Sermon Title: Those that proclaim “no” God, “know” God
Text: Romans 1:16-23
Date: August 17, 2003
Context of Scripture:
This morning, we are going to be taking a break from Paul’s letter to Timothy and instead we are going to look at Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. As we look at this writing of Paul, we need to view it as a letter that is directed to all that claim Christ, not just in the Roman sphere of influence. Through this letter Paul is teaching the body of Christ, from all ends of the earth and throughout the entirety of time until the glorious return of Jesus.
The church as a whole needs to be reinstructed in regards to the reading of God’s Word. It needs to be motivated in its time and in its manner of prayer. It needs to become respectful of God’s positions as “The Creator”. It needs to be re-informed about its mission to be missionary.
The church, in coming a long way from its beginnings as a young following of the Lord Jesus Christ, that hid in caves to allow them their opportunity to worship God has become an old conglomeration of a multitude of beliefs which are partly false and a little humanistically tainted that hides in the buildings called churches so that they can safely pretend to worship God. You may think it harsh for that to be said, but it is oftentimes that in harshness, the point, though difficult to swallow, is understood.
Let us stand for the reading of God’s Word
Scripture Reading: Romans 1:16-23
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Sermon Introduction:
I have a little pet-peeve that I might have shared already. I have a problem with Christians who are afraid to show that they are what they proclaim, and in actuality, when this is the behavior that they portray, I might wonder if they can actually claim the title of Christian. A prime example is the saying of grace in public. I have seen the heads bow so quick that it looks like a sneeze that could lead to a serious case of whiplash. I have heard grace said at such a rapid speed that the Guinness Book of World Records should have been contacted. I have seen it said in such a quiet manner, that it was as if a carefully guarded secret was being shared, and in actuality, as Christians, we have done a fine job of keeping the Gospel to ourselves. The reason we don’t say grace out loud, and I am not talking about obnoxious screaming, is that we are ashamed of our Lord and Savior, even though He was humiliated, humbled, tortured and then executed on a Roman Cross. We are not bold, because we are afraid of the repercussions. We are not verbal, because we fear humiliation at the hands of those that do not profess a belief. We are not more forceful, because we might find ourselves slighted in certain opportunities that might then go to those who gladly go with the flow, even though the flow is down the drain for all of eternity. Are we ashamed of Jesus?
How about the things that we believe? How secure are we in the things that the church considers, “core doctrine”? We are told that Jesus was born of a virgin, has our biology training cast a doubt on that possibility. Biology textbooks are written by man for man but the Holy Word of God is from our Almighty Creator to His creation. He who makes the rules, is the one who should truly rule.
How about all of the miracles of Jesus? It seems that everyone who is attempting to explain them away are also trying to justify something unbiblical in their lives.
How about the accuracy of the Word of God? How many books have been passed on from generation to generation for that length of time and still hold something for all. Those that claim error need that charge of error to justify the sin in their lives. We would not have a problem with the commands not to murder, not to steal, or not to commit adultery if we had no tendencies in that direction. The recent call to remove the things of God is an effort to smooth balm on the transgressions of a society that is nothing more that a weeping and festering sore on the face of God’s glorious creation. Do you have faith in “the faith”? Or, are we marching with those that are in need of the balm?
We see so many that one day proclaim their lack of belief in any divine being and then at some point they thank God for something that they receive or they spew God’s name to the world in a form of obsenity. Oh, it is just a word, they say, but they would almost have to believe in God to use His name in such a manner of speech, lest they be guilty of the babbling of a babe. Is it possible to believe that we don’t believe?
In looking at the choice that people are making in regards to their lack of relationship with Jesus, I can’t help but think of the phrase, “cutting off the nose to spite the face”. Here we have an opportunity for a glorious eternity with Jesus and we see so many that would rather just throw it away. That is almost like having some kind of strange fatal disease and an offer of a guaranteed treatment by some expert comes along and we say – “no thank-you, I’ll try and make it on my own.” I guess this is why we stick our fingers in light sockets, stand under trees holding a metal golf club during an electrical storm, and leave the garden how laying in such a way that we step on the end and bean ourselves on the forehead. Is mankind guilty of dumb choices?
Prayer for Spiritual Enlightenment:
I. Are we ashamed of Jesus?
When the commercials on the television or radio try to get you to buy something, there is a certain excitement in the manner in which the product or the service is described. We have soft-drinks that transport you right under a lovely waterfall. There are sodas that give you the power to butt heads with a mountain goat. Laundry powders that are so powerful that they make the holes in the material disappear. If you buy certain cars then your life will immediately be what you always wanted it to be and nothing can go wrong from that point forward. Even though most are bald-faced lies, there is a certain amount of excitement that is generated. How much would something cell if it were advertised like this. “If you drink this soda, you will still be thirsty an hour from now, it will give you pimples, cause your skin to turn yellow and throughout this process, it will make you fat and cause your teeth to fall out.” Probably more truthful than the real television commercials, but I don’t believe it would increase the sale of that product. Let us read this morning’s first verse:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Here is the truth of the matter, Paul is not ashamed of Jesus’ teachings – and the power with which he presents it shows he believes what he teaches. Steven believed in the teachings of Jesus, and it showed with the tremendous resolve that he portrayed as they beat the life out of him with the stones that they threw at him. Shame was never an issue with them. The fear of the consequences of their beliefs never concerned them. They were presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ with enthusiasm and excitement and they knew that what they were saying was powerful and true because the active ingredient was the power of God Himself.
They were bringing forth something that would appeal to the greatest of all groups, and that was the group of the all-inclusive creation of God in His image, the totality of mankind. White, red, black, brown, yellow and whatever conceivable color or combination of colors there may have been or will be – this was for them. It didn’t matter what continent, what country, what state, even those from Guilford county were included.
This wonderful gift that was offered was the gift of salvation, that was paid for in full, by the death of God’s Son, and the only stipulation that was placed upon it was belief. There was the option of the Jews receiving this message first, but in their state of disbelief, this offer extended to all those that were in the group called the non-Jews, or the Gentiles.
Are we ashamed of the Gospel? It becomes uncomfortable for many children that believe because of the chastisement by their peers. These peers are the ones who do as they please and when they please how often they please, and for the most part they are the offspring of those that wish to remove the Gospel from the face of the earth. Is their motive to make things fair or is their motive to make things that they do bearable in their own minds? Are they able to proceed with their “Stamp out God” campaign because they are right or because the Christian believer will not come out of the closet. Yes, that’s right, I called them closet Christians, because they are ashamed of calling Jesus their Lord and Savior.
II. Do you have faith in “the faith”?
Christians claim to have the mightiest of the mighty as their Lord and Savior, but when push comes to shove they shed their Christian allegiance as a snake sheds its skin. An accurate example in more ways then one.
Read what Paul writes in verses 17 and 18:
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
They key to this verse is that it takes faith to build more faith. In faith we believe in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We have that faith because God gives us the ability to have it. He proves the faith by fulfilling what claims about faith that there are, and in the process of our testing that faith we are rewarded with the ability to display an even greater faith.
The command by God for us to be holy as He is holy is made possible by that fact that through our faith that He will do as He has said it will be as He has asked. We can have faith that we can live righteous and holy lives, because God requires it of us. This brings us to those that fail to live righteous lives. It isn’t that they have no faith, but their faith is in their decision to “not believe”. In the process of “not believing”, they are in direct conflict with God’s will and desire for them, and as a result subject to the consequences, the wrath of God.
Let us look for a moment at the phrase, “men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” The longer we live in a manner that exhibits an attitude of disbelief in God, the more it becomes a reality to that individual. The longer we live in sin, which is clearly contrary to God’s will, the more normal or correct that manner of living becomes, until there is no shred of opportunity to see things any other way.
III. Is it possible to believe that we don’t believe?
In my earlier days, no matter how much I tried to dispute God’s pull upon my heart, there was always something that made His existence apparent to me. Let us look at verses 19 through the first portion of verse 21:
19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21a For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks,
God is evident, despite what someone may believe. The scientists in their quest to disprove God either find themselves convinced of His existence or choose to ignore the very facts of their studies.
The intricacies of the world around us points us toward intelligent design. We may push the big bang, but we cannot ignore the fact that this theory requires something or someone to start the big bang. We may push the theory of evolution and say that it is only a matter of time before we discover the missing link, when in actuality it isn’t a single missing link that is being searched for, but in order to prove this theory, there needs to be the discovery of every single stage of development that takes life from the swamp slime through the entire process where we end up with you and I. It takes more faith to believe in that possibility then it does to believe in creation. A professor that I once had argued against evolution with the following question, how many generations did it take for the human reproductive system to evolve?
There is no excuse that could actually justify a failure to know the existence of God. Some may be more aware then others, and for those that have been given much – much is expected of them, and those that say that do not believe, they are also responsible for what they know but deny.
IV. Is mankind guilty of dumb choices?
If there was ever a show statement that truly expressed the condition of man in the belief of evolution over the creation account, it has to be, “you are the weakest link – goodbye”! Let us look at our concluding verses this morning:
21b but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Look at the depths of ignorance that man is heading toward
• Futile in their speculations – there have been some monumental scientific endeavors made to disprove God and His Word, we find that at the end of all that research are more questions that point toward God and the foolishness of their disbelief.
• Darkened foolish hearts – as much as God wishes all to be with Him for eternity, as much as God loves even those that deny His existence, enough will one day be enough and no further chances are given. Just as if we hit our thumb with a hammer repeatedly, the more it is struck the less the pain will eventually become until the sensory nerves are dead and all feeling is lost. How horrible it must be to lose all spiritual feeling.
• The wise are made foolish – I call it eating crow. I ate a fair portion of crow, because I was mean, I was cruel to those that with the greatest of love were trying to steer me to the foot of the cross.
• Eternal glory over eternal damnation – what a choice! I can’t believe that people would rather go to an eternity in hell then admit that they were wrong and ask God for His forgiveness.
• Self and animal worship – people worship themselves, they worship their various heroes, they spend more time catering to their pets then to those of their brothers and sisters that are in the most bleak and hopeless of situations.
Conclusion:
As members of the Body of Christ, we must look deep into our hearts and examine the way that we interact and respond to the outside world. We have no problem saying Hallelujah and praise the Lord in the context of the church setting, but how about in the setting of the world to which we are to bring the message of Jesus. Are we ashamed of Jesus? If we look at some of our antics and actions it would certainly seem that way.
How about our resolve to live out what we proclaim? If we say that bringing the message to the lost is important, are we doing what we can to see that it gets done? I know everyone isn’t a great confrontational evangelist – but how difficult is it to sneak in a prayer every now and then for those that are reaching out to the spiritually needy? We proclaim the possibility of financial hardship, however when that time comes, do we have the faith that backs up the things that have come out of our mouths? Do we have faith in “the faith”?
And for those that are the detractors of Jesus and His message. In all honesty, we need to believe that there exists a shred of belief in everyone. In light of that belief, they are responsible to what they know – let us pray that they adjust their attitudes to one of a belief in the things of the Lord that would lead to their repentance before it is forever too late. Is it possible to believe that we don’t believe? I think a look around God’s beautiful creation with an open heart and open mind will make even the most stubborn detractor of the Lord soften.
Mankind is guilty of some really dumb choices! I think each and every one of us can attest to that and in much of our testimony we would probably admit to being guilty of some real stupid choices ourselves. God is so good, that He allows us to eat crow and never berate us any further for the dumb things that we have done, of course providing that we do not continue to do them.
Call to Commitment:
How boldly to we proclaim ourselves as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps we need to ask for the courage to stand up for our Lord.
Is our faith what it needs to be. If we exhibit a little the Lord is always faithful to honor and in that process gives us the capacity of even greater faith. Lord give us the courage to exhibit the faith that is worthy of being called Christian
Do we harbor any doubt or feel any manner of disbelief. Lord, make this so real to us that even the slightest doubt is cast far away.
How about the dumb things that we have done? Lord, I thank you for what You have already forgiven and Lord keep me from doing anything else in ignorance.
