Romans 2:5 “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,”
Paul’s letter to the church in Rome brought a sobering reminder of what is to come. The battle of darkness and light was as prominent then as it is today. The world seeks it’s own desires, pride dominates the heart and yet in the midst of a world gone awry there flourishes the Kingdom of God…restraining evil, declaring righteousness, and being the light of Christ to all who are blind.
The warning in Romans is the reminder that there are consequences for evil. Contrary to much public opinion, God does see the evil being perpetrated among the wicked and He is keeping a log of the offenses made against Him.
The world will argue that to forgive is to forget, but sadly they lack the knowledge of God is in regard to how He forgives. The Lord indeed forgives the penitent sinner and He is gracious toward the contrite of heart, but the world wants nothing to do with contrition or repentance. To accept their guilt would be to accept God as Sovereign over creation. The world doesn’t want to be subject to a God who upholds His standard of righteousness with the scale of His moral law. The world wants to be a law unto themselves, they want to form a god in their own image, one who is not judgmental, who doesn’t incur wrath for sin, and who lavishes forgiveness as if it was cheap.
Grace and forgiveness came at a very steep price. When Jesus stepped out of glory and into the frailty of human flesh, He subjected Himself to ridicule and scorn, spewed from the wicked hearts of prideful man.
Is God justified in His judgement? Is the liar, or adulterer really worthy of the horror of Hell?
If we look into revelation of God’s glory and mankind’s position before a Just and Holy God, we will see just how egregious sin really is before Him.
Just One lie
How can one offense incur such terrible judgement? How can one small “white” lie, one “half-truth”, bring about a fate worse than death?
James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
The revelation of God given to John was a warning that God will bring to conclusion mankind’s time on earth as we know it. What has been will no longer be, what is will be a distant memory, and all who opposed the Alpha and Omega will find their eternal condition under the wrath of an Almighty God. One offense, one breach of God’s law, takes the innocent and places them into the realm of the accused.
I’ve heard many teachers describe God’s moral law (10 commandments) as a collection of laws descriptive of an expression of love. The first four they say describe how mankind shows love to God, while the final six describe mankind’s love for one another. Even though this thought may be true in part, the whole of the law is that which renders judgment against mankind. Every point mankind encounters either honors or offends God.
Revelation 21:5-8 “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Do you find yourself among the accused?
The cowardly live in fear, there is no strength among the proud for they live for themselves and die on the merits of their own justification. The faithless trust in no one but themselves. Only what they can see, touch, hear, or can test for themselves is that which they trust, and even so they remain skeptical. The detestable live by the putrid standard of their own law. They abuse the weak, they partake of sick sexual sin, and twist the form of all that God deemed as holy by the way they live for themselves.
Murderers display hatred in their hearts, they take judgement into their own hands as if they are God. They place themselves upon their own thrones and pass judge unfairly, by a standard they themselves offend. The sexually immoral have worked very hard in an attempt to normalize adultery, fornication, homosexuality, beastiality, and every form of perversion. Sorcerers practice dark magic, they abuse drugs and partake of demonic incantations by giving themselves over to darkness. Idolaters exalt everything that is not God. There are those who erect idols today, but there are others who worship money, sports, business, relationships, or even their own bodies. Anything exalted over God is an idol and it is evidenced by what people invest their energy into.
Finally we come to the liar, the abuser of truth and deceiver who believes they can manipulate a situation by lying to one another or to God. They don’t believe their lies carry with it judgement, or that God can possibly be offended for a manipulation against their fellow man. They deceive for their own gain, they have placed themselves upon a false throne.
What portion is reserved for such as these?
The 2nd Death
The first death is of the body, that moment in time when the heart stops beating, the brain loses oxygen, and the system that was once so finely tuned finds itself coming to its conclusion. The second death is of the spirit that dwells within the body. The spirit departs at the last breath and then proceeds either into the presence of the Lord, or into the darkness and fire of judgement.
The revelation of God’s wrath or mercy is discovered immediately by the deceased. Don’t let Hollywood deceive you, every person who dies does not go to Heaven, but to the contrary, the majority will find themselves among the fallen and accursed.
Matthew 22:11-14 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
There is a great final judgment coming, the accumulation of offenses against God have been kept meticulously and each one will bear the weight of God’s holiness. The world thinks that they have no greater accountability but they will find themselves soberly standing before the Bema seat and everything will be made known.
For believers, those who stand justified because they have accepted and believed in Christ the Savior, their sins will be remembered no more.
The Spirit of God brings revelation of sin and God’s call goes forth throughout the earth…be reconciled to God. Believers will know the revelation of God’s grace when they follow Jesus as Lord of their lives.
Today, if you hear His voice, don’t delay. Humble yourself, turn from sin, and know that you will be accepted as His own.
U.T. 