Introduction To Paul's Letter To The Romans - Part 2 Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

CrossWay Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

Before we begin with our study in the book of Romans, I want to take you to Matthew 3:7. This is part of our Prophecy Study tonight, and it is important to understand this, and it will relate to our future studies. There are many in the Church today who seem confused or uninformed about the nature of prophecy as it relates to the Gospel. It was during COVID that I realized this and how, as a pastor, I was neglecting the full counsel of God in my own teaching. The reason was simple: it wasn’t popular.

I think, in part, that is why God allows things like COVID or 9/11 to happen. It is to wake us up from our slumber. He is standing at the door and knocking so that we might answer (Revelation 3:20). Sometimes, we are uncomfortable with that image because Jesus wasn’t addressing the lost in that verse; he was addressing the church. Looking back, can we really say that our world is better off than we were on September 10, 2001? I don’t think so. Do any of us really remember what life was like before then?

Then I think about September 12. Everyone was genuinely looking at each other as humans. It wasn’t partisan or divisions. But then things didn’t go back to normal. We digressed as a society. We didn’t hear from God - we retaliated, we built a bigger tower, we decided we needed less freedom for ‘peace and security.” Then came COVID… are you seeing a pattern yet? There are people of power and influence waiting anxiously for the next 9/11 or COVID to happen.

So last week, I started our study with the first of the signs Jesus warned about in his Mt Olive Discourse, Matthew 24:5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” The first of many warnings Jesus gives us is deception and false hope - from many. And I’ve told you, as it relates to birth pangs, that these signs increase with intensity and frequency, and we’ve seen this. But what is happening now is something that we’ve never seen before - a convergence of these signs.

So that brings us back to Matthew 3:7. John the Baptist arrives on the scene and begins to preach the gospel, Matthew 3:2: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Hmmmm… not much different from what I am preaching today - ‘get right with God; time is short.’ And the Sadducees and Pharisees (the church police) arrive on the scene to find out what is going on, and this is where John gets interested. I never picked this up before the other day.

He says: "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7 LSB)

I’ve always focused on the character differences: John the Baptist vs. The Pharisees. But did you notice his question: “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And it occurred to me as I drove the other day, and someone mentioned this verse on the radio; there is something we really must examine here:

Jesus was equally appalled by this group of Jewish leaders.

They were only fit for their hell (Matthew 23:15)

They were called blind guides and leaders (Matthew 23:24, 26; Matthew 25:14; Luke 6:39)

They were people who were evil who pretended to do good (Matthew 23:28)

They were snakes and children of snakes (Matthew 23:33)

They were guilty of all murder (Matthew 23:35).

Just to name a few. However, it is clear that Jesus does not count them as part of the heavenly kingdom. They are doomed to hell unless they repent. They are lost and condemned people, regardless of their national affiliation.

But what wrath is John referring to?

The Cross of Christ? Maybe, but John was asking them who told them to ‘flee’ the wrath to come. May I suggest to you that John was referring to what we call the Great Tribulation and final judgment of the living and the dead - in other words, the 7 Year Tribulation is the impending judgment of God’s wrath.

What we are witnessing now is a blip of what is about to come - foreshadows to wake us up and turn to God. Let me just quickly cover a couple of things that are happening in our world - what some would call ‘natural disasters.’ But I submit to you, they are the events mentioned in Matthew 24, with certain people in power manipulating them as a means to deceive many

In Lybia this week, devastating floods broke dams and swept away entire neighborhoods in coastal towns. More than 40,000 people have been displaced, and the national death toll is feared to exceed 10,000