Benefits and Drawbacks, Part 4

We find ourselves in chapter
two once again. I almost wish sometimes that
I would be found as making up some of the things that I read
from the pulpit. I almost wish that I would rather
be found, you know, some kind of a knucklehead comic phony
making some of this stuff up than to actually have it be true
in the world in which we live. This is one from our own community
from this past week that absolutely turns my stomach. And I wish
it weren’t true. But it is. It comes. And I wish, if nothing else,
that this place would change the name of its church. It comes
from where else but New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Where the news media quickly
grabbed up this woman’s cause this past week. If you’re familiar
with New Life Church, you know they’ve had a few problems along
the way. First of all, the pastor was
ultimately exposed as a fraud because of his so-called private
life as vile as it can get. He was exposed and then sometime
later, someone with big problems went on a shooting rampage, certainly
not new life’s fault, but then it came out this week. The church
security guard, who was hailed as a hero. After shooting a gunman
who had killed four people, said she was shunned by the very church
that had early praised her. After she told them she was gay.
Now, the astounding thing to me was that she was surprised
that she was shunned, that she was shocked that her sin wasn’t
accepted. She went on to say that she was
told she was no longer welcome at the church after she informed
them of her sexual orientation. And at first I read it and I
thought, finally, finally, new life has done something right. And I don’t mean to say that
just by virtue of someone confessing any sin, including homosexuality,
is grounds for dismissal, to be dismissed. It’s the embracing
of that sin, it’s the continuing in that sin that is repulsive,
not only to God, but to the church. And I imagined in my mind that
the interview went something like this. Pastor, what do you
have to say for yourself? Well, we have a high view of
Scripture and Scripture calls this as well as many other things,
not a orientation. But a sin. And we call this individual
to repentance, we repeatedly prayed for her and with her,
we pleaded with her to repent of her sin, and she did not.
And ultimately, we went to her and we said, if you do not repent
of this sin, if you do not confess this as sin and turn your life
to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness, for restoration, for change,
if you do not do that, we have no cause. The church is not ours. We are stewards of the church
and God has given us clear directions on what to do with the sinner
who will not turn from their sin. We had no choice. We were broken hearted to put
her out. We had no choice. But that isn’t what it says.
That is what happened. New Life Pastor Brady Boyd denied
the accusations. And it goes on to say that as
they interviewed him, he said we would never tell someone to
leave. Because of their sexual orientation. It’s utterly shocking. Utterly
shocking, and I used to say that there will come a day. Well,
the day is here. The fact that the news media
so quickly seized on this, the fact that a church, a mega church,
mind you, was so fearful of the media that they are now cowering
in the corner, backed up against the wall, afraid, absolutely
terrified to stand on biblical principle. It’s here. It’s here. I don’t know what the cause will
be, but I plan on going to jail, and if it’s for that one, so
be it. I’m ready. You men might want to have a
sermon in the hopper. If you would turn to Romans chapter
two. We are in the midst of this section. Where Paul is pointing out that
the Jews are likewise condemned. Perhaps they were exulting in
the fact that Paul had just blistered the Gentiles, but Paul turns
to them just as quickly and says, wait, wait, wait. Just a moment,
you are just as sinful, just as absolutely in need of a redeemer
as the Gentile world. What we’ve begun here in chapter
two, Is that first major section the status of the Jewish people,
if the Gentiles are condemned, what then of the Jew? Are they
in great shape? Not at all. There are three subsections
to this particular section, all in chapter two, verses one through
three, we’ve already considered the privileges and the arrogance
of the Jewish people. Secondly, in verse four, the
privileges and the oversight, and I don’t mean following on
appointing an elder. We don’t want to suggest in any
way that that’s the kind of oversight that we’re talking about here.
It’s it’s what they missed with their eyes, not what the elders
are called to do in looking out over the body, privileges and
oversight. And then finally, that third
section is privileges and judgment. We’ll get to the third beginning
next week. If you would, though, read along
with me. We’ll go all the way down to
verse eleven. Where Paul writes, therefore,
you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment
for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself for you
who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment
of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. And
do you suppose this, oh man, when you pass judgment upon those
who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you
will escape the judgment of God? We spent no little time on that
section. that just simply because they
hated particular sins or hated the sins that the Gentiles struggled
with, they thought that somehow they could live with impunity
however they chose because of their bloodline with Abraham. They could live however they
wanted and be exonerated from any guilt. Verse four. Or do you think lightly of the
riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that
the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness
and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself
in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God, who will render to every man according to his deeds To
those who, by perseverance and doing good, seek for glory and
honor and immortality, eternal life. But to those who are selfishly
ambitious and do not obey the truth, that obey unrighteousness,
wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and
distress for every soul of man who does evil of the Jew first
and also of the Greek, but glory, honor and peace. To every man
who does good to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Paul has the Jews in focus. And Paul isn’t changing his argument,
he’s not offering up a new direction or maybe a rebuttal to verses
one through three. What he says here essentially
stacks up on top of the rebuke that he’s already given in verses
one through three. In a sense, it’s rhetorical.
He’s pressing home upon the nation of Israel, upon the Jews. He’s
building to a crescendo this impiety, this godlessness that
they had gotten so good at. And what he’s doing here is just
using another way, a different way of stating what they were
already identified as being guilty of, that they were in contempt. They were in contempt of God
himself. This is just a second in a series of reasons that Paul
is offering for that guilt. I want to begin this morning,
though, in kind of an upside down fashion, I want to go to
the last word of the sentence. It’s one sentence. I hope to
make it through this one sentence, but I want to take you to the
last word. The last word of the sentence
is repentance. And it’s a sadly, almost a forgotten
concept in our day and age, because it is in concert. It is in union
with sin. This is the way that we are to
deal with sin. We are to repent of sin. We are
to deal with sin and mortify sin and turn from sin. And no wonder repentance itself
is so unpopular, because even the word sin, the concept of
sin, the subject of sin, This has become a dirty word
even in the church. We don’t talk about it. We don’t want
to talk about it. We want people to feel good,
not bad. We want people to be happy, not concerned, not guilt
laden. We want them to come to our church
regardless of what it is, their particular orientation. Repentance in and of itself literally
means to change the mind. And what it pointed to initially
was a transformation that started in our own consciousness, in
our in our mental faculties. that ultimately flows forth in
a transformation of feelings and sentiments and loves and
affections, where ultimately we turn from sin to God, as we’ll
see in a moment. It it has a partner, a flip side
of the coin, if you will, is faith. It is the other side of
faith when we are called to Christ, we are called not only to faith,
we are called to repentance. And you can’t even really say
that one comes before the other. It is instantaneous. We repent
and place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can feel bad
about our sin for a long time. That’s not necessarily repentance.
It’s not that we’re called to feel bad and to grovel in our
sin for a long, long time, and then we can place our faith in
Jesus. That’s not it at all. It is a turning from one and
to another. From the human perspective, the response that we have to
the precious message of the gospel of Christ ultimately manifests
itself in a twofold manner. Repentance and faith, a sinner
who is called by God, mind you. He comes to detest, ultimately,
and loathe his sin and his sinfulness. That’s right and good and proper. He inwardly begins to hate it,
and he sincerely desires to turn from it, to repent. But at the
same time, the sinner, seeing for the first time the provision
that God has given for sin and for sinners, This ransom that
he had provided in the Lord Jesus Christ, his son, the child of
God, sees and can do no other but in faith respond. So repentance
and faith are, as I said, two sides of the same coin. Paul
illustrates this perfectly in First Thessalonians 1.9. In First
Thessalonians, one nine, he opens with this typical salutation.
And it’s so often the case that’s what makes the absence of it
so stark in the book of Galatians and even in in Corinthians. Typically,
he will commend them for some character trait, for some grace
that they were manifesting as a church. And what he says to
the Thessalonians is really amazing. He noted that they had turned
to God from idols. And you can’t do one without
doing the other. You can’t turn to God and yet embrace your homosexuality. You can’t turn to God and embrace
your alcoholism. You can’t turn to God and embrace
your alternative lifestyle or whatever your sin is. You cannot
do it. We are called to turn to God
from idols. And I would even suggest that
you cannot turn from your idols. You cannot turn from your idols
unless it is to God. There’s nobody else that’s going
to help you. You can’t help yourself. You can’t read a self-help book.
You can’t go through a program and really lay down the idol
if it isn’t God who’s there to embrace you and grant you His
grace. I love our theology book from
our institute class. Wayne Grudem said it this way
regarding repentance. Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow
for sin. When was the last time you ever
saw this in action? Where someone is confronted in
their sin and they are just utterly mortified that anyone else knows
about it, even their shame to even talk about it. Repentance
is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it and a sincere
commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.
It is an intellectual understanding that is true. There is a mental
aspect to this, Grudem says. It is an emotional. There is
an emotional element to it in the approval of the teachings
of Scripture regarding sin. But it’s not just a mental exercise. Essentially, that’s what confession
is, is agreeing with God that such and such is sin. And that’s
where so many people fall short. But he goes on to say the genuine
repentance will result in changed life. That is the fruit of repentance. Mere sorrow for one’s actions
or even deep remorse does not constitute genuine repentance.
You can have somebody sorrow, sorrowful for a long, long time.
That is not saved. Sorrow by itself is not repentance. Unless it is accompanied by a
sincere decision to forsake sin that is being committed against
God, it is clearly contrary to the New Testament evidence to
speak about the possibility of having true saving faith. Without
any repentance of sin. Unless you go to New Life Church.
Would have a completely different arrangement with God, evidently.
It’s not so. The discussion would go like
this. It’s not an orientation, it’s sin. And you need to repent
of it, you need to turn. We’ll pray with you. We’ll walk
with you. We’ll we’ll put you in groups and work with you as
you process this and give you some accountability and we’ll
we’ll pour scripture into you. But we’re not going to we’re
not going to coddle your sin. We’re not going to ignore it. Repentance, do you realize this
was the foundation of John the Baptist ministry? That’s what
he did. He just went around calling people, you know, you need to
repent, you need to repent, repent, repent, repent. That’s what he
did. Matthew 3. In those days, John
the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying,
repent. Jesus founded, established his
ministry with a call to sinners for repentance. The very first
word that Jesus uttered in the context of ministry was repent. Leave off your sin and turn to
God. Repentance. It’s interesting
that some people have called this the negative aspect of conversion,
and I know what they mean by it. Don’t be misled that negative. Oh, you know, we don’t want to
get into all that. You do want to get into it. The positive
aspect is reaching out to God by means of genuine trust, said
one, and a wholehearted surrender. The conversion indicates a complete
turnabout from Satan to God, from sin to holiness. And as
I said, you can’t have one without the other. They go hand in hand. Paul was addressing this very
thing when he wrote to the Corinthians in the seventh chapter of the
second Corinthians. He said, for though I caused
you sorrow by my letter. You remember, he wrote them in
the first letter. He blistered them. He several
different times. He really took them to the woodshed,
rebuked them. For though I caused you sorrow
by my letter, I do not regret it. I’m not called to shame as
elders to preach against sin, to own sin. You would have thought
that this man would have stood up and this would have been a
badge of honor. You know what? We took this person to the scriptures.
They refused God’s counsel and we had no choice but to put them
out. Badge of honor. Not in this case. I do not regret it. For I see
that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a little while.
Now I rejoice that not that you were made sorrowful, but that
you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance. For you were made sorrowful according
to the will of God so that you might not suffer loss in anything
through us, for the sorrow that is according to the will of God
produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation. That the sorrow of the world
produces death. What do we want? Do we want to
walk with God? Do we want to please God? Then
we need to repent of our sin. Charles Hodge said in this particular
context, repentance is not merely a change of purpose, but it includes
a change of heart by God’s grace, which leads to a turning from
sin with grief and a hatred of it. To God, another one said,
the essence of the gospel repentance is not the sorrow that it produces,
but the change that it works. Still another. It is a change
of heart and life, a turning from sin to holiness, which produces
genuine change. Still another repentance denotes
a change of mind for the better, a turning around and adopting
a new way of life. And mark this, all of those authors
would say that it’s absolutely and only by God’s grace that
we’re ever enabled to do that. It is a gift of God. It is the
gift just as the same, just the same as faith is a gift. Repentance
is a gift and a work of God, not of ourselves. Second, Timothy two says this
and then listen up elders, this is this is part of our calling.
This is what we do. The Lord’s bondservant must not
be quarrelsome. It’s a sad thing how many people
get caught up in all these bickering and arguments and issues that
aren’t issues. The Lord’s bondservant must not
be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition. Why? If,
perhaps, God may grant them repentance. That’s what they need. Leading
to the knowledge of the truth. We are not the repositories of
truth. We don’t have it residing within
us. Not in that sense. We don’t bestow it on whomever
we will. We absolutely and always are
in desperate need of God to come alongside of them and God to
bring them to repentance. That’s biblical counseling. And that they may come to their
senses and escape from the snares of the devil, having been held
captive by him to do his well. You know what? We don’t have
that key. We have the word of God. We have the spirit of God.
We can go to them and we can make our plea, but ultimately,
God is the one that has to unlock that jail, that prison. John brought us the great Baptist
pastor said it this way. Repentance signifies to change
the thought and to change the opinion on purpose or purpose. Rather, the interchange naturally
leads to and thus the expression may be particularly practically
to include a corresponding change of the outward life to reform
one’s ways. Changing our thinking is just
the start. But it’s changing our life by
God’s grace that is ultimately the goal. He goes on to say whenever
this Greek word is employed in the New Testament. The reference
is to changing the mind purpose from sin to holiness. And no
one will do this who does not feel a deep sorrow for the sin
that he has already committed. So a genuine sorrow for sin is
part of repentance, but it doesn’t replace repentance. It doesn’t
stand for repentance. Repentance isn’t just being sorry.
Repentance is being sorry to the point where we are at absolute,
our desperate end, and that if God, by his grace, does not reach
down and save us, we are undone. Paul says, look, to the Jews,
but not just to the Jews. Paul says, look, are you so casually
minded? Are you so careless in your thought
that you think lightly of the riches of His kindness, not knowing
that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Repentance
is absolutely key. It’s absolutely crucial to the
child of God. Are you so casually minded about all that God’s done for
you? That you’re not somehow led to repent and fall on your
knees and to plead with God for mercy. Look back again at the
verse, do you think lightly? Of the riches of his kindness,
do you really take it that casually? It literally means to think down
on. One writer said to despise is to form a low estimate of
something or someone. Those who form such a wrong estimate
of God and His goodness despise it by supposing that it gives
them license to sin. Remember, that’s the argument.
The Jews thought that just because they were in Abraham, Abraham
was in them, that somehow they could live however they wanted.
They could sin with impunity. Paul says that’s not the case. You have every bit of a need
for a savior as the Gentiles do. Those who form such a wrong estimate
of God and his goodness despise it by supposing that it gives
them license to sin, who imagine that he will not punish either
because he long forbears Or because his goodness towards us is so
great that we shall escape, though others perish. You see, the argument
goes like this. You know, look, I’ve been a homosexual
for a long time and and God has never struck me yet. I don’t
even have AIDS. Well, really, does that. The
Bible says that it’s a sin just because you for a season. Have
enjoyed God’s long suffering with your sin. And it doesn’t
matter what it is, people. The argument is the same. If
you live like that, then you are despising, you are taking
lightly. The kindness of God, it’s an
interesting word, this word translated in the New American think lightly
or translated in some scriptures as despised Matthew six. Twenty four uses it in the context
of God and Mammon, right? You’re either going to hate the
one, despise one and love the other. First Corinthians, Paul
used it when he rebuked the Corinthians. Remember what they were doing?
They were having some kind of a potluck. I’m sure they didn’t
call it a potluck. But they had some kind of a dinner
where everybody brought stuff and everybody was supposed to
share. And then at the end of that, they had the Lord’s table.
And what they were doing was turning it into this gluttonous
feast, stuffing their faces, drinking. And he says, Paul says
this, do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? This
isn’t just about the food. Do you despise The Church of
God, you think so lightly of God’s people that you would act
like this. Fascinating word, first Timothy six to. Talking
about those who have jobs. And everybody sat up and those
who have bosses. Paul says this, those who have
believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them.
They can’t despise them. They can’t think lightly of them. You know what it’s also used
of? It’s used of Christ. Hebrews 12, 2, we are fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who
for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. Jesus didn’t love the shame that
came with it. It’s also used of false teachers,
2 Peter 2, 10 used of those who despise authority. who think
lightly of authority. See, the Jews really thought
that they were going to escape God’s judgment. And ultimately,
what that really pointed to was the fact that they despised,
they hated God’s kindness. They were irritated at God’s
kindness because it was a willful, voluntary, perpetuating ignorance
that they were engaged in. They didn’t see what they didn’t
want to see. Matthew Henry said there is in
every willful sin a contempt for the goodness of God. You
know that God’s been good. You know that God has lavished
you with good things and blessings. We know that. But every sin is
to throw that in God’s face, every sin is to be angry at God
for the good that he’s done. As one said, the attitude described
amounts to contempt for God’s goodness in that it is a willful
refusal to recognize the fact that God’s goodness both affords
recipients the opportunity for and a summons to repentance. All of those good things, all
of those blessings, all of that patience. All of the good things
that you do is God’s merciful heart wooing you to himself,
wooing you to repentance, wooing you to lay down your arms and
to yield to a loving God. But to despise God, To underestimate
and to be careless towards the things that he’s given to think
lightly of it. Is to fail to esteem what God’s
done to fail to thank him for it. To even condemn him for the
goodness that he pours out on us, one Puritan said it this
way, God’s goodness is despised when it is not improved upon.
When we don’t take the good things of God and return it back in
gratitude, when we don’t take the good things of God and return
it back by way of glorifying Him in our lives, when we take
it and spend it on self as a means Not to repentance, but self-indulgence. We’re in sin. God’s goodness,
he says, is despised when it is not improved as a means to
lead men to repentance, but on the contrary, serves to harden
them due to the supposition that God entirely overlooks their
sin. So we think. The greatest contempt
that God’s people could show was to shut their ear against
his voice and to continue in sin. Paul says, do you think, do you
really think so lightly of the riches? The God is bestowed upon
you that word riches, it’s one of Paul’s favorite phrases to
talk about, not money, not your earthly wealth, not your great
long friend list. You know what he’s talking about
here every time that Paul uses that word riches, he’s talking
about God. Romans 9.23, he mentions the
riches of his glory. Ephesians 1.7, the riches of
his grace. 1.18, the riches of the glory
of his inheritance. Ephesians 2.4, rich in mercy. Ephesians 2.7, the surpassing
riches of his grace. Ephesians 3.8, the unfathomable
riches of Christ. Ephesians 3.16, the riches of
his glory. Philippians 4.19, the riches
of his glory. Colossians 1.27, the riches of
the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. Paul says, look, God has lavished
kindness and goodness and blessing upon you. And what is your response? Have you even considered how
good you have it? Have you even considered how
long he is born with you? Have you even considered what
God might be trying to elicit from you by way of a response
to that goodness? Robert Haldane, the Puritan,
got it when he said the riches of his goodness marks the greatness
of their extent, the value and abundance, and it excites admiration
and beholding a God all powerful who has no need of any of his
creatures. And is infinitely exalted above
them, striving for so long a period with an unrighteous, ungrateful,
rebellious and stiff necked people, but striving with them by his
goodness and patience. Pleading. He’s pleading with
them to repent. And look at these the elements
of God’s goodness, kindness. A kindly disposition referring
particularly to the benefits and blessings which God lavishes
upon his people. This graciousness on the part
of God, not only bestowing favors, but withholding punishment, and
you see, that’s partly what led to this false sense of security. One pastor said the word has
special reference to God’s generous gifts to men and here to a generosity
which has conferred graces and benefits, which the man who presumes
to judge mistakes for some special excellencies of his own. Do you
hear what he’s saying? We actually get it in our head
that because we’re enjoying these things, we take the same argument
as the health and wealth people. Oh, God must love me. Look at
how faithful I am and God has seen me and he’s lavishing me
with his riches. What this encompassed is all
of the benefits that Israel had enjoyed in the past. As one said,
they enjoyed a special election. consecutive revelations, constant
care, the sending of the Messiah and all of that constituted the
privileged position which Israel had enjoyed for so many ages.
I mean, think of it, if you go through the Psalms time after
time after time, how loving kindness was a part of God’s character,
they knew it, they sensed it. The goodness of God, said Burkoff,
may be defined as that perfection of God which prompts him to deal
bountifully and kindly with all his creatures. God is a good
God. And God had given them kindness,
but not only kindness, but forbearance. Forbearance is literally holding
back. But it’s a temporary position.
God doesn’t say, look, you know what? Forget it. Your sins, not
that big a deal to me. After all, I want to be known
as being kind and good. It’s a temporary state. It’s
a withholding. It’s a it’s a temporary withholding
of what is deserved by way of punishment. It is God bearing
with them just because he isn’t immediately executing his vengeance
doesn’t mean that he won’t ever. God merely is delaying by his
infinite mercy. It is essentially a toleration
of a sinful creature. What it points to is God’s. Very
deliberate, but very slow response in punishing. One pastor said
it denotes the feeling awakened by the benefactor when his goodness
is put to task by ingratitude. Really, are you not thankful,
really? And it’s grievous to God. It’s grievous to God. Paul, he goes on to say, has
in view, no doubt, the murder of the Messiah, which divine
justice might have met with the immediate destruction. I mean,
haven’t we all wondered that? Why didn’t God just wipe that
out right then? Boom. You talk about God’s forbearance.
And not only that, not only kindness and forbearance, but patience.
Patience. And there’s a difference between
these two. The continuous of kindness. And forbearance, in
spite of men’s ways, said one. So this has a completely different
wrinkle to it. It’s not only God holding back
what is due. It is holding back what is due
in the face of more sin and more offense. Long suffering, said one, signifies
the extent of that forbearance during many ages. Denoting a
degree of patience still unexhausted, their sins were not immediately
visited with a divine displeasure. It considers a long course of
ingratitude and sins on the part of the Jews and speaks of an
extreme degree of patience on the part of God, a patience which
many ages and a vast accumulation of offenses had not exhausted. Just because God is holding back
now doesn’t mean that he won’t ever respond. Even with the most
wicked of men, God is patient. The Bible talks about men as
provoking God to his face, doubting his ability to respond, almost
calling God down, doubting his promised return, doubting his
very existence. You know the passage, Peter,
2 Peter 3. The Lord is not slow about his
promise. They were mocking God. Where
is the promise of his coming? The Lord is not slow about his
promise, Peter says, as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you. Do you understand me? The fact
that he holds back another day means more souls may be saved. Is patient toward you, not wishing
for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance, and that’s
why Peter says at the end of that section that we are to regard
the patience of our Lord as salvation. It’s not indolence on the part
of God. It’s not that God has forgot what his standards are.
It’s not that God is unconcerned. Or unwilling. God holds back his patience,
his suffering rather. Bear with me. God holds back
his vengeance due only to his patience. God is showing to us
what we do not deserve. Think to Noah, tasked with building
an ark for the animals. And all the while, there was
this call of repentance. There was this rebuke that had
gone out to the sinful world. And the whole image was an image
of a one long call to repentance while he built this boat, while
the clouds built. It was a call to repentance that
went on how long, three weeks, a year, 120 years. God bore with them. God didn’t need to. God could
have built a boat himself, didn’t need Noah. He could have done
it very quickly. But God showed to them his patience
for 120 years. Forbearance and patience, said
one, express the idea that God suspends the infliction of punishment
and restrains the execution of his wrath. When he exercises
forbearance and longsuffering, he does not avenge sin in the
instant execution of his wrath. Forbearance and longsuffering,
therefore, reflect upon the wrath and punishment which sin deserves
and refer to the restraint exercised by God in the affliction of sins
deserved. Doesn’t change the standard.
And Paul looks to the Jew, but not just to the Jew, and he says,
do you really? Do you think lightly of the riches
of his kindness and forbearance of patience, not knowing that
the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Do you not consider the nature
of these blessings and gifts that you enjoy? Do you not consider
the God behind them who gives you these things, not out of
what you deserve, but over and over above what you do not? The
entire Old Testament was overwhelmingly clear on that entire point, wasn’t
it? That the Jews had constantly eschewed the light that was given
to them. They constantly covered it over and ignored it. They
were presumptuous in their sin. Because God had overwhelmingly
blessed them with kindness that was all the while designed to
call them to repentance. And as one clarified, he said,
the apostle isn’t saying that everyone who is the beneficiary
of God’s loving kindness has led to repentance. That’s not
it at all. But that is the design. Even in the world in which we
live. Remember, when Paul approached
the Athenians, he said the same thing. All these blessings that
you enjoy, the air that you breathe, the beauty of this creation,
all of it is meant to draw you to knees of repentance when you
see the good and magnanimous God that is behind it. He goes on and says, but he is
saying the goodness of God, including including the forbearance and
long suffering is directed to the end of repentance. The presumptuous Jew interpreted
the special goodness of God to him as the guarantee of immunity
from the criteria which other men would be judged, and he claimed
for himself indulgence on the part of God. The Gentile needed
to repent, but not he. But the goodness of God, when
properly assessed, leads to repentance. It is calculated to induce repentance. The goodness of God has not only
this as its true intent and purpose, when properly understood, this
is its invariable effect. The condemnation of the Jews
that he failed to understand this simple lesson, did you already
said it is the invariable effect when when God is really seen
for who he is as God, magnanimous, giving, loving. What can we do but to fall on
knees of repentance? Men, said one pastor, abused
the goodness of God because they do not rightly apprehend. But
instead of indicating a purpose not to punish, it is designed
to lead them to forsake their sins. The goodness of God leads
us to repentance because it shows us our duty towards a being who
is so kind Because it gives us ground to hope of acceptance
that if God is this magnanimous to me as a sinner. Imagine when I repent. Imagine
the glories and blessings that are mine as a repentant sinner. It’s his kindness that leads
us to repentance. Let’s pray. or merciful God. We deserve none
of your bounties, none of your goodness. And, Lord, while this
message was a message certainly to Israel, no doubt it is not
lost on our ears. Any true child of God knows the
sentiment of these precious words, that it is the kindness of God
that leads us to repentance. And when we first looked up and
saw you For who you are, a good and beneficent God, the giver
of every good thing, not the least of which was the Savior
that you had provided and the repentance and faith that you
were granting. Lord, what could we do? What
could we do but fall on knees of repentance? Grant us that
continued grace in our life, a humility that takes what you
give Not as do. But are blessings designed to
woo us to a greater and deeper. Faith and repentance. Repentance
and faith. In Jesus name that we pray. Amen. you