GREETINGS
CALL TO WORSHIP
Lord we gather this morning that we might raise our voices to You and that we might truly Glorify Your Holy Name. You have told us that where two or more gather and raise their voices in unity, expressing what is needed, that you would hear us…Please hear us Lord as we Glorify Your Name and offer our petitions to You.
LET THIS BE OUR CALL TO WORSHIP
PRAYER
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever been surprised with a gift from someone who loved you?
Were you truly surprised? Did you think that you deserved what was given to you?
Was it because of a “job well done” or just because you are you perhaps?
Well today we are going to talk about a gift that you cannot deserve. A gift much beyond who you are or something you have done…but first let us read together from His Word.
Romans 5:6-21
SERMON
Our sermon this morning is titled “What it is that We Do NOT Deserve.”
I have six points to discuss with you this morning:
POINT #1: We are an UNGODLY bunch
POINT #2: We are an UNDESERVING bunch
POINT #3: We are a CLUELESS bunch
POINT #4: We are a SINFUL bunch
POINT #5: We are a LOVED bunch
POINT #6: We can be a part of His Bunch
POINT #1: We are an UNGODLY bunch
Have you ever once considered yourself as “UNGODLY?” Well you were or maybe you still are…that is between you and our Lord Jesus Christ…
You see, Jesus Christ, the Son of God…the Son of Man…availed Himself to this harsh world…to let the same men He created…spit on Him…ridicule Him and His Name…and then to place Him on a wooden cross…just one more thing our Lord created.
He did so according to verse 9, that you and I might avoid God’s Wrath. You see, God’s Wrath is soon to come to His earth and much of His creation. In Genesis, it is recorded that He would never destroy that which was on His earth…that which He created…by water…ever again. He gave us the rainbow as proof of His covenant…His promise…that it would never happen like that again.
However, He has also promised us that the earth and all of His creation…. man specifically…but not solely…those that are still His enemy…those that have disappointed Him…especially those who have disobeyed His commands.
He first gave mankind a set of commandments…knowing that foolish man would never obey them and that there would be a need to have His Son give His life that we might have eternal life should we truly accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
But eve with such a sacrifice…He also knew that there would be many who would still not accept His free gift of eternal life with Him.
POINT #2: We are an UNDESERVING bunch
This gift is something that man DOES NOT DESERVE by no means. What has man done to deserve a single thing God has given us?
To Him, we are just sinners that deserve nothing but death. But to His Son, we are His beloved and so He died for us…that we might be reconciled to His Father…verses 10 and 11.
How then did man get into the current predicament? Well…it goes back 6000+ years to the time when this earth…this once beautiful earth…had just two human inhabitants…one Adam and one Eve his companion.
God’s intentions were two-fold as it related to His pride and joy (Adam and Eve). One, they would have free will and two, they would walk with Him in His garden of Eden rejoicing to Him what He had created. This was to last forever…but He knew…with all of His omnipotence that it would not turn out well.
POINT #3: We are a CLUELESS bunch
Many ask, “Well why did He not create us sinless…having no part of our being that would disobey Him?”
The answer is that He designed us not as so-called robots but as humans with the ability to make a choice…that choice being Him…He wanted us to CHOOSE HIM.
Was that too much to ask? Satan thought so. Satan knew that man was just human. We had no powers even close to His or God’s angels. We were special…by far…but susceptible…and that’s exactly what Satan keyed on.
Perhaps…most likely…it was to get even for being cast out of heaven by God. He would show God. He would influence man to disobey that Father as he himself had done.
POINT #4: We are a SINFUL bunch
Therefore, it is said in verse 12, that “just through one man sin entered the world” as did death. Our immortal selves were replaced by corrupted and mortal beings…men and women that would die. We would then be faced with a decision…to continue to disobey Him or to follow and obey.
And there were and are no exceptions according to His Word. In verse 14, we are told that God’s condemnation of death “reigned” even over all of mankind including those generations between Adam and Moses and many beyond Moses including this generation (verses 15 and 16).
Sin reigned and it got so bad that God chose to flood the entire earth. Let us read just how bad it had gotten:
Genesis 6:5-7
Man wasn’t just evil some of the time…man was sinful continually…and so we angered our Creator and He chose to destroy it all…everything…even the birds in the air (verse 7).
That my friend is anger…but it was due to His disappointment in man…His Creation…His special being…made in His image…we had chosen Satan over Him and so we were doomed to His wrath.
So, why did God give us the Ten Commandments? If we cannot keep them…what good are they? Paul tells us in verse 20 that God’s commandments show man (and woman) where sin abounds, so that man (and woman) could realize their disobedience and turn to His Son Jesus…Christ our Lord. Amen.
POINT #5: We are a LOVED bunch
So, what is that we DO NOT DESERVE? We do not and cannot ever justify our behavior nor be presented to God as being HOLY without His Son. Before we were born, before we were in our Mother’s womb…we were availed to His Free Gift…but we would have to receive it…choose Him.
If we do NOT accept His Son and profess that He is truly our Lord, we will be “dealt the proverbial hand that we do deserve.”
We who continue to sin by disobeying His Son and His commands, will suffer God’s FINAL WRATH…a wrath we WILL DESERVE.
His Wrath will come after those that have chosen His Son and obeyed His commands are lifted into the clouds…that exact same way He left this earth 2000+ years ago. The Bible says that His Saints (those who have taken the narrow path) will be lifted into the clouds to join Him…first those who have died and then those who are alive.
POINT #6: We can be a part of His Bunch
The question this day is do you want what you DO NOT DESERVE, or do you choose to get what you DO DESERVE?
It is your choice. You must accept Him, profess Him, be baptized in His Name and then truly become His disciple…you must follow Him and keep His commandments.
He gave us two: Love your God with all you heart, mind and soul and then love your neighbor.
But He also gave us a commission as a commandment, and this is where many fail. We are to spread His Word to the ends of the earth.
Have you accepted Him and His commission? If you cannot answer this question with a firm YES, you are on the wide path that leads to God’s FINAL WRATH…eternal isolation from God in a Lake of Fire He has constructed for Satan and his followers. I pray that is NOT You.
BENEDICTION
Heavenly Father…Jesus our Lord…Holy Spirit…I offer my life to you.
Do what you would with me. Do thy will I pray. Mold me. Bend me.
Help me to avoid Your FINAL Wrath. I choose You Lord.
I profess that You are My Savior…Right here and now!
Let me sing your Praise! Help me Glorify Your Name in all that I do and say…
From this day forward. Amen.
