Living in the Wrath of God
Romans 1:18-32
by: Todd Clippard
The events of recent days with regard to our children should remind us of
the importance of every Bible class teacher. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE
VALUE OF YOUR WORK, NOT ONLY TO THIS CHURCH, BUT ALSO THIS COMMUNITY AND TO OUR
NATION.
1. Why are so many people indifferent to hearing the voice of God?
a. They are TOO FAR away from Him to pay heed to His call.
i. Why can non-Christians hear so
many lessons on what one must do to
be saved and
never obey?
ii. Why can Christians hear lessons on the
importance of holy living,
church
attendance, stewardship, personal evangelism, and loving the
brotherhood
and still refuse to act?
iii. Neither is close to God nor are they
seeking closeness to Him. They
are so far as
to not recognize the voice of God as He calls through His
messenger - I
Peter 4:11
b. The closer we are to God, the more RESPONSIVE we are to His voice.
i. James 4:8 "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to
you."
ii. Isaiah 6:1-6 Isaiah's response as
he got closer to God
(1) v. 5 "Woe is me! For I am sinful"
(2) v. 7 he is forgiven
of his inquity
(3) v. 8 "Here am I;
send ME."
c. A little child can wander from the safety of his father's protection
until he
is out of earshot - the child is then
left alone to determine his own way
and is vulnerable to the dangers of
the adversary, the devil - I Peter 5:8.
Is it any wonder we lose so many new
converts? We don't teach them
how to stay close to their Father -
Matthew 28:20.
2.
In America today, we are experiencing and witnessing the manifestation
of the WRATH of GOD - Romans 1
a. vv. 15-17 the righteousness of God is seen in the GOSPEL
b. v. 18 "the wrath of God IS revealed
against all unrighteousness . . ."
c. God doesn't get angry and say, "OK, you're
going to be a murderer,
rapist, thief, etc. But
when man eliminates God from his thinking, there
are natural and predictable
results:
i. vv. 19-20 they refuse to SEE God
ii. v. 21 they fail to GLORIFY God,
neither are they THANKFUL
iii. v. 22 thinking themselves WISE,
they become FOOLS
iv. v. 23 In failing to worship God,
man simply directs his attention and
affection to
a god of his own choosing = IDOLATRY
(1) sports
(2)
work
(3)
recreation
(4)
popularity
(5)
material possessions - Luke 12:15; Colossians 3:5
v. These are where many spend their time, money, conversation, and it is
where many put
their TRUST and find SECURITY.
vi. In the hour of death, possessions,
sports, and popularity will not sustain
the soul nor give
comfort to those left behind. Only GOD can do that.
vii. vv. 24-25 changing the object of
worship to SELF = hedonism
d. v. 28 the reprobate mind = a mind void of JUDGMENT
e. vv. 29-31 23 sins associated with the reprobate mind
f. v. 32 they not only do it, but take PLEASURE
in others so doing
3.
Practical application: note the natural result of the actions by those who
do
not live close to God: (at the end of each, ask if a
person living close to God
would do such a thing)
a. Coveteousness
i. Our government, at the highest level, has sold us out to the
Chinese for
the love of money and
campaign contributions . . . .
ii. 14% of all medicare payments, totaling b/w 17 - 28 billion
dollars
annually, are made to fraudulent claims.
b. Murder
i. Jack Kervorkian killed 130 people - do you consider him a
man who
lives close to God?
ii. (Note school killings listed at the bottom)
c. Without Natural Affection = inhuman (note teen mothers killing babies)
4. This Makes the GREAT COMMISSION an IMPERATIVE!!!
a. The only thing that will stop people from acting like this is for them
to
Hear, Believe, Obey and Live the
GOSPEL.
b. The only permanent solution to CRIME is the Gospel.
c. The only way to have peace in the Middle East is
through the Gospel - the
only way to get Jews and Muslims to
stop fighting is to make Christians
out of them.
d. The only way men will ever beat their SWORDS into
ploughshares and
SPEARS into pruning hooks is to obey
and live the Gospel.
e. This makes CHRISTIAN LIVING an imperative - I Peter 3:15
April 20, 1999: Two young men opened fire in a suburban high
school in Littleton, CO, killing 13 before turning their guns on themselves.
May 21, 1998: A 15-year-old student in Springfield, OR, expelled
the day before for bringing a gun to school, opens fire in the school
cafeteria, killing two students. The student's parents are later found
shot dead in their home.
May 19, 1998: Three days before his graduation, an 18-year-old
honor student opens fire in a parking lot at Lincoln County High School in
Fayetteville, TN, killing a classmate, who had once dated his girlfriend.
April 24, 1998: A 14-year-old student at James W. Parker Middle
School shot and killed a 48-year-old Science teacher in front of students at
graduation dance in Edinboro, PA.
March 24, 1998: Four girls and a teacher are shot to death and 10
others wounded during a false fire alarm at Westside Middle School in
Jonesboro, AR, when two boys, ages 11 and 13, open fire from the woods.
Both are convicted in juvenile court of murder and can only be held until they
reach age 21.
December 1, 1997: Three students are killed and five others
wounded while they were praying in a hallway at Heath High School in West
Paducah, KY. A 14-year-old student plead guilty but mentally ill to
murder and is serving life in person. One of the wounded girls is left
paralyzed.
October 1, 1997: A 16-year-old outcast in Pearl, MS, killed his
mother, then went to Pearl High School and shot nine students leaving two dead,
including the suspect's ex-girlfriend.
February 19, 1997: A 16-year-old student opens fire with a
shotgun in a common area at the Bethel, AK high school, killing the principal
and a student. Two other students are wounded.
February 2, 1996: A 14-year-old boy walks into Algebra class with
a hunting rifle and opens fire, killing the teacher and two students at a
junior high school in Moses Lake, WA.
August 11, 1997: A New Jersey teen is charged with killing her
baby after she gave birth to it then discarded it in a school gym bag.
Same week in Indiana: Someone tossed a newborn baby into an
outhouse pit in a city park. Rescuers saved the 6 lb. 7 oz. boy after a
woman notified authorities of hearing strange noises in the sewage pit.
Headline - October 29, 1998: "Prom Mom Gets 15 Years"
The girl who gave birth at her high school prom, then killed her newborn and
returned to the dance floor, was sentenced today to 15 years in prison.
Melissa Drexler had been charged with murder in the June 6, 1997, death of her
son. She was a high school senior at the time.
When she entered her guilty plea to manslaughter in August, she said the baby
was born alive, and admitted she had lied when she denied knowing she was
pregnant. Said Drexler, "I knowingly took the baby out of the toilet
and wrapped a series of garbage bags around the baby. I then placed the
baby in another garbage bag and knotted it. I closed it and put it in a
trash can." Maintenance workers who were called to clean up blood on
the restroom floor discovered the baby's body.
Under a plea agreement, Melissa Drexler, 20, could be released in slightly less
than three years. The sentence is not unlike the one received by Amy
Grossberg, the New Jersey-born college student who killed her newborn in a Delaware
motel on November 12, 1996. Grossberg pleaded guilty to manslaughter and
is currently serving a 2 1/2 year term.
Tom
Holland presented a lesson Living in the Wrath of God
at the East Wood church
in Paris, TN, in 1997.