THERE IS NO PLAN B
“Why going is urgent, not optional”
Romans 3: 10-12 (p 797) Oct. 16, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
Have you ever heard the statement “Ignorance of the law is no excuse?” or “Ignorance of the law is no defense?”
The reason behind this belief is that any defendant could stand before any judge and say, “Your Honor I did not know it was against the law to bring an AK47 into the post office while purchasing stamps”
Ignorance of the law does not excuse you from guilt when you break it.
And let me tell you…there are some stupid laws on the books in Kentucky...or were on the books at one time.
“In Berea, KY horses are not allowed on the streets and highways at night unless the animal has a bright red taillight securely attached to its rump.”
“In Frankfort, KY it is against the law to shoot off a policeman’s tie.”
“In Lexington, KY it is illegal to transport an ice cream cone in your pocket”
“In Owensboro a woman may not buy a hat without her husband’s permissions.”
KRS 252.130 (passed in 1922: repealed in 1948 “All bees entering KY shall be accompanied by certificates of health…
And my favorite…. No female shall appear in a bathing suit on any highway within this state unless she is escorted by a least two officers or unless she be armed with a club.” Later, and amendment proposed” the provisions of this statute shall not apply to any female weighing less than sixty pounds nor exceeding 200 pounds; nor shall it apply to female horses.
At one time or another those were real laws on the books…I’m sure many of them were reactionary laws…”Some politician’s wife spent way too much on a derby hat!!! But they were laws none the less.
And we can laugh at how stupid they are…the consequences of breaking one of these would be a small fine…
But what if you were ignorant of a law that brought capital punishment? What if you and I …or any person was ignorant of something or someone…and the consequences were life or death?
Romans 3:22 says “this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE. (No difference whether you are a few that has known the law all his life…or a gentile, ignorant of it.)
There is no difference “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Here is a Radical truth…
I EVERY PERSON REJECTS GOD
There is a creator…and God’s word clearly tells us He has revealed himself to His creation…All people.
Romans 1:19 says “What may be known about God is plain to them (people), because God has made it plain to them…”
How did he make it plain to them? “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” (Romans 1:20)
Whether we live in an African jungle, the remotest desert or the forgotten tundra…we all have acknowledge of God the creator…we worship or should…the one who created the Son…not the Son itself. God has revealed himself…
It’s the very reason creation is attacked so violently…and it’s the very reason John the beloved begins at creation in His gospel…it’s the starting place for all believers…”In the beginning god created”
But just because a creator has revealed himself doesn’t mean all people will believe it…in fact all of us reject God.
Paul says “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (Romans 1:21).
The Bible teaches that all of us have foolish hearts and futile minds…that there is no difference in us “Jew or Gentile” We all have an inherently sinful nature that rebels against the knowledge and glory of God.
If I accept that there is a creator… I must eventually believe He has created me for a reason…
But if I can replace the creator with something else “Exchange the truth of God for a lie” then I won’t be accountable to Him… nor will I be responsible for my rejection.
And God’s word says that “All of us, including men and women in unreached groups around the world…reject true knowledge of God…we replace Him by “Worshipping created things rather than the Creator”
Because of this fundamental truth…
II ALL PEOPLE ARE GUILTY BEFORE GOD..
There are two things I know for sure: 1) There is a God and 2) I Ain’t Him.
So as I ‘rastle with the deep issues of eternity I come to our text….
The Apostle Paul describes the gentiles who sinned before God in Romans 1:18 through Romans 2:16…the first 3 chapters of Romans are some of the most depressing verses in the Bible….often taken out of context…but Paul uses them to describe the “depravity” of mankind our “sinfulness”.
And I’m sure Paul’s Jewish audience was reading and saying “Yeah….Go get them Paul…tell those evil, nasty, shameful, sinful gentiles “what’s what!
But then he turns the tables on the Jewish audience…He confronts them with their own sinfulness…especially since they’ve known God’s laws.
“There is no one righteous, not even one There is no one who understands. No one who seeks God All have turned away They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3: 10-12)
The case has been made…All people, regardless of religion, culture, or ethnic background falls guilty before God…In Paul’s words.
“Every mouth is silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19)
[There are no innocent people in this world just waiting to hear the gospel…instead there are people all over the world standing guilty before a “Holy God, and that is the very reason they need the gospel…
All too often we view heaven, as the default eternal state for humankind. We assume that our race simply deserves heaven that God owes heaven to us unless we do something really bad to warrant otherwise. But the book of Romans says, “That’s not true.” All people are guilty and as such the default is not heaven…but Hell.”]
It’s our nature to minimize sin and its consequences…we want God to fit into our box of fairness…God’s word says “We are without excuse…” But we don’t believe that do we….? We fill our hearts and minds with a thousand excuses so that our current relationship with God is good enough…I know God’s word says this…but…
There is no question that the billion people around the world who have never heard about Jesus have a different kind of accountability before God than the rest of us…”To those of us to whom much has been given…much will be required.”
But don’t forget people are not ultimately condemned for not believing in Jesus…they are ultimately condemned for rejecting God.
That’s the case Paul makes in Romans 2: 12-16
I can imagine how heartbroken the apostle Paul is as he writes Romans 3:20 “No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law….
Everyone knows God, all people reject God, all people are guilty before God and stand condemned for rejecting Him…But Paul has to be encouraged as He writes…
III GOD HAS MADE THE WAY OF SALVATION FOR LOST PEOPLE
But what about people who never heard about Jesus? Surely God will make a way for these millions of people to get to heaven even if they haven’t heard about Jesus.
I ‘rastle with this as much as any question we’ve dealt with…but I read in god’s word…where Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me” (John 14:6)
He is not a way, or a truth, or a life…He is the only way, truth and life…He is the only salvation road to the Father.
If we conclude that people can get to heaven apart from faith in Christ…then it means we believe there is another way. David Platt in Radical says, “It would be tantamount to saying to “Jesus…Thank you for what you did on the cross, but we could have gotten to God another way”.
So if people cannot come to God apart from faith in Christ and if more than a billion people have never heard of Christ…what’s God’s solution…what’s His plan?
Romans 10: 13-15 (p 802)
Here’s God’s redemptive plan for the world. God sends servants…they preach the gospel…and people hear the gospel....and when they hear…they will believe (not everyone, but some will!)
When hearers believe they will call on the Name of the Lord and when they call on His name, they will be saved.
---That’s it! God’s simple divine plan for taking the gospel to all peoples of the earth…
[God send his servants---His servants preach----people hear---hearers Believe---Believers Calls---everyone who calls is saved.]
If you look at this plan and ask: “Is there any place where the plan can break down? ….and the answer is…the only place it can break down is us….God still sends, He still saves those who call…the only place it can breakdown is “when servants of God do not preach the gospel to all people.”
We are the plan of God and there is not plane “B”. There is not one verse in the book of Acts (the record and history of the New Testament Church) where the gospel advances to the lost apart from a human agent.
God has decided to use the church---and only the church---as the means by which His gospel will go to the ends of the earth.
Folks…God’s will for your life and mine always correspond with God’s plan.
ALWAYS!
[But Rick I don’t want to go to Algeria and share the gospel with 1.4 million Bedouins who have never heard! I can understand that as I think about my grandbabies and children…my life and comforts.
But the question remains….”If God called you…would you…and if He hasn’t called you will you pray for LABORS and those lost people?”
Will you open your heart to a life that is radically abandoned for Jesus…?]
If you will…He’s got the PLAN.
