1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:01,420 Well, good morning, everyone. 2 00:00:01,420 –> 00:00:04,260 If you’d have your Bibles open again at Romans 12. 3 00:00:04,260 –> 00:00:08,320 This is the last in our series entitled Overcoming Evil. 4 00:00:08,320 –> 00:00:09,720 We’ve been looking at the steps 5 00:00:09,720 –> 00:00:13,000 by which we may overcome evil with good. 6 00:00:13,000 –> 00:00:14,760 We’ve seen that it has to begin with love. 7 00:00:14,760 –> 00:00:15,920 It’s got to be genuine. 8 00:00:15,920 –> 00:00:19,320 We’ve looked at zeal, steadiness, generosity, and humility. 9 00:00:19,320 –> 00:00:22,280 And today, we’re looking at the themes 10 00:00:22,280 –> 00:00:26,780 that are in verse 18 and 19 of Romans 12. 11 00:00:26,920 –> 00:00:28,000 In chapter 12. 12 00:00:28,940 –> 00:00:32,759 Verse 18, if possible, so far as it depends on you, 13 00:00:32,759 –> 00:00:36,139 live peaceably with all. 14 00:00:36,139 –> 00:00:40,160 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, 15 00:00:40,160 –> 00:00:44,020 but leave it to the wrath of God. 16 00:00:44,020 –> 00:00:47,599 For it is written, vengeance is mine I will repay, 17 00:00:47,599 –> 00:00:49,799 says the Lord. 18 00:00:49,799 –> 00:00:52,980 Now, there are two themes in these two verses, 19 00:00:52,980 –> 00:00:54,820 and one of them is widely loved, 20 00:00:54,840 –> 00:00:57,560 and the other one is widely loathed, 21 00:00:57,560 –> 00:00:59,860 but here they are together. 22 00:00:59,860 –> 00:01:02,799 The one that is widely loved, of course, is peace, 23 00:01:02,799 –> 00:01:07,360 live peaceably with all, everybody loves that. 24 00:01:07,360 –> 00:01:09,080 But the one that is widely loathed 25 00:01:09,080 –> 00:01:11,519 is the theme of wrath in the next verse. 26 00:01:11,519 –> 00:01:13,360 Leave it to the wrath of God 27 00:01:13,360 –> 00:01:15,779 for it is written, vengeance is mine, 28 00:01:15,779 –> 00:01:19,839 I will repay, says the Lord. 29 00:01:19,839 –> 00:01:21,320 And yet here we have these two, 30 00:01:21,320 –> 00:01:23,739 one widely loved, one widely loathed, 31 00:01:23,739 –> 00:01:26,800 peace and wrath and they stand not only together 32 00:01:26,800 –> 00:01:29,459 in these two verses, but they stand in such a way 33 00:01:29,459 –> 00:01:31,139 that they are intertwined, 34 00:01:31,139 –> 00:01:34,279 so that if we were to ditch one, 35 00:01:34,279 –> 00:01:38,220 we actually lose the other. 36 00:01:38,220 –> 00:01:40,779 And God has put these together 37 00:01:40,779 –> 00:01:43,580 because they belong together 38 00:01:43,580 –> 00:01:46,940 and I want us to see today why that is so. 39 00:01:46,940 –> 00:01:49,260 I want us to see why it is 40 00:01:49,260 –> 00:01:53,820 that if people ditch their belief in the wrath of God, 41 00:01:53,820 –> 00:01:58,820 they actually end up further away from peace 42 00:01:58,860 –> 00:02:02,459 because God has put these things together. 43 00:02:02,459 –> 00:02:03,980 So that’s where we’re headed today. 44 00:02:03,980 –> 00:02:06,339 Let’s, as an overview, begin by looking 45 00:02:06,339 –> 00:02:07,660 at the themes themselves, 46 00:02:07,660 –> 00:02:09,080 Peace, verse 18, 47 00:02:09,080 –> 00:02:11,259 if possible as far as it depends on you, 48 00:02:11,259 –> 00:02:13,979 live peaceably with all. 49 00:02:13,979 –> 00:02:15,940 So here is a very clear call from God, 50 00:02:15,940 –> 00:02:18,539 very practical and direct. 51 00:02:18,559 –> 00:02:21,839 Do everything in your power to live at peace with everyone. 52 00:02:21,839 –> 00:02:23,119 No exceptions. 53 00:02:24,220 –> 00:02:26,559 Make sure that if there is a barrier to peace 54 00:02:26,559 –> 00:02:27,979 in a particular situation, 55 00:02:27,979 –> 00:02:30,520 that it’s not been constructed on your side. 56 00:02:31,839 –> 00:02:35,440 Why, because Jesus, our Jesus, is the prince of Peace. 57 00:02:35,440 –> 00:02:39,440 And that means that as his people, we are called to peace. 58 00:02:39,440 –> 00:02:42,339 The book of Proverbs we’re told we have to plan for peace, 59 00:02:42,339 –> 00:02:43,979 in other words, try and find strategies 60 00:02:43,979 –> 00:02:46,419 that will move in that direction. 61 00:02:46,419 –> 00:02:48,660 We are, Peter says to seek peace, 62 00:02:48,660 –> 00:02:51,660 that means that we may have to go after it for some time, 63 00:02:51,660 –> 00:02:53,259 seek peace and pursue it. 64 00:02:53,259 –> 00:02:55,419 It may be a long way off in some situations, 65 00:02:55,419 –> 00:02:58,300 but at least try to begin moving in that direction. 66 00:02:58,300 –> 00:03:00,479 Take some first steps. 67 00:03:00,479 –> 00:03:03,860 We’re to strive for peace, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 14, 68 00:03:03,860 –> 00:03:05,899 which indicates that we may have to work really, 69 00:03:05,899 –> 00:03:08,820 really hard, to go after it. 70 00:03:08,820 –> 00:03:10,500 We’re to guard our peace. 71 00:03:10,500 –> 00:03:12,220 Where there is peace we’re to be sure 72 00:03:12,220 –> 00:03:13,619 that we’re not the ones who break it, 73 00:03:13,619 –> 00:03:15,220 maintain the unity of the spirit, 74 00:03:15,360 –> 00:03:16,539 maintain the bond of peace, 75 00:03:16,539 –> 00:03:20,279 and of course we are to pray for peace. 76 00:03:20,279 –> 00:03:22,660 Now, notice particularly what this verse says. 77 00:03:22,660 –> 00:03:26,500 It says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, 78 00:03:26,500 –> 00:03:27,860 live peaceably with all, 79 00:03:27,860 –> 00:03:29,619 and these first words, if possible, 80 00:03:29,619 –> 00:03:32,000 clearly indicate that there may be some situations 81 00:03:32,000 –> 00:03:33,500 in which it is very difficult, 82 00:03:33,500 –> 00:03:35,380 and indeed some situations in which 83 00:03:35,380 –> 00:03:37,520 it may not even be possible at all. 84 00:03:37,520 –> 00:03:39,380 There may be sometimes in your life 85 00:03:39,380 –> 00:03:41,740 where having done everything you can, 86 00:03:41,740 –> 00:03:44,880 having extended yourself in the cause 87 00:03:44,880 –> 00:03:49,399 of peace, you find yourself still in a position of conflict. 88 00:03:49,399 –> 00:03:51,600 The barrier to peace is not on your side. 89 00:03:53,240 –> 00:03:55,720 And there are many examples of this in the Bible. 90 00:03:55,720 –> 00:03:57,380 I’m thinking about David. 91 00:03:57,380 –> 00:04:00,639 King David, who had this in his own family. 92 00:04:01,899 –> 00:04:04,740 His son Absalom rebelled against him. 93 00:04:05,740 –> 00:04:09,479 And David extended himself for reconciliation with his son, 94 00:04:09,479 –> 00:04:12,460 but Absalom was not interested in reconciliation. 95 00:04:13,460 –> 00:04:16,100 And so David lived, having done all that he could 96 00:04:16,100 –> 00:04:19,040 in the pursuit of peace, with the pain of this rupture 97 00:04:19,040 –> 00:04:21,359 that was in his own family, 98 00:04:21,359 –> 00:04:25,399 and in Psalm 55, he pours out some of the pain of his heart 99 00:04:25,399 –> 00:04:27,040 because of this conflict 100 00:04:27,040 –> 00:04:29,880 that was beyond his ability to reconcile. 101 00:04:31,739 –> 00:04:33,559 Now, just to put in a note here, 102 00:04:33,559 –> 00:04:37,880 isn’t it wonderful that the Bible is God’s word 103 00:04:37,880 –> 00:04:40,880 to real life as we experience it 104 00:04:40,940 –> 00:04:42,700 here in this fallen world? 105 00:04:43,679 –> 00:04:46,760 I had a friend in London who liked to say, 106 00:04:46,760 –> 00:04:49,959 oh, the Bible, it’s a counsel of perfection, he said, 107 00:04:49,959 –> 00:04:51,899 it’s a counsel of perfection. 108 00:04:51,899 –> 00:04:54,359 I used to say to him, well, read it, 109 00:04:54,359 –> 00:04:56,040 because not a counsel of perfection, 110 00:04:56,040 –> 00:04:58,920 it’s not a book of ideals for some other world. 111 00:04:58,920 –> 00:05:02,940 It’s God speaking to us about how to live 112 00:05:02,940 –> 00:05:07,600 in this fallen world in which we find ourselves today, 113 00:05:07,600 –> 00:05:08,760 and that’s the significance 114 00:05:08,779 –> 00:05:12,040 of the first two words of this verse. 115 00:05:12,040 –> 00:05:15,140 We live in a world in which we see the face of evil. 116 00:05:16,519 –> 00:05:18,040 We see it in hatred. 117 00:05:19,200 –> 00:05:21,760 We see it in violence, we see it in justice, 118 00:05:21,760 –> 00:05:25,640 we see it in abuse, and here is 119 00:05:25,640 –> 00:05:29,239 this calling to live peaceably with all, 120 00:05:29,239 –> 00:05:30,739 and, of course, the question is, 121 00:05:30,739 –> 00:05:33,339 well, now, how are we to do that in this world? 122 00:05:33,339 –> 00:05:35,399 How am I to live peaceably in a world 123 00:05:35,399 –> 00:05:36,600 where there may be some people 124 00:05:36,600 –> 00:05:39,160 that want to kill or destroy or abuse? 125 00:05:41,119 –> 00:05:45,679 Now, that is why verse 19 comes after verse 18, 126 00:05:45,679 –> 00:05:48,000 and why, as I want us to see today, 127 00:05:48,000 –> 00:05:52,440 the two belong together, and God moves 128 00:05:52,440 –> 00:05:54,440 from speaking about the pursuit of peace 129 00:05:54,440 –> 00:05:57,799 in a fallen world to the reality 130 00:05:57,799 –> 00:06:00,700 of this other truth that belongs alongside it, 131 00:06:00,700 –> 00:06:02,940 the truth of God’s wrath, 132 00:06:02,940 –> 00:06:04,760 so we move from the one that’s widely loved 133 00:06:04,859 –> 00:06:06,720 now to the one that’s widely loathed, 134 00:06:06,720 –> 00:06:09,880 but it’s here, verse 19, and it’s here for a reason. 135 00:06:09,880 –> 00:06:11,799 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, 136 00:06:11,799 –> 00:06:14,100 but leave it to the wrath of God, 137 00:06:14,100 –> 00:06:17,000 for it is written, Vengeance is mine, 138 00:06:17,000 –> 00:06:20,260 I will repay, says the Lord. 139 00:06:21,619 –> 00:06:23,720 Now, throughout the history of the church, 140 00:06:23,720 –> 00:06:25,920 there has been many people who have been embarrassed 141 00:06:25,920 –> 00:06:29,079 by this truth, and they have wanted to ditch it, 142 00:06:29,079 –> 00:06:33,959 to redefine it, or to kind of move below it. 143 00:06:34,019 –> 00:06:38,059 Now God, who is angry, no, no, no, we can’t have that. 144 00:06:38,059 –> 00:06:40,640 It’s fascinating how far back this goes 145 00:06:40,640 –> 00:06:42,760 in the history of the church, 146 00:06:42,760 –> 00:06:45,760 as early as the second century, 147 00:06:45,760 –> 00:06:50,160 the second century, the great African leader of the church, 148 00:06:50,160 –> 00:06:54,619 Tertullian reports revisionists, 149 00:06:54,619 –> 00:06:56,679 in the second century, 150 00:06:56,679 –> 00:06:58,839 who were trying to redefine God 151 00:06:58,839 –> 00:07:01,559 in a way that moved away from what we’re reading here 152 00:07:01,559 –> 00:07:03,600 in the Bible that speaks about his wrath. 153 00:07:03,679 –> 00:07:05,160 And these revisionists said this, 154 00:07:05,160 –> 00:07:06,799 I’m quoting from Tertullian. 155 00:07:06,799 –> 00:07:07,720 They said, 156 00:07:07,720 –> 00:07:11,079 a better God has been discovered. 157 00:07:12,079 –> 00:07:16,480 One who is neither offended nor angry 158 00:07:16,480 –> 00:07:19,040 nor inflicts punishment. 159 00:07:19,040 –> 00:07:22,119 Who has no fire warming up in hell 160 00:07:22,119 –> 00:07:25,839 and no outer darkness where there is gnashing of teeth, 161 00:07:25,839 –> 00:07:29,920 he is merely kind. 162 00:07:29,920 –> 00:07:31,720 So, as early as the second century, 163 00:07:31,720 –> 00:07:33,640 there were revisionists 164 00:07:33,640 –> 00:07:35,399 who were in the church. 165 00:07:35,399 –> 00:07:36,239 Who were saying, 166 00:07:36,239 –> 00:07:38,200 now we can’t have this that’s in the Bible 167 00:07:38,200 –> 00:07:41,160 about a God who is angry. 168 00:07:41,160 –> 00:07:42,200 We have to move beyond it, 169 00:07:42,200 –> 00:07:44,480 we have to find a better God. 170 00:07:44,480 –> 00:07:46,880 A better God has been discovered, they said. 171 00:07:47,799 –> 00:07:50,359 Now this argument of revisionists 172 00:07:50,359 –> 00:07:52,359 who are embarrassed by the truth 173 00:07:52,359 –> 00:07:54,540 that’s in front of us in the Bible today, 174 00:07:54,540 –> 00:07:55,619 it keeps recurring. 175 00:07:55,619 –> 00:07:58,000 It actually came up rather fascinatingly 176 00:07:58,019 –> 00:08:00,420 in of all things, 177 00:08:00,420 –> 00:08:02,959 a debate over a Christian hymn 178 00:08:02,959 –> 00:08:04,399 that we sing and that we love, 179 00:08:04,399 –> 00:08:06,920 and actually we’ll sing later in the service. 180 00:08:06,920 –> 00:08:09,359 The hymn is in Christ Alone, 181 00:08:09,359 –> 00:08:12,839 and the debate over this hymn 182 00:08:12,839 –> 00:08:14,880 got going in the blogosphere 183 00:08:14,880 –> 00:08:17,640 to such an extent that it produced articles, 184 00:08:17,640 –> 00:08:18,459 would you believe it, 185 00:08:18,459 –> 00:08:20,079 in The Washington Post, 186 00:08:20,079 –> 00:08:22,959 and in The Economist. 187 00:08:22,959 –> 00:08:24,040 Who would have thought that the Economist 188 00:08:24,040 –> 00:08:26,339 would be publishing an article 189 00:08:26,339 –> 00:08:27,839 about a debate over a Christian hymn? 190 00:08:27,839 –> 00:08:29,820 Well, here’s the debate. 191 00:08:29,820 –> 00:08:31,040 What happened was, 192 00:08:31,040 –> 00:08:32,619 the hymn includes these lines, 193 00:08:32,619 –> 00:08:34,460 which we’ll sing later, 194 00:08:34,460 –> 00:08:36,219 “‘Till on the cross 195 00:08:36,219 –> 00:08:38,820 as Jesus died, 196 00:08:38,820 –> 00:08:41,960 the wrath of God was satisfied.’ 197 00:08:43,320 –> 00:08:44,419 What happened was that 198 00:08:44,419 –> 00:08:47,059 there was a major denomination in the US 199 00:08:47,059 –> 00:08:49,260 who wanted to include this hymn 200 00:08:49,260 –> 00:08:50,340 in a new hymn book 201 00:08:50,340 –> 00:08:51,940 that they were publishing, 202 00:08:51,940 –> 00:08:53,780 but they didn’t like the reference 203 00:08:53,780 –> 00:08:55,580 to the wrath of God. 204 00:08:55,580 –> 00:08:56,659 So they got in touch 205 00:08:56,700 –> 00:08:58,419 with the authors of the hymn 206 00:08:58,419 –> 00:08:59,260 and said, 207 00:08:59,260 –> 00:09:00,760 “‘Can we change these two lines? 208 00:09:00,760 –> 00:09:02,119 We just want to change these two lines. 209 00:09:02,119 –> 00:09:03,619 We’d like them to say, 210 00:09:03,619 –> 00:09:06,539 “‘Till on the cross as Jesus died, 211 00:09:06,539 –> 00:09:09,539 the love of God was magnified.’ 212 00:09:09,539 –> 00:09:10,739 Well, the authors of the hymn said, 213 00:09:10,739 –> 00:09:12,000 no, you can’t change the words. 214 00:09:12,000 –> 00:09:13,659 And so it wasn’t included in the hymn book. 215 00:09:13,659 –> 00:09:15,260 And then it blew up in the blogosphere 216 00:09:15,260 –> 00:09:17,340 and ended up with an article in The Economist. 217 00:09:17,340 –> 00:09:18,179 So there you are. 218 00:09:18,179 –> 00:09:20,179 That’s how debates fly… 219 00:09:20,179 –> 00:09:22,219 in our culture. 220 00:09:22,219 –> 00:09:23,900 Now, here’s my comment. 221 00:09:23,979 –> 00:09:26,940 It is wonderfully true 222 00:09:28,200 –> 00:09:30,919 that the love of God was poured out 223 00:09:30,919 –> 00:09:32,739 and demonstrated at the cross. 224 00:09:32,739 –> 00:09:34,000 That’s Romans and Chapter 8. 225 00:09:34,000 –> 00:09:37,979 God demonstrates his own love for us in this, 226 00:09:37,979 –> 00:09:39,400 that while we were still sinners, 227 00:09:39,400 –> 00:09:40,900 Christ died for us. 228 00:09:42,020 –> 00:09:42,859 But friends, 229 00:09:42,859 –> 00:09:45,979 the reason that the cross 230 00:09:45,979 –> 00:09:48,820 was an outpouring of the love of God 231 00:09:48,820 –> 00:09:51,299 is that at the cross, 232 00:09:51,299 –> 00:09:52,979 God actually dealt 233 00:09:53,140 –> 00:09:55,500 with the fundamental human problem 234 00:09:55,500 –> 00:09:57,520 and here’s how he did it. 235 00:09:58,599 –> 00:10:01,739 On the cross as Jesus died, 236 00:10:01,739 –> 00:10:05,099 the wrath of God was satisfied. 237 00:10:06,640 –> 00:10:10,960 Now this theme of the wrath of God 238 00:10:10,960 –> 00:10:13,640 towards sin and towards sinners 239 00:10:13,640 –> 00:10:15,460 widely taught across 240 00:10:15,460 –> 00:10:18,419 both the Old and the New Testament 241 00:10:18,419 –> 00:10:21,020 is so interwoven with our hopes 242 00:10:21,020 –> 00:10:24,400 of peace with each other 243 00:10:24,400 –> 00:10:27,080 and peace with God 244 00:10:27,080 –> 00:10:30,659 that if we ditch the one we inevitably 245 00:10:31,679 –> 00:10:34,140 lose the other. 246 00:10:34,140 –> 00:10:38,200 And this is true not only with regards to an individual, 247 00:10:38,200 –> 00:10:39,179 it is also true. 248 00:10:39,179 –> 00:10:42,500 I want to show you today in family life. 249 00:10:42,500 –> 00:10:44,440 It is true in the workplace. 250 00:10:44,440 –> 00:10:46,000 It is true in the church. 251 00:10:46,000 –> 00:10:47,619 It is true in the community 252 00:10:47,619 –> 00:10:48,960 and it is true for the nation. 253 00:10:48,960 –> 00:10:52,960 God has intertwined the themes of peace 254 00:10:52,960 –> 00:10:56,200 and of His wrath in such a way 255 00:10:56,200 –> 00:10:57,880 that if you lose one, 256 00:10:57,880 –> 00:11:00,559 you actually end up losing the other. 257 00:11:00,559 –> 00:11:02,580 That’s what I want us to see today. 258 00:11:02,580 –> 00:11:04,299 So let me now offer to you, 259 00:11:04,299 –> 00:11:06,039 a definition of the wrath of God. 260 00:11:06,039 –> 00:11:08,640 I have six comments on it 261 00:11:08,640 –> 00:11:10,419 and then I want us having looked at 262 00:11:10,419 –> 00:11:11,880 and hopefully understood well 263 00:11:11,880 –> 00:11:13,820 what the Bible says about the wrath of God 264 00:11:13,820 –> 00:11:16,419 for us to apply that to peace with each other 265 00:11:16,419 –> 00:11:17,979 and then to peace with God. 266 00:11:17,979 –> 00:11:20,159 So that’s where we’re going this morning. 267 00:11:20,159 –> 00:11:22,900 Let me give you a definition from John Stott, 268 00:11:22,900 –> 00:11:24,580 a great Bible scholar. 269 00:11:24,580 –> 00:11:26,059 He says the wrath of God 270 00:11:26,059 –> 00:11:28,219 is his steady unrelenting, 271 00:11:28,219 –> 00:11:29,059 unremitting, 272 00:11:29,059 –> 00:11:32,099 uncompromising antagonism to evil 273 00:11:32,099 –> 00:11:32,940 in all of its forms 274 00:11:32,940 –> 00:11:35,640 and in all of its manifestations, 275 00:11:35,640 –> 00:11:37,039 very clear. 276 00:11:37,039 –> 00:11:39,859 Doctor J.I. Packer says the same thing in different words. 277 00:11:39,859 –> 00:11:43,039 He says it is God’s resolute action in punishing sin. 278 00:11:43,039 –> 00:11:45,020 That’s what the wrath of God is 279 00:11:45,099 –> 00:11:47,460 and reference to it is all over Old 280 00:11:47,460 –> 00:11:49,280 and New Testament in the Bible. 281 00:11:49,280 –> 00:11:52,739 Now six observations about the wrath of God, 282 00:11:52,739 –> 00:11:55,500 things that are very important to understand. 283 00:11:55,500 –> 00:11:56,340 Number one, 284 00:11:57,580 –> 00:12:01,619 the anger of God is not like our anger. 285 00:12:01,619 –> 00:12:03,020 Really important. 286 00:12:04,059 –> 00:12:05,979 Please understand that whenever we speak 287 00:12:05,979 –> 00:12:07,059 about the wrath of God, 288 00:12:07,059 –> 00:12:09,500 we are speaking about the wrath of God. 289 00:12:10,700 –> 00:12:12,700 And what that means is that we need to pour 290 00:12:12,700 –> 00:12:14,299 into our understanding of that 291 00:12:14,739 –> 00:12:15,940 everything that we know about God, 292 00:12:15,940 –> 00:12:18,539 which includes His justice, 293 00:12:18,539 –> 00:12:20,979 it includes His goodness 294 00:12:20,979 –> 00:12:22,940 and it includes His love. 295 00:12:24,179 –> 00:12:25,599 The reason this is so important 296 00:12:25,599 –> 00:12:29,580 is whenever we hear the word wrath or anger, 297 00:12:29,580 –> 00:12:31,059 when you hear that word, 298 00:12:31,059 –> 00:12:32,700 what’s instinctively going to happen 299 00:12:32,700 –> 00:12:35,340 is that your mind will go to the worst experience 300 00:12:35,340 –> 00:12:38,299 of anger that you’ve ever had in your life. 301 00:12:38,299 –> 00:12:40,840 And so you’re probably instinctively gonna think 302 00:12:40,840 –> 00:12:42,840 when you even hear the word anger 303 00:12:42,840 –> 00:12:46,239 about someone who is habitually angry, 304 00:12:46,239 –> 00:12:50,479 someone who loses his or her temper, 305 00:12:50,479 –> 00:12:51,820 someone who sees red, 306 00:12:51,820 –> 00:12:53,080 flies into a rage, 307 00:12:53,080 –> 00:12:55,400 blows a fuse, 308 00:12:55,400 –> 00:12:58,320 someone who unpredictably gets out of the wrong side 309 00:12:58,320 –> 00:12:59,440 of the bed in the morning, 310 00:12:59,440 –> 00:13:00,799 so to speak, 311 00:13:00,799 –> 00:13:03,320 you’re gonna think about an anger that can be petty, 312 00:13:03,320 –> 00:13:04,640 you’re thinking about an anger 313 00:13:04,640 –> 00:13:06,479 that can be disproportionate 314 00:13:06,479 –> 00:13:10,599 because these things are so often true of human anger. 315 00:13:11,500 –> 00:13:13,219 Now, what you have to do is this, 316 00:13:13,219 –> 00:13:14,059 you have to say, 317 00:13:14,059 –> 00:13:15,299 that’s true of human anger, 318 00:13:15,299 –> 00:13:16,479 none of these things 319 00:13:16,479 –> 00:13:18,179 is true of the anger of God. 320 00:13:18,179 –> 00:13:19,400 It is the wrath of God. 321 00:13:19,400 –> 00:13:20,539 It’s not like our anger 322 00:13:20,539 –> 00:13:23,760 because His ways are not our ways. 323 00:13:23,760 –> 00:13:25,780 God’s wrath is His just 324 00:13:25,780 –> 00:13:28,419 and His measured response 325 00:13:28,419 –> 00:13:31,400 towards all evil. 326 00:13:31,400 –> 00:13:32,940 And so we have to pour into 327 00:13:32,940 –> 00:13:35,020 our understanding of God’s wrath 328 00:13:35,020 –> 00:13:36,500 that it is the wrath of God 329 00:13:36,500 –> 00:13:37,760 and therefore we pour into that 330 00:13:37,760 –> 00:13:39,859 everything that we know to be true about God 331 00:13:39,900 –> 00:13:41,099 from the whole of Scripture. 332 00:13:41,099 –> 00:13:45,299 Second God’s wrath is provoked. 333 00:13:45,299 –> 00:13:47,640 Now, this is repeated many, many times in the Scripture. 334 00:13:47,640 –> 00:13:48,479 I’m just going to 335 00:13:48,479 –> 00:13:50,359 in each of these things take one example 336 00:13:50,359 –> 00:13:52,260 to give you the language of the Bible 337 00:13:52,260 –> 00:13:53,859 and you can trace it if you want to 338 00:13:53,859 –> 00:13:56,580 in other verses later. 339 00:13:56,580 –> 00:13:58,719 But do not forget Deuteronomy chapter nine 340 00:13:58,719 –> 00:13:59,559 and verse seven, 341 00:13:59,559 –> 00:14:02,140 how you provoked the Lord, your God 342 00:14:02,140 –> 00:14:04,760 to wrath in the wilderness. 343 00:14:04,760 –> 00:14:05,580 In other words, 344 00:14:05,820 –> 00:14:06,840 the anger of God 345 00:14:07,859 –> 00:14:12,859 is not something that resides in him by nature, 346 00:14:13,260 –> 00:14:16,460 it is his response to evil. 347 00:14:16,460 –> 00:14:19,099 It is therefore provoked, 348 00:14:19,099 –> 00:14:21,020 provoked by evil. 349 00:14:21,020 –> 00:14:23,000 And this is the huge difference, 350 00:14:23,000 –> 00:14:23,840 of course, 351 00:14:23,840 –> 00:14:24,679 that we need to understand 352 00:14:24,679 –> 00:14:25,900 between the love of God 353 00:14:25,900 –> 00:14:26,900 and the wrath of God 354 00:14:26,900 –> 00:14:30,219 that the love of God is not provoked. 355 00:14:30,219 –> 00:14:31,380 God is love, 356 00:14:31,380 –> 00:14:32,820 that is his nature. 357 00:14:33,580 –> 00:14:36,359 In other words God does not love us 358 00:14:36,359 –> 00:14:38,940 because he sees some wisdom or beauty 359 00:14:38,940 –> 00:14:41,580 or goodness in us. 360 00:14:41,580 –> 00:14:43,099 No, the reason that God loves us 361 00:14:43,099 –> 00:14:44,419 does not lie in our nature, 362 00:14:44,419 –> 00:14:48,419 it’s not provoked by some beauty that is in us. 363 00:14:48,419 –> 00:14:50,280 The reason that God loves us 364 00:14:50,280 –> 00:14:51,539 lies in his nature. 365 00:14:51,539 –> 00:14:53,340 He loves us because he loves us. 366 00:14:53,340 –> 00:14:54,179 That’s, 367 00:14:54,179 –> 00:14:55,260 Deuteronomy chapter seven, 368 00:14:55,260 –> 00:14:56,099 and verse seven, 369 00:14:56,099 –> 00:14:57,000 you never get beyond this. 370 00:14:57,000 –> 00:14:58,419 The reason that God loves you 371 00:14:58,419 –> 00:15:00,359 is that he loves you. 372 00:15:00,359 –> 00:15:02,119 It flows from his very nature, 373 00:15:02,140 –> 00:15:04,299 it is not provoked. 374 00:15:04,299 –> 00:15:06,299 It comes from who he is. 375 00:15:06,299 –> 00:15:07,820 But his wrath is different. 376 00:15:08,739 –> 00:15:10,380 His wrath 377 00:15:10,380 –> 00:15:12,559 is his holy response 378 00:15:13,719 –> 00:15:15,200 to the intrusion 379 00:15:15,200 –> 00:15:16,900 of evil in the world. 380 00:15:16,900 –> 00:15:19,799 So that if there was no sin in the world, 381 00:15:19,799 –> 00:15:21,419 there would be no wrath in God. 382 00:15:23,500 –> 00:15:26,159 So the bible is teaching about the wrath of God, 383 00:15:26,159 –> 00:15:29,859 it very, very different from these ancient mythologies. 384 00:15:29,880 –> 00:15:32,320 You know, in the ancient world you get these stories 385 00:15:32,320 –> 00:15:34,599 about these gods that are kind of running around 386 00:15:34,599 –> 00:15:36,760 the place, always fuming. 387 00:15:36,760 –> 00:15:39,919 That’s not what the wrath of God is like at all. 388 00:15:39,919 –> 00:15:41,940 Not like our wrath 389 00:15:41,940 –> 00:15:45,359 and it is a response 390 00:15:45,359 –> 00:15:47,880 that is provoked. 391 00:15:47,880 –> 00:15:50,619 It is God’s response to the intrusion of evil 392 00:15:50,619 –> 00:15:51,460 into the world. 393 00:15:51,460 –> 00:15:54,539 And, friends, thank God for this. 394 00:15:55,799 –> 00:15:58,520 Because you see, when the second century revisionists 395 00:15:58,539 –> 00:16:01,760 were saying we want a God who is merely kind, 396 00:16:03,280 –> 00:16:06,239 what hope is there of peace in a world 397 00:16:06,239 –> 00:16:08,440 that is stocked by terror 398 00:16:10,820 –> 00:16:12,640 if God 399 00:16:12,640 –> 00:16:15,979 merely, with kindness, smiles 400 00:16:15,979 –> 00:16:16,900 upon the world 401 00:16:16,900 –> 00:16:18,979 or perhaps just has a little bit of a hint 402 00:16:18,979 –> 00:16:20,539 of a frown on his brow? 403 00:16:22,500 –> 00:16:25,059 There’s no hope there, you see, for peace in the world 404 00:16:25,059 –> 00:16:25,880 is there? 405 00:16:25,880 –> 00:16:28,500 Where is the hope of peace? 406 00:16:28,500 –> 00:16:31,599 The hope of peace, the prospect of a new heaven 407 00:16:31,599 –> 00:16:34,140 and of a new earth lies in this. 408 00:16:35,159 –> 00:16:38,960 That God is relentlessly opposed to evil, 409 00:16:39,880 –> 00:16:42,200 that he has the power and the capacity 410 00:16:42,200 –> 00:16:44,140 and the will to destroy it, 411 00:16:44,140 –> 00:16:45,500 and he has said that he will. 412 00:16:46,359 –> 00:16:48,239 And so, when he does destroy it, 413 00:16:48,239 –> 00:16:49,239 there will be a new heaven 414 00:16:49,239 –> 00:16:51,260 and there will be a new earth, 415 00:16:51,260 –> 00:16:53,260 and it is the home of righteousness 416 00:16:53,260 –> 00:16:55,059 so that the peace that will be enjoyed 417 00:16:55,059 –> 00:16:57,479 by the people of God forever and forever and forever 418 00:16:57,479 –> 00:16:59,859 actually will be the effect of 419 00:16:59,859 –> 00:17:02,119 and the result of the exercise of his wrath. 420 00:17:02,119 –> 00:17:02,960 So you lose the one, 421 00:17:02,960 –> 00:17:03,799 you lose the other. 422 00:17:05,219 –> 00:17:07,020 Number three, 423 00:17:07,020 –> 00:17:09,400 God is slow to anger. 424 00:17:09,400 –> 00:17:12,439 Always remember this as you ponder this subject. 425 00:17:13,719 –> 00:17:15,520 Psalms 103 in verse eight, 426 00:17:15,520 –> 00:17:17,199 The Lord is merciful and gracious. 427 00:17:17,199 –> 00:17:18,439 He is slow to anger 428 00:17:18,439 –> 00:17:21,400 and he is abounding in steadfast love. 429 00:17:21,400 –> 00:17:25,040 These four things are repeated as descriptors of God 430 00:17:25,040 –> 00:17:27,140 again and again and again in the old testament 431 00:17:27,839 –> 00:17:28,920 as if they were the four most important things 432 00:17:28,920 –> 00:17:29,760 you need to know. 433 00:17:29,760 –> 00:17:31,300 He’s gracious and merciful. 434 00:17:31,300 –> 00:17:33,880 He’s slow to anger. 435 00:17:33,880 –> 00:17:38,680 He is abounding in steadfast love. 436 00:17:39,660 –> 00:17:40,839 Now slow to anger. 437 00:17:40,839 –> 00:17:41,859 We ask the question, 438 00:17:41,859 –> 00:17:44,520 why doesn’t God just deal with all the evil right now? 439 00:17:46,079 –> 00:17:47,599 Everyone asks that question. 440 00:17:48,619 –> 00:17:51,500 And perhaps the clearest answer in the bible to it 441 00:17:51,500 –> 00:17:55,040 is in second Peter chapter three in verse nine, 442 00:17:55,520 –> 00:17:59,939 where Peter says that God is not slow regarding his promise. 443 00:17:59,939 –> 00:18:02,119 The reason that he’s not dealt with all evil now 444 00:18:02,119 –> 00:18:04,339 is that he is patient. 445 00:18:05,300 –> 00:18:07,099 And the reason for his patience 446 00:18:07,099 –> 00:18:10,599 is that he does not wish that any should perish, 447 00:18:10,599 –> 00:18:14,000 but it all should come to a knowledge of the truth. 448 00:18:14,000 –> 00:18:14,880 So think of this. 449 00:18:14,880 –> 00:18:19,319 God has opened wonderfully this door of grace and mercy 450 00:18:19,319 –> 00:18:22,000 and every day around the world 451 00:18:22,000 –> 00:18:24,319 there are people who are coming in through it. 452 00:18:25,760 –> 00:18:28,400 And one day God will put an end to all evil. 453 00:18:28,400 –> 00:18:31,719 He will come and in his wrath he will deal with it all, 454 00:18:31,719 –> 00:18:32,599 but at that point, 455 00:18:32,599 –> 00:18:35,199 the door of grace and of forgiveness will be closed. 456 00:18:36,479 –> 00:18:38,939 And God is not in a hurry to do that. 457 00:18:40,000 –> 00:18:42,540 He rejoices to keep the door open 458 00:18:42,540 –> 00:18:44,719 as people come, day by day, 459 00:18:44,719 –> 00:18:47,219 into the knowledge of his love and of his mercy. 460 00:18:47,219 –> 00:18:52,219 He’s slow to anger and this is an effect of his grace. 461 00:18:52,479 –> 00:18:54,260 A reflection of his grace. 462 00:18:55,040 –> 00:19:00,040 Number four, God’s anger or wrath is revealed now. 463 00:19:00,880 –> 00:19:03,160 It’s both present and future, 464 00:19:03,160 –> 00:19:04,219 but it is revealed now. 465 00:19:04,219 –> 00:19:06,400 This is Romans 1, 18. 466 00:19:06,400 –> 00:19:08,560 The wrath of God is revealed from heaven 467 00:19:08,560 –> 00:19:13,359 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 468 00:19:14,800 –> 00:19:17,640 Understanding Romans 1 is really important 469 00:19:17,640 –> 00:19:19,640 for these days in which we live. 470 00:19:21,079 –> 00:19:24,760 When sin abounds, 471 00:19:24,760 –> 00:19:28,640 it really goes in three directions. 472 00:19:28,640 –> 00:19:30,199 Paul says in Romans chapter one 473 00:19:30,199 –> 00:19:32,800 that people suppress the truth about God. 474 00:19:33,760 –> 00:19:36,760 They exchange the truth for a lie 475 00:19:36,760 –> 00:19:39,119 and they worship things that have been created 476 00:19:39,119 –> 00:19:41,000 rather than the Creator 477 00:19:42,239 –> 00:19:46,439 and when sin abounds, God expresses or manifest 478 00:19:46,439 –> 00:19:48,160 or reveals his wrath. 479 00:19:48,160 –> 00:19:49,000 How? 480 00:19:49,819 –> 00:19:52,640 Answer, by giving people up, 481 00:19:52,660 –> 00:19:55,439 by allowing them the pursuit of, 482 00:19:55,439 –> 00:19:57,680 no longer restraining them from, 483 00:19:57,680 –> 00:20:01,199 allowing them the pursuit of what they chose. 484 00:20:01,199 –> 00:20:02,099 He gives them up 485 00:20:03,119 –> 00:20:04,880 and you have that three times 486 00:20:04,880 –> 00:20:07,239 in just a few verses in Romans chapter one. 487 00:20:07,239 –> 00:20:11,560 God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, 488 00:20:11,560 –> 00:20:15,400 God gave them up to dishonorable passions, 489 00:20:15,400 –> 00:20:18,380 God gave them up to a d-based mind, 490 00:20:18,380 –> 00:20:22,079 that’s Romans one, verse 24, verse 26 and verse 28 491 00:20:23,619 –> 00:20:25,300 and this giving them up, 492 00:20:25,300 –> 00:20:30,040 God allowing that just to go, that’s what it’s saying, 493 00:20:30,040 –> 00:20:33,219 is actually a manifestation of his judgment and of his wrath 494 00:20:33,219 –> 00:20:36,560 that the point of Romans chapter one. 495 00:20:36,560 –> 00:20:38,859 So, one writer who says this particularly well, 496 00:20:38,859 –> 00:20:40,339 and I quote, 497 00:20:40,339 –> 00:20:42,680 “‘Paul is not teaching that one day, 498 00:20:42,680 –> 00:20:44,920 “‘God will punish the Roman civilization 499 00:20:44,920 –> 00:20:48,020 “‘for its vice and for its decadence. 500 00:20:48,020 –> 00:20:49,579 “‘On the contrary, 501 00:20:49,599 –> 00:20:53,020 “‘the vice and the decadence are themselves 502 00:20:53,020 –> 00:20:54,540 “‘God’s punishment.’” 503 00:20:55,900 –> 00:20:58,339 Their punishment was their greed, their envy, 504 00:20:58,339 –> 00:21:00,239 their strife, their deceit, their violence, 505 00:21:00,239 –> 00:21:02,000 and their faithlessness. 506 00:21:03,540 –> 00:21:05,420 So here’s what that means. 507 00:21:05,420 –> 00:21:10,420 When we see the moral fabric of our culture being torn, 508 00:21:13,280 –> 00:21:14,939 then as Christian believers, 509 00:21:14,939 –> 00:21:17,979 we should cry to God for mercy. 510 00:21:18,979 –> 00:21:21,819 And we should say on the basis of Romans 1, 511 00:21:21,819 –> 00:21:26,819 Lord, we see this as the evidence of your judgment, 512 00:21:28,380 –> 00:21:30,920 as a manifestation of your wrath, 513 00:21:31,939 –> 00:21:34,219 and therefore we are pleading with you 514 00:21:34,219 –> 00:21:39,219 in wrath, remember mercy and please, oh Lord, 515 00:21:39,359 –> 00:21:43,520 do not give us up completely. 516 00:21:43,939 –> 00:21:48,599 Number five, God’s wrath is stored up 517 00:21:48,599 –> 00:21:52,739 so it’s already revealed but most of it is still stored up 518 00:21:52,739 –> 00:21:54,599 and this is Romans two and verse five. 519 00:21:55,660 –> 00:21:57,699 Because of your hardened impenitent heart 520 00:21:57,699 –> 00:22:02,699 you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath 521 00:22:03,020 –> 00:22:06,699 when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 522 00:22:06,699 –> 00:22:08,660 And so you know that the whole Bible story 523 00:22:08,660 –> 00:22:12,619 really leads up to a day when God will deal with all evil 524 00:22:12,680 –> 00:22:14,719 fully and finally and forever. 525 00:22:14,719 –> 00:22:16,719 That will be the day when God’s judgment 526 00:22:16,719 –> 00:22:19,959 will be fully revealed and it is described here 527 00:22:19,959 –> 00:22:21,699 as the day of wrath. 528 00:22:21,699 –> 00:22:24,900 It will be the day when God recompenses every evil 529 00:22:24,900 –> 00:22:27,699 and brings to justice every sin. 530 00:22:29,500 –> 00:22:33,880 And always remember, God will do this in perfect justice. 531 00:22:35,060 –> 00:22:37,739 There will not be a single person who is indicted 532 00:22:37,739 –> 00:22:40,560 for a single sin that they did not actually commit 533 00:22:41,359 –> 00:22:44,479 and because God is just, 534 00:22:45,479 –> 00:22:50,479 the recompense for every sin will be in direct proportion 535 00:22:51,640 –> 00:22:54,619 to the offense against God himself. 536 00:22:54,619 –> 00:22:58,000 He will judge the world in justice. 537 00:22:58,000 –> 00:23:00,359 So that the Bible says, when the judgment is done 538 00:23:00,359 –> 00:23:02,040 every mouth will be stopped, 539 00:23:02,040 –> 00:23:04,339 nobody will have any complaint 540 00:23:04,339 –> 00:23:07,640 because everyone will know that God judged in truth 541 00:23:07,680 –> 00:23:09,680 and that he judged in justice 542 00:23:09,680 –> 00:23:12,140 and that he judged in righteousness. 543 00:23:13,420 –> 00:23:15,280 And then when he’s done with all of that, 544 00:23:15,280 –> 00:23:17,719 he will then create a new heaven and a new earth 545 00:23:17,719 –> 00:23:20,239 and that will be the home of righteousness 546 00:23:20,239 –> 00:23:23,839 into which he will bring all of the redeemed. 547 00:23:25,000 –> 00:23:27,619 Sixth observation is simply this, 548 00:23:27,619 –> 00:23:30,439 that God’s wrath is on sinners. 549 00:23:30,439 –> 00:23:33,000 And here we’re looking at John chapter three 550 00:23:33,000 –> 00:23:35,239 and verse 36. 551 00:23:35,300 –> 00:23:39,540 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. 552 00:23:39,540 –> 00:23:43,599 Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, 553 00:23:43,599 –> 00:23:48,599 but the wrath of God remains on him. 554 00:23:49,300 –> 00:23:51,719 Now notice these words very, very carefully. 555 00:23:53,319 –> 00:23:55,459 John does not say that the person 556 00:23:55,459 –> 00:23:57,400 who does not believe and does not obey the Son of God, 557 00:23:57,400 –> 00:24:01,400 he does not say that the wrath of God will come on him. 558 00:24:02,599 –> 00:24:03,959 What does he say? 559 00:24:04,079 –> 00:24:09,079 The wrath of God will remain on him. 560 00:24:09,400 –> 00:24:11,160 In other words, it’s already there. 561 00:24:12,739 –> 00:24:13,939 Why is it already there? 562 00:24:13,939 –> 00:24:16,260 Because Ephesians chapter two and verse three, 563 00:24:16,260 –> 00:24:19,239 by nature we are children of wrath, 564 00:24:19,239 –> 00:24:21,160 that’s the state in which we were born. 565 00:24:22,640 –> 00:24:25,000 And so here friends, we really do come 566 00:24:25,000 –> 00:24:28,180 to the core of the human problem. 567 00:24:28,180 –> 00:24:31,859 At the very heart, when you strip everything else away, 568 00:24:32,859 –> 00:24:35,160 what is at the heart of the heart 569 00:24:35,160 –> 00:24:37,079 of the problem of the human condition, 570 00:24:37,079 –> 00:24:38,699 if you’re to boil it down, 571 00:24:39,640 –> 00:24:41,660 you come down to this. 572 00:24:43,199 –> 00:24:45,180 At the heart of the human problem 573 00:24:45,180 –> 00:24:48,359 is not that we are somehow lost 574 00:24:48,359 –> 00:24:50,800 and need to find our way in a spiritual journey. 575 00:24:52,119 –> 00:24:54,479 It is not that we are wounded 576 00:24:54,479 –> 00:24:56,380 and somehow need to be healed. 577 00:24:57,719 –> 00:25:00,839 The core of the problem of the human condition 578 00:25:00,859 –> 00:25:02,459 of every person born into the world 579 00:25:02,459 –> 00:25:06,680 is this, that we are sinners under the judgment 580 00:25:06,680 –> 00:25:11,380 of God and that the wrath hangs over us 581 00:25:11,380 –> 00:25:13,380 unless and until it is taken away. 582 00:25:14,800 –> 00:25:16,560 Unless and until it is taken away. 583 00:25:16,560 –> 00:25:18,859 That’s the core of the human problem 584 00:25:18,859 –> 00:25:20,619 that afflicts every person born into 585 00:25:20,619 –> 00:25:22,260 the world, according to the Bible. 586 00:25:24,500 –> 00:25:26,660 Now these are six things that we need to know 587 00:25:26,660 –> 00:25:29,020 in relation to this very important theme 588 00:25:29,020 –> 00:25:34,020 and often unpopular theme of the Wrath of God. 589 00:25:34,560 –> 00:25:36,060 And what I want us to see in the time 590 00:25:36,060 –> 00:25:37,339 that remains is two things. 591 00:25:37,339 –> 00:25:40,540 First, how this often unpopular and yet 592 00:25:40,540 –> 00:25:43,000 clearly biblical theme relates to us 593 00:25:43,000 –> 00:25:44,719 having peace with each other. 594 00:25:45,760 –> 00:25:48,939 And how it relates to us having peace with God. 595 00:25:48,939 –> 00:25:50,800 Because God has put things together 596 00:25:50,800 –> 00:25:53,839 that belong together and they are so intertwined 597 00:25:53,839 –> 00:25:57,380 that if you lose the one you actually lose the other. 598 00:25:57,380 –> 00:25:58,880 So now let’s think about God’s wrath 599 00:25:58,880 –> 00:26:02,760 in relation to peace with each other, if possible, 600 00:26:02,760 –> 00:26:07,099 verse 18, So far as it depends on you, 601 00:26:08,479 –> 00:26:10,119 live peaceably with all. 602 00:26:11,420 –> 00:26:15,959 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, 603 00:26:15,959 –> 00:26:18,040 but leave it to the wrath of God, 604 00:26:18,040 –> 00:26:19,699 for it is written vengeance is mine, 605 00:26:19,699 –> 00:26:21,739 I will repay, says the Lord. 606 00:26:23,439 –> 00:26:24,560 Now, you see what he’s saying. 607 00:26:24,560 –> 00:26:28,239 Verse 18 gives us a very clear calling to peace. 608 00:26:29,699 –> 00:26:33,180 But if we are to live peaceably 609 00:26:33,180 –> 00:26:36,239 in a world of conflict like this, 610 00:26:36,239 –> 00:26:39,339 there are certain things that we need to know, 611 00:26:39,339 –> 00:26:41,699 and we need to be absolutely clear about them. 612 00:26:42,800 –> 00:26:45,079 And the things that we need to know and be clear about 613 00:26:45,079 –> 00:26:48,900 in order to do verse 18, are given to us in verse 19. 614 00:26:49,780 –> 00:26:50,680 And what are they? 615 00:26:51,939 –> 00:26:54,420 Well, if you’re to live peaceably in a world of conflict, 616 00:26:54,819 –> 00:26:58,319 you need to know first that there will be retribution. 617 00:26:58,319 –> 00:27:03,239 Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. 618 00:27:03,239 –> 00:27:06,020 You need to know that if you’re going to live at peace. 619 00:27:07,500 –> 00:27:09,239 Now, Paul is going to go on to say, 620 00:27:09,239 –> 00:27:10,719 in Romans and chapter 13, 621 00:27:10,719 –> 00:27:13,199 that God has established governing authorities 622 00:27:13,199 –> 00:27:16,640 for this purpose of administering justice. 623 00:27:16,640 –> 00:27:20,239 So in just a few verses, chapter 13 and verse four, 624 00:27:20,239 –> 00:27:23,640 Paul speaks about the magistrate, the judge, 625 00:27:23,719 –> 00:27:26,260 the person who is given governing authority 626 00:27:26,260 –> 00:27:28,839 with regards to legal process in the world, 627 00:27:28,839 –> 00:27:32,079 that he is the servant of God. 628 00:27:32,079 –> 00:27:33,520 That he is an avenger 629 00:27:33,520 –> 00:27:37,520 who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 630 00:27:37,520 –> 00:27:40,199 That’s a remarkably striking phrase. 631 00:27:41,680 –> 00:27:42,979 Here’s the principle. 632 00:27:44,359 –> 00:27:49,359 God has established authority in every home, 633 00:27:49,479 –> 00:27:53,239 in every school, in every workplace, 634 00:27:53,239 –> 00:27:55,680 in every church, in every community 635 00:27:55,680 –> 00:27:58,079 and in every nation. 636 00:27:58,079 –> 00:28:01,719 And those who are given this authority 637 00:28:01,719 –> 00:28:06,319 are responsible for recompensing evil 638 00:28:06,319 –> 00:28:09,520 which is necessary to the maintaining of peace 639 00:28:09,520 –> 00:28:11,160 and they are responsible for it 640 00:28:11,160 –> 00:28:14,040 in whatever sphere they have been given this authority. 641 00:28:14,040 –> 00:28:16,479 In that sphere, they are to carry out 642 00:28:16,479 –> 00:28:18,479 God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 643 00:28:18,479 –> 00:28:21,479 In other words, God is relentlessly opposed 644 00:28:21,479 –> 00:28:24,599 towards all evil and there has to be a manifestation 645 00:28:24,599 –> 00:28:28,939 of that in this world if there is to be peace 646 00:28:28,939 –> 00:28:31,599 in a family or in a community. 647 00:28:31,599 –> 00:28:35,040 And this is why God has established authorities 648 00:28:35,040 –> 00:28:36,880 in this world. 649 00:28:37,719 –> 00:28:40,719 But let me bone it down to this very practical application. 650 00:28:42,079 –> 00:28:44,959 If parents 651 00:28:44,959 –> 00:28:48,959 stop believing in the wrath of God, 652 00:28:50,260 –> 00:28:54,760 they will find it very, very difficult to find a basis 653 00:28:54,760 –> 00:28:58,000 on which to exercise discipline in the home. 654 00:28:59,959 –> 00:29:02,199 Because if God doesn’t punish, why would we? 655 00:29:04,040 –> 00:29:06,479 And so, if there is no discipline in the home, 656 00:29:06,479 –> 00:29:08,439 what’s gonna happen in 10 years time? 657 00:29:08,439 –> 00:29:10,140 The home is gonna be chaotic. 658 00:29:11,239 –> 00:29:12,699 What will be lost? 659 00:29:12,699 –> 00:29:14,599 Peace. 660 00:29:14,619 –> 00:29:17,560 You see, whenever you ditch one thing that God has revealed, 661 00:29:17,560 –> 00:29:20,520 you end up losing another thing that is tied to it. 662 00:29:20,520 –> 00:29:21,839 Do you see the connection? 663 00:29:23,699 –> 00:29:27,839 The basis of appropriate discipline within the home 664 00:29:27,839 –> 00:29:30,719 is that God says that authorities are set up, 665 00:29:30,719 –> 00:29:32,479 and that includes mothers and fathers, 666 00:29:32,479 –> 00:29:35,819 who are to represent the opposition of God 667 00:29:35,819 –> 00:29:37,760 to evil in this world. 668 00:29:38,939 –> 00:29:43,339 And that representation is necessary 669 00:29:43,339 –> 00:29:46,140 to the establishing and to the maintenance 670 00:29:46,140 –> 00:29:50,439 of peace and order in any home, in any school, 671 00:29:50,439 –> 00:29:54,500 in any church, in any community and in any nation. 672 00:29:56,260 –> 00:30:01,260 In other words, the basis of order lies in the wrath of God 673 00:30:01,939 –> 00:30:04,680 that he is irreconcilably opposed to all evil 674 00:30:04,680 –> 00:30:08,400 and that he will indeed bring it to judgment. 675 00:30:09,319 –> 00:30:13,520 And the Bible gives to us the principle on which 676 00:30:13,520 –> 00:30:17,239 the administration of justice should be carried out, 677 00:30:17,239 –> 00:30:18,880 whether that be in the courts 678 00:30:18,880 –> 00:30:21,880 or indeed whether it be in the home. 679 00:30:21,880 –> 00:30:26,560 And the principal much maligned and much misunderstood 680 00:30:26,560 –> 00:30:30,520 is given to us in very well known words from the Bible, 681 00:30:31,719 –> 00:30:36,719 an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 682 00:30:37,699 –> 00:30:40,040 Now, let’s just deal with this for a moment. 683 00:30:40,040 –> 00:30:42,040 There’s a kind of quip on that 684 00:30:42,040 –> 00:30:45,140 that’s often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, 685 00:30:45,140 –> 00:30:47,719 though nobody seems very sure, or completely sure 686 00:30:47,719 –> 00:30:50,439 as to whether he was the one who actually said it. 687 00:30:50,439 –> 00:30:52,459 But the quip is this and it’s widely known, 688 00:30:52,459 –> 00:30:57,459 an eye for an eye soon leads to the whole world going blind. 689 00:30:59,800 –> 00:31:01,859 It’s actually quite clever, isn’t it? 690 00:31:01,859 –> 00:31:03,959 But it’s based on a misunderstanding 691 00:31:03,959 –> 00:31:05,680 and here’s the misunderstanding. 692 00:31:07,640 –> 00:31:10,060 That when God says an eye for an eye 693 00:31:10,060 –> 00:31:13,640 and a tooth for a tooth, this is legislative. 694 00:31:13,640 –> 00:31:14,579 It’s Old Testament law. 695 00:31:14,579 –> 00:31:16,599 This is the principle of justice 696 00:31:16,599 –> 00:31:19,599 that is being given to legislators, to justices, 697 00:31:19,599 –> 00:31:21,959 to anyone who is in a position 698 00:31:21,959 –> 00:31:25,800 of exercising authority in any sphere. 699 00:31:26,739 –> 00:31:28,400 And the principle that is given 700 00:31:28,400 –> 00:31:30,160 for the exercise of authority 701 00:31:30,160 –> 00:31:33,800 is the principle of proportionality. 702 00:31:34,199 –> 00:31:37,540 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 703 00:31:38,420 –> 00:31:41,199 In other words, the punishment must fit the crime. 704 00:31:41,199 –> 00:31:42,459 That’s the simple principle 705 00:31:42,459 –> 00:31:44,260 and there must be proportionality to it 706 00:31:44,260 –> 00:31:47,560 so that if in a culture, 707 00:31:48,959 –> 00:31:53,859 heinous and violent crime is treated 708 00:31:53,859 –> 00:31:56,839 with a slap on the wrist, 709 00:31:56,839 –> 00:31:58,339 then in the end you will lose peace 710 00:31:58,339 –> 00:32:00,380 because people will say there’s no justice here 711 00:32:00,380 –> 00:32:02,380 and they’ll lose confidence in the court. 712 00:32:03,119 –> 00:32:05,959 If, on the other hand, 713 00:32:05,959 –> 00:32:09,880 offenses of a much more minor nature 714 00:32:09,880 –> 00:32:14,880 are hit with draconian punishment and sentence 715 00:32:16,839 –> 00:32:17,920 then what will happen? 716 00:32:17,920 –> 00:32:20,800 The seeds of rebellion will be planted in people’s hearts 717 00:32:20,800 –> 00:32:22,000 and they’ll end up out the streets 718 00:32:22,000 –> 00:32:23,819 so, again, you lose peace. 719 00:32:23,819 –> 00:32:27,540 So the proper administration of justice 720 00:32:27,540 –> 00:32:31,660 is necessary to the maintenance of peace 721 00:32:31,719 –> 00:32:33,180 in any community. 722 00:32:33,180 –> 00:32:34,099 It’s just how it is. 723 00:32:34,099 –> 00:32:36,020 That’s part of the responsibility 724 00:32:36,020 –> 00:32:39,459 of those who are given administrative oversight of schools. 725 00:32:39,459 –> 00:32:42,400 It’s part of what has to happen with parents and the family. 726 00:32:43,380 –> 00:32:44,900 Otherwise, there’s chaos 727 00:32:46,199 –> 00:32:49,900 and this principle is really important of proportionality. 728 00:32:49,900 –> 00:32:51,380 Always remember this. 729 00:32:51,380 –> 00:32:56,380 God never punishes to the full extent of his strength 730 00:32:57,020 –> 00:33:00,900 and nor should any parent punish 731 00:33:00,900 –> 00:33:03,040 to the full extent of hers or his. 732 00:33:04,819 –> 00:33:06,239 An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, 733 00:33:06,239 –> 00:33:08,699 the principle here is absolutely vital. 734 00:33:09,640 –> 00:33:10,939 So please understand this 735 00:33:10,939 –> 00:33:13,119 and if this one is quoted against you sometime 736 00:33:13,119 –> 00:33:15,339 as a Christian you have your answer ready. 737 00:33:16,300 –> 00:33:17,939 The eye for the eye and the tooth for the tooth 738 00:33:17,939 –> 00:33:21,339 is not given to private individuals, it’s judicial. 739 00:33:21,339 –> 00:33:24,300 It’s a principle for judicial authority. 740 00:33:24,300 –> 00:33:29,099 God does not say if someone smashes your window 741 00:33:29,099 –> 00:33:32,020 just you go and smash there’s, right? 742 00:33:32,020 –> 00:33:33,900 That would be the formula for all of the world 743 00:33:33,900 –> 00:33:35,180 going blind very, very soon 744 00:33:35,180 –> 00:33:37,140 or all of the world having no windows 745 00:33:37,140 –> 00:33:40,060 in that particular case. 746 00:33:40,060 –> 00:33:42,459 But you see the point here is seen directly 747 00:33:42,459 –> 00:33:43,660 in the verse that we’re looking at. 748 00:33:43,660 –> 00:33:45,719 You see there will be retribution, 749 00:33:45,719 –> 00:33:47,359 that’s the first thing you need to see. 750 00:33:47,359 –> 00:33:48,839 The second thing you need to see 751 00:33:48,839 –> 00:33:52,060 is you are not to take retribution yourself. 752 00:33:52,060 –> 00:33:53,420 This is not a private matter, 753 00:33:53,520 –> 00:33:55,739 it is trusted to authorities. 754 00:33:55,739 –> 00:33:58,359 Beloved, never avenge yourselves. 755 00:33:58,359 –> 00:34:00,099 There’s gonna be peace and order in the world, 756 00:34:00,099 –> 00:34:01,380 you’ve got to know that there will be 757 00:34:01,380 –> 00:34:02,819 retribution on the one hand 758 00:34:02,819 –> 00:34:05,780 and second you’ve got to know you’re not the one to do it. 759 00:34:07,579 –> 00:34:10,080 God has given this to governing authorities, 760 00:34:10,080 –> 00:34:11,659 he has not given it to you, 761 00:34:12,979 –> 00:34:15,500 and that remains true even when the governing authorities 762 00:34:15,500 –> 00:34:16,820 don’t do a very good job. 763 00:34:16,820 –> 00:34:19,040 Remember this is written to Roman Christians 764 00:34:19,040 –> 00:34:20,020 in the time of Nero. 765 00:34:22,139 –> 00:34:23,360 Now that of course leads us 766 00:34:23,399 –> 00:34:24,879 to the question. 767 00:34:24,879 –> 00:34:27,139 What about crimes that are never solved? 768 00:34:28,320 –> 00:34:29,719 What about the times when there is 769 00:34:29,719 –> 00:34:32,040 a miscarriage of justice by the very courts 770 00:34:32,040 –> 00:34:34,840 that have been established to exercise or reflect 771 00:34:34,840 –> 00:34:37,320 the fact that there is justice in God? 772 00:34:38,520 –> 00:34:40,959 What about the evils that are never brought to light, 773 00:34:40,959 –> 00:34:42,600 what about the sins 774 00:34:42,600 –> 00:34:45,260 that have never never never been dealt with? 775 00:34:46,439 –> 00:34:48,639 And the answer to that question is this third thing 776 00:34:48,639 –> 00:34:50,659 that we need to know in order to live peaceably 777 00:34:50,679 –> 00:34:51,899 in a world of conflict, 778 00:34:51,899 –> 00:34:55,939 which is that you place the unresolved injustice 779 00:34:55,939 –> 00:34:57,439 into the hands of God. 780 00:34:58,459 –> 00:35:02,219 Leave it to the wrath of God, 781 00:35:02,219 –> 00:35:07,219 verse 19, leave it to the wrath of God. 782 00:35:09,179 –> 00:35:10,939 Now, do you see, if you’re gonna leave it 783 00:35:10,939 –> 00:35:11,979 to the wrath of God, 784 00:35:11,979 –> 00:35:15,040 by definition, you have to believe in the wrath of God. 785 00:35:15,040 –> 00:35:16,399 If you don’t think there’s any such thing 786 00:35:16,399 –> 00:35:17,239 as the wrath of God, 787 00:35:17,239 –> 00:35:19,060 you can’t leave it to the wrath of God. 788 00:35:19,919 –> 00:35:21,600 And if you can’t leave it to the wrath of God, 789 00:35:21,600 –> 00:35:23,340 it means everything has to be dealt with now. 790 00:35:23,340 –> 00:35:26,459 So if people stop believing in the wrath of God, 791 00:35:26,459 –> 00:35:27,459 here’s what’s gonna happen, 792 00:35:27,459 –> 00:35:31,820 number one, the courts will be overrun with cases, 793 00:35:31,820 –> 00:35:33,860 which is absolutely where we are right now. 794 00:35:33,860 –> 00:35:35,139 Overrun with cases. 795 00:35:36,580 –> 00:35:37,840 Endless disputes. 796 00:35:39,580 –> 00:35:43,320 And second, when people cannot get what they want 797 00:35:43,320 –> 00:35:44,820 from the courts, if they don’t believe 798 00:35:44,820 –> 00:35:45,719 in the wrath of God, 799 00:35:45,719 –> 00:35:47,300 they can’t leave it to the wrath of God, 800 00:35:47,300 –> 00:35:48,260 then what are they gonna do? 801 00:35:48,419 –> 00:35:50,080 They’re gonna say, we have to take it into our own hands. 802 00:35:50,080 –> 00:35:52,199 We’re gonna have to take it to the streets. 803 00:35:53,379 –> 00:35:54,719 And there goes your peace. 804 00:35:55,820 –> 00:35:59,199 You lose the one, you lose the other. 805 00:36:01,179 –> 00:36:03,860 Now scripture says to us as believers, 806 00:36:03,860 –> 00:36:06,000 this is never your job. 807 00:36:06,000 –> 00:36:08,439 You don’t take it into your own hands, 808 00:36:08,439 –> 00:36:11,739 by all means, use the authorities that God has put in place. 809 00:36:11,739 –> 00:36:14,239 There are authorities in the workplace 810 00:36:14,239 –> 00:36:15,300 to deal with this issue. 811 00:36:15,300 –> 00:36:17,100 There is authority in the school, 812 00:36:17,100 –> 00:36:18,219 there is authority in the home, 813 00:36:18,219 –> 00:36:19,620 there is authority in the church. 814 00:36:19,620 –> 00:36:21,760 And these are being placed by God 815 00:36:21,760 –> 00:36:26,300 because we need to have resolution in a world of conflict. 816 00:36:27,699 –> 00:36:31,260 But if you are at the place where justice 817 00:36:31,260 –> 00:36:33,919 has not been served by the appropriate authorities, 818 00:36:33,919 –> 00:36:37,020 don’t then take it into your own hands. 819 00:36:37,020 –> 00:36:38,959 Put it in the hands of God. 820 00:36:38,959 –> 00:36:41,780 As it says in Proverbs chapter 20, in verse 22, 821 00:36:41,780 –> 00:36:42,800 it’s beautifully said there, 822 00:36:42,800 –> 00:36:46,860 do not say, I will repay evil. 823 00:36:46,899 –> 00:36:51,899 Wait for the Lord, He will deliver you. 824 00:36:52,260 –> 00:36:53,500 My friend, what is an injustice 825 00:36:53,500 –> 00:36:55,620 that has never really been put right? 826 00:36:56,459 –> 00:36:58,500 An evil that has never really been settled 827 00:36:58,500 –> 00:36:59,899 in regard to your experience 828 00:36:59,899 –> 00:37:03,479 that you need to place into the hand of God today 829 00:37:03,479 –> 00:37:06,560 and say, I’m gonna trust this to you, 830 00:37:06,560 –> 00:37:10,100 I’m gonna wait on you, O Lord, 831 00:37:10,100 –> 00:37:14,620 and I am looking to you to be the one who delivers me. 832 00:37:16,919 –> 00:37:19,820 When you do that, you are following in the path of Jesus. 833 00:37:21,459 –> 00:37:23,780 Remember his experience of the court? 834 00:37:25,320 –> 00:37:28,419 He stands before a judge, a Roman one, 835 00:37:28,419 –> 00:37:31,459 by the name of Pontius Pilate who says to him 836 00:37:31,459 –> 00:37:33,120 what is truth? 837 00:37:34,620 –> 00:37:37,040 What chance have you of a fair trial 838 00:37:37,040 –> 00:37:41,320 if the judge doesn’t even believe in the category of truth 839 00:37:41,320 –> 00:37:44,320 and isn’t even sure it exists? 840 00:37:44,320 –> 00:37:45,159 Wow. 841 00:37:46,159 –> 00:37:50,379 Then, earlier in another court with the chief priests, 842 00:37:50,379 –> 00:37:55,379 in a court of law, a legally constituted court, 843 00:37:56,800 –> 00:37:57,639 what happens? 844 00:37:57,639 –> 00:37:59,000 Can you imagine this, in a court, 845 00:37:59,000 –> 00:38:01,580 he is blindfolded and they start hitting him 846 00:38:01,580 –> 00:38:03,459 and saying prophesy who hits you? 847 00:38:03,459 –> 00:38:06,060 The court was turned into a torture chamber. 848 00:38:08,080 –> 00:38:10,379 Well, what does Jesus do when he’s not getting justice 849 00:38:10,379 –> 00:38:11,219 from the court? 850 00:38:13,219 –> 00:38:14,540 He has all power. 851 00:38:14,540 –> 00:38:16,419 He can take it into his own hands. 852 00:38:16,419 –> 00:38:17,020 He doesn’t do that. 853 00:38:19,820 –> 00:38:22,000 What he does is, 1 Peter 2, 23. 854 00:38:22,000 –> 00:38:25,760 He continues entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 855 00:38:25,760 –> 00:38:28,959 Father, I know that every evil will be dealt with 856 00:38:28,959 –> 00:38:30,879 and will be dealt with by you 857 00:38:30,879 –> 00:38:33,800 and I’m trusting all this injustice right now. 858 00:38:33,800 –> 00:38:36,239 I can’t get justice in the courts. 859 00:38:36,239 –> 00:38:38,879 I’m trusting it into your hands. 860 00:38:38,879 –> 00:38:41,379 I’m not gonna take it into my own. 861 00:38:42,239 –> 00:38:45,659 And so he makes peace and opens the way of peace. 862 00:38:47,260 –> 00:38:52,239 See, the truth of God’s wrath is our ultimate assurance 863 00:38:52,239 –> 00:38:53,919 that there will be justice. 864 00:38:55,080 –> 00:38:57,040 That God himself is the one that will bring it 865 00:38:57,040 –> 00:39:00,260 and when you believe that, 866 00:39:00,260 –> 00:39:05,300 even if you have experienced injustice in this world, 867 00:39:05,300 –> 00:39:09,840 you are in a position where you can exercise restraint 868 00:39:09,840 –> 00:39:10,679 where you have not been able 869 00:39:10,679 –> 00:39:13,560 to get justice right now, 870 00:39:13,560 –> 00:39:16,760 and lose that, lose sight of the wrath of God 871 00:39:16,760 –> 00:39:21,040 and what you have is actually a losing of peace 872 00:39:21,040 –> 00:39:23,000 increasingly in the world 873 00:39:23,000 –> 00:39:24,860 because more and more you have people taking matters 874 00:39:24,860 –> 00:39:27,040 into their own hands and more and more 875 00:39:27,040 –> 00:39:30,360 the world looks in vain for peace. 876 00:39:32,919 –> 00:39:34,219 That brings us to the last thing 877 00:39:34,219 –> 00:39:37,300 which is God’s wrath and our peace with him. 878 00:39:38,120 –> 00:39:40,739 And here I want us to grasp this very, 879 00:39:40,739 –> 00:39:44,459 very, very important truth about God’s wrath. 880 00:39:44,459 –> 00:39:47,080 Most important thing you can know about it, 881 00:39:47,080 –> 00:39:52,080 that it has been poured out at the cross. 882 00:39:52,879 –> 00:39:54,760 Many times in the Old Testament, 883 00:39:54,760 –> 00:39:56,760 we have this language about God’s wrath 884 00:39:56,760 –> 00:40:01,760 being poured out and spent, spent. 885 00:40:03,239 –> 00:40:05,879 You have that in Ezekiel 7, verse 8 886 00:40:05,879 –> 00:40:08,459 and many, many, many other places. 887 00:40:09,540 –> 00:40:13,580 The wrath of God can be poured out. 888 00:40:13,580 –> 00:40:16,780 And by definition when something is poured out, 889 00:40:16,780 –> 00:40:18,939 it is spent, it is exhausted, 890 00:40:18,939 –> 00:40:22,479 it is finished, and it is gone. 891 00:40:23,939 –> 00:40:25,219 And this of course takes us 892 00:40:25,219 –> 00:40:27,580 to the heart of what happened at the cross 893 00:40:27,580 –> 00:40:30,080 where the divine wrath towards him 894 00:40:30,080 –> 00:40:32,139 was poured out on Jesus 895 00:40:32,139 –> 00:40:34,399 and he became, what the Bible calls, 896 00:40:34,459 –> 00:40:36,800 the big word, the propitiation. 897 00:40:36,800 –> 00:40:39,239 That’s in Romans 3.25 898 00:40:39,239 –> 00:40:42,639 and in 1 John 22, and that big word simply means 899 00:40:42,639 –> 00:40:45,179 that the wrath that was due to sin 900 00:40:45,179 –> 00:40:46,879 was poured out on him 901 00:40:46,879 –> 00:40:50,939 as he became the sacrifice for us on the cross. 902 00:40:50,939 –> 00:40:54,560 That means that the recompense for sins 903 00:40:55,699 –> 00:40:58,179 was poured out on Jesus. 904 00:40:59,399 –> 00:41:01,860 Friends don’t ever get the idea 905 00:41:01,860 –> 00:41:04,959 that God loves you because Jesus died for you. 906 00:41:04,959 –> 00:41:07,179 It’s the other way around. 907 00:41:07,179 –> 00:41:10,080 Jesus died for you because God loves you. 908 00:41:11,219 –> 00:41:12,580 And here’s the amazing thing, 909 00:41:12,580 –> 00:41:16,760 God loved you even when you were an object of his wrath. 910 00:41:16,760 –> 00:41:17,800 Isn’t that amazing? 911 00:41:17,800 –> 00:41:18,860 Try and take that in. 912 00:41:19,919 –> 00:41:23,699 Even where you were under his wrath 913 00:41:23,699 –> 00:41:26,520 even then he loved you while we were still sinners, 914 00:41:26,520 –> 00:41:28,080 Christ died for us. 915 00:41:29,040 –> 00:41:32,840 And here’s the mystery at the very, very heart 916 00:41:32,840 –> 00:41:35,679 of the gospel, this is amazing, 917 00:41:35,679 –> 00:41:40,679 because Jesus Christ is God in the flesh 918 00:41:41,080 –> 00:41:45,860 and God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ. 919 00:41:47,199 –> 00:41:50,399 So when the wrath is poured out 920 00:41:50,399 –> 00:41:55,399 and when the wrath is absorbed God bears the wrath of God. 921 00:41:59,080 –> 00:42:02,840 That’s amazing, that’s the central mystery of the gospel 922 00:42:02,840 –> 00:42:06,000 that God bears the wrath of God. 923 00:42:06,000 –> 00:42:08,360 He pours it out at the cross, 924 00:42:08,360 –> 00:42:12,040 he bears it in himself at the cross. 925 00:42:12,040 –> 00:42:17,040 God reconciling the world to himself in Jesus Christ. 926 00:42:19,040 –> 00:42:20,959 And that is why friends, 927 00:42:20,959 –> 00:42:23,719 the outpouring of the wrath at the cross 928 00:42:23,719 –> 00:42:27,800 is the greatest demonstration of love 929 00:42:27,800 –> 00:42:30,500 that this world has ever, ever seen 930 00:42:30,500 –> 00:42:32,899 or ever, ever will see. 931 00:42:35,760 –> 00:42:37,419 It’s the pouring out of the wrath 932 00:42:38,479 –> 00:42:40,939 that leads to the peace. 933 00:42:41,979 –> 00:42:44,360 Now I end with this, 934 00:42:44,360 –> 00:42:47,439 man is always trying to be wiser than God 935 00:42:47,439 –> 00:42:51,320 and as we’ve seen, ever since the second century 936 00:42:51,320 –> 00:42:53,600 there has been this revisionism that’s always saying, 937 00:42:53,600 –> 00:42:56,320 oh we’re embarrassed about, you know, God’s wrath 938 00:42:56,780 –> 00:42:58,320 and it’s all over the Bible, 939 00:42:58,320 –> 00:42:59,899 so you can’t simply deny it, 940 00:42:59,899 –> 00:43:02,459 what you have to do therefore is explain it away 941 00:43:02,459 –> 00:43:04,959 so there’s an endless trail of explaining it away 942 00:43:06,219 –> 00:43:10,239 and the motive of this I think is typically 943 00:43:10,239 –> 00:43:14,239 trying to make Christianity more acceptable to people, 944 00:43:14,239 –> 00:43:16,959 to remove the things that might be barriers to people, 945 00:43:16,959 –> 00:43:19,760 everybody loves peace, lots of people are offended 946 00:43:19,760 –> 00:43:21,320 by the idea of the wrath of God, 947 00:43:21,320 –> 00:43:24,580 so let’s reinterpret it so that we can reach more people 948 00:43:24,580 –> 00:43:25,899 and make it more acceptable. 949 00:43:25,899 –> 00:43:29,439 Man’s always trying to lift the burden as he sees it 950 00:43:30,659 –> 00:43:33,060 and every time he tries he makes things worse. 951 00:43:34,840 –> 00:43:37,020 One of the most famous 952 00:43:37,020 –> 00:43:40,979 of these attempts at revision in the last century was, 953 00:43:40,979 –> 00:43:41,939 I’m afraid to say this, 954 00:43:41,939 –> 00:43:43,840 I didn’t even say this in the earlier services, 955 00:43:43,840 –> 00:43:45,820 a Scotsman, oh dear, 956 00:43:45,820 –> 00:43:48,560 by the name of C. H. Dodd 957 00:43:48,560 –> 00:43:51,659 and his work became widely influential around the world 958 00:43:51,659 –> 00:43:53,199 and this is what Dodd said. 959 00:43:54,199 –> 00:43:57,100 He said the wrath of God means simply this, 960 00:43:57,100 –> 00:44:00,379 oh yes it’s in the bible but this is what it means. 961 00:44:00,379 –> 00:44:03,379 It’s not that God is offended or angry towards sin 962 00:44:03,379 –> 00:44:05,340 or that there is wrath for sinners 963 00:44:05,340 –> 00:44:06,620 that comes from God himself. 964 00:44:06,620 –> 00:44:07,860 No, no, no, this is what it means, 965 00:44:07,860 –> 00:44:12,219 he says it is an inevitable process 966 00:44:12,219 –> 00:44:15,419 of cause and effect in a moral universe. 967 00:44:15,419 –> 00:44:16,419 That’s C. H. Dodd. 968 00:44:17,639 –> 00:44:18,979 So he’s saying to people, 969 00:44:18,979 –> 00:44:20,739 now here’s the reinterpretation, 970 00:44:20,739 –> 00:44:22,620 every time you see any reference to the wrath of God, 971 00:44:23,000 –> 00:44:24,479 just understand this is what it means, 972 00:44:24,479 –> 00:44:26,840 it means that there is an inevitable process, 973 00:44:26,840 –> 00:44:30,340 inevitable, of cause and effect 974 00:44:30,340 –> 00:44:31,260 in a moral universe. 975 00:44:31,260 –> 00:44:32,620 Now that’s much easier to live with 976 00:44:32,620 –> 00:44:34,439 than a God who is angry towards sin. 977 00:44:35,760 –> 00:44:37,179 That sounds very reasonable. 978 00:44:37,179 –> 00:44:39,939 That’s the sort of thing that people can accept. 979 00:44:39,939 –> 00:44:41,780 You reap what you sow. 980 00:44:41,780 –> 00:44:44,959 If you do good, then good will come to you. 981 00:44:44,959 –> 00:44:47,320 If you do bad, then bad will come to you. 982 00:44:47,320 –> 00:44:48,379 Isn’t that reasonable? 983 00:44:48,379 –> 00:44:51,459 There’s an inevitable process of 984 00:44:51,459 –> 00:44:55,399 cause and effect in a moral universe. 985 00:44:56,379 –> 00:44:57,399 Sounds great. 986 00:44:58,239 –> 00:45:02,179 Try telling that to the thief on the cross. 987 00:45:04,139 –> 00:45:06,379 See, here’s this man and he’s wasted his life, 988 00:45:06,379 –> 00:45:09,020 he’s been a thief and now he’s at the end of his life, 989 00:45:09,020 –> 00:45:10,659 he’s in excruciating agony, 990 00:45:10,659 –> 00:45:13,300 he finds himself next to Jesus Christ 991 00:45:13,300 –> 00:45:14,300 and what does he say? 992 00:45:15,300 –> 00:45:20,300 He says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 993 00:45:20,820 –> 00:45:24,919 Now if C.H.Dodd is right, 994 00:45:24,919 –> 00:45:27,179 what is Jesus going to say to him? 995 00:45:27,179 –> 00:45:29,219 He’s going to say something like this, 996 00:45:29,219 –> 00:45:30,040 he’s going to say, 997 00:45:30,040 –> 00:45:32,379 well my friend, it’s a little late for you to ask now. 998 00:45:33,560 –> 00:45:36,459 Don’t you understand that there is an inevitable process 999 00:45:36,459 –> 00:45:39,219 of cause and effect in moral universe. 1000 00:45:39,219 –> 00:45:40,979 You reap what you sow, 1001 00:45:40,979 –> 00:45:42,439 you’ve been a thief, 1002 00:45:42,439 –> 00:45:44,239 you’re getting what you deserve. 1003 00:45:44,239 –> 00:45:47,020 It’s inevitable, it’s an inevitable process, 1004 00:45:47,020 –> 00:45:48,560 this is a moral universe. 1005 00:45:50,300 –> 00:45:53,000 So you see, here’s C.H.Dodd trying to make the gospel 1006 00:45:53,000 –> 00:45:56,060 more acceptable to people and actually 1007 00:45:56,060 –> 00:45:58,459 ends up with a message which when you think it through 1008 00:45:58,459 –> 00:46:02,340 has no hope of peace with God for sinners at all. 1009 00:46:03,780 –> 00:46:05,600 No hope for sinners there. 1010 00:46:07,580 –> 00:46:09,199 Reap what you sow. 1011 00:46:09,939 –> 00:46:13,800 No, here is the hope for sinners. 1012 00:46:15,939 –> 00:46:19,120 That between us 1013 00:46:19,120 –> 00:46:22,459 and the wrath of God stands what? 1014 00:46:22,459 –> 00:46:26,139 The cross of Jesus Christ. 1015 00:46:27,479 –> 00:46:29,899 And at that cross, 1016 00:46:29,899 –> 00:46:33,479 God absorbs the wrath of God. 1017 00:46:34,360 –> 00:46:37,040 It’s poured out. 1018 00:46:37,060 –> 00:46:39,760 Jesus uses the picture of a cup that’s drunk 1019 00:46:39,760 –> 00:46:41,580 and it’s drunk to the dregs 1020 00:46:41,580 –> 00:46:44,360 so that there isn’t even a little bit of wrath 1021 00:46:44,360 –> 00:46:48,520 left at the bottom of the cup for those who are in him. 1022 00:46:48,540 –> 00:46:51,979 That’s why he’s able to say to a thief on the cross 1023 00:46:51,979 –> 00:46:54,060 today you will be with me in paradise 1024 00:46:54,060 –> 00:46:55,760 because if the thief is in Christ 1025 00:46:55,760 –> 00:46:57,899 and Christ bears the wrath, 1026 00:46:57,899 –> 00:46:59,899 then there’s reconciliation with the father 1027 00:46:59,899 –> 00:47:02,439 and there’s peace with God. 1028 00:47:03,419 –> 00:47:06,280 Loose the wrath 1029 00:47:06,360 –> 00:47:09,520 and you lose the peace. 1030 00:47:09,520 –> 00:47:12,639 So, don’t you thank the love for this wonderful truth 1031 00:47:12,639 –> 00:47:15,100 that our risen savior 1032 00:47:15,100 –> 00:47:17,159 who absorbed it all on the cross 1033 00:47:17,159 –> 00:47:18,360 and then said, 1034 00:47:18,360 –> 00:47:21,919 it is finished rose from the dead 1035 00:47:21,919 –> 00:47:24,360 and stands forever as the one 1036 00:47:24,360 –> 00:47:26,919 who through his death and resurrection 1037 00:47:26,919 –> 00:47:30,399 is able to bring us into peace with God 1038 00:47:30,399 –> 00:47:32,280 to forgive all our sins 1039 00:47:32,280 –> 00:47:35,300 and to give us his holy spirit 1040 00:47:35,300 –> 00:47:37,060 to save us from the wrath, 1041 00:47:37,060 –> 00:47:39,080 to reconcile us to the Father, 1042 00:47:39,080 –> 00:47:40,919 to open the gate of heaven 1043 00:47:41,899 –> 00:47:43,659 and to do everything that is needed 1044 00:47:44,840 –> 00:47:45,679 to bring us in. 1045 00:47:46,879 –> 00:47:48,979 Father, we bless you for the gospel 1046 00:47:48,979 –> 00:47:51,120 of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1047 00:47:52,459 –> 00:47:56,300 We praise you for the great kindness of our savior 1048 00:47:57,520 –> 00:47:59,080 and for his triumph 1049 00:47:59,080 –> 00:48:01,379 and for your mercy 1050 00:48:01,379 –> 00:48:04,060 poured out to us at the cross 1051 00:48:04,760 –> 00:48:07,399 where wrath and mercy meet. 1052 00:48:08,639 –> 00:48:13,639 We ask that knowing our own status as sinners, 1053 00:48:13,679 –> 00:48:18,479 we may rejoice in all that is ours in Christ. 1054 00:48:19,479 –> 00:48:22,080 For these things we ask in our savior’s name 1055 00:48:22,959 –> 00:48:25,679 and everyone gratefully together said, Amen.