Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): God continues to love us in spite of what we do. It's an amazing love. Today on Telling the Truth, Stuart Briscoe is sharing more of his series, The Gospel. He'll begin in just a moment.

If you've been feeling overwhelmed lately, like your mind just won't slow down, you're not alone. A lot of people today are carrying anxiety, uncertainty, and questions they don't know where to take. That's why Telling the Truth is sharing biblical teaching in digital spaces, so people can encounter God's truth right in those moments, right where they are.

As we approach the end of the financial year, your support is critical to keep this ministry going. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping reach more people searching for peace and direction. And as our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, *A Piece of My Mind*, a resource designed to help you experience God's steady pace when life feels unsettled. Call 262-788-4648 to have your gift doubled by the match, or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart with today's teaching.

Stuart Briscoe: We concluded talking about the Gospel, where the Apostle Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel, a righteousness from God is being revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: the righteous will live by faith." I want you to notice particularly the expression "the righteousness from God is being revealed."

This, Paul says, is the crux of the Gospel. Gospel, of course, is simply another word for Good News. What is startling about what the Apostle Paul wrote at this particular point is this: that having introduced the idea of Good News and said that the crux of it is the righteousness of God has been revealed, in verse 17, notice what he says in verse 18. Then he says, "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness." It is inescapable, of course.

On the one hand, in verse 17, he says the Good News includes the statement "the righteousness of God is being revealed," and immediately he talks about "the wrath of God is being revealed." People immediately have a problem thinking about the wrath of God, the judgment of God. Let's face it: it's much easier and it's much more delightful to think in terms of the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, the kindness of God. If we simply talk about the love of God, we may have certain impressions in our own hearts about what it means that God is loving.

I think very often it means that God is a very easygoing God, that God is prepared to cut us a lot of slack, that it doesn't really matter what we do, that God loves us anyway—that sort of thing. But if we begin to talk about the wrath of God—the righteous indignation of God against all that offends His holy character—if we begin to think in terms of what it really means for God to have to deal with this world of ours, and then recognize that despite that, God continues to love people who are perpetrating the things that are utterly and totally reprehensible and unacceptable to Him, can't you see how this enriches our understanding of the love of God?

In actual fact, there is a sense in which the depth of the wrath of God is directly related to the depth of the love of God. If there is no depth to His wrath, there would be no depth to His love. Now, notice that it is against the unrighteousness of man. The word translated "wickedness" in verse 18 could perhaps better be translated "unrighteousness." Why? Because we are thinking of the righteousness of God that has been revealed. The Gospel reveals the righteousness of God—that is, the rightness of all God's motives and actions, the wrongness of human behavior in comparison, that is unrighteousness.

The rightness of God's way of making unrighteous people righteous and the position of righteousness standing before God with their forgiven joy. You see what unrighteousness is? It is all that is opposite to all that God is. Unrighteousness is all that is opposite to all that God is. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all that we do in our motives and in our actions that is contrary to His nature, that is contrary to His intention, that is contrary to His purpose, that is contrary to His will for us.

And this is what God objects to. This kind of behavior is something that is particularly offensive to God because God has in certain ways revealed Himself to people. So, notice what it is that man has done, mankind continues to do. Verse 19: "since what may be known about God is plain to humanity, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools."

He is saying that in the created order, God reveals something of Himself. And what God reveals of Himself in the created order—the creation of which we are a part, we are surrounded by it, we were born into it, it's the only environment that we know—the Apostle Paul is saying that the Great Creator in His handiwork has revealed something of Himself. And it is as plain as the nose on your face. It is inescapable. People can see it. Wrongness.

Verse 28, however, says something else that I find utterly remarkable. Verse 28: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind." Now, what is hidden in that English translation there is the thought in the original language. What it really means is this: human beings, on the basis of the revelation given to them in creation and in conscience, deciding to go against it, elevating the created to the position reserved for the Creator, preferring to do that which is unright, having seen a revelation of what is right in God Himself.

Human beings have evaluated God—listen to this—they have evaluated God and found Him unqualified. That is literally what Paul wrote in the Greek here. They have evaluated God and found Him unqualified. They have decided that God, as He is revealed, in their mind is not going to be God.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Telling the Truth. Stuart Briscoe today is talking about the bad news that comes with the Gospel message. He'll be right back with more in a moment.

There's a growing hunger for truth in our world today, and more people than ever are searching for real answers. That's why as Telling the Truth prepares to close out another financial year, your support matters so much. Your support helps take the trusted teaching of Stuart and Jill Briscoe and place it into digital spaces where people are already looking for hope.

And right now, an $82,000 matching grant will double your gift, expanding that reach even further in the months ahead. When you give, we'll say thanks by sending you *A Piece of My Mind*, a powerful resource from Stuart that shows you how to experience God's perfect peace even in uncertain and challenging times. So call today to request your copy when you have your gift doubled by the match: 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

For many, our smartphones have become our social connection, but we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the Telling the Truth mobile app. You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall. Get the Telling the Truth app through your app store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobileapp. Remember, you can also give to support Telling the Truth on our mobile app. Now, here's Stuart again on today's Telling the Truth.

Stuart Briscoe: Now, what is God's response to that? The response of God to this is abundantly clear from this passage of scripture. Verse 24: "Therefore God gave them over in sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity." God gave them over, verse 24. Verse 26: "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lust." Verse 28: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over." If you want to know the response of God to the reaction of man to God's self-revelation, there it is.

The response of God is: He gave them over. He gave them over. He gave them over. Paul finds it necessary to repeat this three times just so that we get the message. That is the wrath of God being revealed. That is the judgment of God. What does it mean in simple language? What it means in simple language is this: human beings were given freedom to choose, but they were not given freedom to choose the consequences of their choices. Have you got that? Men were given the freedom to choose; they were not given the freedom to choose the consequences of their choices.

That was God's prerogative, and He never surrendered it. And the judgment of God is simply this: He has handed down the verdict. All right, you're free to choose. Perfectly free to choose. I have determined that now you'll be handed over to live with the consequences of your choices. That's the judgment. You are perfectly free to choose. You are not free to choose the consequences. God has determined that. God is still God whether people have decided He's not qualified or not.

And in His godly sovereignty, He has determined that those who are free to choose will be given over to live with the consequences of their choices. That is the essence of it. Do you remember what I said early on, that there's a sense in which we would understand the love of God much better if we understood the wrath of God more clearly? If we said less about the love of God and more about the wrath of God, we would say much more about His love when we spoke of it.

If you accept what Paul is saying here about humanity, isn't it incredible that God just didn't wipe us out? If you accept what God says through the Apostle Paul specifically and apply it to yourself, and you say, "I can see the truthfulness in my life to a certain degree," isn't it utterly incredible that you can then say God loves somebody like me? Do you see how an understanding of the wrath of God will enhance your understanding of the love of God?

The Apostle Paul in chapter 2—you thought we'd never get there, but we will just in time to finish—the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 2 then addresses two particular groups of people, or possibly just one group. From verses 1 through 11, he talks about certain people I've called the moralists. The people who think that they are superior to this sort of thing. They actually tut-tut about all the stuff that's going on. Sometimes they speak out against all the terrible things that people are doing.

But Paul says this, "But the problem is this: you, therefore, have no excuse," this is verse 1 of chapter 2. "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things." Now, that doesn't necessarily mean if I am horrified at somebody committing murder, that means I've murdered somebody. He's listing the whole list of things.

And what he is saying is this: be very, very careful before you start pointing the finger at what people have done, because if you do, you point a finger that way, you've got three more fingers pointing back at yourself. And that's what he's saying is the danger of the moralist, because there are some people who would listen to what I'm saying and be outraged. Who does he think he is talking to? How dare he even talk like that?

He then turns his attention to the Jewish people particularly. In verses 12 through 29, he talks about those who are without the law of Moses, that is the Gentiles. And he talks about the people who do have the law of Moses, that is the Jews. The Jews did know the law of God. But the problem was, whilst they knew the law of God, they were extremely proud of being the chosen people who'd been given the law of Moses that the Gentiles did not have.

The Jews believed, or many of them believed, outside Israel, that is the sphere of the law, there is no salvation. The Jews who live within the domain of the law, on the other hand, had often considered themselves virtually assured of salvation. This was the incredible arrogant position of many of the Jews of Paul's day. They didn't want to repent of their sin; they wanted to continue in their own way, put a veneer of religiosity over it, and look at the rest of the world that didn't have this veneer of religiosity and condemn them.

Paul says, "Sorry, you can't do that. You can't do that. For if you don't have the law—that is, the Gentile—you've still had a revelation of God that you suppressed. And if you are a Jew and you have the law of Moses, you know infinitely more than the Gentile and you didn't live up to that either." So the net result is this: we are all in the same boat. And he'll come to this conclusion: there is no difference. For all have sinned and are coming short of the glory of God.

The Good News is this: incredibly, God loves you. That's incredible. That's the essence of the Gospel. Pity the person who has no need. Pity the person who is so darkened in his understanding that he doesn't understand his own spiritual dilemma. Pity the person whose thinking is so futile that she thinks her puny effort will satisfy a Holy God. They won't. We need His love, we need His grace, we need His mercy. Whatever you do, don't ask God to do you justice. Plead with Him for Christ's sake to grant you mercy. And remember, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven by a Holy, righteous God who loves you to distraction.

Guest (Male): The Gospel comes with the bad news of the wrath and judgment of God. That's what makes His love, forgiveness, and our redemption such good news. Stuart Briscoe on today's Telling the Truth, and he'll be right back to answer a couple of questions about today's message.

What if your generosity today helped place biblical truth in front of someone at the exact moment they needed it most? That's what's happening every day through Telling the Truth. Through social media, our Telling the Truth website, and other digital platforms, people are encountering God's word, many for the very first time, right where they are.

And more people than ever are searching for the kind of peace that can only be found through life in Christ. That's why as we approach the end of the financial year, it's so important that we finish strong, because your support can help us reach even more people with biblical truth in the coming year. The great news is that a group of generous friends has offered an $82,000 matching grant, doubling your gift to expand the outreach even further in the months ahead.

Now is a powerful time for you to step in and help keep God's word going out to the people who need it most. And as our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, *A Piece of My Mind*, to help you experience the peace of God in whatever you're facing today. Just call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart to answer a few questions about his message today. Stuart, why does understanding God's wrath help us understand His love better?

Stuart Briscoe: One of the best ways I know of looking at this issue that you've just raised is this: I think when we talk about love, we tend to think that love is a sort of an advanced kind of liking. In other words, if I like somebody, I like them a lot, then eventually I might eventually love them. And there may be something to that. But if we think in terms of the love of God as liking something a lot, then we're going to get it all wrong.

Because when the Bible says God so loved the world He gave His only son, it doesn't mean by that God liked the world a lot. He didn't; He disliked it intensely. In fact, it made Him indignant. In His holiness and His righteousness, He could not tolerate what He was seeing. And yet the amazing thing is, even though He disliked this world intensely, He decided to love it to distraction. And in a sense, it is amazing when you think of the righteous indignation of God against what has happened in this world. It is incredible that He loves us. In a sense, the wrath of God helps us to understand the love of God.

Guest (Male): Why should we be careful about pointing fingers at each other?

Stuart Briscoe: Somebody has said the problem of pointing a finger at somebody is that you have three fingers pointing back at you. Just try it right now. Okay, as you're listening to me, take your right hand and stick out your index finger in somebody's direction, and look immediately what happens: you've got three fingers pointing back at you.

Once you start feeling you are free to criticize somebody, you give them the freedom to criticize you as well. You start criticizing people, it'll be open season on you as well. But of course, that's not the main reason why we should be very careful about pointing our fingers at each other because in actual fact, if we are focusing on the perceived faults of others, it is highly likely that we are not focused on the very real faults in ourselves. That, of course, is what the Bible means when it says before you start to take a speck of sawdust out of somebody else's eye, just check on the plank in your own.

Guest (Male): Before we go, here's something important to remember: your support this month can help Telling the Truth reach even more people in the coming year. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping extend biblical teaching to people around the world through digital platforms.

And as our thanks, we'd love to send you Stuart Briscoe's book, *A Piece of My Mind*, to encourage you with the promise of God's peace. So please request your copy when you call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4648, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Next time on Telling the Truth, more from the Briscoes about how you can experience abundant life in Christ. We'll see you then.