Be Not Afraid

Dark days for Christians – those who stand for Christ against the godless laws and machinations of their federal, state, and local governments – dark days are rapidly coming to America. Every day we face a Goliath of evil, a Goliath that has changed the landscape of our constitutional and God-given freedom to live, to educate our children and grandchildren, to worship, and to conduct business according to our conscience and as we understand the word of God.

In recent months, Catholic priests have been fired by their bishops for daring to speak out against abortion and sexual perversions. Protestant pastors have been jailed for opening their churches during Covid. Christians in the pews have been fined by their local governments for attending worship services during Covid. Christian organizations and businesses are being successfully sued to force compliance with our increasingly anti-Christ culture. Censorship across social media platforms and in the mainstream media – censorship of religious and politically conservative views increases every DAY, when those views contradict the popular and godless cultural narrative.

Yes, dark days are coming – but there is great reason to hope – not a wishful hope, but a confident expectation kind of Biblical understanding that God is absolutely sovereign in and through it all – regardless how it looks to the eyes of the flesh.

It is the kind of hope that acts as a reminder about whose we are and to whom we belong. It is a reminder that El Shaddai – the Almighty King of creation – who is also our personal Savior and Protector – that this One is the absolute sovereign ruler of time, space, people, angels and demons, powers and nations and governments. The is not a president, king, congressperson, judge, or someone sleeping under a bridge who can take their next breath without God’s explicit permission.

But there are lots of people who resent that truth and whose arrogance is illustrated for all time by the words of the second Psalm:

“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together

against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”

The Holy Spirit continues by telling us this King, whom we know as Jesus, will “break them with a rod of iron [and] shall shatter them like earthen-ware.”

 

Listen then to God’s warning in the next part of this psalm: “Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

No wonder God tells us through the prophet Isaiah: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and of the son of man who is made like grass, that you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, as he makes ready to destroy?” Isaiah 51:12-13

Darkening days ought not frighten us. Instead, they ought to impel us to do as much as we can for the Kingdom while it is still day. As St Paul told the Christians at Ephesus – “make the best use of your time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

Corrie ten Boom, once a prisoner of the Nazis in the infamous Ravensbruk concentration camp, and author of The Hiding Place, tells of a conversation she had with her father when she was a child. She told her father that she was afraid of death and was quite sure she did not have the strength to be a martyr. Corrie’s father reminded her of the train ride to Amsterdam.

“"When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?"

"No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train."

"That is right," her father said, "and so it is with God's strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength . . . He will supply all you need just in time."

Many of you might remember the song lyrics: “Put your hand in the hand of the Man who stills the waters. Put your hand in the hand of the Man who calms the seas.”

I want to tell you, that song gives us the wrong message because it suggests WE have to lift our hand toward His so that He can grasp hold of ours. Nonsense!

Remember when St. Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. You know what happened. Peter turned his eyes to the storm and away from his Savior, and sank like a rock. But the text tells us what happened next: “[Peter] became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him.” (Matthew 14:30-31)

The point? Peter did not put his hand into the Hand of Jesus. He was too busy drowning. It was Jesus who stretched out His hand and grabbed hold of Peter’s.

And don’t think for a moment, ESPECIALLY in these darkening days, that the Lord will let any of His children drown. It is NOT about YOUR strength and strategies about putting your hand in God’s. It’s about Almighty God reaching out to YOU for protection and preservation.

God has empowered us – empowered us – to face Goliath as David boldly faced the giant pagan with a couple of rocks in his bag, while the pagan Goliath was armed with sword, spear, and shield. And David won the battle because his faith and confidence was not in his rocks or his strength -- but in the Sovereign God of all creation.

It was this same David who wrote: “Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.” (Psalm 27:3)

So, the point again? Do not fear the neopagans who worship their many gods called money, sex, power, and their self-deceptive sense of self-sufficiency. Do not fear those who are today in power and whose bones will turn to dust not long after God takes their breath from them. THEY are not in control. Our God is in control. And He scoffs at them.

Does that mean that we cannot be martyred? Of course, it doesn’t mean that. We only have to read today’s news to be confronted with the cold truth of our brothers and sisters in places like Iraq, China, Egypt – even in some places in America losing their lives because of their faithful testimony for Christ.

As St. Paul told us: “All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12.) And the Lord Jesus warned in Matthew 10:24-27:

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master . . If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” 

Is it possible that we will be martyred? Listen! This is Biblical Truth 101: We are INVINCIBLE until God Himself says we are not. And never forget the stunning light of this truth: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

Tertullian, one of the Early Church Fathers of the second century, coined that phrase. Listen to what he wrote in his testimony against the then all- powerful Roman Empire:

"We are not a new philosophy but a divine revelation. That’s why you can’t just exterminate us; the more you kill the more we are. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You praise those who endured pain and death – so long as they aren’t Christians! Your cruelties merely prove our innocence of the crimes you charge against us…

And you frustrate your purpose. Because those who see us die, wonder why we do, for we die like the men you revere, not like slaves or criminals. And when they find out, they join us.”

And if God permits the devil and his children to martyr us – would that persecution separate us from God‘s sovereignty and absolute dominion over everything in life?

Of course not. Listen to Romans 8:31, 35-37 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, You’re your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

God never has and never will abdicate His sovereignty over all life events, over all circumstances. But – and this is important – while nothing can separate Him from us – there are things that can separate US from Him.

Let me say that again: While nothing can separate HIM from us, there are things in our lives that can – if we are not careful – separate US from Him.

The Lord Jesus commended His disciples: “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials” (Luke 22:28). But I think He also says to you and me today, we who have endured our own multiple sets of trials – some that have left us with scars – Jesus commends us today: “You are those who have stood by Me in YOUR trials.”

Dark days come. Trials come. Hardships come. But I want us to remember this applicable word of the Lord to Peter. You will find it in Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

I want you to get that. When Satan receives permission from El Shaddai to buffet us – Jesus Himself is praying for us!

I think of those two great hymns of the Church: The first by Horatio Spafford – It is Well with My Soul – “Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, and hath shed His own blood for my soul.”

And the second hymn, this one by Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is our God” – the lyrics remind us: “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord [of Hosts] is his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.”

Dark days come. But God – oh! But God Himself is praying for us. And He sends His mighty angels to protect and guide us in the same He has done from Genesis through Revelation and throughout Church history.

Some of you may know the hymn: “Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail. By the living Word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.”

Yes, brothers and sisters, keep standing on the promises of God through His infallible, inerrant, and eternal word – which I urge you again as I have urged repeatedly in the past – read and study and meditate on God’s word every day.

Dark days come.  But in Christ we will stand, head high, shoulders back, with God’s word on our tongue. We will STAND wearing the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, our loins encircled with truth, firmly grasping the shield of faith to extinguish all the subtle and not-so-subtle lies of the devil.

Satan is like David’s Goliath. The devil and his children are in reality simply puny punks, cowardly bullies who flee from the child of God whose hand is grasped by the hand of the Man who stills the waters.

My brothers and sisters – by God’s grace and power, you and I will live by that great 24th psalm:

Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ, “Lift up your hearts to God. Open your hearts to the King knocking at your door, that He may come in. Who is this king of glory? The Almighty, all sovereign, all-encompassing Ruler over kings and presidents, media and financial powers – and yes, even mobs carrying signs in the streets. 

God alone is our light in days that are darkening. And through Him alone we will overpower even Satan himself “By the blood of the cross, and the word of our testimony, and if necessary, we didn’t love even our own lives when faced with death. (see Revelation 12:11)

Lift high the cross on which the Prince of Life died to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. And be not afraid. God will never leave our side. His Truth is still marching on!

Wisdom of Foolishness

 

The Wisdom of Foolishness

 

My text today comes again from the first chapter of Romans. Here are verses 21-22 – speaking of the unrighteous: “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.”

 

Listen! It ought to be an ominous thing for anyone to know God calls him or her a fool. And the classic definition of the one whom God calls a fool is found in Psalm 14: “The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist” . . . To which God adds a few verses later, “Will evildoers never understand?” (Psalm 14:1, 4a).

 

Richard Dawkins is one such fool. The author of ‘The God Delusion,’ likes to opine that people who believe in God are delusional. Dawkins then goes on to postulate the reason for the stunning complexity and intricacy of nature is because aliens – yes, aliens – planted DNA on earth millions of years ago. That DNA evolved to life as we now know it. 

 

That is from the guy who says those who believe in God are delusional. (You can listen to Dawkins’ comment https:// winteryknight.com/2009/03/12/richard-dawkins-thinks-that-aliens-may-have-caused-the-origin-of-life ) 

 

The late Professor Stephen Hawking, eminent Cambridge scientist and cosmologist, was another fool. The well-known atheist called heaven, “A fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” But I like what John Lennox, Professor of Mathematics at Oxford, said in response to Hawking’s mockery: "Atheism is a fairy story for people afraid of the light." 

 

I’ve mentioned before this bit of biological science, and I do so again because I find it utterly astonishing that atheists such as Dawkins and Hawking refuse to acknowledge how singularly and divinely unique each of us are created.

 

According to biological science, an average of 250 million sperm are released every time a man ejaculates. And listen – EACH ONE of the 1/4 billion sperm has its own unique DNA coded into it. That means no two sperm have the same DNA code.

As most every adult knows, DNA directs our formation in the womb regarding our gender, basic intelligence, eye, hair, and skin color, our eventual height, what medical issues we will be susceptible to – and an myriad of other elements unique to each individual man and woman.

And our conception gets even more astonishing: Of the hundreds of millions of sperm cells racing toward the mother’s ova (egg), only ONE will successfully break through the ova’s coating and bring about what we know as the conception of a singularly unique person.

In other words, you and I are each a one-in-a-quarter of a billion possibilities.

When we take time to really think that remarkable bit of biological science through to its logical conclusion, we are faced with only two options: We are each the result of some absolutely incredible and miraculous accident of ‘chance.” Or we are each the result of some absolutely incredible and miraculously unique design by God. There simply is no scientifically sound third option. Yet despite the obvious choice, those professing to be wise remain fools.

 

Here is just one more example from biological science that points like a laser to a benevolent and omnipotent Creator:

 

Insulin is a hormone produced and released by specialized cells in the pancreas, called ‘beta’ cells. Insulin ‘unlocks’ each of the cells in our body to permit glucose (a form of sugar) to enter and provide the energy cells need to do whatever the cell’s DNA has programmed it to do.

 

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is a condition in which the person’s pancreas no longer produces ANY insulin. Unless the person receives insulin from an outside source – such as injections – that person will die.

 

So, here is the point: What a lucky accident it was that over the eons it took for Mankind to evolve, they finally did so at the exact time as the beta cells in his or her pancreas. It had to happen that way, otherwise the first humans would not have survived 24 hours.

 

Of course, the other option is that God suddenly and miraculously created Adam and Eve with an intact and functioning pancreas.

 

“Professing to be wise, they became fools.” So, the question remains, why do otherwise intelligent men and women persist in their rejection of the idea of God?

 

Let me give you a bit of history from my own life as illustration. Some of you may remember the story I’ve told of my traffic light experience more than 50 years ago. I was stopped at a red light on a street corner in my hometown when this thought dropped into my mind: What if there is a God?

 

It was an odd thought. I hadn’t given so much as a moment’s consideration of His existence for years. But the prospect intrigued me for a few moments until I realized if God existed, I’d have to change my lifestyle. But I was unwilling to give up my ‘sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.’

 

So as the light turned green, I made a choice. It was not an intellectual choice. It was a moral choice. I rejected the idea that God existed because I wanted to live life the way I chose to live life.

 

In the decades since I finally called Jesus my Lord, I’ve spoken with dozens of self-professed atheists and agnostics. And in each case – each case – their arguments only thinly veiled the real reason for their rejection of God: they were moral reasons, not intellectual.

 

But our Creator is not fooled by such self-deceptive and disingenuous arguments like saying aliens planted DNA on earth, and similar silliness. Here is what the Lord Jesus said in John chapter 3: “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (verses 19-20). 

 

Did you catch that last clause? “Men loved darkness rather than light.” Pretty succinct, don’t you think?

 

So, St. Paul tells us those who think they are so smart are, in God’s eyes, not smart at all. But on the other hand, St. Paul also tells us that in God’s eyes the ones called ‘fools’ by the likes of Dawkins and Hawking are really quite wise.

 

Listen to Paul’s words to the wise ones at Corinth:

 

1 Corinthians 1:20 “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (verses 20-24)

 

He continues in the next chapter: “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; ⁷ but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood . . . .” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8a)

 

And finally in chapter three: “Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

 

And so now to the point of today’s message – how to become a fool in the eyes of those who think they are wise – but wise in God’s eyes.

 

First, recognize the fool is not only the atheist who denies God with their mouth. Fools are ALSO those who – although believing in God – deny Him with their deeds. These are the practical or functional atheists. Whereas Paul describes fools in our text today from Romans: “Professing to be wise, they have become fools . . .” Titus describes functional atheists this way:  “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (Titus 1:16)

 

Second, recognize the terrible reality that both sets of fools, God will judge. And His judgement will not be pleasant. Jesus talks about that judgement in Luke 13:24-30 and Matthew 7:21-27.   We will not turn there now for the sake of time, but I bring it to all of our attention to help make us WISE in our interactions with our Holy God.

 

Third, recognize God will actually HIDE truth from the proud and arrogant. Listen to the warning of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 11:

“Then He began to reprimand the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment, than for you.”

“At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants . . . .”(Matthew 11:20-25)

Fourth, to become wise in God’s eyes, take to heart Jesus’ rebuke of those who rejected Him despite His miracles and His words. And take to heart His offer in Matthew 11 to those who chose to follow Him: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:20-25, 28-30)

Before we move on, I must point out the context of the Scripture Jesus quoted in verse 28: “Come to Me . . . and you will find rest for your souls.” He is quoting from the scroll of Jeremiah in which God said to Israel: “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (Jeremiah 6:16)

If we are to be wise in God’s eyes, then we MUST walk in the ancient paths, the paths laid out for us in God’s word from Genesis to Revelation.

We must walk boldly, shamelessly, fearlessly – even when others mock us. Even when friends and even family shun us. Even if pastors and other prominent so-called ‘Christians’ try to dissuade us from following ancient paths, and who urge us to turn toward modern and updated theology.

Fifth: Seek God’s SUPERNATURAL help to become as a child in your relationship and trust of God. Remember the Lord’s words: “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” (Luke 18:16-17)

 

This last point is perhaps the most difficult of all. To trust God absolutely, completely, utterly, supremely in all situations and circumstances –especially when things are spiraling out of control and are about to crash in a ball of flames. There is not an adult reading this who does not know how difficult it is trust our heavenly Father in all of life’s circumstances as a small child instinctively trusts his mom and dad.

 

I know so very well how much I need the SUPERNATURAL help of the Holy Spirit to become as a child in my faith and trust of God. And such faith will seem very foolish to those professing to be wise – but such faith is pleasing to our Father who art in heaven. Indeed, there is great wisdom in such God-focused foolishness.

 

Solomon advised us in Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

 

The wisdom of foolishness, when that ‘foolishness’ seeks to trust God in all things, is the kind of wisdom that changes lives and changes destinies. And so, we pray for godly wisdom and boldness to live courageously and obediently for Christ in the midst of a very foolish world.

 

Dividing the Local Church

I’m told that some churches are dividing their congregations into ‘have’ and ‘have-nots.’ Pastors tell their flock something along this line: “You can worship with us without a mask if you have been vaccinated. We even have a specific section in the sanctuary where you can sit. However, if you have not been vaccinated, you can still worship with us, but you must wear a mask and sit in the section of the sanctuary specifically assigned for you.”

Does no one recognize how devastating that will be for the ‘family’ of God? Can no one extrapolate how this will translate to interactions between congregants outside the church building?

If Sharon is vaccinated and knows Barbara is not, will Sharon cross the street if pariah Barbara is walking toward her? If Jim is vaccinated, will he avoid the modern ‘leper’ Robert in the restaurant later that evening? Will the vaccinated pastor now consciously or unconsciously shun the known unvaccinated members of the congregation?

And why all this division? According to the science – I mean the REAL science – vaccines are designed to give immunity to the vaccinated against disease. That’s why we vaccinate against measles, and mumps. We vaccinate against the flu. We vaccinate against shingles, pneumonia . . . . and on and on. Why? Because those who are vaccinated are essentially immune to those diseases.

So why in the name of all that is right and good are pastors purposely dividing their church into the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, when the ‘haves’ are (allegedly) protected against the virus? Why are pastors shaming their unvaccinated sheep? Why are pastors sending a not-so-subliminal message to the ‘haves’ in their congregation to shun the ‘have nots’?

Really – is that what Jesus called pastors to do?

Sermon: Why the Cross

 

Why the Cross

 

I’m taking our text for today from Romans 1, verses 18-32. But before I read the text, let’s back up a couple of verses to get a broader sense of the context of that text: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”(vv. 16-17)

Before I read today's text, let me tell you the title of the message: Why the Cross.

 

That's not a question. It is a statement – as in: This is the REASON for the cross. And that reason is tied inextricably to today’s text in verses 18-32. 

God moved the apostle Paul to write these words of stark warning to his readers in Rome – and these words are JUST AS applicable to readers in the 21st century. That is why this section is an important one for all who seek to make sense of what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears as we scan the daily newscasts.

Here is the text: 

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

 

²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

 

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

 

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

This is not a welcomed passage of Scripture for many people – including those who stand behind pulpits and who sit in pews. I have heard the lies myself too many times – even from professing Christians – who insist God’s love does NOT permit His wrath against sinners.

Henry Emerson Fosdick, (d. 1969) denied such essential theological issues as authority of Scripture, and of the death, Resurrection, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus. He also believed early man had a totally archaic and corrupt concept of God, as evidenced, for example, by the mythological God of Noah who destroyed the earth with a flood. Fosdick believed even Jesus had a moral defect because Jesus warned about hell – a place of eternal fiery torment awaiting those who reject His salvation. Fosdick believed the whole idea of hell must be abandoned if humanity is to continue on its upward curve of development.

Lord Bertrand Russell (d. 1970), the well-known philosopher and mathematician taught similarly. Russell believed Christ had one very serious defect of moral character, in that He (Christ) believed in hell.

These two heretical teachers were not alone in their dismissal of hell. Even today, from pulpits to pews and across denominations, both Catholic and Protestant, the Bible’s warning of a place of everlasting torment for the ungodly has fallen increasing into disfavor. A growing number of theologians and laity alike reject the notion that a loving God would allow anyone to suffer in hell for an eternity – despite what Jesus and the writers of Holy Scripture WARNED again and again about that eternal lake of fire being the destination of all the unrighteous.

 

In other words, these false teachers tell us Scriptures don’t mean what they say about eternal death in the lake of fire.  But – they will be quick to add – the Scriptures DO mean what they say about eternal life in heaven.

 

Well, we can’t have it both ways. Either God’s word is completely inerrant, or it is not.

 

The growing popular argument against the Biblical statements of God’s wrath typically revolves around the truth that God is love. And certainly, God IS love. He tells us that Himself.

 

But when that truth is taken out of context with the whole Bible, these false teachers erroneously conclude that the God of love in the New Testament does not inflict wrath.

 

That treacherous and treasonous philosophy is not too far off from an early church heresy called Marcionism – which promulgated the idea that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the God of the New Testament.

 

Did proponents of the “God is Love Not Wrath” philosophy never read the book of Revelation? Or about Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5? Or even the apocalyptic passages in the Gospels? Did they not read the entire New Testament?

 

No, my brothers and sisters – it is a serious error to believe hell does not exist – or if it DOES exist, that hell is empty, because God – who is love – will not also inflict judgment against persistent and willful defiance of His commandments.

 

Most everyone who has sat in church for any time knows John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.”

 

 Yet, how many read the rest of that chapter? Here is John 3:36 – “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

But let’s go back to this text in Romans because it will explain the WHY of Calvary as ‘pressed down, shaken together, and running over’ measure of God’s love AND of God’s wrath against sin.

 

God tells us through Paul’s pen: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

 

I hope you caught that last clause – God’s wrath is toward those who SUPPRESS the truth – even though they KNOW the truth, because God has made the truth evident to them. But they choose to not believe truth – and then encourage others to also reject truth:

 

‘[A]nd although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” (verse 32)

 

Henry Fosdick, Bertrand Russell, and every false teacher like them, fall into that damnable category of those who suppress the truth. And whether from pulpits and seminaries, or from the media, government or educational leaders – or just about every venue of influence that affects our lives and the lives of those we love – when truth is suppressed, people remain trapped in sin and death.

Why would God be angry at the suppression of truth? The answer is not difficult to understand when we understand that God IS LOVE. And because God is love, He wants to share His love AND His eternal home with every man, woman, and child He formed in the womb.

Let me try to illustrate my point this way. Parents – what would do for your child? Would you give up your food so he or she could eat? Would you work a third job so your child could have clothes?  And what would do if someone tried to hurt your baby?  Would you do everything in your power – up to and including killing that person – to protect your child?

Of course, you would. Why? Because you love, love, love your child.

 And THAT is why we should be able to understand why God metes out His wrath on those who suppress truth, because in suppressing truth these evil and false teachers encourage God’s children to live in sin, bringing on themselves the destruction of their lives on earth and their eternal destruction after death.

God HATES sin. 

And what is the Biblical evidence of how serious God is about His wrath toward sin AND His wrath toward to sinner who refuses to repent of his or her sin?

We only have to look at Calvary. And that answer – Calvary – is the definitive answer to the question, ‘How much does God hate sin – but at the same time, love the sinner?”

We hear about Calvary so often that we often become blind to the magnitude, the horror of that cross on which the dearest and best, for a world of lost sinners was slain. We hardly scratch the surface of understanding the horrific physical torture Jesus suffered because of YOUR sins and MY sins. The cutting away of slices of His flesh by that Roman whip, the electrifying agony caused by the nails hammered into His hands and feet.

But there was so, so very much more that God’s Son suffered. When Jesus became our substitute, He received in Himself the full wrath of God against sin – YOUR sin and my sin. And for the first time in eternity, God the Son, who had lived in eternity past in an intimate and cherished closeness with the Father and the Holy Spirit – when Jesus became our sin the Father turned His back on His Son.

We must get this. The Father turned His back on His Son when Jesus became our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus, as our substitute, bore the full wrath of God against sin, so that WE would not ever bear that wrath for OUR sin. God turned His back on Jesus His Son, so that we can live with the full assurance that God will NEVER turn His back on any who call on Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Wow. Why does ANYONE reject such great love?

I ask it again. Does the Loving God hate Sin? Does the Loving Father pour out His wrath against sin AND the unrepentant sinner?

Look again at Calvary’s cross and answer the question. You MUST answer that question, because the wrong answer – like Fosdick and Russell answered it – puts you in jeopardy of minimizing the cost of sin and diminishing in our minds the meaning of God’s wrath against sin and the unrepentant sinner.

No wonder the writer to the Hebrews warns us, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31).

Notice that God tells us three times in today’s text: ²⁴God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity . . . ²⁶ God gave them over to degrading passions . . . ²⁸God gave them over to a depraved mind.” (verses 24-28)

When anyone persists in rejecting God’s truth time after time after time, God will ultimately give that person over to their sins. He did it with Pharaoh. He did it with ancient Israel. He warned of it in the New Testament. And He does so today. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change according to the culture.

God is love. Yes, yes, ten thousand times yes. But that does not mean God does not mete out wrath against those who obstinately persist in their rebellion against a Holy and righteous Judge.

Calvary demonstrates God’s love. Calvary also demonstrates God’s wrath against sin.

How then should we live, knowing all that we now know of God’s love and His wrath? I talked about this two weeks ago, and this is a good time to bring it up again as I bring this message to a close:

1. Believe God LOVES you. He is NOT looking for ways to send you to hell. Believe the Holy Spirit when He tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

2. Also believe that God is serious about sin. It is a frightening thing to fall into the hands of the living God. That is why you must repent of your sins – your past sins and the sins you commit every day. Don’t nitpick with yourself about small and big sins, about venial and mortal sins.

Listen to what St. Paul wrote in Romans 2:4 - “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

3. If you have not yet done so, be baptized in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as Scripture commands (e.g. Mark 16:16; Acts 2:37-42)

4. Follow and obey Jesus for the rest of your life, repenting of your daily sins as often as you commit them.

God loves you. He created you so He could love you. All He asks is that you, and I, love Him in return.