Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study #16 of Romans 2, and we will read Romans 2:8-11:

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; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.

We are continuing to look at the language in this passage, and we were discussing the word “tribulation” and the word “anguish.” We saw that the word “tribulation,” Strong’s #2347, is related to Strong’s #2346. Tribulation is “thlipsis,” and the other word is “thlibō,” and it is the word found in Matthew 7:13-14:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

The word “narrow” is the word “thlibō,” and it is describing the pathway that leads to eternal life and the kingdom of God. It is a strait gate and a narrow way that will take us there, and the word “narrow” identifies with “tribulation.”

Interestingly, the word “strait” identifies with the other word we are looking at in Romans 2:5, the word “anguish,” where it referred to “tribulation and anguish.” The word “anguish” is from a compound word, and one of those words is “strait,” #4728, that is used in Matthew 7:13-14 to describe the gate. It is a strait gate.

And the word “anguish,” #4730, is also translated as “distress.” Through these English words, we begin to get an idea that it is a time of “trouble,” and that is what tribulation is about. For the people of God that the Lord has saved, we will experience “tribulation and anguish” in our journey to the kingdom of heaven. Is that not what we are told in the book of Acts? Remember, it says in Acts 14:21:

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Do you see how tribulation is something that will happen at a particular period of time that God has established? It must come to pass, and it is through much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of God. Not “great tribulation,” but much tribulation. The Great Tribulation (megas-thlipsis) is one part of it, but following the Great Tribulation of 23 years ending on May 21, 2011, there is a second tribulation period that the Bible speaks of as a time of recompense, according to 2Thessalonians 1:6: _“Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.”_ So it is “much tribulation.” It is tribulation upon tribulation. “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

This is so important for us to understand. First, there was the Great Tribulation and the judgment on the churches, and now there is the repayment of tribulation to the world, Satan and his kingdom. And it is wearying. It is extremely grievous, and it tires the minds and spirits of the people of God, as we have been going through this for so many years. There is almost a feeling, although we do not pay attention to worldly feelings, but it is almost a spiritual feeling of “fainting,” and just wanting it to stop and for this to be over with, but God says, “Faint not at my tribulations for you.” It is the plural form of tribulation. It is for your glory.

The weariness itself – the fact that we have gone through one Great Tribulation of 23 years, and that we are now well into a second tribulation period – is in line with what the Bible is saying, and it is the road to eternal life. This is the way! And, again, what happens is that people get so tired and weary, they become disgusted with the whole process and they want to get off this pathway that is so “narrow.” They want to avoid this gate that is so “strait” and full of anguish and distress. And they go backwards, and in doing so, they find an easier road to take. It is the broad way, and they feel they can almost breathe again. The sorrow seems to leave them, and they do not feel the pressures and the troubles they felt previously, and they breathe, as it were, a sigh of relief: “Oh, this is what the Christian life should be, much more relaxed and comfortable, and so much easier. We do not need all that affliction and tribulation! All I have to do is go back to my church. The people in our church are enjoying ourselves. We have another fellowship gathering this weekend, and there will be a picnic. We are going on an outing. The whole church is going to get on a bus and go see some sights and have an end-of-summer BBQ. It is so much more relaxed and comfortable, and this is how it should be.” So they have their “escape.” They do not escape in the way the Bible speaks of escaping, but they have avoided the affliction, and they have done so through sin. As Job said in Job 36:21:

Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.

Wow! What does that mean? What it means is that when we start doing things God’s way and following the Word, we are taking up our cross, being obedient and keeping the commands of Christ, then there is affliction for the Word’s sake. That is the nature of things in this world. Spiritual forces will start to assail us. God Himself will begin to chasten us. Why would God chasten us if we are following the Word and doing what we should have done all along? Because we are now conducting ourselves as sons, every son is chastened, so God begins to chasten, and the chastening serves the dual purpose of trying the person to see if it is a genuine act of obedience coming forth from a new born again soul, or is it just some outward conduct that a person is engaging in because they think it is what a Christian should do, but their heart is far from God. God is not pleased with that. He does not want merely professed Christians that love Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him.

So God brings affliction and He troubles them in various ways, and taking the next step forward becomes more and more difficult to follow this “way.” For example, going back prior to May 21, 2011, God commanded all within the congregations to depart out of the midst. “Leave the churches. The churches are under judgment and you must get out.” So a man departs out, but his wife does not, and after a while, the wife is more and more troubled by this development. Her husband is speaking of the end of the church age, and he will not go to church. He says that Satan is there. And her husband is following the teaching of Mr. Camping, but all the pastors in the churches say that he (Mr. Camping) is a heretic, so she begins to apply pressure in the home. And maybe she refuses to let the children to follow him, and she is taking the children into the church. There is much affliction. It is the time of Great Tribulation. And here the Lord begins to test: “Who do you love? Do you love me more than wife, children or parents?” And it is really in the form of chastisement and affliction. It feels as though he is losing his family, and there may even be a divorce, so tremendous pressure is put on that man. And some relented prior to May 21, 2011 and returned to the churches.

Some made it all the way to that date, but when things did not happen as described by Mr. Camping and Family Radio and others teaching these things and it seemed to have been incorrect, then some just threw up their hands: “No way I am going to go this way any further. I am going right back to the churches. It is easier, as that way proved to be wrong.” At least it seemed that way in their minds, but backwards is never the way to go for an elect child of God. It is always forward, as we “press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” That is the way to go, and behind us is Satan.

So it is a failure and a return to iniquity, because to go to a church is a sin after the Lord commanded everyone to come out, and He has not rescinded that command. To go to a church is sin, and those who have returned to their churches, as it says here, have regarded iniquity: “Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.” And sometimes it is like a choice.

Another way of describing this verse is the example of someone who has stopped smoking or who has stopped doing any kind of addictive type sin. They have such a weakness for a particular sin that it is an addiction, and when they try to stop doing that sin, there is a feeling of “withdrawal.” And all of us are probably familiar with that, if you have ever had a problem with food, alcohol, or cigarettes. Let us use the example of cigarettes. Someone is smoking. It is unhealthy and killing them, and it is contrary to the Law of God because the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill,” and it is slow self-murder. So they are continuing to smoke, but on another level, there is tremendous comfort in it. Whenever they are troubled in any way, they “light up a cigarette,” and while they are smoking, it seems to ease the tension. So they stop for a time, a few days, a few months, or even a few years in some cases, but when pressure comes, there is an urge and desire to “light up a cigarette.” And you can see how it would apply to this verse: “Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.” So rather than going through the uncomfortable experience of the body’s desire and craving for a cigarette, you “light up a cigarette,” and you have chosen iniquity rather than affliction. And that is a good way of explaining what people do when they turn back from following the Word of God because of affliction.

Going back to our passage in Romans 2, we found that tribulation is akin to the narrow way, and anguish is like the strait gate, and God is indicating that this is the way that will bring us into His kingdom. This is the way to life. There is no way around it. You cannot go any other way. That is very clear in the Bible. You cannot go up another way. Remember, that is what it says in John 10. The thief does not go through the door, but this is the “door,” the portal or entry point (into heaven). It is the Word. It is Christ. And in order to go this way, we have to follow Him. And in order to follow Him, we must take up our cross, which means that we must suffer affliction and tribulation for the Word’s sake, just as Christ experienced suffering in His obedience to the Father. He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It was a painful death, a death full of suffering. And yet, He followed the commandments of His Father all the way to the end through “hell.” He was obedient in the grave unto death. That is what we see in Jonah 2 when Jonah was swallowed by the whale, and in the whale’s belly, he was offering up thanksgiving. It is showing forth the obedience of the Lord Jesus even unto death, and then there was the resurrection, and that is what the Lord is requiring of His people as we make “demonstration” before the judgment seat of Christ. We have been brought into the condition of “hell,” and the whole world is in the condition of hell, and as we go through these dark “days of death” where the world is hell itself, then we are following in the footsteps of the example set by Christ. And we are to keep going forward, following Him, In order to be resurrected and come up out of “hell,” we have to endure to the end, and then on that last day, the Lord will lift us up, and He will exalt us (into the heavenlies), and that is what this verse is speaking of regarding entering into life.

Some people may say or think that Matthew 7:13-14 does not really identify with our time, but it can be shown that it does, because there is a parallel passage that speaks of the “narrow way” and the “strait gate,” and it is in Luke 13. We are familiar with this, but now we may hear it a little differently because we are approaching it from another direction. It says in Luke 13:24:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

It is the same statement as in Matthew 7:13-14, where it speaks of the narrow way and the strait gate. But, here, we are told to “strive to enter in.” Now look at the verses that follow, in Luke 13:25-30:

When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

Here in verse 25, we recognize this statement can identify with only one day – it identifies with Judgment Day: “When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door…” And that is the information that has come forth from the Bible in a crystal-clear way from the revealing of that wonderful timeline when God came to Jonah and said, “For yet seven days,” and He would bring the flood. Seven days later, Noah and all the animals came onboard the ark, and God shut him in. And that was the “seventeenth day of the second month,” in the calendar of Noah’s days. And we have allowance based on 2Peter 3 in the context of describing the flood and Judgment Day, and then right in the middle of speaking of those two things, the Lord says, “…one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” And it just so happens that if we apply that Scripture and we go 7,000 years (from God’s statement to Noah, “For yet seven days…”), it is as though God said, “For yet seven thousand years.” And if we go 7,000 years from 4990 B. C. when the flood occurred to 2011, the 7,000th year, where does it fall? Historically, seven days later was the “seventeenth day of the second month.” And we had a timeline year from the year 2011. May 21, 1988 began the Great Tribulation, and 23 years later (exactly 8,400 days), was the perfect day to complete the Great Tribulation, May 21, 2011. It was one of the main contenders of those dates that qualified as possibilities, like 2,300 days, seven years, 23 years, or 70 years, but it turned out to be exactly 23 years, and God confirmed it with the timeline from the flood of exactly 7,000 years. The day the door would shut would be May 21, 2011, because the Bible speaks of “immediately after the tribulation,” and then proceeds to describe Judgment Day.

And then it so happened that the date of May 21,2011 in the Gregorian calendar, which had the underlying Hebrew calendar (biblical calendar) of the “seventeenth day of the second month” was 7,000 years to the very year. And then on the day that the Bible indicates the Great Tribulation would conclude, a day that had the identical calendar date as the day when God shut the door of the ark, so, too, He has shut the door of heaven: “When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door…” But prior to that, read the previous verse, again, in Luke 13:24:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Then it says, “When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door.”