Good Judges Hate Sin (Romans 1:18-23) | Louis Azuma

Speaker: something that you might not know about me.

Is that I, I love kids movies.

I love kids movies.

My favorite movie is Penga I Madagascar, um, Tanga Madagascar.

Um, and so knowing that I love kids movies, my, my wife, my

lovely wife was like, we need to watch how to train your dragon.

It's awesome.

It's so good.

It's the best.

So, so we sat down and we're gonna watch how to Train Your Dragon,

but one thing that you also might not know about me is that.

I hate dumb protagonists.

Like when the, when the main character in the movie.

Is just like they don't know what they're doing.

Right.

When they're like making bad decisions, they're, they're just really cringey.

Like, I, I, I hate it.

I can't stand it.

That's like my least favorite part of any movie.

So naturally, when I, when I watched this movie for the first like 70% of the

movie, I was just like, this is terrible.

This dude has no clue what he's doing.

Like, what?

Why, why did you keep the dragon?

Why, why, why did you, why didn't you get rid of the dragon?

Why are you trying to hide the dragon?

Why aren't you doing a better job of hiding the dragon?

Why don't you make a better wing for your dragon?

Because you decide to make this wing that's super flimsy

and falls off and what?

Anyway, I was like, this is terrible.

What are you doing?

It, it just, it bothers me.

I get upset about it.

You can even tell right now.

I'm, I'm like, this is, this is a bad idea.

But the rest movie was great.

The like last 20 minutes were awesome.

Um.

Anyway, I, I hate dumb movie protagonist.

Right?

And see what you get mad at says a lot about you, right?

What, what you get upset at says a lot about who you are, the kind of person you

are, the kind of things you like, right?

It's, you can learn a lot about someone by what makes them mad.

And see when we see what makes God mad, what God directs his anger, his wrath.

At, it tells us a lot about him and what we're gonna learn tonight in Romans

chapter one is that God's anger, God's wrath, shows that he is a good judge.

He's righteous.

God's wrath reveals his righteousness.

See God, he gets angry at the right things.

God gets angry at the things that you're supposed to get angry at.

He gets angry at.

Unrighteousness and see that there's a problem there.

And that's because God gets angry justifiably.

So God should get angry at you and me.

God should direct all of his holy fury at you and me because we are

unrighteous and that's what we're gonna see tonight, is that everyone

deserves God's wrath, everyone.

You do.

I do.

Pastor Rod does.

Everyone deserves God's wrath.

So turn with me.

Romans one 18 to 23, we're gonna see that everyone deserves God wrath.

God's wrath, but good judges hate sin.

But before we get there, remember, remember this slide from like.

Three or four weeks ago about how the gospel is all about God's righteousness.

This is like kind of our roadmap for Romans, right?

So last week, remember that thesis statement we talked about, like when

you're writing essay, you have to write your thesis and it has to have everything.

And you got your whole diagram, right?

Your thesis.

So Romans one, 16 to 17 is like Paul's thesis for Romans.

So then we're, we just finished that.

So we read the thesis.

Now we're in like the first paragraph, right?

The first, the first body paragraph that he's gonna talk about.

So that's gonna be.

Chapter one 18, all the way to three 20.

So what we're gonna be learning about is that the gospel shows that

God's wrath against sin is righteous.

It's the right thing, it's the right response from God.

God should show his wrath towards sin.

It's a good thing.

And if you wanna put that into a question, this is what your question would be.

Why does God send people to hell?

So this is what we're gonna be covering for a while.

The gospel shows that God's wrath against sin is righteous.

Okay?

So grab your Bible, read along with me.

In verse 18 of Romans one, for the wrath of God is revealed from

heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their

unrighteousness, suppress the truth.

So we talked about God's righteousness a lot, right?

And now what do you see?

Unrighteousness.

Unrighteousness, right?

God's wrath is revealed.

It's shown from heaven against unrighteousness.

The opposite.

And that's why we see that God is righteous because

God hates unrighteousness.

And that's how we see that he's righteous.

You see the opposite?

God, it, it's like a, it's like clarity, right?

Like you know how when you see like a diamond ring, it's always on like a black

background 'cause it makes it pop, it make it, it helps you see it clearer.

God's wrath shows his righteousness 'cause he directs his wrath at.

Unrighteousness at the opposite.

And then verse 19, four.

Remember when you see four, it means because.

So how come God does that?

How?

Why does God show his wrath against unrighteousness?

Well, what can be known about God is playing to all

of these unrighteous people.

It's obvious because God has shown it to them.

Why?

How?

Verse 20 for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal

power and divine nature.

So the fact that God is powerful and he's God, they've been clearly perceived

ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.

So God made a bunch of stuff and that shows us that God, who, God

is, he's God and he's powerful.

So God made a bunch of stuff right, the things that he made, creation.

Shows us something about God, what does it show us?

His invisible attributes, his namely, his E, eternal, his eternal

power, and his divine nature.

And the conclusion is that no excuses.

Everyone can see that God is God.

Everyone can see that.

So that leaves us without excuses.

What this verse is saying is that everyone, and we'll, we'll see you later.

Suppresses the truth of God's existence.

Everyone tries to ignore God.

Everyone does it.

That's what Paul is trying to establish, that God shows himself to

everyone, but everyone ignores it.

So our first point tonight is abandon your excuses for ignoring God.

Abandon your excuses for knowing God.

Leave him behind.

Paul is saying that we don't have any excuses because it's

obvious who God is is obvious.

It's plain.

Now, maybe you've been wondering,

well, everyone deserves God's wrath.

Like everyone, like every single person.

Are you sure?

Like that was your main point, Louis, everyone really.

What about someone who maybe doesn't have the Bible?

Uh, do they deserve God's wrath?

Well,

does this say that you need the Bible to know about God?

His invisible attributes, his eternal power, his divine nature?

Where does it say that God shows who he is

in the things that have been made?

That's how people know.

That's how everyone knows that God is God.

The fancy word for that that you can use to impress your

parents is general revelation.

It's everywhere.

General revelation.

If you, if you're reading a, a, a Christian book, you might find

that word, general revelation.

The things that have made creation, and the reason it's called general is not

because it's a high ranking officer in the Army, but because it's for everyone.

It's obvious.

General revelation.

So the way we know that God is, God is because we look at creation,

we look at things that like, oh wow, you couldn't just randomly

by chance come up with something so complicated like a human being.

Or why do humans have consciences?

Why do you feel bad when you lie?

That's not because you evolved from a monkey.

That's 'cause someone made you.

There's no reason for you to feel bad if you've just evolved.

So things like that, they show us that God is God or how

did, how did we even get here?

Why, why is the earth so specifically designed so that it's not too close

to, the sun will re burnt up, but it's not too far from the sun.

Will we freeze?

And the tilt of the earth is at the exact angle where the, the sun comes and we

get seasons and things grow and the the moon protects us from asteroids and it

helps the tides do all this cool stuff.

And how does that so perfectly designed?

How does that happen?

It can't just be, oh, well, you know, a bunch of stuff flew around and hit

each other and then boom, here we go.

Right?

That's where we came from.

I'm oversimplifying it, but creation shows us that God exists, and so we have

no excuse to ignore him because anyone who's living in the world who's created.

God has shown them that He exists.

Right?

Not just, oh, you figure it out.

No, God has shown them this.

This is active.

This is something God did.

God made the world so that you could see that he exists.

You don't need the Bible to know that God exists.

That's what, that's what Paul is saying here in these verse few verses.

It's obvious that God exists and what we do instead, and what he's

gonna say later is that we suppress the truth, that word suppress.

I always think of this, the best way I've ever heard it explained is he's like,

you know when your trash can's too full?

And you're like, I don't wanna take that out right now.

So you suppress it, you push it down.

That's what people do with the truth.

That's what you and I do with the truth of who God is, is we suppress it, we

push it down, we try to ignore God.

We plug our ears.

We say, I right that, and you see this all around us, right?

People come up with all sorts of creative ways to ignore God.

Maybe you have.

Friends who, who tell you, well, you know, we know that that God doesn't exist

because of evolution or because of the Big Bang, or because of the fossil record.

Or we know that God doesn't exist because actually he spoke

to a man named Joseph Smith.

Or maybe you hear that, oh God, doesn't we know, or things like that.

Maybe you say, well, we know that the Bible isn't true because of this.

So people come up with all sorts of ways to ignore God, but God

has come, has revealed himself.

He's shown who he is.

Through creation and through your conscience, right?

You feel bad for stuff.

There's no reason for you to feel bad for stuff.

If you're just a smart monkey, there's no reason for you to feel bad about

anything because you're living for you.

But why do you feel bad?

Because it's pointing you to something that, that God wants to show you.

So many of you maybe are, you actually have been shown more

things about God than just creation.

Because you've grown up in a church or in a home where you hear about

God through his word, and maybe you're still suppressing the truth.

You even have more evidence for God.

You have parents who've taught you the Bible.

You've, you've heard about arguments like apologetics and things like that

for the existence of God or for the, the reality of the Bible, and many

of you are still trying to ignore it.

You're still trying to say, well, I don't really know if that's true.

Or I don't really know if the Bible's true.

I don't really know if, um, Christianity's the only way, or I don't really think this

is, you come up with all these excuses.

Or when I'm older, then I'll do it.

Or, uh, when I learn a bit more, then I'll do it.

Or when I stop sinning this much, then I'll do it.

We come up with all sorts of excuses for ignoring God, but also as a Christian, if,

if, if you're a Christian in this room, this was you, before you came a Christian,

you were unrighteous, you weren't just.

Okay.

And then God saved you.

You weren't just, well, I, I wasn't a terrible person.

Maybe I was a sinner, but everyone's a sinner.

No, you were unrighteous not righteous at all.

And God saved you.

Right.

We're, if you're a Christian, maybe you're gonna be like, why are we learning

about God's wrath for two months?

Well, because it tells us who we were before we were saved.

And we need to be honest about that.

'cause it helps us appreciate God's grace more.

It helps us.

Have more compassion for unbelievers.

So Christian, this was you before Christ, you were ignoring God, and then you

said, oh, God got your attention, right?

The gospel came to you.

God revealed himself to you through the gospel, through His word, and you,

he gave you the faith to trust him.

So

we all come up with reasons to ignore God, right?

And and you often hear the argument, right?

Like, well, if Jesus just appeared to me, then I would believe.

Him.

Right?

Maybe you've heard that before.

Maybe you've said that If I had a vision of God or if I lived when

Jesus lived, I would definitely be a Christian, but I just can't really

know for sure anymore 'cause I, I didn't see God, I didn't live with him.

What this passage is saying is that the problem is not evidence.

The problem is your heart.

The problem is not the amount of evidence you'd get because.

It's already clear and you just come up with reasons to ignore it.

So I had a friend in second grade or third grade, I can't remember, and

he, I remember we were talking about Christmas and Santa came up and I was

like, oh yeah, you know, my parents pretended to be Santa, whatever.

He's like, no, no, no.

Santa's real.

He's like, no, like Santa's definitely real.

And I was like, wait, you really think he like comes down people's chimneys.

He's like, well, who says he comes down chimneys anymore?

And I was like, whoa, okay.

Like you are committed to this.

You really, you really believe in this Santa guy?

Like, and here's the thing, right?

I could give him all the evidence.

You know, well, well, Santa didn't come to my house because I knew

'cause I stayed up all night.

Or because our fireplace is boarded up.

Or what about places that don't have fireplaces?

What about apartment complexes?

I, you know, you could give him all the evidence, right?

But he wouldn't, he, he would still believe that Santa existed.

Why?

Because of his heart, right?

He, he loves Santa.

He wants Santa to exist, right?

So whatever evidence you give him.

He's gonna suppress the truth.

He maybe he could even stay up all night and be like, well, maybe

Santa just didn't come this year.

Right.

Or, or maybe Santa, you know, whatever.

Right.

He could come up with any argument.

He could come up with any excuse to ignore the evidence that I gave him.

Right.

And that's a funny example, but that's what happens to a lot of unbelievers

and maybe to some of you, is, is people give you evidence for why the Bible's

true or why God existed, or how we know that God made the world and.

The more evidence you hear, you just, you just keep pushing it down.

You keep pushing it down.

And that's because the evidence isn't the issue.

Your heart's the issue.

You don't want God to exist.

You want to be in charge of your life.

And so you say, I don't care about the evidence.

So you ignore that.

What you, you don't need better information.

It's already clear.

That's what Paul's saying.

So you don't have any excuse,

and that's what.

That's the condition of everyone.

Before salvation, every single person is naturally bent to ignore God.

And so even for you Christians in the room, you need to be careful

that you're not just stacking up information because the information

only helps you if, if it changes you.

That's the problem with, with the people that Paul's talking about here is, is

they, they have all the evidence they need and they, they don't want it.

They ignore it.

And so even if you're a Christian, you still have this tendency to hear

information and not be changed by it.

To hear sermons and not do anything about them, to read your Bible and

not forget all about it, you still have this tendency to accumulate

information and, and ignore it.

So it's not enough just to seek out information.

You must also be changed by the information, because what Paul is

saying is, is it's a heart issue.

It's not an evidence issue.

It's not a, it's not a head issue.

It's a heart issue.

But the main thing he's saying is that this is why God can judge people.

This is why God can send people to Hell because there's no excuse.

They should know better.

They should know that he exists.

It's obvious.

It's okay for God to do that, right?

Maybe you've had that question come up.

Why?

How can a loving God send people to hell?

He's a good judge.

If you're guilty, a judge should punish you.

And what Paul is saying is that everyone's guilty, no excuses.

It's obvious.

No one's gonna be in hell and be like, you know what?

God, I would've believed you if fill in the blank.

No excuses.

That's what God is saying.

It's.

I, God has done everything he needs to show his existence to people,

so everyone should know better.

But also the reason everyone should know better is because everyone's in this.

In this camp of not worshiping God, if you wanna, this whole passage,

1823 in one sentence is everyone worships something instead of God,

and everyone should know better.

That's the whole passage.

In one sentence, everyone worships something instead of God, and

everyone should know better.

So this was the everyone should know better part.

And then now we're gonna, we're gonna look at the, everyone

fails to worship God part.

Everyone has enough evidence to worship and thank God, but instead we turn away.

From God.

So that is, we're gonna see right here in verses 21, 23, read

along with me, 21 through 23.

So Paul just said, people are without excuse.

Why?

So then he, he keeps going.

Verse 21, 4.

Although they knew God, so everyone, he's saying all these people,

they knew God through creation.

They, they saw his work in creation.

They knew God.

They did not honor him as God, or give thanks to them

Him, but they became futile.

That means like kind of useless, futile.

Think about like trying to grab smoke, right?

You try to grab it and it's just gone.

They became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Verse 22, claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the

glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds

and animals and creeping things.

Now, all this part, you notice there's like a, a descent here.

We start with God, and then we go down to, to people, and then we go

even lower to, it's like there's the reverse order of creation.

You see that birds, animals, and then you get like the, this is sometimes

translated like reptiles, like the, the, the ugliest animals, right?

The worst ones.

Um, so it's like a downward spiral.

And in the rest of this chapter, we're gonna see the downward spiral more.

We're gonna see more, more and more sin that happens from rejecting God.

When you know God and reject him, then it creates this downward spiral of sin.

But remember how we talked about the issue is your heart, right?

The issue's not your head.

The issue is your heart.

This is why God punishes sinners.

This is why God sends people to hell, not because they murder people, or they're

un or they're, um, atheist or whatever the reason that God sends people to hell.

Is because they don't honor him and they don't give thanks to them.

You see that the problem is not just, oh, well, you did bad things.

Sin at its root is saying something else is better than God.

Something else is better than God.

Everyone worships things besides God.

That's what sin is.

You see that right here?

They didn't honor God or give thanks to him.

And instead what did they do?

They wanted something else.

They exchanged God.

They said, God, I don't want you.

I want these things.

And this is, this is an allusion to Exodus.

You know when the Israelites made the golden Cavs?

After they came out of Egypt and then Moses went up on the mountain,

they're like, oh, Moses probably dead.

We haven't heard from him in a while.

Let's make some bulls and worship them.

Right?

That's what happened.

So that's what this is an illusion to is they, they said,

we don't want Yahweh anymore.

We want Golden Bull.

So that's what we do, except we don't worship golden Bulls.

We worship things like money or power or pleasure or myself, or autonomy, right.

Doing whatever I want.

We worship those things instead of God and what we're doing.

What, what really the, the problem here is, is we're saying that

those things are better than God.

So the reason sin is sin is because it devalues God.

The reason sin is sin is because it says God, you're not very important.

You're not worth it.

You're not worthy of worshiping, you're not worthy of living

for you won't satisfy me.

You can't make me happy.

You're not trustworthy.

That's what sin says because you say, I want that instead of God.

And that's what makes it.

Sin is not the, is not necessarily the the thing you want, but the

fact that you don't want God.

You're saying, God, you're not important.

You're not valuable.

So point number two, admit you're devaluing of God,

right?

Be honest that when you sin.

You are saying, God, you're not important, or God, you're not

trustworthy, or God, you're not good.

So Right.

You can tell how much someone values something by seeing how much

they'll give up to get it right.

What they'll trade for it.

That's, that's how you see how much someone values something, right?

Like if I stole your phone.

You'd be like, here, take everything.

I want my phone back.

Right?

Give me, like, you would, you'd be offering everything.

You'd be being like, oh, here's my younger sibling.

Here's here.

You'd gimme everything.

You'd be like, gimme my phone back.

I need that right now.

Because you really value your phone, right?

So what that says is that your phone's really important to you, right?

Because you're willing to give up anything to get it.

But imagine if I took something that wasn't that important to you, right?

Let's say I, I took.

Your younger sibling and you were like, yeah, that's fine.

You can keep 'em.

What does that say about your younger sibling?

You're devaluing them, right?

You're like, well, I'd rather have all this stuff than my younger sibling.

That's what you're saying.

That's what happens when you sin.

You're saying, I'd rather have this than God.

You're devaluing God.

You're saying God's not important.

God's not worth it.

God's not good.

God's not beautiful.

God's not something that I treasure and I cherish.

That's what you say when you sin.

What makes sin wrong is what it says about God.

It's what it says about God.

Is that not worth my time, not worth my energy, not worth my self-control.

Not worth my morning.

Not worth my thoughts.

That's what sin says about God.

The root of sin is preferring other things to God.

So I want you to think about what your sin says to God, what

your sin says to God, right?

Like, um, when you're, when you're anxious, when you're saying to

God is God, I don't trust you.

You can't take care of me.

You can't keep your promises.

I don't believe you.

That's what you're saying to God when you're anxious.

Right?

And that changes it.

Right?

That makes you not wanna be anxious because you're like,

man, I if, especially if you're a Christian, you're like, I love God.

I don't wanna tell God.

I don't trust him.

I wanna tell him I do trust him.

And that's how you fight anxieties.

You live that way.

You say, okay, yeah.

Like, I don't wanna do that.

Or maybe.

Take discontent, right?

Maybe you're, you're not happy with something, you're, you're

discontent with your life stage.

You're discontent with your class schedule.

You're discontent with your family.

You're discontent with, with how talented you are, the way you look

or the clothes you have that says, God, you're not enough for me.

I need more.

God, I need you to give me more stuff to make me happy.

And it says that, God, you've given me everything.

You've given me your son, but that's not enough to make me happy.

I need that.

I need to be dating someone to be happy.

I need to have these clothes to be happy.

I need to make this team or get these grades to be happy.

And you're saying, God, you're not enough.

I need more.

So see how that changes what sin really is.

'cause it makes it personal because it is personal.

Sin is a personal offense to God.

So

think about what your sin says to God.

Take any sin that you struggle with.

Just think about what does this say to God

that is really gonna change your view of that sin.

And also that shows you that you know what?

God is righteous to punish sin because this sin is terrible to God, right?

This sin is disgusting.

This sin is gross.

This sin is really, really, really offensive to God.

It makes sense that God would, would punish sin, that God would

show his wrath towards sin.

Something else our verse said though, was that your sin tricks you,

that your sinful heart tricks you.

You see that right here, claiming verse 22, claiming

to be wise, they became fools.

Right?

When you sin, it's not like, oh, it's a terrible idea, but I'm gonna sin anyway.

That's not how sin works.

You think you are smart when you're sinning, you're think, you

think you're making a good idea, otherwise you wouldn't do it.

If you didn't think your sin was a good idea, you wouldn't do it.

You'd be like, oh, well I don't need to do that.

But you think it's wise, right?

You think it's helpful.

You think it's important.

You think you need to do it.

You think it's good for you, and so you do it, but really you're being foolish.

Isn't that crazy?

You're, you're being a fool when you sin because you're making a bad trade.

That's what's happening is you're saying, I'm trading God, right?

God, he's beautiful.

He's glorious.

He's all satisfying.

He keeps his promises.

He's faithful.

He's wise.

He's always who he says he is.

I'm trading him for whatever, for sin.

You're making a bad trade, and so you're being a fool, but you, what

happens is, is you, you trick yourself into thinking it's a good idea.

And that's what, that's what happens when you're tempted, is you have, you

have to decide, what am I gonna do here?

And you have to, that's why God gives you promises, right?

So your, your sinful heart tricks you into to thinking you're making

a good decision when you sin, right?

You're, you're making a bad trade.

And speaking of, of bad trades, right?

This happened.

Um,

and sorry, Josh, I had to, um, it's too, too good to pass up, right?

But apparently, apparently someone thought this was a good idea, right?

Someone, at least one person in the world thought that this was a good idea.

Right.

Because otherwise they wouldn't have done it.

If they didn't think it was a good idea, they wouldn't have done it.

And when you're on the outside of it, you're like, oh, that's,

that's a terrible decision.

I can't believe that they did that.

I can't believe that, that they would trade this guy for whatever.

Right.

Two first round picks, Kenny Clark, whatever.

I don't even care.

Right.

Bad decision because you, you think about how valuable this guy is, right?

That this is what they named the awards after, right?

MVP most valuable player.

So

what's happening is when you are, when you're, when you're devaluing God in your

sin, is is you're saying that I, when you step outside of it, it's like, oh yeah,

well, duh, I wouldn't choose God over sin.

Like, and everyone here would be like, oh yeah, that makes sense.

I'm not gonna sin because I'd rather have God.

But in the moment.

It's different, right?

Because like this moment, allegedly, this is personal.

Allegedly this is personal because his agent was offended by the owner, right?

This was personal.

And see that's what happens with our sin, is it, it's, it gets, it

gets complicated, it gets personal.

Our, our desires, they blind us.

And so you have to fight to see things the right way.

Because the reason that trade was made is because someone probably didn't see

things the way they should have seen 'em.

Someone was like, well, my ego is more important than my team.

That's basically what happened with this trade, and that's what happens

when you sin is something happens and you're blinded to something.

That's true when you're, well, I'm, I'm gonna use anxiety 'cause it's so

easy to to see this, but when you're anxious, you're blinded to the fact

that God's gonna take care of you.

Because now there's all these things coming at you and you're

like, well, what about this?

What if this happens?

How, what, what about this?

Uh, I don't know how this is gonna work out, or This person might do

this, or, or this could happen.

And so you're blinded, and that gets in the way of seeing how things really are.

You're blinded to reality, right?

Your heart, and as the pastors say, is being darkened.

You, you're not seeing things the way you're supposed to see 'em.

And so.

On the outside it might look foolish, but when you're in it, it seems

like, whoa, that's really hard.

So in the moment you have to fight to see what your sin really is, right?

Your, your sin is essentially is making you a really bad trade offer.

And you have to see through the, the promises, the the fake promises

of sin to say, you know what?

That's not a good trade.

And then not trade your two first round picks or not trade your best

player for two first round picks and.

Some random guy no one's ever heard of, right?

Not that bad.

But, so I want you to think about that.

When, when you, when you're tempted to sin, right?

Think about your temptations to sin this week.

You, you're gonna be tempted to, to watch that video or, or make

that joke or be lazy or to dis be disrespectful when, when your parents

tell you something you don't wanna do.

And, and think about it in advance when you can see clearly.

So that you can say, oh, you know, in the moment, right?

I, I start feeling the pressure, but I, I've, I've prepared myself, I've,

I've prepared myself for battle, right?

I've, I've thought this through, so when the trade offer comes,

I can just say, no, I'm good.

I know what I already have, right?

I know that, that God is better.

I know that the promises of my God are better than the promise

that this sin is offering me.

Don't fall for the, the foolish trait of exchanging the glory of God, right?

'cause sin separates you from God, right?

Sin, even if you're a Christian, it hinders your relationship with God.

You're not as close with him as you could be because His holiness it.

It makes you feel uncomfortable when you're in living in sin.

And so

don't fall for the, the bad, the bad trade offer.

And fight to see clearly fight to see, oh God is, is really the

one in control in this situation.

God is really worth my time.

God can really make me happy, happier than this thing or obeying God is better for me

than following after the world than what my friends do, or using my words to build

someone up is better than gossiping or.

Sharing the gospel with that friend is better than, than

never telling them about Jesus.

So fight through those temptations to see the, what's really happening,

to see who God really is and what he really says, and ultimately even

play out the situation in your head.

Okay, if I do give into the sin, what's gonna happen?

Right?

If I, if I, okay, if I do go to this party and hang out with

these people, what's gonna happen?

If I do say these words and respond in anger, what's gonna happen and, and

see what, what it really is, because in, in the moment it's gonna look good.

But that's where you use God's promises and who God is to, to

fight back against those things.

So think about about how your sin impacts God, right?

The reason sin is sinful is 'cause what it says about God.

That's why God is right to show his wrath.

So we saw that everyone should know better.

Everyone should know that God exists.

But the problem is that everyone worships something else instead.

And so if that's, if that's you tonight, if you are currently suppressing

the truth, you know, just another sermon that you've, you've heard

about, or you know God's real and you keep pushing it down, you keep, I'm

not gonna talk to my leader at all.

I'm not gonna turn from my sin.

I'm not gonna confess that I've been doing this.

Don't keep pushing it down because God's wrath is being stored up against you and

your sin, and one day you're not gonna be able to suppress the truth anymore.

It's gonna be obvious and clear, and you're gonna stand before God

and you're gonna see, you know what?

I tried to ignore it and it, and it's real.

It's, it's, it's real.

God is real.

Heaven is real.

Hell is.

So don't push it back anymore if that's you tonight.

Alright, let's pray and we'll go to small groups.

God thank you that you have given us a way to escape your wrath.

That we don't have to suffer the punishment for our

sin because you love us.

And so you have sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin so

that he could absorb your wrath.

For us and that we could get his righteousness so that we could

be good enough to go to heaven.

Not because of what we do, but because of what he does.

So I pray right now, God, that you would help us to, um, not suppress

the truth, even if we are Christians and we're convicted about something.

I pray that we wouldn't suppress that conviction, but we would rather

respond to that conviction by coming to you with confession and repentance.

Trusting that killing sin is better than hiding it.

Pray all these things in Jesus name.

Amen.