Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study #10 of Romans 2, and we are continuing to read Romans 2:5-9:

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

I will stop reading there. We are continuing to look at the second part of verse 5, which speaks of the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. We spent some time looking at the word “revelation,” Strong’s #602, “apokalupsis,” and how it is used.

It is also translated as “coming” in 1Corinthians 1:7:

So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then we spent some time looking at a related word, Strong’s #601,“apokaluptō,” and we saw how that identifies with God revealing truth or revealing doctrine, such as in 2Thessalonians 2:3, where we saw that the “man of sin,” or “son of perdition” was revealed. And we know exactly how that happened – we know who he is from the Bible. At the time of the end, God opened up the Scriptures, and He also opened up our understanding to see and realize this, so that we would know that Satan is the “antichrist.” He is the “man of sin,” and in that manner he was revealed to us.

In a similar way, the Son of man was revealed, in Luke 17:30:

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

That has to do with Christ coming as the Judge, first as judge of the corporate church, and then as Judge of the world. And it was judgment that was revealed on the pages of the Bible, and that is why the Bible tells us in Matthew 24:29:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

This is Christ as He came in judgment on the world after the Tribulation. The Tribulation was the time of judgment on the churches, and this is immediately after that. And Christ came “in the clouds.” I would refer anyone to Numbers 9, especially anyone who thinks that this is not so. Go and read Numbers 9, and see how often God joins the movement of the “cloud” with His commandments. He first set it up so that when the cloud moved, Israel would move their location. They would pack up their camp and follow. This was done “at the commandment of JEHOVAH,” and, yet, He did not say a Word. It was according to the movement of the cloud, so the cloud is tied to the commandment of JEHOVAH. Christ comes “in the clouds,” as it says He is “coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” He is coming in the commandments of JEHOVAH. The Son of man is being “revealed” in the Day of Judgment. This is what the Bible means when it says, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” And the “last day” refers to the prolonged judgment period (not a single day). The Word is in view. In Revelation 19:13-15, the Lord Jesus is seated on a white horse, and we are told His name is “The Word of God.” Why that name? He has many names, and, yet, as He comes to judge the earth, He comes bearing the name, “The Word of God.” And the armies which were in heaven followed Him, and that would be Christ coming with His saints, all the elect left upon the earth (the great multitude). They are following the Word, as the Word reveals and declares the judgment, and the elect children of God follow the Word. They believe it. They trust it.

We read about believing the Word in 2Thessalonians 1:5-7:

Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

And, here again, we see the word “reveal.” Christ is being revealed from heaven with his “angels,” which are the messengers or saints of God. 1Corinthians 6 asks the question, “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?” Do you not know this? You should. God’s elect will follow the Word, and the Word is what pronounces the judgment, and we are involved in the judgment process as we declare the things the Bible says, as His messengers on earth have done all through history. We continue to do so, and by doing so, we are pouring out the judgment on the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.

Again, it says in 2Thessalonians 1:7-8:

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

You can see similar language in Romans 2 in the passage that I read to start this study, where God speaks of those that “obey not the gospel,” and “Tribulation and anguish” for every one of them. And as far as the “flaming fire,” the imagery throws off a reader with a natural mind because he thinks of actual flames of fire. He pictures a literal place of Hell and damnation. And, yet, this is the Bible. “Our God is a consuming fire,” the Bible tells us. And we read in Isaiah 30:27-28:

Behold, the name of JEHOVAH cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.

This is describing God as having “lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire: And his breath, as an overflowing stream.” Then we read in Isaiah 30:33:

For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of JEHOVAH, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

It refers to the “breath of JEHOVAH,” and, remember, the Scriptures are “God breathed.” That is what the word “inspiration” means, where we read that “all scripture is given by inspiration of God.” It is a compound word that is made up of two words that literally read as “God breathed.” The living Word is like a breath or stream of brimstone, and it is the Word of God that brings the (spiritual) fire and brimstone. It is the Word that is a “flaming fire,” in which the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed taking vengeance through the pronouncement of damnation from the Word of God. The same word that is often translated as “judgment” is translated as “damnation.” It is the judgment of God that comes through His Word. His word is delivering it. His Word is declaring it to all who read the Bible. It is being declared to the churches and to those in the world. Of course, their problem is that they lack “eyes to see” and “ears to hear,” so as they read it, they are not perceiving it. And they may even hear it from God’s people who declare it, but they do not get it. But that is immaterial. It is not necessary, according to the Lord, for people to fully understand the judgment. They will “know” the judgment through the experience of it, and that is really all the Lord is concerned with.

Concerning “fire and brimstone,” it says in Psalm 11:5-6:

JEHOVAH trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

That is the cup of wrath. God will rain “snares, fire and brimstone.” If God had just said that He will rain down “fire and brimstone,” we might have thought that the end of the world would be just like the destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah when literal fire and brimstone fell and destroyed those cities. But God added the word “snares,” saying, “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone.” And nobody should think that literal “snares” will rain down from heaven upon the wicked; it would defeat the purpose of the snare, would it not? If it were some kind of a trap that fell out of the sky onto the ground, who would be snared by it? But it is the Word of God that is like a “stream of brimstone,” and it is the Scriptures that bring the “snares” or the “traps.” So God is the one that has laid the trap for the people of the earth through a spiritual judgment, as He caused His people to declare to the entire world, “May 21,2011, Judgement Day!” Then the people of the earth held their “collective breath,” as it were, as they waited to see what would happen when that day came. Of course, they were anxious, and then, apparently, nothing happened, and they rejoiced and celebrated as the “snare” caught them. It came upon all the inhabitants of the earth. But they relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief: “Forget the Bible! Forget these people that brought this kind of message!” It was the last declaration of judgment the world would ever listen to because they are confident now that it will not happen, because that message was so serious and was delivered with such earnestness. So the world thought, “Well, if that did not happen, it will never happen.” The world relaxed and fell right into the trap from God. And the professed Christians in the churches also fell into the trap from God.

Going back to 2Thessalonians 1:8-9:

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

They will be annihilated. They will be punished with “everlasting destruction.” It is actually clearly stated. The sinner will be destroyed because “the wages of sin is death.” It is not life, like the perverted idea that has come forth from the sinful imagination of man concerning a place called “Hell” where unsaved man will live forever, suffering and being terribly afflicted and tortured, but alive, with conscious existence. Having life or being is not “death.” Death is the cessation of existence. It is the end of life. Just look at the unsaved people of the world with their “dead souls.” They are dead in their souls. There is no life there. They are not suffering in their souls in their spiritually dead condition. And when he physically dies, now he is completely dead in both body and soul. He knows nothing. In the day he perishes, his thoughts perish with him. He is like the beasts that perish. He will be destroyed, and it is an everlasting destruction. He is dead forever, the second death. He has gone out of existence, and his body will be burned up, just as the world he lived upon will be burned up. All of his memories, and the things he said, did and felt, and every experience of his life is gone forever, and wiped from all memory. Even God’s elect will remember nothing of this life and world. It will be eliminated completely, and that will happen on the last day of this prolonged spiritual judgment.

It is a “spiritual flaming fire,” a fire coming forth from the Word of God, as our God, who is a consuming fire, breathes forth His wrath and indignation. And it is expressed through the Word of God in this time and season of judgment, and man spiritually burns for years until the very last day when God will burn man up literally and the whole creation with him. Then he is done, and the Law has been satisfied completely.

Then God turns His back on this world and all the cursed sinners with all the abuses and evils that have happened in this cursed creation. God will turn His back on it, and never again will His presence have anything to do with this. It is removed from being. It is removed out of existence, and that is why there is this language that says, “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,” or from the face of God. God is the One by whom we live and breath and have our being. And people cannot have any “being” if God has removed His presence from them. That is the idea.

Then it says in in 2Thessalonians 1:10:

When he shall come…

And, again, this is Christ’s coming. He first came as Judge of the churches, but here it is especially pointing to the judgment on the world, and we saw that His coming is tied to the “revelation” or “revealing” of the Son of man in that day. Again, it says in 2Thessalonians 1:10:

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe…

And here are the saints. It is the saints that believe. They are one and the same. And notice this next statement in parenthesis:

…(because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

God is making a point in Romans 2:5 (and some of the other Scriptures we read), and He is letting it be known that it is the “day of wrath” and the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. The day of wrath is a day of revelation, and the revelation is to be “believed.” It is to be trusted and learned by the people of God, the saints, as we grow in grace and knowledge. It is the increase of spiritual knowledge when we receive “revelation,” as God is revealing His judgment program to us. Again, as it says in Romans 2:5:

… the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

It is the righteous judgment of God. It is not unrighteous in any way. It is not unfair or unjust, but it is righteous. It is according to righteousness and according to the standard of goodness, fairness and justice, and everything that is holy and pure. It is a righteous judgment coming forth from the righteous Judge. God is the Judge. The Word of God is the judge, and the judgment is just and righteous, according to Law and according to the Bible, which is the Law book of God. The Law had warned and admonished people, and the trumpet sounded to warn of the approach of the Day of Judgment. God warned for thousands of years. He warned the people of the world, and He warned them with examples, like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and like the flood of Noah’s day. And there are many other examples where God told people, “The day is coming, the day of my wrath, and the time of my indignation when I will judge you, and you will be held accountable for the things you have done, the things you have said, and the things you have thought. You will be held accountable to my Law.”

And, of course, during the history of the earth when God warned of these things, He also told people, “But there is hope. There is possible mercy in salvation.” And the Lord pointed out that He is a merciful God, a kind God, a loving God, and an “available” God. And maybe that is the important thing that we are realizing, more and more: God had made Himself available. The throne room was open for anyone at all to approach boldly to the throne of grace to find grace and help in time of need. So any sinner – the worst of sinners – and any person of any color or any gender or any age or from any place in the world could have come to God during the day of salvation and beat upon their breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” And, perhaps, God would have been merciful and, perhaps, He would have saved them. The Lord mercifully, graciously, and kindly and in all goodness made this declaration available, as He sent forth His ambassadors to beseech men to be reconciled unto God.

And God’s people went forth, although often despised, often dismissed, and often mocked and ridiculed. They were considered the “lowest of the earth.” People had no time for them. People could not care less about them and the message of the Gospel. It was something that they had no concern for at all, even though the people of God were mourning and bringing the message of salvation with tears: “Will you not be reconciled to God? Will you not go to the Lord and beseech Him and cry for mercy? And if anyone tells you to stop crying for mercy, then cry all the more, like blind Bartimaeus.” That was the message of God’s people for year, after year, after year, but the world laughed and scorned: “No, we have no time for you. We are too busy with our sports. We are too busy with our entertainment. We have a movie to catch. We have a lot to do on Sunday. We are going to have a picnic and then we are going to the game. We are too busy for the Bible, for God, or for spiritual things. Let us be about our business.”

And God was patient and longsuffering, putting up with the sins of the world for century, after century, after century, after century, until, finally, there was one last proclamation to all the world and nations: “Judgment Day is May 21, 2011! The Bible guarantees it!” And that was it. God followed through, and He did what He said He would do. He did what His people declared would happen, and He brought the world into judgment. He shut the door of heaven, and He turned out the light of the Gospel. He stopped entertaining sinners to come before His throne of grace, as far as saving souls. There is no more salvation. It has come to an end, and it is now Judgment Day, and it is according to God’s righteous judgment program.