By No Means Clearing The Guilty

Some a church.

It is impossible for me to overstate the importance that small groups play in the life of our church. It is the place where people go from being on the sidelines into the game guides were real disciples are made. It is where friendships are formed.

Rural community is found for the deeper a Bible study, so I hope that if you are not a part of a small group you're the church that you will avail yourself of the many opportunities at your campus this weekend. They are going to make available to you to get into one eye. I know this might be a little unusual and happy that Labor Day weekend for everybody but wants you to.

If you would at this point you just save your feet all of our campuses want you to stay with me for just a moment to pray together the world that we live in. You know is on is always chaotic, but it seems like over the last several weeks. There's just been just a lot of things in our country is enduring unit, a continued racial tensions are most recently that they violent outbreaks against the men and women in uniform, the continuation of horrific stories that we hear things like groups like ISIS and the persecution of her brothers and sisters in Christ, literally all around the country are all on the planet choose me and then the continued disturbing revelations that we get from Planned Parenthood. There's a lot of things that God home has his people here to be used as a kingdom of priests, which means we pray we ask God to many of you are doing with some of your own things and so was to go before the throne of God. Together we can pray on behalf of each other and pray on behalf of what's going on in our community and ask God to bring his peace in his gospel and let it flourish here in our community. So would you lift your eyes at your hands, bow your heads. Whatever.

Let's go before the throne of the father God, thank you, thank you God that you are promised a promise to be here with us at your present with your people. You're very present help in time of trouble, and there are many listening to me right now. One of our campuses that are overwhelmed God with situations in their family and we pray God that you give them wisdom and grace and guidance God of miracles. This this weekend, but we pray for what's going on in our community. We pray that you would give our leaders wisdom to guide us to a more peaceable and just society that we pray that you would give us forgiveness to be able to forgive one another will be disappointed and wrong each other got pray. Maybe most especially for those churches across the United States where someone is standing this weekend faithfully proclaim the mercy and the justice of the Almighty God.

I pray that you would enable them empower them to got to preach with clarity to preach in a way that convinces and compels brings people to the Prince of peace. God, not just our church got a churches all over Raleigh-Durham in the United States that are partnering together to see Jesus lifted up. God give us grace and ability we pray because were desperate in Jesus name in all God's people said they man amen you may be seated. One of the things that I've learned. Now, after being a pastor now for a few years is that people expect me to talk like I have it all together and many of you think that I open my as every morning. I say oh good morning Lord. And then I roll over and I grab the heart that keeps on my bed. I surmount a few love songs to Jesus.

Then I go downstairs to a kitchen that smells like cinnamon all my kids or sit around the table with their Bibles open saying teach us. Daddy and I can assure you that that is not the usual way that I wake up in the morning about but not usual, I may not ever. I usually wake up to the sounds of someone yelling in my house. On my first thought is not good morning Lord. It's usually the good Lord is already morning when I go downstairs my kid when I get the strangling of the other women and my Kayla through the Bible together nicely. Daddy how long we want to watch TV.

So the things that you experience in your family are probably similar to what I experience in my trying to say that when I became a pastor I didn't get any special car that exempted me from questions and doubts and wonder things are share with you over the years is that I'm throughout my life I have gone through various seasons where I really struggled to believe one of the worst of those was in college and it was over the issue that we are going to dive into today, probably the closest I ever came to actually losing my faith, it was in regards to this issue.

The issue was the wrath of God. The whole system just didn't seem fair to me is about the punishment fit the crime is in my God with his vengeful deity was it's gonna show up at somebody's bedside when they died and say you didn't believe in Jesus and there is a Jesus who was a well too late now in cast their souls in the hell is they went tumbling down into hell they be like Jesus, who I never did use of the wood you motor motor tough cookies arrived in Latin America or something like that to them and distancing.

Like it was fair. I know that I'm not alone in that struggle.

I know that for a lot of people. This is the issue. The issue that creates the bib biggest obstacle to their faith.

The famous skeptic Ron Russell in his book why I am not a Christian, said that the primary reason that he did not believe in Jesus, was because Jesus so clearly believed in the wrath of God. Yet, at least give it to them by the way, is willing to recognize what a lot of Christians refuse to recognize and that is the Jesus did believe and teach them the wrath of God ever tried.

Russell called Christ believe in the wrath of God one profound effect in Christ character. No less than CS Lewis would say there is no doctrine, which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this.

If it lay in my power.

I have often told you.

Maybe you've heard me say that you gave me a divine eraser in 10 minutes of impunity. I would take this out of the Bible altogether, but we cannot take this out of the Bible, and really, we shouldn't because while it is a difficult doctrine. It is a good doctrine and one that is absolutely essential to knowing the loving and worshiping God, a God without wrath would be a God without goodness. Let me show you. Exodus 34 is were we been out for four weeks, we will be there one more week next week.

We are talking about the name of God the unfolding of God who he is in his name. The set up is this God and Moses asked God not let me see your glory, and so God says. Exodus 3319 yes Moses, I will make all my goodness that's a keyword pass before you and I will proclaim before you my name. The Lord puts Moses in the cleft of the rock covers him with his hand and the Lord descended there in the cloud and he proclaim the Lord proper name of God, Yahweh, I am the Lord God that is merciful and gracious, a God who is slow to anger God abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin. But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third to the fourth generation. There are six things in those two verses that I want you to see what we can learn about the wrath of God. The first one is very simply that God's wrath exists, it is crystal clear in that passage, I don't see how you could denied it exist. The Bible speaks of God's wrath more than 600 times Psalm chapter 7 verse 11.

King David says that God is angry with the wicked, every single day. I know some of you here that you think, well, that's us an Old Testament then God gets a lot nicer. The New Testament is cranking the Old Testament is junior high years and has a change of heart. He comes back is God 2.0 Jesus, meek and mild and that's not true at all. I showed you last week of the love of God is a predominant theme in the Old Testament were to see this way to God's wrath is a repeated theme in Jesus is teaching in the new and that many commentators say one of his most frequent themes. Jesus would say it this way in John 336 whoever rejects the son will never see life because God's wrath abides. It remains on him. He's basically just quoting Psalm 711 and saying God is angry with the wicked, those outside of Christ. Every single day. Not only does Jesus talk about it. We see him demonstrated for the end of his life. Jesus goes into the temple, and he chases out a bunch of temple workers with a homemade web. Now I grew up on flannel breath Jesus you know I'm talking about vacation Bible school when a brat we never had a flannel graph image for this one I we had Jesus, you are stroking the lands and the holding the kids looking pensively up for God, but we never had Jesus with a whip from the people out of the temple, but Jesus is testimony to the wrath of God was central to his message into his ministry and for that matter, it was not effusive talk about God's love to God and killed there is not about personal empowerment. It was his insistence on God's anger for hypocrisy and injustice.

The first thing we see very clearly God's wrath exists. You can't deny that you have to deny your old Bible number two we see that God's wrath is an expression of his goodness in this passage noticed that God did not say to Moses. Moses okay I would make all my goodness pass before you buy. There's a little bad mixed in there too. There's a little sweetness a little poison know his wrath as part of his goodness. It's all goodness.

God's goodness would not be goodness without his wrath, his goodness would not be complete without its wrath, because God's wrath and his anger grow out of his love, his love for goodness and purity and holiness and us as a dad. I love my children and because of that I get angry when I see things at work in them that harm them, whether that's dishonesty or cruelty or laziness. I get angry when I see those things not in spite of the fact that I love them but because I love them. God is angry at San because he loves his creation and us and sin destroys his good creation.

Probably one of the best depictions of the unfolding of the wrath of God takes place in the account in the book of Exodus of the plagues the pledge what God gave to got sent to Egypt try to wake them up out of their rebellion against God, you may not renumber this or preached on a few years ago and did not explain you that that the plagues were not just a random set of bad things like practical jokes and I was playing on Egypt what was happening was a very logical progression that though the will of the Nile water turns the blood which destroys the ecosystem of the Nile which drives the frogs out of it. The frogs calm.

Then they die, that brings the gnats of the naturally disease what you're seeing in the plagues is essentially creation unraveling God's only point in the pledge made to show Pharaoh that he existed and that he was more powerful than Pharaoh. He could've done any number of things you could have Moses walk in the court and you know I'm grabbed you a robot that the Darth Vader chokehold and just in a bad not done Pharaoh or you can return a bunch of Pharaoh soldiers generally tidy and squashed a few of amendment to your next Pharaoh. It barely got a point.

But if one was not just that he existed and that it was more powerful point was demonstrating what sin was doing to the human race into the world.

It was unraveling creation in Genesis 1 we see God bringing order out of chaos. So in the plagues you see order descending back into chaos because when we sin, that is exactly what's happening in our lives and in our community and our world your senior life. The sin back into the chaos of darkness and because we have a God of love. He cannot just sit by and watch it happen.

He desires to bring us to a world that is free of injustice and sin, and exploitation and racism and greed and perversity. He wants to bring us to heaven, and heaven can only be heaven if there's no sin there.

Think about the way to heaven is describe things that we long for. It is a place where there is no pain or crying but want to be there right how many times is my sin because somebody else pain or cause them to pry. There is a place we don't a lot. Doors will only cannot let doors of nobody's ever tempted to steal. So when somebody says to me why didn't God just destroy all in.

It really was a God he would destroy injustice. My question is always, if he started with you. If God decided to get rid of all evil tonight at 12 o'clock which of us is gonna be here at 1201 right God's holiness means is love means that he cannot tolerate sin, because he loves us and it's love toward us, gives rise to an anger toward sin.

He loves his purity loves creation. When theologians are this way God anger is his unrelenting uncompromising and steadfast antagonism towards evil and injustice in all of its forms to receive God's love goes out of his goodness third thing we see is a God's wrath often consist letting us experience the consequences of the choices that we make God's wrath consist of just often letting us experience the consequences of the choices we make it. Theologians call that back at this passive wrath of God. Passive means God is can assess back and says okay as you wish. You see that in this passage with this phrase here.

God is the one watch visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children. The children children down the third of the fourth generation people read that verse and the first thing they think is what I doesn't sound very fair. Well I gotta holding you accountable. The great-grandchildren for the sins of the great-grandparents and that would be unfair and that's not what that verse means. Here's how I knew that Moses expressly denies that in Deuteronomy 24 he says each person will be punished only for their own sin. Easy gold repeat at Ezekiel 1820.

He would said the wickedness of the wicked will only be upon that person. The parents will not be punished for the sins of the children or vice versa. She civil if it doesn't mean that and what does it mean orders automates it's actually very logical and obvious means that parent sends always have consequences that affect their children right. If I embezzled money from this church and I go to jail are my kids going to suffer because of that.

Of course they are. If you cheat on your wife and you leave her for somebody else will your kids suffer because of your action. Of course they will. God's judgment. You see, often consist of simply allowing us and those around us to experience the painful consequences of our choices is the passive wrath of God. And when you do see the active wrath of God, the lightning bolt in Scripture it's always consistent with an extension of the passive wrath. For example, Genesis 3, the first, punishment on sin after Adam and Eve sin. God drives them out of there. His presence in the garden.

Okay what had Adam and Eve done right, just before the gun just right before that they had hidden from God's presence and I was given to them what they desired or hiding from God's presence when Pharaoh is judged in the midst of the plagues in that story is is a God judged him by hardening. His heart, but that was only after Pharaoh had hardened his own heart.

Several times.

In fact, the way that Jesus describes hell shows it to be the fruition of our sin and the full fruition of what we are looking for in our sin we might miss that because Jesus uses a month of Jewish metaphors that might be unfamiliar to us but he says things like hell is a place where the warm die if not, what that is a him a job is an image of a conscience that is continually being eaten away by guilt and regret. He says it is a place of outer darkness, which represented in Jewish thought, the total absence of God in all of his goodness with God was light and goodness in everything that we love on earth is a place in the gnashing of teeth. Jesus said, which is a Jewish image that meant self-condemnation and self-loathing is a place of fire, which is the agony of God's displeasure. Jesus is saying essentially hell was just the full fruition of you telling God to get out of your life and God saying okay God saying okay to get a college student it's like to drink beer my friends in Burnaby and hell the midheaven and going to church, you have no idea what you are saying essentially hell is where you say, God, this is what I want I want you gonna God says as you wish. It's the fruit of allowing sin to grow unchecked in you I'm probably nobody is help me get my mind around the hell the idea of hell. More than CS Lewis time.

He says he says you know there's a lot of things in your life that you wouldn't really worry about if you only deliver 80 years, but the Bible teaches that every human being is eternal and he said there some things that grow in you that if it only last for 80 years probably wouldn't get that bad. He says sin is like.

It's like cancer never stops growing, or have heard some scientists say that there are certain kinds of lizards that never stop growing. They will grow as long as their liabilities and will get huge is because they have a short lifespan. What is it look like CS Lewis says for sin that never stops growing. What is it look like when it grows in you for eternity is is in the space of 80 years, your pettiness, your jealousy, your foul mood. Your tendency to abuse others on your selfishness, that probably doesn't look that bad in 80 years.

But when that has grown in you for a million years. He said the word you would use to describe that condition would be nothing less than hell itself. God's final statement of judgment in the book of Revelation is to the people. He says let him it was unjust the unjust.

Still another word that's a path that you choose as you wish. Hell is God giving you what you are asking for.

Here's how Lewis summarizes it in the long run. The answer to all those who object the doctrine of hell is itself a question. What are you asking God to do you asking God to wipe out our past stands at all costs to give us a fresh start smoothing every difficulty in offering every miraculous health.

That's exactly what he's done at the cross are you asking him to forgive them. They will not be forgiven to leave them alone. Alas, I am afraid that is precisely what God does in the end, there are only two kinds of people.

There are those who say to God that I will be gone and there are those to whom God says, thy will be done.

Hell is you telling God I don't want you in my life and God simply saying as you desire it, by the way, that means that God's mercy now for you is letting you taste some of the painful consequences of your sin in order to wake you up.

We always think that when a husband or wife gets caught in the middle of an affair that's God's judgment. II would argue to you, that's God's mercy God's wrath is when he or she gets away with it.

There is nothing that it represents the judgment of goal God more than him just backing up and saying okay, have it your way. The absolute worst thing the guy can do for you is to give you what you want when your heart is not right with him.

Read this week. An account written by Christian leader who got caught in this Ashley Madison scandal Ashley Madison website were pure.

People have their email addresses cheat on their spouse and he said you know I said I never acted on it is a but I didn't went on and I signed up and he says I never even paid a started to is as I knew it was wrong and I knew I shouldn't do it and so he sums two years ago and I just walked away from. He said now two years later it comes out of my email address is one of those email addresses they are not step down from ministry for good while he said at first I thought it was God's judgment that I got caught the guy was paying me back is that you know a says, but I've come to see it really is God's mercy toward me is a because there's a lot of sense in my life, including this one that I have just never really dealt with. I just managed to keep my nose clean enough that I stayed out of trouble and I didn't really deal with the to the repentance that I had never really went that the he says.

And it is God's mercy.

Allowing this to be exposed so that I would see the depth and the wickedness of sin, so that I can finally repent of this thing and retune truth for the first time. Here's my question. Where is God doing that with you because I would say there. Some of you that are beginning to taste some of these painful consequences of sin and you're tempted look at God is a God what's going on why you judging me for God said I'm not judging you. This is mercy. Judging will be for me to back up and say as you wish and let you go to the full fruition and never wake up. I am allowing these things to come into your life just to say you really want this path. Number four we see in this passage that God chose to let his love overcome his wrath. This passage shows is that God shows keyword to let his love overcome his wrath.

There's a contrast that is set up here in the presentation of God's name to be steadfast love for thousands vision innately and send all the way down to the third and the fourth generation is you that brought your Hebrew Bible have already noticed that in Hebrew there is no word generation because this is a poem and verse seven is a poem in Hebrew and there's a parallel structure set up between the first phrase in the last phrase to the source to compare the set up thousand and the third port. Really, it's a safekeeping steadfast love, for a thousand generations, and in keeping the iniquity of 1/3 fortune, or in other words, God's mercy is greater than his wrath by factor of 250 times. Now here's the other phrase he says he is slow to anger, slow to anger those of you who are extra credit and I have not only your Hebrew Bible but also your Aramaic one which is called the Targum, which is would've been what Jesus would have memorized and quoted from, you'll notice that when the Targum translates slow to anger, it translate it this way, the one who makes anger distant and brings compassion near slow to anger means he made anger distant and he brought compassionate God felt to write full emotions when he saw us in our sin. The first rightfully motion was anger and the second rightfully motion was compassion and sovereignly of his own free choice.

He chose to bring one close and push another away. You didn't have to do it that way. God was fully justified when he felt wrath for our sin, he would have been fully justified to push us away forever, but he chose to push away that wrath and he chose to bring compassion near it's one of the greatest mysteries of the universe, and Jesse don't take it for granted Pierce as the Angels are still confused by the angel gladdens it all in common.

I have felt for sure that God was justified in his ride back that they there. Still, they look into what they see God's face every day like we don't get this. It doesn't add up. The apostle Paul in one of the most remarkable passages of Scripture may be the most remarkable passage in the Bible. Pulses of Romans five watches you see when we were still powerless. It was then that Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though maybe for a good person. Someone might possibly dare to die.

In other words, it's very rare that you see somebody actually die for somebody else but we know situations or somebody's God for their spouse or to enter a good friend there always somebody that they love and anything. It was a good person but God but God demonstrated his love for us in this while were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You see what we were God's enemies we were reconciled to him for the death of his son. I've used an analogy of the last several weeks about God's anger that breaks down. I need to show you where breaks down because until you understand more breakdown will never understand the depth of God's love for you and so I'm going to critique myself but all analogies breakdown so I compared God's anger toward our sin. Like my anger toward my kids sin when they lie and I just I love them so I want them to be purified of their anger about here's where that analogy breaks down even when my kids sin there still my kids this passage in Romans says that our sin and rebellion made us God's enemies, not like his enemies or his disobedient confused wayward children. It says our sin made us his enemies. So God choosing to push anger away and bring compassion near was not like me wanting to see when my kids be free of dishonesty because I love them is choosing to push anger away and bring compassion near would actually be like me choosing to love and adopt into my family and Isis member who beheaded my daughter is a lot and I were not that bad.

What about all of our good works that I've told you before, it's kind of like imagine that a nicest soldier really did behead one of your kids, but imagine that that one of these ISA soldiers later is in a foxhole with another ISA soldier in this other guy has forgotten to bring his lodgings hungry, so this one ISA soldier shares his lunch to take what he hasn't about divided into that's a genuinely generous act right is but it's hard for you to call that at good because the whole mission that these guys are on is so evil that even their good works are cloaked in the shroud of evil to make sense. You and I we look at good works, and we do and they are genuinely good, but our whole lives are spent in rebellion against God living for our glory instead of his living with ourselves as our authority and rejecting his authority. Our rebellion kill Jesus.

And that shrouds even our good deeds and a cloak of evil so there is no greater wonder in the universe that the Angels can comprehend and that the apostle Paul feels like he can't describes the love of God for you and me. If I there's a song on the Wii's love to sing and tenant be the him there's a verse we always skip your madness or something. Every Christian knows this verse promising once we were little Baptist Church and you. I know that means we skip. It's awesome in vain. The firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine right like nonwords known with any rights or seraph angel what what what they were doing. This is based restating what Peter said there's an angel that's trying to sound get the depth of the ocean of God's love. But no matter how powerful the radar. They can ever discover the bottom because it has no bottom.

So he bit him. Writer continues his mercy all let earth adore let angel minds inquire no more.

In other words, there comes a time where we just can explain and were you to stand before the ocean of God's love before the depths of his mercy and you say I cannot understand it but and can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior's blood died he for me who caused his pain to me for me who him to death pursued one day when you get to heaven you will be as confused if not more confusing the angel right now you take God's offer rental I will, of course, he love me.

What else would he do because I'm awesome if you saw it with any clarity at all. You fall to your knees with the Angels and say I do not understand what he chose to push anger away and bring compassion near but praise God and elsewhere in the rest of my life praising him for what he did.

Which brings me to number five. We can escape God's wrath only through Christ we can escape it only through Christ to point out the very first week that there's a contradiction in verse seven contradiction is this you keep steadfast love for thousands he forgives iniquity and transgression and sin, but he will by no means clear the guilty and explain the contradiction is this. If God will not clear the guilty and who sin is he forgiving me to write his guilt and sin of the same thing. So if you won't clear the guilty.

How could he maybe forgiving anybody Sen. contradiction and the people who read that in the book of Exodus said that the contradiction is two things cannot be, but we understand the God resolve the contradiction in Christ. The guy in Christ, God laid on Jesus, the penalty for sin, he didn't clear the guilty God punished sin to its fullest measure on Christ so that he could forgive us on Christ behalf boy Isaiah says I love the imagery is that God laid on Jesus we see in the iniquity of us all, hears all illustrate that the markets do nothing to help kids help adults to write about. Okay, so what this Bible represents and is weird because the Bible the law okay so this represent our sin like your sin separates you from God and no matter how close you try to get the God it's always between you and God. It matter if you're going to think about God all you you don't not religious at all, it still between you and God. And if you try to pray every day you read your Bible, do your best. It still between you and God. So what God did with Jesus. Is he laid on Jesus the penalty of our sin and Jesus died a put it away, so that there is nothing now that separates me from God that in him. I am fully forgiven not because of God. Just as in a good mood, but because Jesus is put away my sin forever. So now the Bible says Jesus stands as an advocate before the throne of God on my behalf advocate means lawyer as he stands there and plead to God for us and I used to. I told you I had never been overly brought me that much comfort because my energy of Jesus naming is my advocate before the throne of God was always basically Jesus standing right there by God the father and when I would send Jesus what God would be like all right Greer done it again and energy spent the whole way minute. Come on, I was given another chance and he's not that bad of a guy.

He's trying hard blue misunderstood you to please God please show me.

I went to the old death. Things are good.

You dislike just you just work just to give him another chance and I would have a lightning bolt you got your grid object and then, but I never will become because I knew I knew there were certain things that I was would do and then I mess up do again and under the Gabi like one time guy was like all right. Greer has none of the last time that he's like none monitored 18 on that 1 Were Way past 70×7 thing prepare for wrath right and so it was a cop and she's looking to prevail, but it's listening. Jesus does not stand before the throne of God and ask God to give me a second chance that Jesus and his partner sacrilege and wisdom sound. Jesus stands before the throne of God says father, you may not punish JD for that sin, because you punish me for and it would be unjust for you to bring to penalties for the same sin, and because Jesus paid it all. There is no condemnation that is left for me in Christ because he has taken it away in entirety we see.

We want to minimize the wrath of God because it makes us feel safe, but there's something in your heart that will never let you minimize the wrath of God, and you may never have come to terms with this, but God stamp that into your conscience, didn't you know there's condemnation that I explained. He goes all the back of the garden of Eden is one of God's first mercy to us is that after you and I rejected God.

The first thing out of, and he felt we been over this a million times what the first thing out of any felt after they said they felt naked and shame same Heather night now. Truth is, I told you directly naked before they sent the negatives didn't bother them. Why did they bother them if you don't know this, and even the searchlight five years.

My feelings really hurry now because of that is 100,000 times why did her nakedness not bother them because they were closed the distance to be closed and the love and the acceptance of God, and that's all that mattered to them without having been stripped away of the love the excitement of God. They felt naked and exposed. So what are they know what it is a permanent image giving you what you do when you feel naked if your normal person you show up at like you to Walmart.

You're probably walking and you wake up your butt naked and Walmart. What you do right. You go find close. You don't shop while you're there like a lot of you know you just out right because it is something wants to be close the human heart feels a sense of condemnation and so were looking for exoneration were looking to be closed again what all was fascinating is when you see somebody who doesn't believe in God is not a Christian to figure this out on the playwright Arthur Miller who wrote death of a salesman in his biography. He said you know he said I quit believing God when I was in college and I thought I got rid of God. I would get rid of guilt, he said, but I realize I spent my entire career as a writer trying to get people to say that I was okay and that I was not to be condemned essentially is and I realize all I did was switch the person what I used to look for God that approval. I now look for another people, but have never been able to get rid of the guilt and condemnation that just like my soul is a permanent part of the human condition.

God is put that in your heart and you cannot deny it and when you come to Jesus. Listen what you do as he takes that subconscious feeling of guilt. And he makes a conscious and then he says the voice that condemnation whispers in your soul is accurate.

I misspeak a lot of word over that voice and I want to say it is finished. It is to summarize Tim Keller. It is that though we are more wicked and guilty than we ever imagine. We are also more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope, because Jesus paid it all. Martin Luther tells us ripping on Martin Luther. I rebuff Keller colors. I flew the live live up all little reactive. Jesus open subject and I Martin Luther the way he said it was as easy says the voice in our heart speaks condemnation in the voice is true.

The voice is accurate God in the gospel speaks a louder word and where sin says you are finished.

Jesus says it is finished because he has delivered us from our sin. God's wrath is overcome in Christ. Number six, we see that God's wrath comes slowly but surely, we see the God's wrath comes slowly but surely there is you with your Hebrew Bibles you also noticed this phrase where it says God is given to him. The phrase translated, slow to anger is literally loan of nostrils nice it will how you can be when you're reading this in your Hebrew Bible. During a quiet time not letting slow to anger the question Hebrew such a colorful language so much more colorful than English.

Hmmm, what happens when you get angry your nostrils flare. If you're quick-tempered, your flaring nostrils get going right away but if you're slow to anger, what you do you close your mouth and you breathe through your nose slowly. The phrase means that you can make God mad, but you really have to work at it is slow to anger because he wants you to repent, because he is pushed away anger because you brought compassion near he wants you to repent he wants you wake up.

The apostle Peter says that one of the things that characterize the human race is we twist what God intends to be a space to repent and we confuse that for the absence of God's anger. Peter's example in second Peter three is the flood God told mankind that because of the wickedness he was can destroy the world and a flight and then he waited 100 years and during that hundred years. Everybody said oh you're crazy Noah, what you can be a flood of 100 years ago. Are you still on that stupid you and when the flood actually came just like God said it would hundred years later, only the gladiator in mind. Ranger Granger were able to be saved right and Peter then says Peter says here's what happens in our day. People say where is the promise of his coming. You Crystal talking about Jesus coming back seriously.

What we need to get over that gig he's looking back on a white horse.

Oh yeah, that's can happen is to come right to the cloud on a white horse of all the yeah that's and other fairytales and I bet you put your tooth on your bill at nine. There's a T. Yes, would you give up that stupid rocket gases do not let what I intend to be mercy and space for you to repent. Do not confuse that with my absence.

The flood came. I will return the proof of it is that I raised Jesus from the dead and throughout the book of acts whenever they talk about the resurrection is always the first thing they say with it. We always think resurrection. This means Christianity through it is what it also means is that God's judgment issue or in the God is given us a space for you to repent and he wants you to wake up, don't confuse his slowness to anger with its absence. Even now you look at the plagues right little thing about the plagues they got progressively worse.

It was like God's voice is kept getting louder saying wake up wake up wake up wake up is that happening to you. I am several years ago I respect right on got out of seminary first jobs I was able to secure was a job in landscaping not typical for a seminary degree, but I had a landscaping job and work with this crew that was to say did not all go to seminary was asleep at that and there was one guy on the crew. He was 6 foot six. His name when calling Ivan I'm there when his real name to look like Ivan Drago and Rocky Ford. And so we called in that and I do would cause me that you had a mouth on him and I bet I don't cost but it was neat stuff you put together was creative and I was at wow that's brilliant. There one day I got been there up to three weeks.

He let out a string of expletives that invoke the name of God. It was the filters and ever and I just got filled with a sense of like holy rage. I felt angry and I was filled with the Holy Spirit and I woke up a 6 foot six Ivan in the middle of everybody filled the Holy Spirit. I put my finger in his face, 6 foot six face and I said Ivan one day you can stand for God and the last thing you want when you stand before God have a record filled with you cursing God's name. That way, and then the Holy Spirit totally left me little turn.

I walked away and I heard I heard his big old feet coming and he stood in front of me he stopped and looked up at him and he said to say again say that to my face again said well this time will more humbly, I can walk through what it meant to be in the judgment of God. And then it was the weirdest thing all just inexplicably released. I thought it applicable he gets emotional.

We said last week I went to the doctor and they have diagnosed me with skin cancer, skin cancer. He says I'm scared Mama will be honest. Now you talk to me about the judgment of God. We kept talking and then we talked their every break.

We had that day.

We talked and for the end of the day were on the last break and wish my back was to the slight field by 100 yards across and used in front of me were talking about judgment and gospel of mercy and and all the sudden, as were talking to see his face get really like confuse and he just takes off running across the field what's going on such a rock chase him and following and then I see what he sees is seen what we were talking about 100 yards away.

There's this car and come to an intersection and went to a stop sign and date scars try to avoid each other and the hidden one flipped over and there were a couple guys at a ran office on the road trying to push over this carcass.

Well, they they want budget.

He gets there he does hit me just a huge goddess hits it in you to see this card turn flip over and it was y'all's will most gruesome things ever seen this kid that it is been pardons is been mangled underneath this card comes up and and it called EMS called ambulance and and he and I had to stay there because we were witnesses to the accident and said like two hours and for the first 20 minutes we just stood there in silence and never looked at me.

This was a staring out of it.

This scene and then he sorceries on the other side of his mouth and he says I'm he says skin cancer you cannot randomly talk to me about the judgment of God is that I see kid who either died or Mike Dyer said Jenny, do you think God's judgment to speak to me said no man. I think God's agreement, you and I think you know that he said I do. We talked till the next day to three days later had the privilege of leading him to faith in Jesus Christ assure that because I feel like maybe it's not as dramatic.

For some of you, but I think probably for some of you the same thing is happening. If you're paying attention. He speaking to you and he starting to scream at you and the voice is getting louder what it's saying is you've got to wake up, you got a repent, the Lord is not slow concerning this promise, but he's not willing that any should perish.

Once all come to a place of repentance. Don't confuse this this season of mercy. Don't confuse it with God's absence. The last person who wants you to experience the wrath of God is God. God took your place he absorbed the rap for you, but it's not good to force it on you strangest Supreme Court case I've ever heard about, read about it this week. 1833 United States first George Wilson, George Wilson was a man who committed a series of crimes and for the crimes he received the death penalty but because his crimes were politically motivated. The sitting president of the time. Andrew Jackson does not even a pardon, George Wilson and everybody that was a part of it gave him a full complete pardon. The warden brings it down to him to add to George Wilson and George Wilson says I will not receive a part of those motivations may be dispelled like you believe it is because whatever. In the words of what you mean. I've got your partner hissed I refuse receipt.

He fought in court. I will not receive the bar. It went all the way to the United States Supreme Court in 1833, the United States Supreme Court made a decision when the oddest ones I've ever heard. They set a pardon is only good if the person to whom it is issued, received a pardon is an agreement between those who are extending justice and those who are receiving justice and it is not valid unless it is received and George Wilson was executed in 1833 with a pardon for his holy sitting on the warden's desk. I don't know where the Supreme Court got the idea and how they came up with that but I do know maybe it came from. Understanding what God has done for us in Christ is that he is paid for your sin. He is issue that pardon. The tragedy is a some of you were to go into hell and face the wrath of God with your sins pay for the last voice you might hear as you step off earth into hell is the voice of Jesus saying you don't have to do, but he won't force it on you half to have you ever received you ever repented of your sin and receive Christ as Lord and Savior.

If you have is to transform your life. How could you and I understand this pardon. How do we understand wrath and mercy, and not just always be talking about it to people say it's been paid is been going it's finished. All you gotta do is trust and receiving. We know that the gospel is only good news to people to gets there in time will know why we as a church all over the planet telling people because we know that a pardon has been extended. We want to see people embrace mercy because God has made a way of salvation. Have you received it and are you talking about it.

Want to buy your headset BY your heads with me. You know that you repented and trusted Christ is not you do it this weekend to a very simple prayer.

If you mean.I live in rebellion against you and I'm sorry I surrender to you right now and I receive you as my Savior. Thank you Jesus for saving me in Christ name, amen