The Other Side of God

People by telling them that the get this in no get that give them the incentive program is one of the strategies of the enemy. By the way, seeks to silence the gospel before it ever becomes good news. Unless you understand God's holy justice, you will never need a part. Do you understand his righteousness. You will never see your unrighteous is over the gospel to penetrate the heart of that one that God is gifting with faith that gospel messages first. You are a sinner by Jesus Christ. God is angry with sinners now I realize that's not an easy concept, but it's true.

But here's the good news. As Christians we know that God has offered a solution in the gospel, God offers us. Pardon from Sam friend.

You can't fully appreciate God's gift of salvation without fully understanding his wrath toward sinners. You see what your saved from when you come to Jesus is the wrath of God today on wisdom for the heart.

Stephen Devi begins a series from Romans called the banquet table of consequences. Today's lesson from Romans 118 is called the other side of God.

Sometimes the truth of Scripture is a candle burning warmth and comfort. Other times it is a blowtorch that cuts through steel. Sometimes the word tosses a little firecracker of truth into your heart and it rattles the windows and it jolts you awake. Other times, the truth of Scripture is more like an armored tank that crashes and rumbles right into the living room of your life, what the apostle Paul will deliver over the next 64 versus from chapter 1 verse 18 through the middle of chapter 3 is the terrifying deafening roar of God's wrath and the danger facing all of humanity. For in these verses we are brought face-to-face with the fury of God will not only see the depraved nature of condemned mankind, which would really rather not review, but we will discover another side of God himself that we would probably rather not discuss in this passage we will face the truth about an angry God.

We will uncover the reality that while God is a God who loves. He is also a God who hates that while he is a God of mercy. He is also a God of justice. While he is not only the God who created an eternal heaven. He is the God who created an eternal hell in the apostle Paul by way of inspiration takes us into a courtroom scene is at work in over the next few chapters he will bring before the bench of God's holiness for different categories of people less summarizing all of humanity. Category number one will be the unbeliever who is never heard the gospel but who still stands condemned category number two is the moral man who's heard of religion and believes that he is somehow impressive to God, but he will also stand condemned.

Category number three is the Jew believes that he is been born into the kingdom, and surely he is all right and he will also stand condemned in the fourth category is the summary of all that is left over the Gentile world's who think that somehow they are good enough to get in and stand before a holy God. But who will stand condemned in the divine gavel of God's justice will come crashing to the bench and in all four cases, the holy jury of God's character will announce guilty, guilty, guilty, tilted, there is none righteous, not even one goal say as he summarizes for all have sinned and all have fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans chapter 3 verses 10 and 23 so all of humanity is condemned and defenseless before his wrath and his righteous anger and his terrible fury. Is it any wonder that the wrath of God.

This serious God would be a rather unpopular topic today, and this attribute a rather unpopular one at that. You fertilize sermons. I'm sure that God really loves you. Have you ever heard a sermon God is really matted with. I go for a bumper sticker I can see them on cars everywhere and we don't think about God being mad. We don't think about God being furious will think of God being angry and I believe that that is part of Satan strategy against the gospel of Christ church. He knows full well that if people ever found out, they might just cry out for God's mercy and pardon.

What I find interesting ladies and gentlemen is that this very attribute of anger is the beginning of Paul's formal teaching in this letter he has ended his introduction he has concluded his personal remarks of deep affection and love for the believers in Rome. He has declared his passion for the gospel. But now he begins in verse 18 with the body of his letter. This doctrinal treatise, and he begins this treatise by writing these terrifying words in Romans 118 for the wrath of God is revealed.

You think what a terrible way to start. Why not start with the grace of God.

Paul is going to turn everybody off here this isn't the way to begin evangelizing anybody be better to start with something like God loves you and is a wonderful plan for your life to tell people woo them, and by telling them that the get this in no get that give them the incentive program that's one of the strategies of the enemy. By the way, seeks to silence the truth of the gospel which is first bad news before it ever becomes good news. Unless you understand God's holy justice, you will never need a part until you understand his righteousness.

You will never see your unrighteous and so for the gospel to penetrate the heart of that one that God is gifting with faith that gospel messages first.

You are a sinner, condemned to an everlasting hell because of the penalty of your sin, but come to Jesus Christ and he will pardon you go back in church history, modern church history, and you hear the voice of a guy named Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the leading voices of liberal theology in the 20s and 30s.

It was that movement that he sort of served as a one of the chief spokesman over we call modernism that gave birth to the counter movement. We called fundamentalism.

Those who believed in the fundamentals of the faith, Harry Emerson Fosdick influenced and still influences to this day. His theology and his philosophy of ministry.

He pastored a huge church and that's partly unfortunate thing because anybody who pastors a huge church is believable and whatever they spout off his is believed by many heroic best-selling books. He influenced seminaries and pastors all across the country with his liberal slant, I came across one article in this week's study that the publisher had published in Harper's magazine and it is dated July 1928. Listen to this. He by the way, was known for his oratorical ability had mastery over the English language and was so followed he said this preachers who pick out texts on the Bible and then proceed to give their historic settings. Their logical meaning in the context their place in the theology of the biblical writer with a few practical reflections appended are grossly misusing the Bible. Nobody who speaks to the public so assumes that the felt interests of the people are located in the meaning of words spoken 2000 years ago. In other words, what was written 2000 years ago could have absolutely no bearing on anybody's needs today, but Fosdick was heard and followed by thousands. He was in fact the inventor of what could be called today in modern church history in our generation seeker driven churches in those churches the desires to relate to the needs of even the unbeliever and then woo them in and then give them diluted doses of gospel truth the needs of the audience supersede the character of God, so to speak. Well, in the same article Fosdick wrote words that sort of spell that a frightening prophecy for church ministry that has become commonplace today, even among quote unquote evangelical churches. He wrote who seriously supposes that one in 100 of the congregation cares to start with what Moses, Isaiah, Paul or John meant in each of those verses.

So the preacher should not end but should start with thinking about the audiences vital or felt needs and then let the whole sermon be organized around a constructive endeavor to meet those needs. All this is good sense and good psychology.

Those who follow Harry Emerson Fosdick's methods and pseudo-theology are greater in number today than ever before infected.

Charlie ever questioned today entire growth, church growth methods are popularized today that are nothing more than the repackaging of Harry Emerson Fosdick's liberal theology. One influential pollster named George Barna who also is believed as if he were gospel. He wrote in his book entitled marketing the church, which by the way the title alone that Otis and everybody running away from it instead. Unfortunately, pastors ran toward it marketing the church. He said these words that have convinced thousands of pastors in our data believe is gospel truth. It isn't by the way, as I read this difficult to hear the echoing of Harry Emerson Fosdick in his in his quote he says this, it is critical that we keep in mind a fundamental principle of Christian communication. The audience not the message is sovereign.

If our advertising of the gospel is going to stop people in the midst of hectic schedules and cause them to think about what were saying our message must be adapted to the needs of the audience when we produce communication, however, that is based on the take it or leave it proposition we call dogma which is the root word of doctrine, rather than on a sensitivity to people's felt needs.

People will invariably reject our message. Now that philosophy has spawned a myriad of of ministry techniques and strategies that have basically inundated the evangelical church today. The audience is sovereign meet the needs of the audience. First and foremost, rather than deliver the dogma of God's character and attribute.

Barna goes on in the same book to state this. The apostle Paul was one of the all-time great tactician.

He studied strategies and tactics that would enable him to attract the most prospects and realize the greatest number of conversions now on I can write a bestseller, but I want at least the people in this audience to know. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible in fact says exactly the opposite. Paul wrote to the Corinthians annual notice.

His strategy and how he studied.

He said when I came to your brother and I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom. Another words and another strategy of my sleeve. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling in my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of man's wisdom implied man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of in other words, Paul said when I came to you the most important thing was not you the most important thing was Christ. The most important thing was not relating to the audience.

The important thing was that the audience relate to Jesus Christ and in fact even comes close to being somewhat cold by saying the most important thing was not that I knew a lot about you but that you know a lot about Jesus Christ. The audience is not sovereign Christ is and in him.

By the way, all needs are met. We just don't know enough about him to satisfy her needs.

So Paul says I delivered Karen's prescriptions 215 the truth of Christ crucified, that is the truth of Christ bore the penalty of all of God's wrath.

The truth that Christ paid the penalty of hell on behalf of sinful humanity. The truth is, ladies judgment preaching about the fury and the wrath and the holiness of God does not hinder evangelism. It enables it undergirds it and gives it strength. So the fury of God. Today, however, would be an unwanted attribute why the maybe two reasons. Number one, it's unwanted. First of all, by the nature of man which is unaccountable to biblical direction. In other words people want to behave in a way to want to behave.

So the talk of judgment means that you imply the existence of a lot of a judge, so it's better that I believe in a God. It was a judge, otherwise he might do it. A judge normally does and that is render a what a verdict a judgment so it shouldn't take us by surprise that God's wrath and holiness is abandoned. However, it shouldn't also surprise us that as God's holiness and wrath is our abandoned so our moral and physical restraints in society that abandons the standard of truth. So mankind basically in human nature is given full rein to do whatever wants to do 19 5070 teenagers were arrested for committing a serious crime in all of America, 1600 are today serving adult jails during the next 24 hours. More than 35,000 Americans will contract a sexually transmitted disease. That's 13 million this year, and teenagers will contract syphilis at the rate of 623 teenagers every day we are experiencing, I believe, and I'm sure you know to be true, the degeneration of our society predicted by the apostle Paul that we will track write down that chapter as every nation can that puts God away and refuses to talk of his holy standard in his wrath and judgment the wrath of God is an unwanted attribute, though we vote in favor of darkness so that we can behave anyway. Want to behave. Secondly, the wrath inferior God toward sin is unwanted by the religion of man which is independent of biblical doctrine.

In other words, follow me carefully.

The nature of man doesn't want to hear about the wrath of God's week behave. Anyway, once behave so here also the religion of man doesn't want to hear about the wrath of God because wants to believe anything was to believe given mediums, given astrology, given relativism dividend were journeys given yin-yang or crystals yoga or astral travel man simply wants the ability to concoct a religion is a religious being, so he wants to make it up in facts on the side.

There is no religion and that becomes the religion let us believe whatever we want to believe. To fill that spiritual void that they have your way back in church history to the time of the last awakening people pray for revival today.

I pray for revival today and I fear we do not have the doctrinal underpinnings in our society that would bring revival with a series of messages go back 100 years or so and kids were taught how to read out of the Bible. They knew some of the attributes of God by heart. They memorize confessions and creeds. I think with to start at the beginning. In our day to reteach those things. But if you go back to the 18th century. That's when the last awakening occurred and occurred on the heels of leaders like Jonathan Edwards who preached his famous sermon that was published the world over. The sermon was entitled sinners in the hands of an angry God and he preached this to a New England congregation and I called him the pit is prepared. The fire is made ready the furnace is now hot, ready to receive the unbeliever. The flame is due now rage and blow the glittering sword is sharp and held over them and the pit has opened her mouth under them both sooner consider the fearful danger. You are in.

Jonathan Edwards preached that sermon men wept and women fainted as they called out for God's mercy and pardon. They were brought face to face with this other side of God caused them to try out for God to meet their greatest need their need for him and when they did, they repented and all of life began to revolve around him and not them where lies most of our problems, but man's nature resists this truth of accountability to God's wrath, because he wants to behave anyway wants the bay.

Man's religion resists accountability to God's word because he wants to believe anything he wants to believe. Thus man's behavior and man's beliefs must reject God's wrath and God's word for mankind can tolerate anything but a righteous standard of holiness and the implications that such a standard bring the human life. So we slowly remove God from the picture in our culture that is occurring at even more rapid pace than we could've ever imagined. A recent news release from the American family Association came across my email mailbox and I checked it out to make sure was true. Sometimes things come across the aren't exactly true that in heaven. In the wake of the US Supreme Court recent decision making school initiated prayers on public address systems before high school football games unconstitutional. Many Christians responded in a variety ways.

This was picked up by agape press of this particular event, one high school principal in eastern Tennessee chose not to pray over the PA system, but instead use the opportunity to remind the football fans that night. Why it is important that they should break Mr. Jody McLeod the principle of Roane County high school in Kingston, Tennessee stepped up to the microphone as the football season began, and spoke these words nearly 2000 people was picked up by agape press release quote. It is always been the custom at Roane County high school football games is a prayer and play the national anthem to honor both got in our country due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court. I'm told is saying prayers now violation of federal case law as I understand federal case law. At this point I can use this public facility to approve of sexual perversion: an alternative lifestyle, and if someone is offended, that's okay sure binaries listening to this guy I can use it to condone sexual promiscuity by dispensing condoms and calling a safe sex.

If someone is offended, that's okay. I can even use this facility to present the merits of killing an unborn baby is a viable means of birth control among teenage girls of some is offended, it's okay. I can designate a school day is Earth Day and involve students in activities to religiously worship and praise the goddess mother Earth and quality ecology. I can use literature videos and presentations in the classroom to depict people with traditional Christian convictions as simpleminded and ignorant and call it in light. However, if anyone uses this facility to honor God and ask him to bless this game with safety and good sportsmanship. Federal case law is violated, apparently we are to be tolerant of everything and anyone except God's commandments nevertheless is a school principal.

I frequently asked staff and students to abide by rules with which they do not necessarily agree for me to do otherwise would be inconsistent for this reason, I shall render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and refrain from praying over the PA system. However, if you feel inspired to honor, praise and thank God and ask him in the name of Jesus to bless this event, please feel free to do so. While the fury of God is an unwanted attribute of his. It is however an undeniable attribute. Secondly, Paul goes on in verse 18 of Romans one by saying, for the wrath of God is revealed in ongoing tense is constantly being revealed from heaven.

For now, you need to know the difference between God's anger and man's anger God's wrath and man's wrath whenever he thought about God being angry and immediately probably attach human thought and emotion that, and there's danger that because we would caricature God in ways that he should not so characterized there are two primary words in the New Testament for wrath or anger. One is the Greek word Thomas which gives us the transliterated English word thermos or thermometer is rarely used in relation to God. In fact, Paul never uses it.

Probably because it is a word that best characterizes the anger of man and is used predominantly for men.

The words Thomas refers to a red-hot uncontrolled anger flashpoint sort of a blowing of the lid, a loss of control over emotion a few months is the word we actually would probably use were referred to road rage right that feeling you get every morning on I 40 is through months. The word literally means to rush along fiercely, which is exactly what you do on I 40. That doesn't sound like God though because God doesn't act out of some heat of violence. It could be translated panting rage. The point of Thomas is that it usually refers to someone who is reacting rage who does something that they probably regret they they did something they said something they responded in a way that they have to go back later and probably apologize for right it is often uncontrolled and disastrous and you don't always run the consequence of through months. The word however used for the anger of God is the Greek word or gay. It refers to settled conviction. This is an attribute that means this is who he is one man, John Murray wrote, this is holy revulsion of God's being against that which is the contradiction of his holy it is in a blinding hatred of evil that is never out of bounds because it is always controlled by those other attributes of righteousness and holiness of the Old Testament records for us.

This aspect of God's character in a number of verses in Psalm 90 verse 11 who understands the power of your anger and your fury.

According to the fear that is do you Psalm 76, seven, you even you are to be feared and who may stand in your presence.

When once you are angry you cause judgment to be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment. Psalm two is probably the classic text. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing.

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us.

In other words, let's do whatever we can do to rip off the boundaries of God's holiness. Let's take away the fetters that are restricting the behavior and the belief that we want to have and we want to do so is doing our heels in against God. Let us tear the fetters apart. Well, verse four he who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury now therefore old King show discernment. Take warning, verse 10 says all judges of the earth worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling due homage to the son that he not become angry, and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled. Have you taken the warning the heart my friend was this morning. Just one more warning that you will not one of the New Testament. John writes in his gospel he believes in the son is eternal life, but he who does not obey the son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Chapter 3 verse 36 Paul writes in Ephesians 53 but immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you was, as is proper among saints and there must be no filthiness and silly talk or court suggesting which are not fitting but rather the giving of thanks that is the submission to God for this you know with certainty that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater as an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. That is no unforgiven person has an inheritance. There let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience again to the Colossians he repeats himself therefore consider the members of your earthly body is dead, when morality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry, for it is because of that idolatry. These things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.

Colossians 35 and 67, but I don't see God's wrath. In fact, it seems to me that evil men flourish. Seems to me that evil kingdoms grow, it seems to me that evil and corrupt men and women seem to have their way in the wrath of God is some distant saints and content threats will not come when you consider not what he can feel it or not with you experience the fury of God has come.

It is now present and it is coming with unleashed terror in the final days because God is merciful in his wrath seems distant and far away. It's easy to forget, but we must never forget, and thankfully, God gives us the solution in the person of Jesus Christ who came and died for us. I'm glad you joined us today here on wisdom for the heart. Wisdom for the heart is a ministry of wisdom international. Another resource that we offer is a monthly magazine entitled heart to heart are wisdom partners have already received a couple of issues of this new resource and it's filled with articles daily devotionals and information about featured resources. If you haven't yet seen this magazine. We love to send the next three issues to you as our gift. Our number is 86 648 Bible. That's 866-482-4253 call and ask for your complementary three months of heart-to-heart magazine and will send the next issue to you in the mail.

If you'd like to communicate with our Bible teacher, Stephen Devi, you can send an email to info@wisdomonline.org we be very glad to hear from you. Thanks so much for joining us today will be back at the same time tomorrow.

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