Romans 9:13 "God's Love-Hate Relationships, Part 2" - 2/28/2019

so we're recruiting guys now to move up to the first string so we brought him up from the b-team student bodies out there so guys yeah there's always back row Baptists exactly well we've got a great study for today and I am so anxious to look at it before we get started two things number one and I really want to do this for those watching on live stream I just wanted to make you aware of a magazine that my ministry produces expositor magazine and for you guys here in the room if you're not a subscriber you need this to go to heaven okay so this is this is an indulgence you have to buy your way it's I think it's like 15 dollars a year 20 dollars a year I don't know what this is the current issue it's on evangelism and the sovereignty of God I have an article in it every issue MacArthur John MacArthur has an article in it every issue and and this issue is just dynamite quite frankly MacArthur calls it the the greatest magazine in the world on preaching so who's to argue what with with that so you can go online and subscribe and onion subscribe on your cell phone and if you're not a subscriber I would encourage you to do so because it will enrich I think your walk with the Lord second thing we're gonna just show very quickly a short 45 second testimony is someone who watches our men's Bible study and let me just say a word before we show it last year I bought a ticket to fly around the world and just preach my way around the globe which was really a wonderful experience I was gone 37 days and preached like 85 times and as I was going through Africa I was in Kenya not nairobi kenya and i had to be transported from the hotel to the church or churches where i was preaching and there I met some wonderful ladies there were four ladies who watch our men's Bible study and so I get in the car and and this lady you're gonna see her testimony she's a lawyer very bright brilliant lady and so she says I watched the men's Bible study I go great she goes house Kent ha ha I said you don't want to ask she goes well how is Luke and how is Ford and I go well you know they're just doing tremendous she goes and until Chris Cobb hide for me and so she knew everybody in the room so precious lady and she watches every week from Nairobi Kenya so her name is bill ha and we can play this and she's a precious precious sister in the Lord so hi dr. Lhasa releases Bilhah from Nairobi Kenya and I wanted to say thank you for the men's Bible study through the book of Romans form it has been like an existence moment whereby I have seen the Lord High and lifted up and I've also been able to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the gospel of Jesus Christ so thank you for the thank you also to Epstein back for providing the facilities through which those of us across the world can be able to join in and hear the word of truth so we won't be great and may God bless you all bye I want you to know she's a single young lady all right he loves the Lord greatly and but everything comes through me okay so I need to see your dental records before any contacting of my my friend so all right guys we're in Romans nine Romans nine and we're looking we're gonna look at one verse today which we started to look at two weeks ago but Romans chapter 9 I just want to read the one verse put it back before your eyes and I think you know what it is Romans 9 verse 13 just as it is written Jacob I loved but Esau I hated I really want us to get our arms around this verse and really understand and I don't want to belabor this I want to keep our pace going through Romans however we come to certain verses that really require some explanation more so than other passages and this just happens to be one of those verses that I think we really need to just pause for a moment because there are so many strands of theology that run through this text and intersect with this verse that we really need to have I think an accurate understanding of what this means I've already looked we've already looked at the first part of this verse I said the authority Paul quoted just it as as it is written and the affection God has Jacob I loved but now Roman numeral three the animosity God has he says but Esau I hated and I want to just jump into this without much of an introduction at all because I don't know that I even have time to squeeze all this in because there's so much to be said let's just walk through this second half it's a quote from Malachi chapter 1 verse three the second half begins but which is a sharp contrast with God's love for Jacob it's antithetical it is the opposite of what he has for Jacob he says but Esau and just to remind you Esau is the older twin brother of Jacob he says I the I is God the Father so this is God the Father personally directly perfectly saying but Esau God is the speaker that Esau I hated it's a strong statement it's a Greek word Masayo which means to detest to have hostility for to have animosity toward it's the very opposite of love and I admit every time I read this this is still somewhat shocking if not stunning and sobering so the question is how are we to understand this well there are many things that God hates let's just begin here because God is a holy God God hates false worship Deuteronomy 1231 God says every abominable act the Lord hates God hates idolatry Deuteronomy 1622 you shall not set up for yourself sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates God hates all unrighteousness which is meaning all sin God hates all sin proverbs 6 verse 16 there are six things which the Lord hates yes seven which are an abomination to him haughty eyes lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that deceives wicked plans feet that run rapidly to evil a false witness who utters lies and one who spreads strife among brothers close quote God hates all those sins God hates pride proverbs 8 verse 12 the Lord hates evil semi-colon pride arrogance and the evil way the perverted mouth God says I hate so God has to hate sin in order to be a holy God if God ever was less than hate towards sin it would it would water down and dilute his holiness God hates hypocrisy isaiah 1 verse 14 god god just interrupts the worship of his people and he says bring your worthless offerings no more no longer incense in skis no longer incense is an abomination to me I cannot endure iniquity I hate your new moon festivals they have become a burden to me so God hates hypocrisy in worship and he hates wrong forms of worship amos 5:21 I hate I reject your festivals and nor do I do I delight in solemn assemblies so just to put this out on the table but let's just treat be reminded that God hates all sin it is repugnant to his holy nature Psalm 45 verse 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness if we want God to love righteousness he must by necessity hate wickedness so God is not indifferent towards sin he's not neutral towards what is contrary his holy character but here's the sticking point here's the bone in the throat here's the conundrum we know that God hates sin here's the question does God hate the sinner we know God hates sin does God hate the sinner and sometimes we hear well God hates the sin but he loves the sinner so we have to ask ourselves the question that does that pass the test so there's two possibilities number one number one possible interpretation this means to love less for example in Luke 14 verse 26 jesus said if anyone comes to me he must hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes even his own life or he cannot be my disciple the interpretation of that verse is found in Matthew 10 verse 38 where Jesus himself tells us that we must love him more than mother or father or wife or children or brother or sister so in that comparison it actually doesn't mean to love less so that is one possibility and to take that into this text then the interpretation would be that God simply loved Jacob more than he loved Esau that he loved Esau less than he loved Jacob so that's possibility number one and there are countless formidable theologians who interpret it that way so they're heavyweights they're not lightweights and they they base their interpretation on the Luke 14 and the man 2:10 now here's the other option that hate actually means hate that it's a very straightforward statement and this is how I take it and I want to support and substantiate why I take it this way now this is not a matter of Orthodoxy there it's an in-house debate among Bible teachers and theologians however I think it's a very important issue it's a very important issue in evangelism it's a very important issue in missions it's a very important issue even in how we couch the gospel and what our motivation is to help reach people for for Christ because we just go up to someone say smile God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life hey my mother loves me too you know my wife loves me so what's the big deal God loves me it's a whole different ballgame if the point is God is angry with the wicked but this God who is angry with the wicked extends love in the cross that has a whole different impact and causes you that would cause the person who hears this to run to Christ if I'm under the wrath of God and I must find refuge this moment and I hear that love is extended to me in the gospel and in the cross that God shows love towards those whom he hates that makes this amazing grace but if you're extending grace to those you already love well let me just that's nice so I want to give you I'm gonna give you a bunch of reasons why I think it is this way I've got 9 reasons so you can just number these as we go through this number 1 holy God hates everything contrary to his own holy nature now I've already stated that but just to reinforce that here at the beginning God loves righteousness but he hates iniquity that's the character of God that's the very nature of God God is not ambivalent towards that which is contrary to his holy nature second sin and the sinner cannot be separated it's a false dichotomy God doesn't send sin to hell he sends the sinner to help you you can't dissect the two and I want to give you some verses for us to think about you may or may not want to turn to these but in the book of Hebrews Hebrews 3 and verse 7 we see that the wrath of God is upon the sinner it's not just that it's upon the sin but the wrath of God presently is upon the sinner and the wrath of God is an expression of his holy anger and righteous indignation towards the sinner so we must understand that so in Hebrews three and beginning in verse seven the scripture says therefore just as the holy spirit says and he now quotes Psalm 95 today there's a sense of urgency today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as when they provoked me des is a personal pronoun it's the person that has provoked God because of their sin it's not just that the sin has provoked God but God is neutral towards the center or loving towards the sinner has no animosity towards the sinner but only hates the sin no Hebrews 3 verse 8 says that that God is provoked by the center then on in verse 9 of Hebrews 3 where your father's tried me by testing me and saw my works for 40 years it was the the the forefathers who actually tested God because of their sin then in verse 10 therefore I was angry with this generation generation refers to the people God was angry with the people you can't give a free pass and say well God was only angry with the sin but he was just lukewarm towards the center no God was this text says God was angry with this generation and said they always go astray in their heart and they did not want my ways verse 11 as I swore in my wrath they will not they shall not enter my rest and this word for wrath is the Greek word or gay we talked about that in the past it comes into English language as orgy which is heated passions like in a sexual orgy in this case in a positive direction God's heated passion against sinners so there's no false dichotomy between the sinner and the sin we can't separate those two further in Hebrews 10 in verse 26 another warning passage in the book of hebrews hebrews 10 verse 26 for if we referring now personal pronoun we if we go on sinning willfully and receiving the not after receiving the knowledge of the truth there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries god's wrath is not going to consume just the sin god's wrath is going to consume his adversaries that is the Center we come down to verse 29 how much severe punishment do you think he that's a personal pronoun he not it he how much severe punishment do you think he will deserve who that's another personal pronoun who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and regarded as unclean the blood of the Covenant so God's severe punishment rests upon the person not just the sin and then in verse 34 we know him who said vengeance is mine I will repay and again the Lord will judge his people not just judge the sin it says here very clearly he will judge his people so there you can't segment you can't separate then verse 31 it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the Living God and by the way that's in the New Testament it's not sin that's gonna fall into the hands of the Living God it's the sinner with his sin that will fall into the hands of the Living God so that's the second reason why I can't go with love less because God is angry with the sinner now the third reason I've got none of these I hang in here with me the the third reason and this to me is an extraordinary argument number three the psalmist clearly states that God hates the sinner not just the sin so come with me to the Book of Psalms and you're actually going to want to come with me for this because I'm a can't peer for a moment and by way of introduction what I want to bring to your attention is we're going to look at Psalm 2 some 5 Psalms 7 and Psalm 11 and I want you to just even here as I say those Psalms where they are in the book of psalms the Book of Psalms is not arranged in chronological order Psalm 9 he was the first Psalm to be written someone 26 was the last sound to be written these were compiled years after they were written and they are placed in a certain order intentionally there is an intentional front-loading of the Book of Psalms of God's anger towards sinners who are outside of his grace and it is to awaken them to their need to depart from the way of the wicked and into the way of the righteous which is what someone talks about as a contrasting the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked that's someone soon as you just come to Psalm 2 there there are threats to the wicked of God's anger towards them intended to move them off of the way of the wicked onto the way of the righteous so in Psalm 2 for example why are the nation's in an uproar and the people's devising a vain thing this refers to all of the nations of the world and it refers to all of the nations of the world in every generation that there is a global conspiracy against God there there is a global rising up among the nations and among the peoples against God it is true of every generation of human history and peoples and nations are intentionally in the plural verse 2 the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together they are presiding over the nations and over the kings of the earth and here is the conspiracy against the Lord and against his anointed his anointed refers ultimately to the Lord Jesus Christ anointed means Messiah Masuya initially it refers to the anointed king of Israel the nations surrounding nations around Israel and their revolt against God's people but it refers ultimately to Christ and we is quoted that way in the New Testament so this is what they say in verse 3 let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us the idea is they don't want to be tied down with God's moral law they don't want to be tied down with God's design for the family they don't want to be tied down with ethical and moral issues they want to be free to go their own way they don't want the constraints of God to be upon them so that's what they are saying in their heart and with their mouths meant we are living in this generation we don't want the ten commandments we don't want to be told how to live we want to be free to go our own way so how does God respond to this in verse 4 he that's God who sits enthroned sits in the heavens laughs it's not the laughter of polarity it's the laughter of scorn it's the laughter of ridicule the Lord scoffs at them then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his theory saying but as for me I've installed my king upon Zion my holy mountain despite your rebellion God says I have enthroned my son at my right hand and I will execute my purposes on the earth and it is utterly laughable that you think you could throw off my sovereign reign over the earth all of the nations together God laughs at it you puny little man think you can override my sovereignty I think God scoffs and got mocks and God speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his fury this is a long way from smile God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life so continue to look verse seven I will surely tell the decree of the Lord he said to me you are my son today I have begotten you ask of me and I wish this is the father speaking to the son this is an inner Trinitarian conversation ask of me and I will surely give the nation's as your inheritance in the very ends of the earth as your possession so the father says to the son just just ask me because I'm gonna give it just ask me for the nations now sometimes missions conference conferences will use this text as their missions conference you don't want to use this for missions conference because verse 9 is what the father commands the son to do with the nations you will break them with a rod of iron you shall shatter them like earthenware God is angry and he gives them to the son to take there like an earthen pot and the son is commanded by the father to take a rod of iron and come down without nipa tents and to smash into a million pieces the nations in the fury of his anger look at verse 10 now and here's here's the mercy of God here's the grace of God he shows grace to those to whom he is angry so verse 10 now there are four o kings and it's also directed to all the peoples under the kings all the citizens show discernment in other words that this is insane for you to try to reject God and and refuse God he's not a dussell grandfather up in heaven showed a sermon take warning o judges of the earth why because the judge of heaven and earth is about to judge the judges the Supreme Court of heaven and earth it's about to be in session Oh judges take warning verse 11 worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling there's a crack in the door there's a moment in time for you to to turn from your rebellion and turn to this God who is angry with you but now is showing mercy and grace to you verse 12 do homage to the son I like the old King James that says kiss the son and that the picture is not just run up to the throne of God hop in his lap and and kiss him know when a conquered King would be would suffer and ignominious defeat he would be drugged back to the conquering king's palace he would enter into the palace and the victorious King would have his throne elevated such that anyone who had come into this palace would have to look up to the king and when the defeated King would come into the palace he would have to go to his knees and get on all fours and kiss the feet of the victorious King to show his submission to the victorious King so in verse 12 when it says kiss the son it's not kind of a warm fuzzy kiss it is to acknowledge that you are in subjection to the King of Kings and to the Lord of lords do homage to the son please note lest he become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled how blessed are all who take refuge in him so this God is extending mercy towards those with whom he is angry so there is this love-hate relationship now come to Psalm 5 and I think it becomes more specific more clear or clearer rather Psalm 5 verse 4 for you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness God is not in in moral no-man's land towards wickedness cut takes no pleasure in wickedness why no evil dwells with you verse 5 the boastful shall not stand before your eyes you hate all who do iniquity please note he doesn't just hate the iniquity he hates the one who practices and commits the iniquity you hate all who do iniquity verse 6 you destroy those who speak falsehood the Lord pours the man of bloodshed and to see that that's why I cannot go with love less these are very strong heated passions that God has towards those who are in their sin now the word just so you know the word of I looked it up it means to loathe to detest to reject to treat as a pourraient now come to Psalm 7 some 7 and verse 11 God is a righteous judge so you know what that means righteousness means you reward obedience there is retribution for disobedience that that it cuts both ways God is a righteous judge and a God who has indignation every day now we normally think of indignation on the last day we normally think of God's indignation throughout all eternity future but this says God has indignation this day God has indignation every day God doesn't suddenly become indignant on the last day something other than what he is now today what God feels on the last day is exactly what he feels on this day he has indignation every day so it misrepresents the point to just say to everyone smile God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life that that's a distortion of reality no he has indignation every day now look at the next two verses God is represented as as a divine warrior who is at war with sinners and God is pictured as this moment now ready to unleash this wrath not having to wait till the last day so notice verse 12 if a man does not repent he God will sharpen his sword in other words the sword must be so razor sharp that it will pierce through the soul all the way down to the bone he God has bent his bow and made it ready in other words it's not laying over there on the shelf and at the end of the age God will walk over for the great white throne judgment and then pick up the bow but right now God is just docile no it's already in God's hand the bow it's already bent the arrows of his wrath are already load in the air oh and it is aimed at the sinner this very moment so please note verse 13 he God has prepared for himself deadly weapons he's not going to wait till the last day to prepare these weapons he has already taken action and they are now prepared he's made deadly weapons not little flesh wound weapons a little slap on the wrist but deadly weapons to take down the one that it is directed towards now the into verse 13 he makes his arrows fiery shafts in other words it's not just enough that he that he propels an arrow into the soul of the sinner that's not enough he torches the shaft of the arrow so that it it's on fire so that when it plummets into the heart of the sinner it will explode with wrath and as Charles Haddon Spurgeon says in treasury of David God never misses the target we have to have room in our understanding of God for an angry God God is angry with the wicked every day and I want to remind you these are not back loaded Psalm 144 145 143 we kind of hide God's anger these are front loaded as soon as you come into the Book of Psalms wow I need to take God serious all right Psalms 11 psalm 11 beginning in verse 4 the Lord is in his holy temple the Lord's throne is in heaven his eyes behold his eyelids test the sons of men meaning God is auditing the hearts and the motives of all upon the earth the Lord tests the righteous and the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates God doesn't just hate the violence he hates the one who loves violence we've got to have this adult understanding of who God is in Psalm 95 verse 10 I'll just read it quickly for 40 years I loved this generation I swore in my anger they will not enter my rest god angry with the center this actually intensifies the love of God and the grace of God that he would show mercy toward those with whom he is rightly angry number four I'm have to pick up the pace the wrath of God and I've already said this but I want to come I'm gonna make this separate heading here the wrath of God rests upon the unbelieving sinner not merely as sin I've already said this but let me just take you to John 3 in verse 36 John 3 and verse 36 I have just enough time to read the end of verse 36 he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of God abides present tense verb on him the wrath of God right now this very moment is upon all who are outside of Christ now number five the Malachi context indicates this is real hatred so if you want to turn to Malachi chapter once the last book in the Old Testament the Italian prophet Milad Qing had to break the ice here just for a moment under this intense teaching you imagine somebody has just turned in has never watched one of our men's days before her and we're just like going through this alright Malachi 1 verse 2 I've loved Jacob now verse 3 but I have hated Esau now context context context helps us interpret Scripture so we need to see what follows but I have hated Esau and this word hate by the way is a Hebrew word sodding which means to personally hate God is the speaker I've hated Esau now notice what follows I have made his mountains Esau's mountains and it's referring to the territory of ancient Edom I've made his mountains a desolation appointed his inheritance to the jackals of the of the wilderness which is means a barren wasteland verse 4 I will tear down the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever this hardly sounds like love loves less to me I mean this isn't that God loves he saw less this is God is pretty furious with he saw and he has every reason to be furious with Esau because Esau is a sinner just like Jacob was a sinner what's hard to understand is how God could love Jacob it's not hard to understand how God would hate Esau I get how he hates Esau he saw as a sinner what I don't understand is the infinite mercy and grace of God to love Jacob this word indignant you see it in verse 4 that the Lord is indignant forever I looked up this word as I am it means to foam at the mouth it means to be enraged it means to abhor it means to be angry and please note for how long God is indignant forever he so is a reprobate so to interpret Romans 913 by going back to the original context in Rome and Malachi 1 verses 3 & 4 the context screams no this is not love less this is a holy God violently reacting against the one who is contrary to his own nature now number 6 what follows in Romans 9 hardly seems like love's less so come back to Romans 9 and we'll look at the context of Romans 9 which will be an extension of what we read here in verse 13 of Romans 9 he saw hated so what are the following verses say that would give some indignation as this love less or is this actually an a righteous anger well I'll point point us to two verses the the first is verse 18 he God hardens whom He desires that's a personal pronoun whom not he hardens what he desires he hardens whom He desires it's the person and then in verse 22 becomes all the more obvious to me vessels of Wrath prepared for destruction that hardly seems like loves less that sounds pretty strong to me vessels does deserving the wrath of God that were prepared by God's sovereignty for destruction number 7 an unbeliever cannot be loved by God in this world but then suddenly be hated by him five seconds after his death I mean death doesn't change how God sees the person you can't be the object of his saving love in this world but you just rejected and unbelief you die and in five seconds now he hates you know there is continuity what he feels for you after death is what he feels for you before death and Malachi 3 verse 6 says I the Lord do not change the immunity the immutability of God if he loves you now then he's gonna have to love you in hell that's kind of a strange teaching now what he feels now will be unleashed in its expression after death number 8 in the book of Revelation it hardly seems that God loves the unregenerate sinner in the last days in this life within time in Revelation chapter 6 and in verse 12 and I take the book of Revelation in a futuristic way describing the end of the age but it doesn't change if someone has a nominal view or a post-millennial view that doesn't change in fact that it would only intensify this all the more verse 12 I looked when he broke this sixth seal and there was a great earthquake and the Sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up in every mountain and Island were moved out of their places then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong in every slave in man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains and they said to the mountains into the rocks fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand it's a rhetorical question the answer of which no one outside of Christ will be able to stand in the great day of his wrath that is referring to human history that is referring to present time space dimension history it's not referring to Hell one day that God's wrath poured out upon a planet that has been in defiant rejection of him since the beginning of time it has been building and it has been building revelation 8 12 and 13 revelation 14 9 through 11 then another angel a third one followed me saying with a loud voice if anyone worships the Beast and His image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand he will also drink of the wine of the wrath which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Holy Angels and in the presence of the Lamb and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever they they have no rest and day and night those who worship the Beast in His image and whoever receives the mark of his name this is God's wrath unleashed upon this world at the end of the age and it will then descend down into hell and the floodgates of his wrath will be opened in fullest measure finally revelation 16 for 37 is the third Bowl of his judgment I'm not gonna read it but it's it's just there you can read it on your own I mean we cannot lose sight of this aspect of God and who God is that God is not ambivalent or indifferent towards the sinner and his sin in this world that is why someone who is outside of Christ should flee to Christ shouldn't run to Christ to find refuge and to find protection from this wrath of God so I believe that in revelry Romans 9 in verse 13 he says but he saw hated I think there is an aspect of the holiness of God that finds the sinner abhorrent in his sin but God has demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us it's with this black velvet backdrop of his anger towards sinners that God has taken the Diamonds of His grace and mercy and placed them upon the black velvet backdrop and it's the black velvet backdrop that causes the diamond to shine so brightly I've told you before I'll tell it again I promise I won't tell it again this will be last time I use this illustration and when I asked my wife to marry me here in Dallas I went downtown and someone pointed me to a jeweler and I got an elevator went up to some floor walked in I'd like to buy a diamond for the engagement ring for my for my wife-to-be counter salesman on the other side pulls out a drawer begins to put diamonds onto the counter I looked at those diamonds nothing really jumped leapt off the page that to me kept my attention nothing really stood out have you got any more he reaches down put some more out they just kind of all looked mediocre to me he said well wait just one second he reached under the counter and he pulled out a black velvet pad it puts the black velvet pad down and with tweezers he picks up a diamond and places it on the pad and there were all these lights overhead and when that diamond got on to the black pad it was like that diamond exploded with light because all of the light in the room it was as though it was being sucked in and through the diamond and it just began to Sparkle it and radiate and it was just so beautifully it was like this diamond was on fire but what was the difference it was the black velvet backdrop underneath that made the diamond seem so beautiful it's the same with God's love and grace if you just say hey smile God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life I mean I need no almost no toes to keep me awake when I hear that yeah ok so what so what he loves me wait what's the big deal about that well you put that black velvet backdrop God is angry with you because you've lived in rebellion against him you have been in defiance of this God and God in heaven as a holy God and God is angry with the wicked every day and he has bent his bow and he has fiery shafts that are aimed at your soul this very moment but he is a God of love who extends grace and mercy to you this very moment you need to run away from his wrath and run to his arms of forgiving mercy and he will receive you and he will save you from his wrath you see salvation is salvation from God you and I need to be saved from God and there's only one who can save from God and that is God himself it is the mercy of God that saves us from the wrath of God and it's only the mercy of God that can save you from the wrath of God and it's only the wrath of God that makes the mercy of God have great value to you so I've wanted to take this time to talk about this verse because I think it's a major theological point I'm gonna stop a few minutes short I've got in my notes here Jonathan Edwards sinners in the hands of an angry god but I think you got the point you can Google skirt search sinners in the hands of an angry god I think Jonathan Edwards hit the nail on the head and I think that's one reason why the greatest movement of the Spirit of God on American soil in all of American history was in the Great Awakening because it was preaching that preached the full counsel of God and God was so so drawn to bless that kind of preaching that Jonathan Edwards brought that George Whitfield brought that the other preachers of the great awaking wakening as they preach not just a loving God but they preached an angry God as well and it's as if there were amens from heaven and God sent the power of the Holy Spirit upon that kind of teaching and preaching so we need we need that back in the pulpits of our churches again we need that back on the streets we need that in the psyche and the mindset of people that God is not a doting aging grandfather up in heaven just patting people on the head but he is he is angry with the wicked but he extends mercy and grace to those towards whom he is angry it makes the cross of Jesus Christ shine brighter than ten thousand suns in the sky above so alright I know this was a heavy I know this was a big one but I did not want us to just speed past verse thirteen I'm not gonna micro exegete the rest of the book of Romans like this we will pick up the pace but ever so often we just need to slow down and make sure we see what we're passing I mean for it to be in us so Kent we got a couple minutes when's the next study that is a great question I think it's in two weeks March 22nd March 22nd in three weeks yeah I've got there's shepherds conference in Los Angeles there's Ligonier conference in Orlando so this is the I've got to go do those happily but I'll be but I can't wait to get back because we will be in verse 14 and I mean we're there's a building argument that Paul is making we've only begun to go up the mountain it will build and build in the force of the argument I pray that this will mark your life and shape your thinking I pray that it will elevate your thoughts of God and purify your thoughts of God and not have thoughts based upon your imagination but upon the interpretation of Scripture itself so Kent is there anything yeah yeah I hear your phone going on I assumed it was Amy but I only want easy ones why is it necessary to believe in common grace if God hates the wicked doesn't god hate the wicked every day even as he gives good gifts like rain yeah well if this was the only verse in the Bible I could maybe come to that conclusion but there are so many other verses that we looked at two weeks ago I made the case for common grace so I had to put my arms around the whole Bible I I can't just look at one side of the diamond I have to be able to turn the diamond and see every part of theology and the truth is God shows his temporal blessings toward those whom he hates in their sin which again is another expression of the amazing love of God that God would feed those that he's angry with that God would show blessings temporal blessings this magnifies I think the love of God Kent I just got a text from Ann Lawson saying that March 22nd is Friday okay yeah so she won't text me she text Kent yeah and that's a Friday that's really funny [Laughter] okay well that was serious well we have to be on Friday because had to fly back on a Thursday okay Wanda from Newfoundland Canada yeah cool we who love God our to hate what God hates does that mean that we hate too we hate sinners too no does not we do not hate sinners we are not God God is God and that's reserved for God alone we don't sit on the throne and we're not the judge of heaven and earth Matthew 5 very clearly tells us like verse 43 44 45 that we are to love our enemies for God loves our enemies loves his enemies with temporal blessings we're not the moral judge in the universe and we're not giving out salvation the best we can do is to give temporal blessings so we are to love even unbelievers by giving temporal blessings whether it's expressions of verbally of love or gifts or the way we treat them so you have to make the distinction between temporal blessings and eternal salvation eternal salvation is not ours to give that's God alone we can give temporal blessings as God gives temporal blessings to them okay we have a lot of questions but I would think there may be some here yeah are there any questions here in do you have a question here and in the room it's gotta be okay okay yeah just there you go yeah okay all right here Pat pass it over up in the owners box this might be a similar answer to the last question but in Luke 10 what it says we're supposed to hate our mother father you know for to follow Christ 14:14 how how is that different from this hate or is it similar to the temporal blessings that we can only give yeah no I I would take that interpreted by Matthew 10 verse 38 which says that we are to love God in Christ more than father and mother so I do take that as a love less we are to love our parents less than we love God and here's the interesting thing if you'll love Christ you'll end up loving your parents more if you love Christ you'll love your wife more because love for Christ enlarges our heart and gives us a greater capacity to love those who are around us so it's a great question but I actually take that Luke 14 to be a love less and that's a Semitic figure of speech to contrast those two and and and again there are some who take it that way in Romans 9 but for me when I take the whole body I have to go in another way yes what else you got there Kent I've been graciously corrected from our friend in Canada it's Newfoundland Oh Newfoundland yeah so - in Texas sorry that's what I said X and speak okay all right we have a lot more do you want to close now since okay every day needs to go to work go to work I run steak and stay thank you men for being here and I look forward to seeing you March 22nd please be here because again this is a building argument this is only one half of one brick that we looked at today there's a lot more bricks in the wall so father thank you for showing love and mercy and grace towards sinners such as we are that you would rightfully reject and have animosity towards because of our sin that you have have chosen to love us and have sent your son to die for rebels as we have been and that upon the cross he would absorb all of your wrath that should have been unleashed upon us you Unleashed it upon your son and he suffered in our place upon the cross and bore the the torment that we should have experienced so god we are humbled we we are we we hardly know how to even respond but we praise you and we give you thanks for so greatest out salvation in Jesus name Amen amen aren't so Dax from Miami uh-huh regarding the salvation according to scripture on whom does God will to have mercy and compassion question mark is this determined conditionally or unconditionally upon the unsaved this is this is what's written regarding the salvation according to scripture on whom does God will to have mercy and compassion upon his elect is this determined conditionally or unconditionally okay it's unconditional election right okay and that will come out in the rest of the chapter what is your response to someone who insists we will be judged at the great white throne as to whether we enter Heaven or not well what will God say to ya the one at the great white throne judgment best to someone who insists we will be judged at the great bright throne whether we'll be going well I think that's for unbelievers at the great white throne judgment and the evidence will be presented in the books and in the book of life and they will be sentenced they're just condemnation so here here's a here's a longer question if you have friends and family and easy believe ISM situations and churches that teach easy believe ISM and they believe they're saved due to their confession that they believe in Jesus and they are only taught that God loves and they have self-worth how do we teach them with this truth on God's righteous wrath against sinners they're very confident that they have the truth and will not accept the confession they made is not enough and God loves everyone they believe God accepts everyone who confesses Christ yeah well yeah well first of all God does not accept everyone who confesses Christ yeah guys come on in here because Matthew 7:21 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven so there's a lot of empty dead test and so clarify clarify a false confession and a real confession yeah a false confession would be someone who says that they believe in Christ but in reality there is not the genuine genuineness and the validity of true saving faith they are self deceived they are a Judas disciple they are a counterfeit Christian they are a bogus believer churches are filled with with such people and I think there are more unbelievers in churches than there are believers in churches when you take all the churches together I mean that's an easy fair statement so first John gives the evidences of the new birth and I don't need to go through all those but if you'll read the book of first John you'll see the evidence of true regeneration and those who have been truly born again will manifest these seven or eight evidences of the new birth and standing behind regeneration is the doctrine of sovereign election and all whom God has chosen he bursts into his kingdom and he radically changes and transforms their their lives but they are brought to a point of submission to the lordship of Christ at the moment of conversion why don't you answer this question - obviously this has a great impact on the non-believer how does this impact the believer because obviously you can come to Christ and I'm understanding this yeah you come to Christ understand how does this impact the mature believer to hear this teaching well I think it should sober you for one thing to be reminded of where you were before you were converted your conversion is a big deal you come out from under this wrath of God and step into the light of His mercy and grace so it causes you to value and cherish your salvation even more the longer we be are Christians we keep finding more and more truth that we discover about our salvation it should elevate our love for God this should affect a mature critias should produce humility that that I'm not like God's gift to God or I'm not God's gift to the world you know God chose to have mercy on me I mean he pulled me out of the trash dump to set his mercy upon me that should humble me this should also affect a mature Christian and how we witness to people there's more I think more in our gospel presentation as this is kind of in our hip pocket and we don't pull this out every time you witness but if someone is just flatly not taking this serious enough god serious enough as we witness I mean this is an extra dimension to bring to the table that God is angry with you and your sin it it impacts a Christian how then they in their sanctification or how they live to understand the seriousness of God's yeah I think that hate of sin yeah I I think that it it it it puts it does put you use the word seriousness it puts a healthy holy seriousness in us I think some Christians are too silly at times even in worship some churches are just too silly so you're saying we we don't take sin serious enough even as a believer that is a great point can I'm glad for you to say that if God takes sin this seriously then I should take sin this seriously even in my own life I should take sin seriously and the Puritans used to use this illustration do you think a house owner would hate weeds more in his neighbor's yard or hate weeds more in his own yard and the Puritans answered well you would hate weeds in your own yard more than you do in your neighbor's yard and and they would build the case that God is more perturbed towards sin in a believers life than he isn't a nun that's really about something yeah and so I mean it's it's worth thinking about and I probably need some verses to try to back that up but but it's a good illustration it does make me take sin seriously in my life I think there's a hyper grace movement today and antinomianism yeah that just says hey just look back at your justification yeah that's all you need to do gods pleased with you it doesn't matter what you do yeah yeah that is a lot of teaching it's a like I'm answer I'm asking the question it's a I've got an insurance policy I'm already covered yeah so don't get stressed out no you need to take God that takes sin seriously in your life if you take God seriously in your life [Music] I've always wondered when you put those glasses on is he going to poke himself in the office he does it so quick you know here's a question if someone will not dig deeper for more truth and decide to just park on love or they truly converted well that's not the sole determining factor yeah there's more to take into consideration so I'll say this when I was converted I was very aware that God was angry with sin I didn't have this theological grid but I knew I needed to run to Christ that I was not in a good place and my sin all right it's a good question how do we explain to someone who believes God hates the national representation of Esau that God actually hates the individual he saw Caleb from North Carolina yeah I mean to take this in a nationalistic way rather than an individual way yeah well I mean when you read this whole chapter it should become very obvious for example hey this will debunk that in the same room there are twins within the same nation and God is making a distinction within the nation Israel between individuals it's obvious this isn't national these are individuals within the nation and then he goes on to even expand this to Gentile nations that there is a remnant out of the nations and a remnant out of Israel that is safe so it's more narrow than just national it's individuals within nations here's a here's a good question there may be some more here but this is to clarify what you said earlier are we as individuals and humans to love the sinner and hate their sin because God's the only one that can hate both I mean that's excellent yeah that's a great question and you're probably asking questions beyond my paygrade unless you want to give me a raise I would say that we are to love the sinner and I would say that we are certainly not to approve of their sin and we are to hate sin wherever we see it so I would say yes we make that distinction anybody have any questions one more this is Jude 23 where he talks about saving or have mercy with fear heading the garments named by the flesh so that is the commandment for us as believers in our attitude towards sin in the center not God's attitude is that correct cuz I've heard that verse used to say that he 23 correct I've heard that used to say that God loves surveys no no no that books again there's a whole body of verses so we've had to look at we never interpret one that we never interpret the rest of the Bible three one verse we interpret one verse in light of the entire rest of the Bible the entire rest of the Bible hopefully has been made clear so this would not apply to that yeah now thanks a good question you guys think too deep too much so man guys thank you for being here for this I I can't tell you how much I love this and I tell people I love this Bible study more than probably anything else I do so I I'm just all in on this yeah having it's your house yeah at herbs house it is it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: OnePassionMinistries

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Length: 82min 8sec (4928 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 28 2019