Sunday, October 7, 2012
Some of you know this because you see your pastors grapple with issues and problems that they have never dealt with before in like frequency or content.
Some of you know this because you have eyes to see, and notice that wherever you are living has gotten so sinful, immoral, and crime ridden you wonder and marvel at the patience of our Holy God to tolerate it.
Some of you know that we are nearing the end because you listen to or read watchmen pastors like Hal Lindsey or JD Farag, or others who illuminate us as to the signs Jesus said to watch for.
Still others, like John MacArthur, use Romans 1 as the cultural and spiritual barometer.
Romans 1 is the chapter where Paul tells the church about the wrath of God revealed to immoral nations. It outlines the process of what, how, and when God judges a nation via His wrath of abandonment.
God has many different kinds of wrath, and none of them are the human wrath of uncontrolled anger or petulance. MacArthur lists the elements of God's wrath.
"There is eschatological wrath. That is the wrath that will fall on the earth at the end of human history in a time called the time of Tribulation. There is sowing and reaping wrath. That is the wrath of God that comes consequent on sin--whatever a man sows, he reaps. There is cataclysmic wrath. That is the wrath of God that He sets on man from miraculous use of the natural order, such as the Flood, or any other massive disaster that catapults souls into eternity. So there is that wrath of God which is eschatological and which is consequential and which is cataclysmic. And then there is that wrath of God which is eternal wrath, and that would be the wrath of God unleashed on the ungodly forever in the punishments of eternal hell."
"But the wrath that is being referred to in Romans 1 isn’t any of those. It is the wrath of abandonment."
And that is the wrath of Romans 1.
I have been listening to Dr MacArthur for a long time. I've listened to his sermons going back to 1969. I've listened to many in each decade of his ministry. I've listened to all of them regarding the end times. In all of them I notice two things. One is that he uses Romans 1 as his barometer of where the culture is in regards to the nearness of judgment. And the second is that he outright never says how close we are. He just preaches Romans 1 in his sermons and in as a response to any Q&A sessions, plenary panels, or interviews and leaves it to the Christian to make that determination for ourselves. It's always just teaching Romans 1 but never has he said how close we are.
Until now.
One can intuit by comparing the society to the Romans chapter how close we are. Romans goes from verse 1 to 32. During this month Dr MacArthur attended both sessions of the political conventions, Democratic and Republican. He returned home to southern California at the beginning of September and through the month of September he has been preaching three messages related to the culture. This is a departure for him anyway, he rarely preaches a message that is unrelated to a book of the bible and is culturally oriented.
But these messages are at root biblically oriented. He returned home shook up and amazed at how close we are to judgment. He is also heartbroken, you can hear it in his voice. For a pastor, I can't imagine the agonies of watching a society and all the people in it fall away from the offer of salvation and reject it at such a massive and global scale. If you are a good pastor, this breaks your heart, and Dr MacArthur is a good pastor.
We are at verse 32. The last verse in the outline of God's progressive wrath is now at the last word, the last period of that chapter. And in one of these three tremendously convicting and horrifying sermons, he said,
"I don’t know how much time America has left, I really don’t. But we’re on a course described here as God casting us out. The land has become defiled. “I’ve brought its punishment upon it,” verse 25, “so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.”"
I plead with you to listen to all three of the messages. You will receive a biblical overview of not only the coming election, which is helpful, but the times overall. You'll understand the depth of passion with which we must live for Jesus in these last days. You will see clearly and breathtakingly how far we have traveled down the road of wrath and how close we are to the end. I am sure of it. Dr MacArthur lays out the chapter so clearly and biblically, if you have one molecule of regenerated sanctification in you, you will see it too.
Here are the three messages, in order. They are each about 45 minutes long.
Thank you and God bless.
Abortion and the Campaign for Immorality
Homosexuality and the Campaign for Immorality
A Warning to Every Proud Ruler
John MacArthur: "I don't know
how long America has left, I really don't."
We are nearing the end of the days of the Church Age. We
are very close to the end.
Some of you know this because you see your pastors grapple with issues and problems that they have never dealt with before in like frequency or content.
Some of you know this because you have eyes to see, and notice that wherever you are living has gotten so sinful, immoral, and crime ridden you wonder and marvel at the patience of our Holy God to tolerate it.
Some of you know that we are nearing the end because you listen to or read watchmen pastors like Hal Lindsey or JD Farag, or others who illuminate us as to the signs Jesus said to watch for.
Still others, like John MacArthur, use Romans 1 as the cultural and spiritual barometer.
Romans 1 is the chapter where Paul tells the church about the wrath of God revealed to immoral nations. It outlines the process of what, how, and when God judges a nation via His wrath of abandonment.
God has many different kinds of wrath, and none of them are the human wrath of uncontrolled anger or petulance. MacArthur lists the elements of God's wrath.
"There is eschatological wrath. That is the wrath that will fall on the earth at the end of human history in a time called the time of Tribulation. There is sowing and reaping wrath. That is the wrath of God that comes consequent on sin--whatever a man sows, he reaps. There is cataclysmic wrath. That is the wrath of God that He sets on man from miraculous use of the natural order, such as the Flood, or any other massive disaster that catapults souls into eternity. So there is that wrath of God which is eschatological and which is consequential and which is cataclysmic. And then there is that wrath of God which is eternal wrath, and that would be the wrath of God unleashed on the ungodly forever in the punishments of eternal hell."
"But the wrath that is being referred to in Romans 1 isn’t any of those. It is the wrath of abandonment."
And that is the wrath of Romans 1.
I have been listening to Dr MacArthur for a long time. I've listened to his sermons going back to 1969. I've listened to many in each decade of his ministry. I've listened to all of them regarding the end times. In all of them I notice two things. One is that he uses Romans 1 as his barometer of where the culture is in regards to the nearness of judgment. And the second is that he outright never says how close we are. He just preaches Romans 1 in his sermons and in as a response to any Q&A sessions, plenary panels, or interviews and leaves it to the Christian to make that determination for ourselves. It's always just teaching Romans 1 but never has he said how close we are.
Until now.
One can intuit by comparing the society to the Romans chapter how close we are. Romans goes from verse 1 to 32. During this month Dr MacArthur attended both sessions of the political conventions, Democratic and Republican. He returned home to southern California at the beginning of September and through the month of September he has been preaching three messages related to the culture. This is a departure for him anyway, he rarely preaches a message that is unrelated to a book of the bible and is culturally oriented.
But these messages are at root biblically oriented. He returned home shook up and amazed at how close we are to judgment. He is also heartbroken, you can hear it in his voice. For a pastor, I can't imagine the agonies of watching a society and all the people in it fall away from the offer of salvation and reject it at such a massive and global scale. If you are a good pastor, this breaks your heart, and Dr MacArthur is a good pastor.
We are at verse 32. The last verse in the outline of God's progressive wrath is now at the last word, the last period of that chapter. And in one of these three tremendously convicting and horrifying sermons, he said,
"I don’t know how much time America has left, I really don’t. But we’re on a course described here as God casting us out. The land has become defiled. “I’ve brought its punishment upon it,” verse 25, “so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.”"
I plead with you to listen to all three of the messages. You will receive a biblical overview of not only the coming election, which is helpful, but the times overall. You'll understand the depth of passion with which we must live for Jesus in these last days. You will see clearly and breathtakingly how far we have traveled down the road of wrath and how close we are to the end. I am sure of it. Dr MacArthur lays out the chapter so clearly and biblically, if you have one molecule of regenerated sanctification in you, you will see it too.
Here are the three messages, in order. They are each about 45 minutes long.
Thank you and God bless.
Abortion and the Campaign for Immorality
Homosexuality and the Campaign for Immorality
A Warning to Every Proud Ruler
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