GRATITUDE That ADORNS The GOSPEL-IV—Romans 1:15-25
OR: Gratitude That Graces The Gospel
Attention:
Home For The Holidays:
A student was heading home for the holidays.
When she got to the airline counter, she presented the ticket for her destination to New York City.
But as she gave the agent her luggage she stated, “I'd like you to send my green suitcase to Hawaii, & my red suitcase to London.”
The confused agent said, “I'm sorry, we can't to that.”
The student replied in sarcastic shock, “Really? I am so relieved to hear you say that because, that's exactly what you did to my luggage last year!”
Gratitude expressed toward God is never sarcastic!
“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—Gratitude adorns the Gospel thru...
KNOWLEDGE(:19)
Explanation: (:19)Manifestation
:19—“because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
In God’s showing His truth to mankind(who readily suppresses it) brings responsibility to all men for that truth.
In their hearts & consciences all men know the reality & truth regarding God. All people of every generation know that they need a working relationship God, because they grasp that they are distant from Him & that He is distant from them.
Gnwstov denotes that which is ‘the known’ or it can denote that which is ‘the knowable.’—RWP
“Paul’s point is that which is capable of being known about God apart from special revelation is indeed known by fallen mankind.”.....“God’s natural revelation of Himself is not obscure or selective, [or]observable only by a few...”—John MacArthur
The lost know whether they should listen to you when you share the Good News of Christ.
They know they should look into who & what God is, & desires, & requires, & expects, as well as discovering what their place is in God’s scheme of things. They all have wrestled with or constantly wrestle with wanting to know the meaning of life.
“Because”—dioti—Conjunction—1) On this account that, because; 2) For. Strong—On the very account that, or inasmuch as. Used 22X.?From—dia—Through, With, In, Throughout, During, By, the means of; The ground or reason by which something is or is not done; On account of, Therefore. Strong—a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; Through(in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional).—&—oti—neuter of ostiv/htiv/o,ti as conjunction; demonstrative--That(sometimes redundant); causative--Because.
“Known”(See :21)—gnwstov—Adj.—1) Known, notable. Strong—Well-known. Used 15X.?From—ginwskw—Verb—1) To learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel; 2) To know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of; 3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man & a woman; 4) To become acquainted with, to know. A knowledge grounded on personal experience.
“Manifest/Evident/Plain”—fanerov—Adj. Nominative Sing. Neuter—1) Apparent, manifest, evident, known; 2) Manifest i.e To be plainly recognized or known. Strong—Shining, i.e. Apparent(literally or figuratively); neuter(as adverb)--Publicly, externally. Used 21X.
“In”—en—Prep.—1) In, by, with etc. Strong—a primary preposition Denoting (fixed) Position(in place, time or state), & by implication--Instrumentality(medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between eiv—into, unto, to, towards, for, among—& ek—out of, from, by, away from; "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.
“Shown”—fanerow—Verb—1) To make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way—1a) Make actual & visible, realized, 1b) To make known by teaching, 1c) To become manifest, be made known, 1d) Of a person--1d1) Expose to view, make manifest, to show one's self, appear, 1e) To become known, to be plainly recognized, thoroughly understood—1e1) Who & what one is. Strong—To render apparent(literally or figuratively).?From—fainw—To lighten(shine), i.e. Show(transitive or intransitive, literal or figurative).
Argumentation:
Ps. 19:1-4—“<<To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.>> The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world....”
Because God’s witness is present does NOT mean that it is recognized &/or accepted as such by all of humanity. Many will refuse it. Rather His witness is present, making all susceptible to both it’s condemnation & it’s heavenly freedom.
Lk. 10:16—“He who hears you hears Me[Jesus], he who rejects you rejects Me, & he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.””
Mat. 6:19-24—“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth & rust destroy & where thieves break in & steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys & where thieves do not break in & steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one & love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one & despise the other. You cannot serve God & mammon.”
OR--
Lk. 11:34-36—““The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.””
Acts 14:8-18—“And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently & seeing that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped & walked. Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” And Barnabas they called Zeus, & Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen & garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas & Paul heard this, they tore their clothes & ran in among the multitude, crying out & saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, & preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, & all things that are in them, “who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. “Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven & fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food & gladness.” And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.”
Acts 17:23-28—[Paul in Athens, Greece]““for as I was passing through & considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: “God, who made the world & everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven & earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, & all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, & has determined their pre-appointed times & the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him & find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live & move & have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”
Ideally saving knowledge should follow one’s intellectual & reasonable knowledge, but without the Holy Spirit to guide that knowledge, man will only gravitate to self & world-worship...A poor choice!
Romans 10:1-4—“Brethren, my heart’s desire & prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, & seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
1Cor. 8:1-3—“Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.”
1Cor. 1:4-8—“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance & all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Illustration:
*Adopted children—Know they have biological parents, but are separated from them & have no experiential knowledge of them...They dearly want to know the circumstances of their ‘abandonment’...They want to know that they were loved all along/KNOWLEDGE of God’s grace
As is said, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”/Can’t say “Officer, I didn’t know!”/If you’re driving then you can & should know!/
You do something wrong against something or someone else it is actually obvious to you that you’ve done something wrong/You know you should have a ‘real’/‘gainful’ job—Taxes-Social Security taken out/KNOWLEDGE
Before the invention of the GPS & satellite navigation men traveled on the sea by the stars & sun(Gen. 1:14-15)/They used a sextant or simply navigated by the position of the stars, moon & sun/KNOWLEDGE of God’s grace
An increasing Knowledge of God produces personal Gratitude & Thankfulness. When grateful Christian individuals gather together, their worship is marked by gratitude!
Application:
?Does Your KNOWLEDGE Adorn the Gospel of Christ?
?Does Your Gratitude Adorn the Gospel of Christ?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Student passenger confirming her flight to New York City—“I’d like you to send my green suitcase to Hawaii, & my red suitcase to London...because, that's exactly what you did to my luggage last year!”
What are you thankful for? Why are you thankful?
How is your world effected by the attitude of your thankfulness?
Action:
Gratitude Adorns the Gospel thru...
4. KNOWLEDGE(:19)
1. SHAMELESS TRUST(:15-16)
2. SHARING(:17)
3. REINFORCING GOD’s WRATH(:18)
Pt#4 only! Presented 12/06/2018pm to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave.(SE Ave. A).
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Presented 11/20/2011am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
