unceasing anguish and great sorrow - part 3

This is the third and probably final post on Romans 9:1-3. So far I have discussed our state apart from Christ which in turn leads to our just punishment of eternal damnation in hell. And now we get to the good news. 

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,” and then down in verse 4 come two of the best words in the entire Bible…”BUT GOD!”

You were dead “But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved”

We were “alienated from God” (Colossians 1:21) BUT GOD “brought us near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 1:13)

We were enemies of God (Colossians 1:21) BUT GOD made us “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19) and adopted us as sons by which we cry out “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)

We couldn’t submit to God’s law or please God (Romans 8:7-8) BUT GOD “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:14)

We were slaves to sin and the devil (John 8:34 and 2 Timothy 2:26) BUT GOD “freed us from sin and we have become slaves to God” (Romans 6:22)

We couldn’t understand the things of God, they were foolishness to us (1 Corinthians 2:14) BUT GOD gave us His spirit so “that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12)

We were completely unrighteous and sinful (Romans 3:23) BUT GOD made Jesus “who knew no sin to become sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This is good news! All of us who have trusted Christ as their savior and submitted to him as their Lord have had our current state and our future completely turned upside down by God!

There is nothing we could have done for this to happen it was only by a miraculous work of God. Romans 9:16 says “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy”

C.H. Spurgeon once remarked: "If Niagara could suddenly be made to leap upward instead of forever dashing down-ward from its rocky height, it were not such a miracle as to change the perverse will & raging passions of men. Conversion is a work comparable to the making of a world. The labors of Hercules were but trifles compared to this: to slay lions and hydras, and cleanse Augean stables-all this is child’s play compared with renewing a right spirit in the fallen nature of mankind."

I think that these three points are key to Paul’s sorrow and anguish for the lost and should be key to ours. He realized his state apart from Christ. Even though he was “Hebrew of Hebrews and as to righteousness under the law, blameless” he realized that it was all rubbish and he saw himself as what he really was. Then he realized what his just punishment should have been and finally he saw that because of Christ, he was now a new creation and a child of God. I think those 3 things contributed to his anguish for the lost. Knowing where they were heading and knowing the joy they were missing.

So three quick applications that I hope that you take from this and I hope that I take from this. First of all, for those who are in Christ, I hope that reminding ourselves of what we have been saved from and what we have been saved to, gives us a renewed sense of awe and deep gratitude and thanksgiving to God. Second of all, for those who are in Christ, I hope that realizing the state of our lost family members and friends will give us "unceasing anguish and great sorrow" for them that leads us to action in sharing with them the good news. Finally, again for those who do not know Christ as their Savior and Lord. I pray that today is your day of salvation. I pray that God would open your eyes to the truth of His gospel and you will trust in Him today.

Finally, I want to end with two quotes:

"If God would grant us the vision, the word sacrifice would disappear from our lips and thoughts; we would hate the things that seem now so dear to us; our lives would suddenly be too short, we would despise time-robbing distractions and charge the enemy with all our energies in the name of Christ. - Nate Saint, two weeks before he was martyred by the Aucas

"Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we – who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not – can be saved." – Charles Spurgeon

unceasing anguish and great sorrow - part 2

Romans 9:1-3 - "I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit--that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh."

In these blog posts, I hope to unpack how we can have this unceasing anguish for the lost like Paul did.

 

Yesterday I posted about humanity's state apart from Christ. We are enemies of God, we can't please him, we are children of wrath, we are alienated and strangers, we are slaves to sin, etc. 

Today's point is because our state apart from Christ, our just punishment is eternal separation from Christ in Hell. 

We see in the gospels that Jesus taught that Hell was something to be feared. In Mark 9, Jesus says “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'”

Then in Luke 12:4-5 he tells his disciples “"I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

Then throughout the Bible we see depictions of what Hell is going to be like.

1. Hell is going to be punishment: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 says that Jesus will come “inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God” and they will “suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord.”And Revelation 20:15 says “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” which was described earlier in the chapter as a place where they will be “tormented day and night forever and ever”
2. Hell is being cast out of the presence of God forever: Matthew 25:41 – “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”
3. Hell is going to be utter darkness: Matthew 8:12 talks about how they will be “thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
4. Hell is a place with eternal fire: It’s described as a “Fiery furnace” (Matthew 13: 42 and 50). It has an “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12 and 9:43). Revelation 14:10 says that they will “drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur”
5. And finally all of this will be eternal: Romans 14:11 “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night”

Thomas Watson: “Thus it is in Hell; they would die, but they cannot. The wicked shall be always dying but never dead; the smoke of the furnace ascends for ever and ever. Oh! Who can endure thus to be ever upon the rack? This word ‘ever’ breaks the heart.”

George Whitfield used to speak with tears in his eyes of “the torment of burning like a livid coal, not for an instant or for a day, but for millions and millions of ages, at the end of which souls will realize that they are no closer to the end than when they first begun, and they will never, ever be delivered from that place.”

Jonathan Edwards in probably his most famous sermon “Sinners in the hands of an angry God said “thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire bent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.”

If this place is real, if there is a place that is full of eternal torment, weeping and gnashing of teeth completely in utter darkness away from the presence of God forever then there is no more urgent and important task than to tell those who are on a collision course with eternal damnation that there is hope! There is one who conquered death! By this “one man’s obedience, the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

And if you are reading this and don't know Christ. Turn from your sin and repent. Ask Jesus to forgive you for your sins and accept his free gift of eternal life. Then, submit to him as your Lord, lay down your life in obedience to Him because your love of Him, knowing that His ways are far better than ours. 

unceasing anguish and great sorrow - part 1

Romans 9:1-3 - "I am speaking the truth in Christ, I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit -- that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh"

These verses have been echoing in my head lately. I ask myself questions such as "Do I have unceasing anguish in my heart for my lost family and friends? Do I have great sorrow for the unreached people groups? Would I be willing to spend eternity in hell and be cut off from Christ so that they could spend eternity in heaven (if that were possible which I know it isn't)? I can't say I can honestly answer any of those questions with a resounding "yes". Sure I pray for them and I share Christ with them (though not as often as I should) but I can't categorize my prayers and my heart as one of great sorrow and unceasing anguish. So how did Paul get to this point? How do we get to this point?


I am going to split this blog into a couple different posts over the next couple of days to kind of hit a couple of points. 


First, we need to recognize humanity's state apart from Christ.


Before we really can grasp what Christ accomplished on the cross, we really need to realize who we were before a holy and righteous God prior to our salvation and who the lost are currently without this God that we worship. I think this can be downplayed in some if not most evangelical churches. It’s not popular to tell people how messed up they really are. It’s not popular to tell people that they are sinful and wicked people. People see that as “unloving” however, I firmly believe that the opposite is true. When we tell people they really aren’t that bad and to say this simple prayer and “invite” Jesus into their heart as if Jesus is this little boy crying in the corner just begging people to love him and “accept” him, that is unloving because it can send people straight to hell by producing so many false conversions in our churches for those who believe in Jesus as savior but do not submit to Him as Lord! So many people stake their claim to salvation on when they walked down the aisle and prayed to be saved and yet have no fruit of the spirit since.

It’s like say you had been having really bad head aches and have been getting dizzy pretty often so you decide to go to a doctor to get checked out. The doctor takes you back to get an MRI. After he takes a look at the MRI he noticed a large mass on your brain and determines it is more than likely brain cancer and without proper treatment, you will surely die. Now would the “loving” thing be to tell you, “Don’t worry, everything is all right. It’s not that bad. Just go home, get some rest and maybe try to live a healthier life by eating more fruit and vegetables” or for him to say “You have a tumor on your brain that is going to kill you if we don’t have a surgeon come remove it and I know just the surgeon for the job?”

Paul, preached pretty extensively on the state of all people apart from Christ. Paul talked about being “dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). We were completely dead, we weren’t dying, we weren’t terminally ill, we were DEAD! We had flat lined spiritually. I have heard the illustration of how it was like we were floating in the middle of the ocean and God threw a life preserver out and we just had to reach out and grab it. No! We were dead! We were face down on the bottom of the ocean and God had to come down in his mercy and love to bring us to life!

We “were by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). We were “alienated and strangers” to God (Ephesians 2:12). We didn’t seek God, we did no good, our throat was an open grave, our feet were swift to shed blood, we had no fear of God (Romans 3:11-18). We were slaves to sin (Romans 6:20). We couldn’t please God (Romans 8:8). We were enemies of God (Romans 5:10).

Oh feel the weight of our state apart from Christ prior to our salvation and the current state of our lost friends and family members. Don’t think too lightly on those verses and of what we were before salvation. This is HUGE to realize! We weren’t these cute little human beings that God couldn’t resist saving because we were just so cute. No, we were his enemies, we couldn’t please Him, we had no fear of Him, we did no good, we were children of wrath…to put it simply, we were the polar opposite of God himself.

CS Lewis said “The infinite value of each human soul is not a Christian doctrine. God did not die for man because of some value he perceived in him. The value of each human soul considered simply in itself, out of relation to God, is zero. As St Paul writes, to have died for valuable men would have been not divine but merely heroic; but God died for sinners. He loved us not because we were lovable, but because he is Love.”