The Plowman

Introduction:
It was a great sermon.  I had heard E.V. Hill on several occasions and had never been disappointed but the sermon I heard that year in Dallas was exceptional.  He told of preaching a sermon one evening in Los Angelus when an angry young black man approached him after the service.  He told Dr. Hill that he was a member of the Black Panthers and had listen to him call for people to “trust in Jesus” but he wanted to know why he should trust Jesus.  The young man said, “After all, what do you have when you have Jesus?”  For the next hour Dr. Hill held the crowd spellbound as he told us what he had told the young man many years before.  He had just finished the third thing you receive when you receive Jesus - it had been over an hour - and he said, “I’ve got 12 of these!”  A year later, I was in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute for their annual pastor’s conference.  E.V. Hill got up to preach and he said, “Last year when I was here I spoke on the subject What do you have when you have Jesus…number 4.”  I heard points 4, 5 and 6!  It was just as good and the sermon I had heard in Dallas the year before.  I never did here the other 6 points but I’m sure they were worth hearing.  The apostle Paul has been laying out his argument.  He has hammered home the point of man’s sin and guilt before God.  That we are fully deserving of His wrath.  That we are depraved and stand condemned but that God has made provision for us in Christ.  That there is a righteousness outside of us that is accepted by faith.  This righteousness enables us to stand before God loved and accepted.  This is God’s gift to us by grace through faith.  We cannot earn it.  We do not deserve it.  We do not work for it but rather trust God who justifies the ungodly.  In Romans chapter 5 Paul begins to speak to believers about what happens to us as a result of God’s gracious gift.  Our text this morning is found in Romans 5:1-11.
Text: Romans 5:1-11
This is a new section in Romans.  I do believe that Paul is talking about the effects of this righteousness in this chapter but I don’t think that is all that is going on in the text.  I don’t think this should be read like a laundry list.  I think there is something more foundational here.  I believe Paul is emphasizing that God’s gift of salvation is fixed and settled.  That the life and hope given to us cannot be shaken.  It cannot be lost regardless of what is thrown at us.  Regardless of what trials and troubles hound us.  It is fixed and settled because it is rooted in the love of God and secured by the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Keep that in mind as we work our way through the text.

There is a hymn like quality to this text.
Paul makes a strong statement about what God has done for us in Christ.
There is such an air of confidence in what he says - to the extent that we “rejoice in our sufferings” (5:3).

All of this serves to remind us that…

Thesis: Our hope of God’s glory rest securely in God’s gracious provision in Christ.

There are three things I want to point out from our text.

1. The love of God secures for us a glorious standing before God.  (5:1-5)
2. Such a glorious standing was secured at great cost.  (5:6-8)
3. Our standing assures us a glorious future.  (5:9-11)

Introduction:
It is an interesting question.  One that tends to create a lot of discussion, involves a great deal of emotion and can get a little heated.  “What constitutes saving faith?”  What does a person need to know in order to be saved?  Is knowledge of the truth enough or is there something else?  How much faith does one have to have?  What if your faith stumbles?  What if you doubt?  Can anyone really be sure?  I think we can all agree these are important questions.  They are questions worth considering and questions for which we need biblical answers.  The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome to introduce his gospel.  He was saying, “This is the message I am proclaiming.  This is the truth given to me by God, the message I am faithful to deliver.”  Thus we have in Romans the most detailed presentation of the gospel found in all the Scripture.  In chapters 1-3 he drives home the point that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We are all guilty.  We are sinners.  We are deserving of His wrath.  Heathen, hypocrite and Hebrew have all been weighed and found wanting.  The out and out godless, the self-righteous and the garden variety sinner are all under sin and therefore accountable to God.  Having established our great need he moves to God’s glorious provision - “…but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.”  God has provided an alien righteousness.  A righteousness that is outside of us, that fully meets God’s holy standards and is given to us as a gift.  That righteousness, or right standing before God, is appropriated by faith.  He uses Abraham and David as examples of such saving faith in chapter 4:1-15.  In this morning’s text Paul takes that example a bit further.  Our text this morning is Romans 4:16-25.

Text: Romans 4:16-25

In Romans 4:13-15 Paul makes it clear that righteousness is by faith and not by the law.
The law came 430 years after the promise which Abraham believed.
There is no way the law can invalidate or restrict the scope of the promise.
To make the promise conditioned on obedience to the law would nullify the promise.

It is clear faith brings us into God’s favor.
Faith brings us into God’s family.
The question is - what kind of faith?
What is saving faith?

Thesis: Abraham provides us the model of saving faith.

Saving faith from the perspective of popular religion is best defined by doing your best, working hard and eventually you will make it.  In spite of our culture’s love for the song Amazing Grace most people think if you do your best God’s got to let you in heaven.  In fact, the whole notion of justification by faith alone through God’s grace alone is deemed unacceptable.  After all that would mean that no one is “deserving” of heaven.  That would mean my accepting that I’m no better than the worst person on the planet.  Yet that is the biblical gospel.

Paul said in Romans 3:28 - “We are saved by faith in Christ and not the good things we do.”
In Romans 4:3 he quotes Genesis 15:6 - “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

In our text Paul talks about the struggle that went on inside of Abraham as he believed God.  From his example we learn three things about saving faith.

1. Saving faith trusts in God and in God alone.  (4:16-17)
2. Saving faith honestly and realistically considers every obstacle to belief and yet continues to believe.  (4:18-20)
3. Saving faith has as its goal the glory of God and genuine righteousness.  (4:20-22)

What is saving faith?

• Saving faith trusts in God and in God alone.
• Saving faith honestly and realistically considers every obstacle to belief and yet continues to believe.
• Saving faith has as its goal the glory of God and genuine righteousness.

Introduction:
It was really frustrating.  We could never surprise him.  He always had it figured out.  He would shake the box.  He would ask questions.  He lied, cheated, schemed and deceived.  But dad always knew what he was getting for Christmas.  My mother was infuriated.  Not once had she ever managed to surprise him until that year.  I really didn’t know my mother was capable of such deviant behavior.  She got my dad a pair of boots.  But she used an unusually large box and weighted it with bricks!  She also stuffed it with paper so there was no movement or sound.  His questions yielded nothing useful in fact she mislead him!  She managed operation deception with the skill and expertise of a senior operative in the CIA.  Christmas morning, as we were opening gifts, dad kept putting his off as he said, “I’m looking forward to opening that drill.”  Later, “I’m going to get all kinds of use out of that saw.”  “Music is going to sound great through that stereo.”  Mom just smiled.  My brothers and I began to look at mom a little differently that year.  She had become a force to be reckoned with.  Finally with a great deal of satisfaction she placed his gift in front of him and said, “Well, you better go ahead and open those boots!”  She came so close but she managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  We looked at each other and shook our heads.  Undefeated.  Dad knew what he got for Christmas before opening his gift.

There’s just something wonderful about being surprised.  The joy of the unexpected is beyond comparison.  When you give a gift and it is followed by wide eyes, an open mouth and stunned silence - you know you have done something good.  When a gift is described by words such as surprised, stunned or staggered you know you are in the presence of greatness.  The most surprising and wonderful gift of all is the gift of Christmas.  It is the coming of Christ to save His  people from their sins.  I worry that in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the season, in the business of the parties, dinners and get-togethers we lose a sense of the wonder.  I’m not talking about the “pagans” out there.  I’m not talking about those folks who think Christmas is about Santa Claus, Jingle Bells and decking the halls - I mean us.  I mean church folks who too often fail to remember and to reflect on why He came.   I worry that we fail to remember that…

Thesis: The joy of Christmas is found in the wonder of the Gospel.

Text: Romans 4:1-12
Paul has just made the case that we are all under sin.  We are dominated or controlled by sin.  Sin touches, affects every area of our lives.  Meaning that even the good we do is marred by sin.  Therefore we cannot save ourselves.  We need a Savior.  We need a righteousness that is outside of us, an alien righteousness that enables us to stand before God accepted and loved.  Such a righteousness is received by faith and made possible by the work of Christ.

Now he is going to take that argument a bit further by emphasizing righteousness by faith alone and not by works of the Law.

This is God’s gift to us.
I want you to note three things from our text.

1. Surprised by the extent of Gospel grace.  (4:1-5)
2. Stunned by the effects of Gospel grace.  (4:6-8)
3. We are staggered by the scope of Gospel grace.  (4:9-12)

Surprised, stunned, and staggered we stand wide-eyed and speechless by God’s good and gracious gift bound up in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Now that’s a Christmas present.

Introduction:
I know that Christmas is about more than gifts but gifts are great aren’t they!  I remember Christmases from my childhood like they were yesterday.  Rheadon says that I was spoiled and I’m sure she is right.  I remember one Christmas in particular.  We had Christmas at my aunt Ruth and uncle Ed’s place.  I remember getting up early anticipating a lucrative morning but I was not prepared for what I got that year.  It was beautiful.  I couldn’t believe my dad spent that kind of money.  My first car.  I was stunned.  Speechless.  It was white with a red pinstripe.  A convertible.  It was the most beautiful peddle car you’ve ever seen.  The problem was that was the year my brother Ronnie got the grenade launcher and I made for an easy target in my car.  I still loved racing around in my car - welts and all.  As a kid I though nothing could be greater than a bountiful harvest at Christmas time.  Then I became a parent and discovered something far more wonderful.  I saw the joy in the face of my own children as they discovered the wonder and excitement of gifts.  It’s about to get much worse - next year I’ll be a grandpa!

I know that we can moan and complain about how commercial Christmas has become.  We can cry out against the secularization of the season and speak with distain about how “out of hand” things have gotten but like it or not, gift-giving is part of Christmas and some of that giving is wild, reckless, extravagant and costly.  But none more so than the gift of Christmas itself!

Christmas is a gift.  It is the gift of a holy and righteous God who created a world filled with beauty and wonder.  A world perfect and whole.  As the crowning glory of creation God created man in His own image and likeness.  A creature capable of love and fellowship with the Creator himself.  But something happened.  Something changed.  Through the temptation of the Evil One man sensed he was lacking.  He was being denied something that was rightfully his.  Adam chose rebellion as a means of gaining what he was denied and in the process lost everything.  First and foremost he lost fellowship with God.  Once God’s friend he was now God’s enemy.  Once God’s confidant he was now the object of God’s wrath.  Christmas is God’s gift to sinful man restoring what was lost and making intimacy with the Creator possible once again.  Our text this morning is found in Romans chapter 3 beginning with verse 21.

Text: Romans 3:21-31

Again this is not “your father’s Christmas text.”  This is not what you would expect to go along with Carols and hymns celebrating the birth of the Savior but I’m convinced of this:
Thesis: The true beauty and wonder of Christmas can only be understood from the perspective of God’s great and glorious gift to those who stand before Him as objects of His sovereign and holy wrath.

There are three things I want you to note.

1. God’s great gift to us is the provision of everything necessary for us to stand before Him loved and accepted.  (3:21)
2. This great gift must be received by faith.  (3:22-24a)
3. This gift is made possible by Christ alone.  (3:24-26)

God did not act is such a way as to suggest our sin didn’t mean anything or that the law was without meaning.  He upheld them both while upholding his own righteousness.

The result?
We are loved and accepted because of Christ.
Fellowship/intimacy restored.

That’s what Christmas is about.  It is about God’s wild, extravagant and costly gift.  A gift that allows hopeless rebells to become beloved children.

Introduction:

A Song was born at Christmas that sat the sky ablaze,
As joyful sound rang all around with heaven’s highest praise.
Now let us join the glorious song that the lowly shepherds heard.
With heart and voice, O come rejoice, that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Why?  Why sing?  Why rejoice?  Because a baby was born in a barn?  Because of some sweet, sentimental tail about some ancient legend now fulfilled?  Let’s see, there was a frightened couple a long way from home who encountered an unsympathetic innkeeper.  There was a birth in less than ideal circumstances.  Then some angels appeared to shepherds and sang a song.  Oh, and there were some strange visitors from an exotic location that somehow figured into the story.  Curious, interesting perhaps but not all that compelling and certainly not worth singing about.  That is until you get behind the story and learn the reason for it all.

I love the music of Christmas.  I don’t mean Rudolf The Red-nosed Reindeer, Deck the Halls, or Santa Baby!  I mean the hymns like Joy To The Word!, Angels We Have Heard On High, and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.  They are upbeat, joy-filled and full of life.  But why?  Let me add one other thing, there is a big different in the singing of those who understand and those who do not.  You can have a choir of excellent musicians who have a beautiful arrangement of a particular Christmas hymn and they can sing it with perfection but it’s not the same as the singing of those who’ve been brought from death to life through the gospel.  Oh the former may bring a tear to your eye and it might move you as beautiful music often does but the latter feeds your soul and stirs your heart.  No, the true music of Christmas is born in the heart of those who have come face to face with the darkness of their own soul and have found light and life in the person of Jesus Christ.  Our text this morning is found in Romans chapter 3 beginning with verse 9.

Text: Romans 3:9-20
At first glance this hardly seems appropriate for a “Christmas” text.
Christmas is upbeat, joyful.
Not exactly appropriate for describing this passage.
This is one of the darkest passages in the whole of Scripture.
Here we have God’s indictment of the human race.
Here we have assembled Scripture’s most explicit description of total depravity.
This is God’s assessment of the man.
When God looks at us this is what He sees.
It’s not a pretty picture.

I’m not thrilled about His conclusion either.  “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”  (3:19)

We’re guilty.  We are condemned.  We will answer to God.  “Thanks for the Christmas cheer pastor!”  Wait, what was it that the angels said to those shepherds in the hills of Bethlehem?  “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a SAVIOR who is Christ the Lord.”  A Savior.  God’s deliverer has come.  What deliverer?  The one who will save His people from their sins.

Thesis: You will never understand the beauty and the wonder of Christmas until you understand YOU need a Savior.

That is what this text is about and that’s why it is very appropriate, perhaps the most appropriate Christmas text.  Thus far in Romans Paul has made it clear that the heathen, the hypocrite and the Hebrew have each in turn been arraigned and found guilty.  All are sinners.

This text is about your need of a Savior.  We find three reasons for why you need a Savior.

1. You need a Savior because you stand condemned before a holy and righteous God.  (3:9-12)
   According to Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit we are:
   • Unrighteous - 10
   • Unreasonable - 11
   • Unresponsive - 11
   • Unrepentant - 12

   You need a Savior because you stand condemned before a holy and righteous judge.  But there is more.

2. You need a Savior because you stand rightly condemned by both your words and your ways.  (3:13-18)
   It is not that you are unjustly condemned.
   It is not that charges have been manufactured.
   • Your words condemn you - 3:13-14
   • Your ways condemn you - 3:15-18

   YOU need a Savior because you stand condemned, rightfully so by your own words and your own conduct.  But we’re not through.

3. You need a Savior because your condition is hopeless.  (3:19-20)

That is how dark and desperate your circumstance.  Unless you come face to face with that reality you will never hear or enjoy the music of Christmas.

Introduction:
It is an excellent strategy.  It is used all the time by magicians and illusionists it is called diversion or misdirection.  I want you looking over there while I do something over here.  It is also used effectively by those who really don’t want to answer questions or deal with the truth.  “You asked me about this but I’d rather talk about that.”  We all know who likes to use such tactics!  It’s politics 101.  Just once I’d like to hear a politician say, “Look, this is a press conference the last thing I want do is answer a bunch of questions.”  In stead you hear something like, “That is an excellent questions.  That’s why I have my people looking into…” then they go off on something that’s not even remotely related to the question asked.  But as good as politicians are with “spin” I’ll tell you are the real masters of spin.  They are the folks who love to talk about “religion” but who don’t want to deal with their sin or come to grips with the gospel.

Do you remember the story recorded in John chapter 4?  The story of Jesus and his encounter with the woman at the well?  It’s a classic example.  Jesus made a point to pass through Samaria.  It was noon, the hottest part of the day, and he sat down at Jacob’s well and waited while the disciples went into the village for food.

A woman approached who was, without a doubt, a woman of questionable character.  She came to draw water and Jesus struck up a conversation with her.  Jesus asked her for a drink.  She was surprised that Jesus, as a Jew, would ask her for water.  Jesus said, “If you knew who is was you would be asking me for water.  And I would give you living water.”  She was “hooked.”  “You don’t have a bucket and this well is very deep.  How would you get this water?  Are you claiming to be greater than our father Jacob?”  Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again.  Whoever drinks of the water I give - will never be thirsty again.  In fact that which I give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  “Sir give me this water,” she exclaimed.

Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and tell him to come here.”  The woman said, “I don’t have a husband.”  “You’re right,” said Jesus.  “You’ve had 5 husbands but the man you’re currently living with is not your husband.”  That’s when it happened.  She was pleased to have the conversation up to this point.  She was fascinated and intrigued.  She wanted to know more.  But know she says, “I perceive you are a prophet.  I’ve always wondered…where’s the best place to go to church?”  Divert!  Move away.  Let’s talk about something else.  Let’s talk about anything else.

If you’ve tried to talk to others about the gospel.  If you’ve ever tried to move the conversation toward confronting an individual’s sin and their need of Christ then you’ve experienced “diversion tactics.”  You’ve been hit with the Crusades and all the evil that’s been done throughout history in the name of the church; you’ve been hit with the poor, innocent heathen in the African bush and the lowly villager in China who have never heard the gospel or the name of Jesus.  Is that brought up because they’ve always had this burden and wanted to know the answer or is it because they are not comfortable dealing with the gospel up close?  I suspect it’s the latter.  I imagine they don’t really want to deal with their sin and thus their condition before God it’s much safer to talk about the heathen in Africa or what happened 1200 years ago.

That’s what Paul is dealing with in our text this morning found in Romans chapter 3.

Text: Romans 3:1-8

The key to this section is found in 3:8 - “Their condemnation is just.”  Their condemnation is right, is fitting, it is appropriate.

That is highlighted in our text by revealing the depth of our sin.  The depth of man’s depravity is seen in that…

Thesis: Man’s wicked heart will go to any extreme to avoid dealing with God’s sovereign, wise and just judgment.

1. Man’s depravity is seen in that he tries to use his own unfaithfulness as grounds for charging God with unrighteousness.  (3:1-4)
2. Man’s depravity is revealed in that he seeks to justify his own wickedness as a means of glorifying God.  (3:5-8)

At first glance this text seems out of place and an unnecessary side track.  Paul why go down this road?  Why muddy the waters with a somewhat confusing rant?  But it is not a rant at all.  It’s not even out of place.  It’s purpose is to underscore the wickedness of man’s stubborn, sinful, heart.

It is given to declare yet again man’s destiny is hopeless apart from the mercy and grace of God in Christ.

Introduction:
Shocked.  Stunned.  Outraged and offended.  That’s the only way to describe the crowd’s response to the sermon.  For some it was the most outrageous thing they had ever heard.  It was unimaginable.  Others were frightened by what the preacher had said.  There were no, “Amens” in fact there was nothing but silence as the end of the sermon hung in the air.  It was a terrifying prospect - the thought of hearing the voice of God thunder, “Depart from Me you workers of iniquity, I never knew you!”  You might expect such if He were speaking to thieves, murderers or adulterers but listen, “Lord we prophesied in your name.  We cast out demons.  We did many mighty works in your name.”  Depart from Me?  I never knew you?  If He had said, “Liars!  You did no such thing.”  He did not dispute their claims He just said, “I never knew you.”  No wonder the crowd was astonished at His teaching.  Is it possible?  Could it be that there will be those who have “believed” the truth, worked in the church, labored for the kingdom who will be damned?  Is it true that there will be some at the judgment who will genuinely be shocked to learn that they are not included in the heavenly band?  Our text this morning is found in Romans chapter 2 beginning with the seventeenth verse.

Text: Romans 2:17-29
The apostle Paul is building his case for salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone.  He begins by driving home the point that we are all sinners in need of salvation.  Unless we understand we are sick - we feel no need for a doctor.  Unless we understand the sickness we have no need of a cure.

• Paul says God has revealed himself.
• He had made himself known.
• Creation screams, “There is a God!  He is powerful, majestic and awesome.”
• But man has suppressed that revelation - he has pushed it down.
• We refuse to acknowledge God as God.
• We do not honor Him as God or give him thanks.

Instead we pervert the truth and eventually exchange the truth for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.  That leads to a depraved, condemned, abandoned mind that in turn leads to profound sensual perversion, an endless variety of sin and a twisted morality.  Thus Paul addressed the openly flagrant sinners at the end of chapter 1.
At the beginning of chapter 2 he address the “righteous sinner.”  Both the moral pagan and the Jew for their hypocrisy.  Those who think themselves righteous and treat others with contempt.  Railing against sin while failing to recognize their own wickedness.

In our text he address the most difficult group to reach with the gospel - the religious sinner.  I say most difficult because it is difficult to convince earnest, sincerely religious people that they are “lost.”  But the Bible is very clear on this.  You can believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, confess all the doctrinal truths of the faith, and be a member of the church and miss heaven by 18 inches.  Because it never got from your head to your heart.  Your association with the truth, your exposure to the truth even your knowledge of the truth may prevent you from dealing with the heart of the matter.

My purpose is not to create doubt or to confuse but to deal honestly with what Paul says in this chapter.  I do want to make it clear, salvation is not the same as church membership.  Salvation is not to be equated with orthodox belief.  Salvation is about the work of God in the heart of the believer enabling the believer to understand the truth, desire the truth and surrender to the truth.  Salvation comes from trusting in Christ and in him alone!

As we walk through the text you’ll see why that is important.

First, knowledge of the truth may prove to be deadly.  (2:17-23)

• Part of the problem is their sense of privilege - (17-18)
• The problem of deadly pride and presumption - (19-20)

Thus, this is important, “Professed religion will not save a man from Divine judgment!”

Knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
Let me point out another truth from verse 24.

Betrayal of the truth is damning.  (2:24)

Embodying the truth is essential.  (2:25-29)

I have to pity the man who trusts in his religion to save him.  The man who thinks his church membership will get him to heaven or thinks his doctrine will get him there is sadly mistaken.

It is not enough to be near the truth; or to be associated with the truth; or even agree with the truth.  The truth must be embraced and lived out!

Introduction:
As he walked confidently into the Temple he was very aware of all who were present. He was shocked and a little bit offended by the man he saw over in the corner. A traitor. A Roman sympathizer. No doubt a thief as were all tax collectors. Having surveyed the room he took his stance in a prominent place and, in the words of Jesus, he “prayed to himself” saying, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get…” Meanwhile the tax collector could not bring himself to look up, overcome with grief he cried out, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” It was the tax collector who went home justified in the sight of God not the other. Jesus told this parable to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. How are we made right with God? Just what is required for us to be at peace with our Maker? That’s what the gospel is all about and the gospel is the focus of Paul’s letter to the church at Roman.

He was writing a letter of introduction. He wanted them to know what he was preaching. His great desire was to come to Rome that he might minister there. He desired to see a harvest in the capital city of the Empire. He also desired to be ministered to by the folks in Rome. He said to them, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” It is in the gospel, he said, that the righteousness of God is revealed. This righteousness that God provides is obtained by faith thus the just shall live by faith. Paul’s gospel, his good news, is that God himself provides all that is necessary for your salvation. His point being that you and I could never be good enough on our own. Why? Because we are sinners. Now the easiest thing in the world is to get someone to admit that they’re a sinner. “Well, no one is perfect,” they will say. The problem is most have no idea what that really means. Actually the problem is twofold. First we don’t understand that God is holy. We don’t understand that He is distinctly different from us, transcendent and perfect, pure and righteous. And second, we don’t understand the depth of our sin.

In Romans chapter 1 Paul pulls back the curtain and reveals man’s natural condition. He exposes our depravity. God has revealed himself in the creation. Nature screams, “There is a God!” But we suppress that truth. We push it down refusing to acknowledge God as God. We do not honor Him as God or give Him thanks. In fact we exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. As a result God gives us over to a depraved mind. A rejected, condemned and abandoned mind. One that leads to profound sensual perversion, an endless variety of sin and a warped, twisted sense of morality. Paul paints a dark picture of the heart of man. He is laying out that piece of black velvet against which the gospel will shine in all its brilliance. Having dealt with the flagrant, openly corrupt heathen he now turns his attention to the “righteous sinner.” Our text is found in Romans 2:1-16.

Text: Romans 2:1-16

There is some question concerning what group Paul is talking about in this section.
Is it the moral philosophers of Greece and Rome?
The moral pagans?
They looked down on “idol worshipers” as unsophisticated and crude.
They taught the principles of virtue and sought an ideal life through reason.
Others believe that he has turned his attention from the pagans to the Jews.
Certainly he does address the Jews directly but that is not until 2:17.
I think it best to understand he is addressing the hypocrite both Jew and Gentile!
He is address that person who thinks things are just fine between them and the Almighty.

Let’s work our way through the text and see what we find along the way.

• First, we discover that a respectable life of merely external holiness invited the full fury of God’s wrath. (2:1-5)
  You may be tempted to cry, “That’s not fair.” Paul anticipated that objection and he addresses it beginning with verse 6.
• God, the righteous Judge, knows all things and judges accordingly. (2:6-10)
  Let me point out quickly the last thing we note in our text because it is directly related this one…
• God’s judgment is informed, enlightened and impartial. (2:11-16)

So where does this leave us? What is it we need to understand?

• If you are a Christian - if you’ve turned from your sin and thrown yourself on the mercy of God in Christ - you ought to give thanks.
• If you are not a Christian - you’ve never turned from your sin and trusted wholly in Christ and in Him alone - you must flee to Christ now!

Introduction:
The prophet in ancient Israel once described the wickedness of the nation by saying the people had, “lost their ability to blush.”  Sin and corruption had become so commonplace that nothing shocked them anymore.  No amount of perversion caused them embarrassment.  I’m concerned because I think we are there.  I remember the day in 1984 when a friend called me early in the morning and asked if I had read the morning paper.  I said that I had not, why?  He told me that a very popular preacher in Waco, one we had heard many times at several conferences, had been forced to resign his church due to a longstanding practice of homosexual relationships.  Now, 25 years later, when I hear such news my response is, “Really who was it this time?”  It’s not that I don’t care.  Not that it is not devastating to a pastor, his family, the church, and the Gospel but I’ve grown accustom to hearing it.  The real grief is the grief of recognizing the hardness of my own heart.  I was watching the news one day last week when the story broke about the house in Cleveland, Ohio were they went in to arrest a man suspected of rape.  He was not home but they found 6 bodies in varying stages of decomposition.  I believe the count is now 10 bodies and a skull and they are still looking.  You turn on the radio and hear there has been another drive by shooting - another young person dead.  Or there is a report of a teacher, a pastor, a priest, coach or trusted individual who is suspected of molesting children.  Or there is breaking news of a business leader or politician involved in scandal.  The story usually begins with something like, “Shocking news this evening…” but it’s not shocking.  “A grizzly discovery late this afternoon…” but it’s nothing we haven’t heard before.  Jaded, hardened, unfeeling due to the fact we’ve come to live with and accept wickedness. Even worse, we don’t even call it wickedness - it’s just life.

That’s the problem with living in darkness.  After a while you don’t notice the absence of light.  Your eyes adjust and you make do.  Our world is dark and the darkness is increasing.  Sin is never satisfied.  It is ever devolving.  It grows more depraved.  It tightens its grip.  The only thing holding it at bay is the grace and mercy of God.  That’s what makes the judgment of God so frightening.  It is frightening because according to Romans 1 - the judgment of God begins with His removing the restraint on sin and giving man over to his own wants and desires.  But wait a minute if God gives man what he wants - won’t that make him happier by allowing him to indulge himself in his own desires?  One might think so but sin destroys.  Sin cannot bring lasting happiness, only God can do that.  Man getting what he wants proves to be disastrous.  That is the point of our text found in Romans 1 beginning with verse 24.

Text: Romans 1:24-32

• Paul is writing a letter of introduction.
• Outlining his gospel - the message he has been given to proclaim.
• In chapters 1-8 he deals with sin, salvation and sanctification.
• Chapters 1-3 come to the conclusion that, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.”

Romans 1 is a disturbing passage because he plunges immediately into the depths of sin and perversion.  Why?  Why start here?  Because the brilliance and glory of the good news of God grace is best displayed against the backdrop of the darkness of man’s soul and the depth of his depravity.  Have you ever gone into a jewelry store to look at a ring?  They usually will place the ring on a pad covered with black velvet.  Why?  To make the ring sparkle.  To play its brilliance against the darkness.  That’s what Paul does with the Gospel.  In order to fully appreciate the glory and wonder of the Gospel you need to see it against the backdrop of sin and corruption.

Paul’s point in our text is clear…

Thesis: When God gives up on man, allowing him to pursue his heart’s desire, it leads to disaster both now and forever.

Let me point out a couple of things.

• Unrestrained sin leads to profound sensual perversion.  (1:24-27)
• Unrestrained desire give birth to an endless variety of sin.  (1:28-31)
• Unrestrained desire poisons the heart and mind with a twisted understanding of right and wrong.  (1:32)

Why would God give us up to such wickedness?

He does so because when darkness prevails, when despair and violence are widespread men and women are most recognize the depth of their sin, the hopelessness of their condition and flee to Christ.  He gives us up to such despair so that we might give ourselves to His grace.

Do you remember the promise of Isaiah?
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

The first century world had sunk into the darkness of despair.  Men had turned from the true God to gods of their own making.  Suddenly one night against the black sky surrounding Bethlehem declared the coming of light in the person of the Lord Jesus, the righteousness from God had come as the remedy for the unrighteousness of man.

That’s the Gospel and it is for you.

Bertrand Russell said in his Why I Am Not a Christian, that there was one serious defect in Christ’s moral character - He believed in hell.  The idea of a God of wrath and judgment is offensive to a great many people.  Thus there are many who do not like the first chapter of Romans.  As Paul introduces his message he begins with stating man’s sinfulness.  As he outlines the gospel in chapters 1-8 he deals with three great themes: sin, salvation and sanctification.  Our focus in chapter 1 is on man’s sinfulness and the fact that it is the object of God’s wrath.  Our text is found in Romans 1 beginning with verse 18.

Text: Romans 1:18-25

I think it important to note that truth cannot be determined on the basis of whether a notion is popular or well accepted.  Truth exists outside of us.  It is objective rather than subjective.  It is not a matter of what I want to be true but rather what is true.  Second we must note that truth can and ought to be “tested.”  Truth is reasonable and thus will withstand scrutiny.  This is important because when we deal with something like God’s wrath we don’t want to believe it.  We want to find an alternative understanding.  But the question is not whether I like it but whether it is reasonable and consistent with what I know to be true?

Look at verse 18: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Paul make one thing very clear - God is a God of wrath or anger as some translations have it. But be careful - what is meant by “wrath?”

• Why is it God’s wrath is aimed at us?
• According to 1:18-20 we suppressed the truth.
• According to 1:21-23 we refuse to honor Him as God.
• Note the fruit our choices - God’s judgment 1:24-25.

Conclusion:
Why does the Gospel matter?  Why do you need the Gospel?

• You need the Gospel because of God’s wrath.
• God’s wrath is holy and just because He has plainly revealed himself yet you have refused to acknowledge the truth of who He is and you’ve failed to honor Him as God.
• In fact, you have chosen to worship and serve that which is not God at all.

The Bible says if you have not yet believed in/trusted the Lord Jesus you stand condemned.  Why?  Not because you’ve not “accepted Jesus” but because you are guilty.  Because you’ve suppressed the truth, you’ve perverted the truth and thus you stand under His wrath without excuse.