1. From bondage to Spiritual faith;
2. From Spiritual faith great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage.
“A democracy is always temporary in nature…
“A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury”
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
Rom. 2:5 But because of your stubbornness/hardness & unrepentant heart
& unrepentant heart compound of same word we studied repentance
Plus alpha negative not repentant; unrepentant
Heart – again the place of battle
Heart – does not refer to physiological heart of our bodies but like our physical heart is vital to our life, so Biblical word heart refers to vital part of our being, invisible yet very real & place of battle.
Why repent?
They have nothing to repent of !
Once you reject the truth, you have nothing for which you repent.
Hardness rejects truth of of God, of Christ & gospel, & of sin.
If no sin, there is nothing to repent of…
Sin distorts relationships
Homosexuality & lesbianism are not sins so nothing to repent of.
All those things mentioned in Rom.s 1: are not sins. Therefore nothing to repent of & remember once you reject the truth, you have no defense against the Lie!
The only real wrong in this society is to speak out against these things.
To shed light on them, for light will reveal the truthfulness of the hardened sinful society, so those few who still believe in truth, must be silenced!!!
Storing up wrath from God; /wrath of God is finally directed toward all who are hardened against /gospel; faith in Jesus Christ as Savior
/storing up of this wrath began at /first rejection of God, of Christ , of /gospel, & then continued to store up with every rejection.
Revelation is Greek apoklupsis – apocalypse
Revelation, uncovering, unveiling but not just the thing shown or seen, but the interpretation
This word is used of the Second coming of Christ
This word is used for the removal of ignorance & darkness by the communication of light & truth
& the word is used of that which is seen by an event as here in Rom.2
& what is going to be revealed, seen?
Revelation of the righteous judgment of God
This is a compound Greek word: dikaios- just, righteous + krisis Judgment – righteous judgment
This has been the issue from man in the garden, & intensified in 10 questions of Job – Righteousness of God & un-righteousness of man.
& the only way a member of human race can be Righteous before God is by belief in Jesus Christ as Savior.
& the only issue on the day of wrath is not man’s sins but that he does not possess the righteousness of God.
& as far bel.s are concerned the one who defends us is also Righteous.
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
5 But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
“day of wrath” Since this is what the first few chpts of Rom.s are about lets spend a few moments on the Day of Wrath
1st if you have believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, you do not have to be in fear of this day. You will want to know about it, to encourage you to witness; to at least those you love.
2. Used to describe the 7 yrs of Tribulation, but
Refers to a specific day, already determined by God
It refers to the last judgment; called the Great White Throne.
Cup of the New Covenant
Do you know:
What a covenant is?
What the New Covenant is?
Where it is found in Bible?
What are the conditions of New Covenant
Who is under the New Covenant?
Most Christians will take communion, eat the bread and drink the cup of the New Covenant but have no idea what the New Covenant is about. And yet the New Covenant determines how we are to live.
What is a covenant?
Covenant is a declaration of one person’s will, not the result of an agreement between two parties like a contract. It is God & God alone who sets the conditions of His covenant.
Man decides to accept the conditions or not but he cannot alter the conditions of God’s covenants.
There are conditional covenants and there are unconditional covenants.
Mosaic Covenant is a conditional covenant, where man must do and do.
Abrahamic and the New Covenant are unconditional, where man simply believes.
What is the New Covenant?
New Covenant is New in reference to the Mosaic covenant but not the Abrahamic.
The Mosaic is a covenant of works, and it kills. It does not give life.
The Abrahamic Covenant is the original covenant and is a covenant of grace, where God does it all, and all Abraham and all people have to do is faith.
Abraham believed and it was accredited to as Righteousness.
The New Covenant is unconditional, received and lived by faith and faith alone.
Where is the New Covenant found in the Bible?
Jere. 31:31-33
2 Cor. 3:6
What are the conditions of the New Covenant?
Faith
But is it the faith God is looking for?
Faith in the one God sends:
Faith in His Son for Eternal Life
Faith in His Spirit for Spiritual life
And we live by faith in members of the Godhead
Who is under the New Covenant?
Only those who are in Christ by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
What does this New Covenant establish?
1. It creates a New Spiritual Creation.
2. It establishes a New relationship with
God.
3. It creates a New Covenant Community, not a nation or race as with Israel, but a body, a church, a new fellowship.
4. It introduces a New Love, Spiritual love
5. It gives to every member of Body of Christ New permanent power in the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Cup of the New Covenant
This is how we are to live every day of our lives.
We must think in terms of this New Covenant not the Law. Most Christians hold on to the Law because they know nothing about New Covenant.
New Covenant sets us free!
Spiritually free to serve Jesus Christ and serve One Another in Spiritual Love.
We are to act toward One Another according to this New Covenant, so it is imperative that we know this New Covenant.