Romans 2
God’s Kindness Leads to Repentace
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Now before we get into the passage, I need to tell you something, some bad news
God hates for you to eat greasy fat filled hamburgers
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God wants you to only eat grilled food <
and steamed vegetables, <
because God hates greasy foods <
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And what God hates the most is Burger King <
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Read Romans 2:1-5
Listen - If God DID hate greasy Hamburgers, would it matter WHERE you got them?
Is Wendy’s better McDonald’s? Is Burger King really Better than Steak and Shake?
Are any of them really better than White Caste’s?
If Greasy Hamburgers displeases God, then the Bigger question is, am I a better person if I eat at "Steak and Shake" instead eating at White Castles?
The Problem is that I LOVE WHITE CASTLES, so, how are you going to get me to change?
What if you made fun of me?
What if you told me simply how stupid I was?
What if you just stood on the street corner and called out to me?
How about if you became my friend?
What if you just hung out with me, even at WHITE Castles, but didn’t eat the horrible greasy hamburgers?
What if you began to tell me about the wonders of "Souper Salad"?
What if you continued to love me in spite of my rejection?
What if you took me to eat at "Souper Salad" and you paid?
What if I still went my own way and my arteries Hardened and my heart gave out and YOU GAVE your HEART for a TRANSPLANT to me that I Might LIVE?
Do you think I would change my eating habits then?
What’s my Point -
You Are Helpless and Hopeless without God.
No matter which burger joint you are eating from you are LOST WITHOUT Christ and are NO better off than any other.
Don’t Try to Cover your Own failure by pointing to the Sin of another.
READ Romans 2:4 again
Look at the 3 Important Words of verse 4
1. Kindness -
He loves you
Eph 1:5 -
Because of his love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him,
Eph 3:18,19
And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love -- how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
1Jo 4:10 -
This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us in
sending his Son to be the way to take away our sins.
The same GREEK word for Kindness is found Luke when Jesus said
Luke 6:35
"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
God displayed his kindness toward you and continues to do so in spite of the fact that we are evil and ungrateful people.
It is not the fear of an angry God that leads us to repentance.
It is not his ANGER.
You have NOT seen his anger.
His ANGER will burn.
His anger will burn in the ultimate judgment.
His anger will be poured out on the blasphemy of rejecting him.
But until then, it is his Kindness, his grace, his mercy that calls you back to a relationship with him
2. Leads -
He does NOT command you from afar.
He does Not throw down orders from his LOFTY throne.
Yes, he is High and Lifted up, but he also came down
Jer 23:23 -
"I am a God who is near," says the Lord. "I am also a God who is far away."
He is not a Cosmic Bullying Cowboy firing bullets at your feet saying "Dance Boy"
No - he left his throne
He submitted himself to the limitations and humiliation of human existence
Phil 2:6-11 -
6 Christ himself was like God in everything. But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit. 7 But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant. 8 And when he was living as a man, he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death -- death on a cross. 9 So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name 10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus -- everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. 11 And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father.
He came to extend his life to extend his hand to lead us to himself
1Jo 3:16 -
This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters.
He came near to bring you to himself
Eph 2:13 -
But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away from God are brought near through the blood of Christ’s death.
Eph 2:17 -
Christ came and preached peace to you who were far away from God,
Jas 4:8 -
Come near to God, and God will come near to you
Hebrews 10:19-22
19 So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus’ death. 20 We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain -- Christ’s body. 21 And since we have a great priest over God’s house, 22 let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
He doesn’t just lead you around for a fun day in the park, or a little exercise for your health.
Jesus Christ LEADS us INTO God’s VERY PRESENCE! Into a relationship with God himself
In order to do that, he must turn us around, Lead us to ….
3. Repentance -
Definition
1. a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done
Same word is found in
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.
God calls us to repentance and we need to respond while his Kindness still leads us, because there will be a time when the Blessing is no longer available to us when his patience will be exhausted
Hebrews 12: 16-17
"that {there be} no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a {single} meal. 17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.
Come while you can!
Esau sold his Riches for a Lunch of Beans!
What will you sell your riches to have.
Will you give up the Riches of Obedience for momentary control; for temporary satisfaction?
Don’t Rob YOURSELF.
If the Lord is leading you it is GOOD NEWS and it REALLY is GOOD
Trust Him
Scripture does teach that there is a time when you can no longer repent even though you want to.
Repentance has always been the message of God to a people going their own way.
>It was the message of Moses to the Children of Israel when they were worshipping a golden idol, after he had just been in the very presence of the True and Living God
>It was the Message of Nathan to David when he had selfishly taken the wife of Uriah to himself and then had Killed Him to cover his own sin.
>It was the Message of Ezekiel, it was the message of Isaiah, it was the message of Jeremiah. It was the message of Daniel, Joel, Amos, and Jonah.
>It was the message of John the Baptist,
>and it was the message of Jesus in Matthew 4:17 when he cried, "Repent, (COME BACK), for the Kingdom of God is near. The Kingdom of God is not THAT WAY, it is THIS WAY."
ILL >>
KINDNESS
LEADS
REPENTANCE
AM I UNKIND TO Lead away from danger ?
Am I Unkind to Lead to Blessing ?
If they dont understand and I force ?
If I let them hurt to teach?
Why is the message the same over thousands of years?
Because we are prideful children who want to do it our own way.
We think we have all of the answers.
We think we are better off.
Yet God continues to come alongside and says "take my hand and come with me this way. Turn back."
Realize the Kindness and Grace that God lavishes on you
Have you Repented? Or just stopped doing something ?
Many times we stop doing something because we know that we should stop but we don’t repent. We don’t turn away and turn to God.
The Love of Christ, the Kindness of a Holy God who created everything calls you.
The One who stepped from Heaven and flung the stars into space is waiting to lead you.
The One who spoke and this world came into being is walking with you.
The One, who shaped the dust of the earth and breathed life into man walks with you.
The One who knew you before you were born and knit you together in your mother’s womb is reaching for you hand.
His love calls out to you from an empty cross where he gave his life and his heart broke to replace yours which was corrupted, corroded, and corpulent with sin.
"How great is the love that the father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of God" 1 John 3:1
I cannot command you to come, I can only point the way
I cannot drag you there, though I can encourage you
But I trust Christ because His kindness calls you,
his kindness reaches to take your hand
and lead you to turn and follow him through repentance.
