Gratitude That Adorns The Gospel-6

GRATITUDE That ADORNS The GOSPEL-VI—Romans 1:15-25

OR: Gratitude That Graces The Gospel

Attention:

This coming Saturday, our church is going to have a Cleanup/Work Day. We will begin with a breakfast at 8:00, & the plan is to work until about noon. If everyone will take on a project, or work with someone else on a project, we will get the church building & grounds looking nice & running smoothly.

Such actions declare our heartfelt gratitude for what God has done & is doing thru us.

Need:

Our lives in Christ Jesus encourage celebration! God’s people continuously offer up sincere thanks to Him for offering them His wisdom, which in turn, causes them to view the world very differently than those who are without Christ in the world.

Christian influence in all societies encourages an appreciation for the life with which God has blessed them(although it is not always accepted).

Christians openly recognize God’s love expressed towards them in His sustained salvation & moment-by-moment blessings.

Christians openly recognize & prioritize God’s ever available invitation to approach Him with their actual needs.

Christians openly recognize God’s provision for them.

These realize that they have been abundantly blessed by the ever-living & loving Lord their God.

Those who are not so inclined may still be influenced by the Church to such a degree that they readily attach a religious sentimentality to holidays & to life in general.

“ADORN”—To make more beautiful, or attractive; To enhance.

Titus 2:9-10—“Exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.”

1Pet. 3:3-4—“Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle & quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” For the Christians in Rome, Paul delineated the relationship of gratitude to the Gospel.

Personal Gratitude must properly adorn the Gospel of Christ.

What manner of Gratitude properly adorns the Gospel of Christ?

OR...

How can your Gratitude adorn the Gospel of Christ?

8 assurances that your Gratitude is one that Adorns God’s Good News.

So far we have found that

Our Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

1. Our SHAMELESS TRUST(:15-16)

2. SHARING(:17)

3. REINFORCING GOD’s WRATH(:18)

4. KNOWLEDGE(:19)

5. SIGHT(:20)

6. CHOICE(:21)

7—Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...

AFFIRMATION & PRACTICE(:22-23)

Explanation: (:22-23)

:22—“Professing to be wise, they became fools,”

Thus being dismissers of God’s glory & glorifiers of themselves(:21), ungrateful(:21), limited narrow thinkers(:21) & dark-hearted(:21), it is no surprise that these also believe & proclaim themselves to be “wise.” However, in reality, they are in the throes of utter foolishness!

To be ranked in the number of those considered to be “fools” is not a compliment. It is an insult! It is a huge insult particularly to anyone who consider themselves to be intelligent.

There is probably a no more unnerving thing for any person, than to have believed yourself “wise” only to discover that you have been a “fool” all along. Having lived your life as a “fool” would mean that all of your effort up till now has been a lie.

•But then that is exactly what every true Christian has been thru! Every true Christian has mentally ‘affirmed’ God’s truth, so that they are now, with good reason, expected to live by & ‘practice’ that truth in the real world. Truly ‘sold-out’ Christians forsake their former way of life.

?What are you a ‘professor’ of?

?What does your life declare to others?

?Is your ‘message’ absolutely truthful, or instead, one of foolishness?

“Professing”—faskw—Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masc.—1) To affirm, allege, portend or profess. Strong—To assert. Used 4X.?Prolongation from the same as—fhmi—To show or make known one's thoughts, i.e. Speak or say.

“Wise”—sofov—Adj.—1) Wise—1a) Skilled, expert: of artificers, 1b) Wise, skilled in letters, cultivated, learned—1b1) Of the Greek philosophers & orators, 1b2) Of Jewish theologians, 1b3) Of Christian teachers, 1c) Forming the best plans & using the best means for their execution. Denotes wise, skilled, an expert. Strong—Wise(in a most general application).

“Became Fools”—mwrainw—Aorist Passive Indicative 3rd Plural—1) To be foolish, to act foolishly. Strong—To become insipid[lacking flavor]; figuratively, To make(passively--Act) as a simpleton.?English=‘Moron’ or moronic.

:23—“& changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--& birds & four-footed animals & creeping things.

“& changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image”

Our God is “incorruptible.” Thus His “glory” is unique & unapproachable by any created things or group of created things. His character is incorruptible. His truth is incorruptible. His promises are incorruptible. His love is incorruptible. His care is incorruptible. His holiness is incorruptible. His integrity is incorruptible. His design is incorruptible. His perfection is incorruptible!