Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
5 sermons cite this verse
… based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you'll escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance. But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed, God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good, seek glory, honor, and mortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking, who will reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for everyone who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism. …
… and that is, he is showing kindness to those who deserve his wrath in order that he might give them time to come to repentance. Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you towards repentance? And finally, we need to make clear to ourselves that the history of Habakkuk's era was under God's control, and that that is true in every age. Learning to see that the events of our world, whether in Habakkuk's day or in our own day, are all tied in their significance to God's eternal purpose in relationship to his kingdom. And if we will keep our gaze there, focused on the gospel, focused on this great good news, focused on King Jesus, focused on the fact that his perspectives on the unfolding story of world history are far more comprehensive than we could ever imagine, and yet remain absolutely focused on the person of his Son, Jesus, and of the triumph of his resurrection and the glory of his ascension and the absolute certainty of his return, then all of our cares and all of our cancers, all of our disappointments and all of our failures, all of our heartaches and heartbreaks and confusions may be brought under the all-embracing security of God's sovereign purpose. He understands when, like Habakkuk, we cry out, How long and why? And the answer of his word is finally given to us expressly in Jesus and in the triumph of revelation, allowing Christians in an earlier era to use …
… led, led to faith and repentance, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Our text this morning comes from Romans chapter 2 verses 4 and 5. Paul has been laying out this indictment against the whole human race. First, the sins focus particularly upon the Gentiles, the outsiders, in chapter 1. But lest the Jews or any religious insiders get comfortable, he has made the case that they do the very same things. that the only difference, as Paul laid it out from chapter 1 to chapter 2 between the Gentile and the Jew, is that the Gentiles know what is right and wrong, and they do what is wrong, and they affirm those who do what is wrong, where the Jews know what is right and wrong, they do what is wrong, and they condemn the person who does what is wrong. And having laid out his case to you, O man, without excuse, that they will not escape the judgment of God, he continues in verses 4 and 5. …
… As Scripture says, it is God's kindness that leads to your repentance, Romans chapter 2 verse 4. It's His mercy that melts our hearts. God's compassion brings us back to Him again. And the Bible's perfect picture of patience is at the cross of Jesus Christ. There, the flames of human sin did their worst. The infernal jealousy of religious leaders, the slow burn of social and political ambition, the flash in the pan of the disciples' short-lived commitment. In the death of Jesus, it all burned out. And the soldiers ran a spear through his side to make sure he was extinguished. And the sun hit its face in shame. Yet even there, the holy fire of God's compassion still burned, and from the wound in Jesus' side blood and water flowed, a river filled with life. When the sun rose the third day after, Jesus stood again to show us the picture of God's perfect patience. One of the early followers of Jesus said it this way, This is a saying worthy of full acceptance. …
… some of them are not quite as pleasant as this one, is found in Romans chapter 2 and verse 4. And one of the ways that God gets our attention is through blessing us in a most unusual way. Here Paul is talking about how God brings people to repentance. And you see, it isn't always with some great word of judgment, but listen if you will in verse 4. Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness or the goodness of God is for the purpose of leading you to repentance? Sometimes one of the ways that God chooses to get our attention is to bless us unusually. It may be a spiritual blessing. It may be financial. It may be something in your home. It may be something in your vocation. But God, it just seems, heaps the blessing upon you. Now, the reason God can't use that method for everybody is because some people who already are heading in their own way independent, a little independent streak within them, not dependent upon God, if God heaped more blessing on them, they'd get more independent and more self-centered and more self-seeking, and they would totally ignore God. …