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. So the first question was, do you suppose that you will somehow escape God's judgment? And the follow-up question, so if that one gets a no, I don't think I'm going to escape it, then do you presume on the kindness and patience of God?
Jeffrey Heine:In other words, do you think that just because things are okay for you right now, you have material blessings, a home, food, money, that and you're getting away with whatever you want to do right now, do you presume that God's kindness and patience now means that God doesn't care about your sin? That your rejection of his love and your disobedience, God doesn't care about that? To be clear, the imagined person is not looking to Christ for salvation. They either suppose that they don't need a savior, or they presume that they are entitled to God's kindness and mercy, like God will just show them grace as though they deserve it. Paul corrects this imagined person.
Jeffrey Heine:He says that, the patience and kindness of God, it's being shown to you right now, not as a license for you to do whatever you want, as though God owes you forgiveness. His kindness and his patience are to lead you to turn from your sin and turn to the love of Christ. Paul asks this imagined non believer, and he asks this in all sincerity. Are you supposing you'll escape judgment? Or are you presuming on God's kindness?
Jeffrey Heine:Are you supposing? Or are you presuming? Because if you are not repenting, if you're not repenting, if you aren't turning to the love of God and trusting in Jesus, then you are either supposing or presuming. You're supposing you won't be judged or presuming on the kindness of God. So which is it?
Jeffrey Heine:Paul follows up again to the imagined person who's been dismissing the revelation of God's wrath and judgment and says, verse 5. But because of your hard and impenitent heart, your hard and non repenting heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. And he says, maybe you don't realize it. But your refusal and rejection of what God has revealed, it's only building up God's anger and judgment. You can roll your eyes and shrug your shoulders at the fury of God's wrath against sin, but you will not make it disappear.
Jeffrey Heine:You can pretend that God's wrath is just some obscure, antiquated aspect of the Bible, but that will not change the truth. Denying the truth does not change the truth. Rejecting revelation does not change revelation. Dismissing reality does not change reality, no matter how much we think we can. Because the truth is indifferent to what we think about it or how we might feel about it.
Jeffrey Heine:I know the topics of God's wrath and his judgment are not comfortable things to talk about. I would much rather be telling you stories about when I worked at a tanning salon slash video store. I've got a good half hour on that. But if we think back to why Paul is writing this letter, To address the confusion and conflict in the Roman church. To help his brothers and sisters in Christ remember the essential gospel truths of Jesus, and to remember this critical mission of God in the world, then we have to receive this teaching as critical and foundational instruction for us too.
Jeffrey Heine:And these truths that we find in this letter, they address our own confusion and our own conflicts that we experience today. And while we might not want to hear it, we might not even like it, we cannot despise what the Lord has revealed, especially what he has revealed about his own character. And through the gospel of Jesus, the Spirit has revealed the righteousness of God. And part of the righteousness of God that has been revealed is his holy and justified anger at sin and his righteous judgment. We can easily and often try to avoid talking or thinking about God's wrath and judgment.
Jeffrey Heine:And one of the underlying reasons for this avoidance is because when we think about God's wrath, and we think about God's judgment, they shine a light on our sin and shine a light on the desperate need for salvation. And if we are honest, it is hard to recognize our need and to admit our need. It's hard to recognize and confess that we have and are the problem. The Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis is credited with the single most important discovery in medical practice. And it cost him his reputation, his sanity, and his life.
Jeffrey Heine:Doctor Semmelweis was a research physician in the mid 1800s. And his hospital was experiencing a startling trend. New mothers and infants were dying at an alarming rate. His hospital's reputation became so terrible that women in labor would refuse to even enter the building, choosing instead to birth their babies outside the doors. Semmelweis tried to identify what was causing this rise in mortality in the hospital.
Jeffrey Heine:In time, he noticed that the mothers and infants who were treated by the physicians had a higher rate of mortality. While the patients treated by midwives had a much greater chance at survival. So he tried to analyze their practices, and compare and mirror what the midwives were doing, but it didn't change anything. Semmelweis was so distraught by the rise of deaths, that he took some time off of work, a sabbatical, to visit other hospitals and other physicians, to try and discern what might be happening. And something surprising happened while he was away.
Jeffrey Heine:The death rate went down. Semmelweis had to admit that somehow, he was causing the illness and death of his patients. He didn't know how. But in time, he finally figured it out. It was like a revelation that came to him.
Jeffrey Heine:As a research hospital, all the physicians would regularly conduct autopsies to study disease and to instruct new medical students. Physicians administering these autopsies would often be called away to tend to medical emergencies, like the birth of a child. Unknowingly, Semmelweis and the other physicians were carrying deadly diseases from the autopsies to these women in labor. And it was Doctor. Semmelweis who discovered the simple yet critical need for physicians to wash their hands.
Jeffrey Heine:He did not know that he was carrying death to these patients. He did not realize that it was his own hands that were spreading this suffering. But as soon as his eyes were opened to this truth of what he was doing, he was a man on a mission. He warned, often vehemently, the other physicians of their wrongdoing. But Semmelweis could not convince the other physicians.
Jeffrey Heine:They would not believe the truth that they were responsible for so many deaths. They would not believe that they were the ones. They were the wrongdoers. They would not believe that they were the reason for the sickness and death. So the medical community shunned Semmelweis.
Jeffrey Heine:He lost his career in medicine. And he lived out his final years in a mental asylum, where he died of sepsis, likely as a result of being beaten at the age of 46. The revelation of wrong is hard to receive. No one likes to be told that they are wrong. No one likes to be told that they are the problem.
Jeffrey Heine:The revelation of our disobedience, our rebellion, our exchanging the truth of God for lies, we don't want to believe that we are guilty. And to affirm God's wrath and judgment is to admit that we deserve that we deserve them. And if we're honest, it is hard to admit and confess our need. That we were dead in our sins and our trespasses, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of humankind. But we must receive the revelation of God's righteousness, including his righteous judgment.
Jeffrey Heine:We cannot ignore these truths, no matter how much we might wish to avoid them or even dismiss them. The revelation of God's wrath and judgment must be received and reflected upon often. And I'd like to briefly offer 4 reasons why. Four reasons why we must receive and reflect upon the wrath and judgment of God. I'll list them out first.
Jeffrey Heine:Okay? They reveal number 1. They reveal the righteousness of God. Number 2. They remind us of the seriousness of sin.
Jeffrey Heine:3rd, they assure us of God's justice. And 4th, they provoke us to thankful worship. So starting with number 1, they reveal the righteousness of God. God's righteousness, his just goodness and perfection, Jesus's perfect atonement for our sin. They display God's just judgment of our sin in the cross of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:God will judge every sin. No sin goes unpunished. It will either be punished in the person who has sinned, or through Christ. That's part of the Heidelberg confession that we read together earlier. Because for God not to execute judgment, that would make him unjust.
Jeffrey Heine:And the righteous mercy of God is displayed in Christ, who is both just and our justifier. As I was studying this passage this week, and I was thinking about different ways that our culture has has conceptualized wrath, and talked about it in culture. I thought about the the book, Grapes of Wrath. And then I thought, where does it get that title, Grapes of Wrath? And then I've I've, read of the Grapes of Wrath in the battle hymn of the republic.
Jeffrey Heine:And it still didn't make sense. Where do we get this grapes of wrath? And really, there are a couple of touch points in scripture of this picture of a wine press and God's wrath, God's righteous anger, pressing down on the wine press and his wrath spilling out. And it was very common. There was a time where there were a lot of paintings that were done of Jesus, who is both, administering the justice of God by pressing the wine press down, but that it is Christ himself who is in the press, like the grapes.
Jeffrey Heine:Where he is executing the judgment of God, but it's coming against his own flesh. That Jesus is both the just and the justifier, the judge and our ransom. We need to receive and reflect upon the wrath and judgment of God because it creates in us an awe and a reverence for the perfect righteousness of God. And I would this is an aside. You can do this as like 1a underneath.
Jeffrey Heine:If you feel like your worship has become too familiar, and you think, I just I kind of feel like I'm going through the motions. Or maybe to put it in other terms, you don't feel something that you think you ought to, or perhaps have felt at some other point in your life of faith. May I encourage you to spend time meditating on the wrath and judgment of God. If it feels too routine and too familiar, then I would direct you to that reverence and awe that comes from meditating on the righteousness of God revealed in His wrath and judgment. Number 2, They remind us of the seriousness of sin.
Jeffrey Heine:If we do not take rebellion and rejection of God, that is sin. If we don't take rebellion and rejection of God seriously, then we will not take the cross of Jesus seriously. When we diminish what sin is, we diminish what Christ has done. If we do not take the cross seriously, we will not take our salvation seriously. And if we do not take our salvation seriously, we will not take obedience seriously.
Jeffrey Heine:If sin is no big deal, then the gospel of Jesus is no big deal. But But when we receive the revelation of God's wrath and his judgment, we see the seriousness of sin and the grave reality of rejecting the love of God. 3rd, they assure us of God's justice. If you have ever longed for justice for yourself, for someone else, for sins of hate and harm, to be rightly punished, for wickedness to be dealt with fully and finally. If you have ever longed for justice, you have longed for the wrath and judgment of God.
Jeffrey Heine:God's righteous judgment is the only eternal satisfaction of justice. Have you ever heard someone say, only God can judge me? Yeah. That's not supposed to be reassuring. God's judgment is a promise to everyone who has ever been wronged, which is everyone.
Jeffrey Heine:It's also an admission that we deserve judgment too, because everyone who has ever been wronged has also wronged someone else. When we desire judgment against someone, we are inviting the judgment that we are also due. If we want justice over there, then God's justice has to be carried out here as well. We need to receive and reflect upon the wrath and judgment of God because they assure us of God's justice. And 4th, they provoke us to thankful worship.
Jeffrey Heine:When we see with eyes wide open the wrath and judgment we deserve, the more our souls are drawn to praise God for delivering us from the wrath to come, the rescue of our souls from the judgment we deserve, the reality of Jesus enduring the wrath and judgment we deserve, The redemption we freely receive from the righteous mercy of God. The more we receive this truth and reflect on the unfathomable graciousness of God, the more we will live lives of thankful worship to our righteous God, Father, Son, and Spirit. Because Jesus is our savior and redeemer, We can see the goodness and glory of God in his wrath and judgment. Let me say that again. Because of Jesus, because he is our savior and our redeemer, we can see the goodness of God and the glory of God in his wrath and judgment.
Jeffrey Heine:We can confess our sin, because Jesus took our guilt. We can trust in God's justice, because we are not judged by our own merit, but on the merit of Christ. And we can worship the one who has delivered us from God's righteous wrath and has made us his beloved children, sons and daughters. For the wrath of God was satisfied in the perfect blood of Christ. He has become for us wisdom of God, our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption.
Jeffrey Heine:And because of Jesus, we have come to know not the wrath of God, but the goodness of God all the days of our lives. Amen. Let's go to him in prayer. Oh, Spirit, help us to ponder your holy and righteous hatred of sin and your just vengeance upon it. Because the more of this reverence that we have for your righteousness, and the more we we believe in the misery of sin, and the more we trust in the promise of your justice, then the more our souls will be drawn to praise you, oh Lord, for delivering us fully and finally.
Jeffrey Heine:Oh, Lord, I pray for everyone here who trusts in Jesus, who looks to him for their righteousness. I pray that that they would find a fresh and new joy in their salvation. Lord, I pray for anyone here who does not know you, that they would come to know your graciousness and your goodness in delivering them from your righteous judgment. Oh, lord. May we know the treasure of being hidden in Christ, and may we live lives of obedient worship for your glory and for our deepest good.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray this in the name of Christ, our king. Amen.
