GOD MAKE HIMSELF KNOWN TO EVERYBODY
Romans 1:18-24, 28-32
THE
CHANGE IN HOUSE RULES
The last three lessons were from the Old Testament. The Word
was written to
the Jews. The House rules were the Law, God gave Moses to give
to Nation Israel
to govern them in the Promise Land
and failed to produce the righteousness in man God desired.
The Law served as a
tutor until the Age of Grace. The atonement of sins under the Law was
through
continuous animal sacrifices.
The New Testament was written to the Church which includes
Jews and
Gentiles. The New Testament ushered in the Age of Grace with the
death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The house rules
today is grace. Today the atonement of sins is the one time
shed blood of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
THE JUST LIVE BY FAITH
V:17 ."For therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
A. Under the Law, man
was justified by his faith and obedience in the
Word of God.
1. Abraham the
Father of Faith was justified because he believed God 400 hundred
years before the Law was given.
2. All the
patriarchs through out the Old Testament were justified because they
believed God.
3. The Law itself
could not save. But obedience to the Law produced the
righteousness of
God in man.
B. Under Grace we are saved by our faith in the author of the Law, our Lord
and Savior Jesus
Christ.
1. All the
requirements of the Law were satisfied once and for all in the
atoning blood
of Jesus.
2. It is God's
Grace that gives us joy in the mist of an evil society.
3. It is God's
Grace that gives peace in the mist of this
violent
society.
4. It is in the
mist of the God we trust that we find all the provisions we need.
GOD REVEALED HIS PLAN OF REDEMPTION
V:18-19. " The wrath of God is being revealed from
heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth
by their wickedness,
since what may be known about God is plain to them, because
God has made it plain to them."
A. We have a choice to follow the wisdom of God or to follow
the wisdom of man.
1. God put in
print His Word which is the only truth that we can live
by to please
Him.
2. God has
revealed to us in His Word, His promised blessings that are conditional
upon our
obedience to His Word.
3. God Has also revealed to us in His Word,
His wrath that results from our
disobedience.
B. This text makes it clear that at some point in mans life
he will know the difference
between his
evilness and the righteousness of God.
1. This text makes
it clear that the wickedness of man is willful and premeditated.
2. The text says,
God has made it plain.
3. In other words,
when we sin we cannot claim ignorance to God's Word.
4. The text makes
it plain, that our sinfulness is the rejection of God's Word
to promote our
own wickedness.
5. The Bible says,
all unrighteousness is sin.
6. The Bible says,
the wages of sin is death.
a. That means,
we earn death by our sins.
b. We were
born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We didn't have anything to do
with our
initial state.
c. We do have something to do with
continuing in that state.
d. God has
made the choice of righteousness plain to us.
GOD MAKES HIS PRESENCE PLAIN TO SEE
V:20-21. " 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."
A. The text says, there is no excuse for sin.
1. The text says,
if you never heard the Word of God, you know Him through
His creation.
2. All you got to
do is look around you to see the Glory of God.
B. You cannot miss God's Glory in this world.
1. When you look up
and see the sun in the sky, you see His Glory.
2. When you observe
the trees, the grass, the flowers and rainbow of colors
all around
you, it's His Glory that you see.
3. When you
consider that every living thing on earth has the ability to
reproduce
itself, you are an eye witness to His Glory.
4. When you
consider your body with all its living components that makes
you what you are, you know you are living in
His Glory.
C. When you consider
that God made a sun that can heat up the world and a
weather system
that can cool it down, you are witnessing His Power.
1. When you
consider that the God you serve can form
clouds in the sky,
fill them with
enough water to flood the earth, you understand that
His power and
His resources has no limits.
2. When you reason
that famines, earthquakes, storms, flood and all
natural
disasters continue to occur throughout history, you can
understand that
God is eternal.
a. You can understand that He does not cease
to exist.
b. You can understand that God is always in
control of His creation.
3. The text says we
cannot dismiss the fact that there is an almighty God, because
the evidence in
front of us.
a. We are living
in the evidence of an all powerful creator.
b. You cannot
explain away God with reason, science or technology.
c. We see it all
the time, when there is some terrible disaster or tragedy,
folk
who don't believe in God call out His name.
A MAN WITHOUT GOD IS FOOLISH
V:22-23. " Although they claimed to be wise, they
became fools
and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man
and birds and
animals and reptiles. "
A. Pay careful attention to the Word. God said
"they".
1. The
"they" are the unbelievers.
2. The
"they" are those who reject God in favor of themselves and their
foolish
desires.
3. The
"they" are those who make gods of their imagination with their own
hands,
and worship
them.
4. They worship
what God created, rather than the God of creation.
B. We, the Church are not included in the "they",
but we are not immune to the
influences of the
"they".
1. There are two
groups of people, the "they" which is the world and the Church
which is the
Body of Christ.
2. We have to be on
our guard all the time.
3. It is easy for
us to assume that since the world is doing it, that it is alright
with God.
4. It is easy for us
to take on the habits of the world which we live in.
5. We must remember
that we have been chosen out of this world by Christ and
should no longer
serve this world.
C. The wisdom of the world does not compare to the wisdom of
God.
1. In America ,
what we see around us is the gods of money, excess, immorality
and
selfishness.
2. All idol gods
are nothing and provide no lasting joy or peace.
3. Jesus is the
only way to salvation and eternal life with the Father.
GOD WILL GIVE YOU OVER TO SATAN
V:28. " Furthermore, since they did not think it
worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved
mind, to do what ought not to be done."
A. God repeats Himself again.
1. The world makes
a choice; the Holy God or the gods of their imaginations.
2. The world
rejects God in favor of their own wicked desires.
3. The test says,
the world rejects the knowledge of God.
4. They are not
ignorant of God, they hate God.
B. Notice, it is God who allows the unrepentant heart to
destroy itself.
1. God backs off
and lets Satan have his way with them.
2. A man without
God is capable of all kinds of evil.
3. A man without
God cannot control his desire to do evil.
4. A man without
God will do anything to anybody, anytime to satisfy his
evil desires.
WITHOUT GOD ONLY
EVIL IS LEFT
V:29-31. " They have become filled with every kind of
wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife,
deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful;
they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless."
A. How many of us, the Church can identify with some of this
before we
established a
relationship with Jesus?
1. How many of us
can still identify with some this?
2. This is the baggage
we brought into our relationship with Christ.
3. Romans 3:10 , says there is none righteous, no not
one.
B. It is our relationship with Christ that empowers us not to continue in sin.
1. It is the blood
of Christ that cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2. Because of His
grace, God lifted us out of the world.
3. Jesus gave us a
new name; not "they" but sons and daughters of the Father.
YOUR CHOICE, ETERNAL LIFE OR ETERNAL DEATH
V:32. " Although they know God's righteous decree that
those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very
things but also approve of those who practice them."
A. We are role models
to the world around us.
1. That is another
reason the world cannot claim not to know Christ.
2. The Church
stands as a testimony to the existence of the Almighty God.
3. The Church stands
as a testimony to the Grace and Mercy of God the Father.
B. Because they know God and reject Him, the Word says
"they" deserve death.
1. The world is a
role model for evilness.
2. Those who do evil approve others who do
evil.
3. The world hates
the Church because we follow Christ.
THANK GOD THAT HE DELIVERED US FROM THE
WORLD INTO HIS
HEAVEN
Rev. M . Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
For a complete list of my
lessons, visit my blog
"goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com"
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