General Articles

Study Through Romans: Lesson 7 :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

Chapter 2:1-16
God’s Righteous Judgements

“Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

” 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, 6 who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

” 12 For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law 13 (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; 14 for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, 15 who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) 16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.”

The book of Romans is a hard-hitting book. It deals with both the ideal and the reality of the Christian walk. This walk is fraught with failure and failing. It is fraught with hard lessons and a lot of waiting. The Christian life can be costly at times and eternally rewarding at the same time. This Christian life is lived in the here and now, but one must always keep an eye on the future. We earthbound Christians must always have a heaven-bound mindset, and we must take the long view when the short view does not make sense.

In chapter 2, the Apostle Paul opens the writing, hitting us in the spiritual heart, so to speak. He is building on the principle that Jesus began with in regard to judging a brother or sister in the Lord. The basic principle is this: ‘check yourself first.’ I have heard it said this way: Don’t judge others harshly because they sin differently than you do.

Today we will look at just the first few verses of this chapter.

  1. Hypocrisy is a dangerous beast, verse 1

Be careful when you judge others but secretly you are doing the same sins. Make no mistake; your sins will not remain secret for long. Everything eventually comes to the surface. All too often, we have heard of Pastors who have fallen into sin but they were the hardest on people. We have seen prominent figures who are hard on, say, prostitution, and then they end up getting arrested in a police operation. We have heard of or seen affairs in the Lord’s churches, and it seems that the most pious people are the ones perpetrating the sins. We are all sinners; we know that, and yet we put each other on pedestals that can only lead to our downfall.

In Hebrews 5:1-3, we find that the High Priest had to first offer a sacrifice for his own sins before he could offer one on behalf of the people. “Every high priest is appointed from among men to represent them in matters relating to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and misguided, since he himself is beset by weakness. 3 That is why he is obligated to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.”

This should lead to humility as a leader and to compassion as a priest, for the people he served. Notice verse 2. He is able to deal gently with those in sin. Why? Because he too is beset by weakness. We should endeavor to turn away from sin and to discipline our minds and bodies to avoid sin. But the reality is that we will sin. Now, there are some who claim to be sinless in this life; and in so doing, they sin as liars. If we continue the thought from the end of the first chapter, Paul is telling us that we have the capacity to do all manner of evil and that we should be wary of our judgments.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 7: 2-4: “For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?”

Before we go judging anyone and seeking to help them with an air of piety, we should first examine ourselves. Paul wants us to help our fellow Christian when sin is in their lives, and he wants them to help us. We see this in Galatians 6:1:

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.”

Be careful how you help that brother and be gentle with him. Remember the verse about the weakness of the priest in Hebrews; he in turn was to deal gently with the sinful ones, remembering his own frailty. We should be the same way for each other. But we have a tendency to tear each other down so as to point out how much more spiritual we are. Oh, what hypocrites we are!

In the words of Jesus, “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”

Too many of the Lord’s churches are filled with cold, unloving and judgmental people who never let you get too close as you might see the chinks in their armor. Many Pastors live at arm’s length to the flock they serve, not wanting to mesh with the unwashed masses. But true shepherds are close to the sheep; they know the sheep and the sheep know them. We Pastors are under-shepherds to the Lord’s people. Often, we are weak so that, like the Priests, we can gently handle the Lord’s people.

  1. Hypocrisy will be rooted out and punished, verses 2-3

The people of Israel had a form of godliness but they covered their piety in prejudice and hatred. They hated Gentiles, they hated Samaritans and they hated anyone not like them. The religious leaders were even worse; they hated their own people. Jesus confronted this hypocrisy and took the Pharisees head on. Their brand of religion was useless; it offered no life, just death. They separated themselves from the masses and pretended that they were perfect and that they had something in common with God. The truth was that God hated them. He hated their lack of genuine love and compassion.

In Matthew 23:27, Jesus says this: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.” You guys look so pious on the outside but inside you are dead and your doctrines are dead. Stop being two-faced. Be honest.

We are sinners, sinners saved by grace, sinners waiting for the redemption of the body. We should be (trust me; this is a hard pill to swallow right now) much gentler than we are. All too often, we are so harsh (I am so harsh) with the Lord’s sheep and we do more damage than good. I am learning to speak in love, to speak truthfully, but always in love. There is a way to speak the truth and to speak love at the same time.

  1. God’s Grace Should drive us to Humility, verse 4

In light of our weaknesses and in light of our own proclivity to sin, we should be humbled and live in awe of the Lord’s grace and patience with us, and show that love and patience to each other. The Lord remembers our frame, but we are soon to forget that our brothers and sisters are made of dust just like us.

Psalm 103:13-14 “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.”

If only we could be compassionate to each other, but we want to point out our superiority in how we live for the Lord. Yes, we are to resist sin. Yes, we are to avoid sin. Yes, we are to be careful. But no matter how hard you try, or how disciplined you are/I am, we will fail. We will sin. Those around us in our families and churches will sin, and how we deal with it will be more telling about our walk with the Lord than any other measurement. Do we lovingly and humbly reach out to the sinning brother or sister and help them. Do we share their shame if any is to be had? or do we shun them like the plague?

Now, we are told in 1 Corinthians that there are some sins that we need to turn people over to the Lord for Him to deal with. But as soon as there is repentance, we are to take that person back.

Jesus warned the disciples to be careful of hypocrisy. He said this when referring to the apparent righteousness of the Pharisees, Matthew 16:6:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.'”

Hypocrisy permeates all the way through our lives, and soon we just become empty shells and emotionally dead people who cannot empathize nor act compassionately towards our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Romans 2:3 reminds us that we are not fooling God; He sees us and He will judge us harshly. Compassion begets compassion, kindness begets kindness, and forgiveness begets forgiveness. Let us work hard to avoid the sins that enslave us; but if and when we do sin, let us deal with love, humility and compassion towards each other. Let us run to each other and lift each other up, dust each other off and help each other stand again.

I leave you with these wise words in Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind and tender-hearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.”

God bless you,

Pastor Sean Gooding

Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Living in the Shadow of the Tribulation :: By Jonathan Brentner

Published on: by RR7

Daniel 9:27 tells us that the seven-year tribulation will begin when the antichrist confirms a covenant “with many” that will include Israel. Not only has this not happened, but 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 tells us that the rapture must happen before the revealing of the antichrist. Because the antichrist has not arrived on the scene and those of us in Christ remain earthbound, we know the time of God’s wrath upon the earth has not yet begun.

Since this is the case, why are we seeing so many things happen in our world that resemble tribulation conditions?

A comment on my blog referred to our current day as the “shadow of the tribulation”; I think that is quite accurate. The horrible conditions of the tribulation have not yet started, but we see its ever-darkening shadow everywhere in the world.

Here are some examples of what it means to live in the shadow of the tribulation:

  1. Coronavirus: Revelation 6:8 lists “pestilence” as a contributing factor to the deaths of over a billion people during the seal judgments. The Coronavirus fits well with this scenario. Some estimate that as many as fifty thousand have already died from this virus. Dr. Robert Redfield, the director of the CDC, warned that the Coronavirus might become widespread in the United States “beyond 2020.”

Yes, the death toll from this virus remains far short of the estimated fifty million who died of the Spanish Flu after World War I. However, if unchecked the coronavirus has the potential to kill many more than that in the months and years to come. Could this carry over into the tribulation? We do not know.

  1. Fires in Australia: As I watched videos of the raging fires and the destruction in Australia during recent months, I thought of the first trumpet judgment in Revelation 8:7, “The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire. . . . And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.” Could these fires be another foreshadowing of what looms ahead for planet Earth in the not-so-distant future? I think so.
  2. Locusts, Locusts, Locusts: More recent headlines tell of billions of locusts that are swarming across eastern Africa and Asia, impacting countries such as Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, Somalia, and Ethiopia. This has led the United Nations to warn of severe famines for an ever-expanding area of Africa that could possibly cause the starvation deaths of millions of people. Jesus talked about “famines” that would impact the earth as a sign of His return. Based on John’s description of the seal judgments, we know that famine conditions on the earth will contribute to the deaths of untold millions during the early years of the tribulation (Rev. 6:6-8).
  3. Wormwood: Revelation 8:10-11 refers to a “great star” that will “fall from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water. . . .” This is almost certainly a large asteroid that will have the appearance of a shooting star to those on the earth during the tribulation.

Last week, NASA warned of an asteroid that it said would travel past planet Earth “at speeds of more than 35,500 miles per hour” on Saturday, February 15, 2020. Because of its speed and size, experts tell us it has the potential to destroy an entire continent should it strike the earth. The asteroid referred to in Revelation 8 will cause widespread death with a deadly poison the Bible refers to as “wormwood.” This toxin appears to be much more fatal than the plant we know by that name.

  1. Great Delusion: In 2 Thessalonians 2:11, Paul writes about the “strong delusion” God will send upon Christ-rejecting people during the tribulation so they will “believe what is false.” There are days when it appears as though this deception has already arrived. A recent survey revealed that 45% of people in America would vote for a socialist for president. Given the deadly horrors caused by Marxism during the twentieth century and the current state of Venezuela, how could anyone possibly favor a socialist for president?
  2. One World Religion: Pope Francis has chosen May 14, the day Israel celebrates its independence, as the time he will make a concerted push for a one-world religion. This undoubtedly fits with the pope’s repeated calls for a New World Order. One wonders if Pope Francis realizes that his pleas for such things align with biblical prophecy of a one-world religion and government during the tribulation.

I could add earthquakes and volcanoes, the killing of believers in so many places in our world, the widespread apostasy in the church, the great wickedness of our day, rumors of wars, and the use of Revelation 13 technology to this growing list of end-time signs. If just one or two of these many things were true in our world, it might not be such a strong indicator of what is to come. The world has seen deadly plagues, widespread famines, and horrific wars at many times in its history, but who can ignore so great a foreshadowing of the tribulation?

On February 17, 2020, Michael Snyder published an article he titled “10 Plagues that Are Hitting Our Planet Simultaneously.” As the title suggests, Snyder lists ten pestilences that currently impact the earth to varying degrees. Toward the end of the article he asks, “Can any of you remember a time when we have been hit by crisis after crisis like this all at once? 2020 has certainly started off with quite a bang, and many expect global events to continue to accelerate.”

What do all these things tell us?

It’s Past Time to Wake Up

About a year ago, I posted an article on my blog with a large alarm clock signaling the need for us to wake up to the fact we live in the last days. What we currently see in our world now resembles flashing red lights and loud sirens alerting us to the nearness of the tribulation as well as the time of Jesus’ appearing.

I am not sure what else to think of these early glimpses into the tribulation that we see throughout our world. The catastrophes are severe enough to get our attention, but fall far short of the levels of what we see in the book of Isaiah and Revelation concerning what lies ahead for the world.

It’s a Sobering Reminder of What Lies Ahead for the World

The darkening shadow cast by the tribulation reminds us of just how awful life will be on the earth during the tribulation. It’s sobering to consider the horrors of this coming time.

As bad as the coronavirus is and might be in the future, it pales in light of what is coming. Let’s say the population of earth is 6 billion at the start of the tribulation. The seal judgments alone will reduce the number of people on earth by 25%. Imagine wars, pestilences, and famine that take the lives of 1.5 billion people (Rev. 6:7-8). It’s mind-numbing to consider such a great loss of life.

The current panic caused by the coronavirus is relatively minor compared to what people living during the tribulation will experience. Some estimate that three fourths of the earth’s population will perish during this time, which fits with what other passages reveal about this time.

In Isaiah 13:9-13, the Lord talks about His outpouring of wrath during the day of the Lord, which we know as the tribulation. His words confirm the great loss of life we read about in the book of Revelation, “I will punish the world for its evil; and the wicked for their iniquity . . . . I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir” (vv. 11-12).

Jesus said this about the latter half of the tribulation, “And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved” (Matt. 24:22). If not for His second coming, the wars and afflictions of this day would wipe out the entire human race.

Is it any wonder Jesus described this time like this, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matt. 24:21)?

With such a dire end-time scenario waiting in the wings for this world, it makes sense that God would warn people over a lengthy period of time concerning the great terrors that lie ahead for the world. I believe the Lord is doing that now.

If you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, please do so soon. The door is open to invite Him into your life before judgment falls on this world. Now is the time to turn to the Savior who died in your place upon the cross. Tomorrow may be too late.

You may have only days, weeks, or months left to do so before Jesus returns to take His own out of the world before the tribulation starts. The Lord may extend this time of warning to more years; we do not know. However, He could just as easily come for His church today.

Are you ready? We already see the shadow of the tribulation; how much longer before the shadow turns to the darkness of tribulation?

Jonathan Brentner

Website: Our Journey Home

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