5—storing up wrath, in /day of wrath, judgment of God
6---foundation of judgment—according to his deeds. Question arises what are these deeds?
7 doing good—E-L
8 do not obey /truth
What is obeying /truth, will help in defining deeds
Truth –gospel- obeying /truth–faith: gospel calls for faith;
Gospel for unbel. – faith in Jesus Christ; gospel for bel.—faith in Holy Spirit
So those in 7—faith in Christ leads to E-L
Those in 8 their deeds were to refuse to believe in Christ which results in wrath & indignation.
Note the flow:
vss 3-4 a separation between the judgment of God in vs 3 & the kindness of God in vs 4
Then we have a contrast between the kindness of God in vs 4 & hardness of unbeliever toward the kindness of God in vs 5.
Vs 3 judgment of God
Vs 4 kindness of God in withholding judgment
Vs 5 hardness of unbeliever: who uses that time
to become hardened to God’s kindness
It is so characteristic of man to make false conclusions about the kindness of God in delaying judgment. God gives a grace period to repent & turn to God by faith. But due to the delay, man uses that time to think that God is not going to judge.
2 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Turn to Hab. 1:1-4 & 2:3-4
Rom. 2:5
1st note the two conditions of man: stubbornness & unrepentant heart
Stubbornness is used to describe the condition of soul, that refuses to acknowledge all that is going on—all the evidence –
it comes from chpt. 1 claiming to be wise they became fools
How do we explain this hardness?
Time is important to the hardening process:
--Judgment from God should come, immediately
--Kindness of God holds off judgment – to allow
time to repent
--the unbel., instead of using this time to repent, & turn to God by faith uses this time to say no over & over & hardened his heart against God, against Jesus Christ, against the gospel.
America has hardened it’s soul against God, against God, Jesus Christ & the gospel
Majority of Pastors have hardened to truth of gospel
Max. unbel.s hardened to God, Christ & gospel
Max. number of bel.s have hardened to bible teaching
When you have max. opportunities to proclaim the truth of Gospel from the pulpit or from personal witnessing & refuse to do so;
When you have many opportunities to hear the gospel everyday;
When you have max. opportunity to hear sound teaching
as you do in this country!
These people develop a much greater hardening to truth, than even those in countries where the gospel is not freely, readily proclaimed
as in Russia, China, Cuba, & many countries in Africa
We often think of these countries as hardened & evil, but they are not The most hardened people in the world are in Free America. They do not hear the gospel every day, nor do they have opportunity to hear sound bible teaching every day, so they do not say no every day.
But we, as a nation have used our freedom & the kindness of God to become hardened toward God. in our schools, in our judicial system and in our churches.
& when an individual or society, nation of people have hardened their heart against God, His being, His Word, His Gospel, His Son
This hardness opens the mind of these people for evil. Religion evil- Islamic rel. evil (while I can still proclaim this truth in America, before they take away this freedom of speech, as they are close to doing to declare /biblical & historical truth of homosexuality & lesbianism.
America—both hardened unbel.s & hardened bel.s are turning to evil at an increasing rate, reflected in our politics & judicial & social & educational systems.
Hardness of the heart is continual rejection of truth & this has results or ramifications in the soul.
1. as to what these people will accept, run to, desire, & vote for.
2. leaving these people easily deceived & deluded.
3. the hardness of the soul, closes off the truth & is now open to the lie.
These people who were once conservative based on biblical truth, but they began saying no to Biblical truth,
& therefore they had no defense against that which is false, evil.
This is why there has been a concerted movement against the Bible, get it out of school, out of churches. Once you have removed the foundation of truth, there is no defense against Evil.
Once you say no to the truth, you have no defense against that which is false, against evil, against the lie.
1:25 for they exchanged /truth of God for the lie
Understand what is happening in America
When you remove God, no defense against lie
From the Declaration of Independence
…we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
What happens when you remove God, the Creator?
You have no defense against the government claiming to have authority over the lives of the people.
When you reject the truth, you have no defense against the lie!
4. The procedure of Hardening the heart is found in Eph. 4:17-20
We are spending time here, because this so accurately describes what is going on in our beloved country read Eph. 4:17-20
2 Thess. 2:10-12