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Then I was just too tired and I fall asleep. Then, so last night, I'm like, okay, I've got to back up my husband's printer. I push print, his printer doesn't work. And I just sat on the floor and I said, Lord, you have an amazing word for us. Somehow, one of these printers is going to work.
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And I somehow finagled with it. I'm not technical at all and praise the Lord, it printed. So here we are today. Let's just ask the Lord to bless His Word. Father, you have given a powerful word to us in Romans.
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Romans is, as many theologians say, the foundation of our Christian faith. To understand Romans is to understand who you are and who we are. And I pray you just open that understanding like a flower to us this morning. Bless your word, Lord. Thank you for being here with us.
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In Jesus' holy name, amen. So if you want to turn to Romans, what I'm going to do this morning, I know in your homework, it might have been a little confusing because in the book, there are 13 chapters, and we only have twelve weeks before Thanksgiving. So, we had to kind of squish today and do chapters one and two but it was just impossible to teach all that Warren Wearsby covers in those first two chapters. So this morning, I'm just going to go through Romans chapter one with you because it is incredibly powerful, has a lot of great doctrines for us, and it will kind of lay the foundation for all of Romans. You know, what is Romans about?
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Romans is really about who God is. What are His expectations from us? It's about who we are. What the heck are we doing here? Do you ever wonder that?
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Do you ever wonder, Lord, who am I? What am I doing here? And Romans also talks about where we're going. John Piper says, Romans tells us what true happiness is and how life on earth is to be ordered so that society flourishes instead of collapsing into chaos. There's this theme in Romans that's very personal.
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There's a message personally for you and for me. But there's also an overriding theme that affects whole cultures. And we'll see that Paul was talking to his Roman culture, but it was really the story of mankind, and it's really the story of our country, of America today. In verse one, Paul says, I, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets and the holy scriptures. Okay, let's just back up a second.
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Who is Paul? We know that Paul was born and raised in Tarsus, and educated at the University of Tarsus, which is like the Harvard of today. There were three main universities: Tarsus, Alexandria, and Athens. And anyone who came from any of those three universities was very highly esteemed. And here is this guy Paul, raised do you know where Tarsus is by the way today?
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It's in present day Turkey, Janet said. That's right. It's in present day Turkey. So here we have this Jewish man with a very high education, very familiar with the Roman culture because he had a Roman citizenship, very educated, very zealous for his Jewish faith. And we think that he was probably in Tarsus when the Jesus movement took off in Jerusalem.
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And Paul's like, woah, that is not happening. He hightails it down to Jerusalem. Luke tells us in Acts, he went into people's homes and he said, do you follow Jesus? And if they said, yes, he hauled them off to prison or worse. We know that he was he partook in actual persecutions and death of those who follow Jesus.
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Paul was zealous, but his zealousy was misdirected at that time. And then one day, he's walking back to Damascus, Syria, and who does he have a face to face encounter with? The Lord Himself. Paul said, Who are you? And the Lord said, I'm Jesus, the one whom you're persecuting, Paul.
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Well, that almost destroyed Paul. For three days, he was laid flat. He couldn't eat. He couldn't drink. He was blind.
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He was completely distraught. His whole life, he thought he had messed up. And I just have to think during those three days, the Lord Jesus said, Paul, this is the beginning. You know, I read this saying that I just loved. It said, it doesn't matter where you start it, start today and end well.
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Isn't that is the heart of Christianity, isn't it? And Jesus was extending Paul Grace saying, Paul, I have a calling in your life, will you receive me? And in those three days, Paul said yes. And he starts his letter to Romans and many of his letters saying, I'm a slave. He's like, his wish is my command.
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I'll do whatever he wants because now I know the truth. Now I know him, I'm gonna live for him, for Jesus. And Paul says, I'm gonna share the gospel of God, the holy scriptures. Why does this book say holy? Why is this book so different from any other book ever written in the history of mankind?
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Why? What does holy mean? It means it didn't come from the mind of man. It came from the very mind of God. Yes, man wrote it, but inspired by thoughts that were God's thoughts.
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This book is the blueprint for our life. Do you know what the acronym BIBLE stands for? B I B L E Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. I love that. And Paul is like, I'm going to spend the rest of my life instructing you before you leave this earth.
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He goes on in verse three to say, regarding his son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David and who through the spirit of holiness was appointed the son of God empowered by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through him, Paul says, through Jesus, we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name's sake. I love this. Right in the beginning of Romans, Paul lays down that word grace. That is at the heart of Romans.
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And Paul is saying that God gave me grace and apostleship. Why that term together? Paul's saying, God didn't just save me, but He actually gave me a purpose, and He gives me the grace, the power to fulfill that purpose. And this is the heart of Romans, and this is what Paul is writing to us. God has a very specific plan and purpose and calling for you.
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It's probably not apostleship, but it's where you're at today. God wants to give you the grace and the power to be the godly mother that He's called you to be, the godly wife, the godly widow, the godly single person, the godly mother of my children's school community. God wants to empower us to live a life that matters. We all have that desire. Where does that come from to be significant and to matter?
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That comes from God. And Paul's saying, I, of all people, can tell you God will give you that purpose, and He'll give you the grace and power to do it. But you know, Paul isn't just talking about saving grace or living grace. Have you heard those terms? There's saving grace, the grace that helps me believe in Jesus, because it's a hard thing to believe.
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I mean, sounds like crazy talk the first time you hear it. Jesus, half God, half human, died on a cross, took all my sins, but he somehow gives us the grace to believe that. And then Paul says he gives us the grace to live it, and then he gives us, this is what I love too, dying grace. I don't need to fear when I cross over. The Lord is gonna be with me.
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Now, I typically don't quote rock stars as deep theological thinkers, but do you guys know who this is? This is Bono from U2. I gotta tell you, I was reading this article, he was interviewed, and the interviewer said to him, he goes, what in the world? You say you follow Christ? You say you're a Christian?
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How is that true? This is what Bono said, the most beautiful explanation of saving grace. He said, I know. It's mind blowing concept that God has created the universe and that He might be looking for a real relationship with us. But the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma.
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You hear a lot about karma in our world. He said, You see, at the center of every religion is the idea of karma. You know, you get what you put out. Every action is met by an equal or opposite action. And yet, along comes this ideal called grace.
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As you reap what you sow stuff, it's not grace. Grace defies reason and logic. And this is my favorite thing that he said. He said, Love interrupts the consequences of my sin. I love that.
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He said, Love interrupts the consequences. And he said, I've done a lot of stupid stuff. I don't want karma. I want grace. He said, I'd be in big trouble if karma was going to be my judge.
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And that doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins, and now I know who I am, and now I know the hope that I have. Isn't that awesome? We often have young people in our home. Our kids bring kids home all the time.
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And I tell them right up front, okay, you're in my house now, you're sitting at my table. We're gonna talk about the two things that you probably were raised you shouldn't talk about, religion and politics. Because what else is there to talk about other than family? And I will always ask them, what's the one word that makes Christianity different than any other religion in the world? You know what that one word is?
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It's grace. It's grace. Only Jesus Christ offers what you and I cannot do. We just can't be that good, and He says, It's okay, I took care of it. Now, with saving grace, I wanted to quote Dedrick Bonhoeffer.
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Dedrick Bonhoeffer, if you ever want to read an amazing book called The Cost of Discipleship. This man was a pastor in Germany during Hitler's reign. And before he had to go to a concentration camp, he actually went underground and was teaching pastors in secret, because Hitler was going into the churches, and if they were teaching the whole council of the word, he was persecuting them. Diedrich Bonhoeffer is the one who coined the phrase cheap grace because he said cheap grace described his church during Hitler's time. A great emphasis was placed on God's love and grace, but the radical demands of Jesus were stripped away.
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Let's not talk about sin. Let's not talk about what God requires of us. Let's just focus on God's love and grace. Does that sound familiar at all today? People don't want to hear that there could be evil in this world.
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There is evil. Turn on the news. What is that if it's not called evil? Dietrich Bonhoeffer went on to say, cheap grace is grace without discipleship, without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, without really following Him. What does a Christian mean?
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A Christian means I'm Christ like. I am going to follow what Christ says. And yet you see today, our churches getting away from that. Grace is the most amazing thing you and I have to offer. It's not just a doctrine that we talk about at church, though.
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It's really a way of life. It's a way of life. And Paul goes on to say in verse five, Through Jesus Christ, we received this grace and apostleship. Why? For His name's sake.
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Okay, when you first read that, do you think, Oh, for God's name's sake Is God this egomaniac that He needs all the glory? No. Do you know what that really means? For His name's sake means His very character. Everything God does, His motivation is to bless us, His children.
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And God says, If you will come to Me, if you will receive the grace I extend to you every day, I'll give you the power to live this life. Okay, how does that practically look? I will just tell you. My husband and I are in a real trial right now, and it keeps me up at night sometimes. So what I do, knowing that the names of God are His very character, I will start going through those names, and I will say, Okay, Lord, I know that I have to see it to believe it, So in my mind, I see you, my Jehovah Raha, the Lord my shepherd, that will lead me down the right path.
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And of course, you would answer that prayer because it's for your name's sake. It's for your glory. I see you, Lord, as my Jehovah Sabioth, the Lord who protects his children. Like any good Abba Father, he wants to protect us. Not saying that we're not gonna have pain and tears because Jesus said, This isn't heaven.
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You're not in heaven yet. You're going to have some pain and tears, but I'm going to protect you. I'm going to be your Jehovah Shammah. I will never leave your side. And through it all, I'll be your Jehovah Rapha.
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I'm going to heal those places in you that need healing. And finally, I love this one. It doesn't matter if the nuclear bombs are going off around you, when you choose to ask for my help and you receive it, I'm your Jehovah Shalom, the one who gives you that sense of well-being, that sense that, Okay, somebody's got my back. It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay.
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And if everything isn't okay yet, it's not over yet. That's how we see. We see it in our mind and then we can believe it. Paul goes on in verse six and seven, And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. I'm writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and who are called.
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Okay, this is pretty amazing what Paul's saying here. He's not writing. I kind of differ from Warren Wiersbe on this. Warren Wiersbe believes that Romans was written to the Jewish person, I believe chapter one was written to the Christian. Because Paul says, To those of you who are loved and called by God.
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And this is the thing, guys. Yes, God created every human being, and God loves every human being, but God is not in a covenant relationship with every human being. Only those who choose to be the bride of Christ are called by God. God chooses every person, but every person does not receive. When I receive Jesus Christ, I have entered into a different relationship than God has with the world out there.
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I am now in an intimate relationship with Him. I was thinking about this, and I know a lot of your husbands, and I love them. They're great men. But I'm only in love with Greg Buckingham, my husband. I'm only in a covenant relationship with Greg.
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Only Greg gets to hear the most intimate parts of me and see the most intimate parts of me. I share everything with Greg, and that's what God wants with with his children. He wants that covenant, intimate, every single day relationship with us. And when you think about how much God loves us I was just thinking about this. Okay, we're in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, an incredibly beautiful place.
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But you know, in the world's scale, with India having over a billion people, nuclear power in the face of China with over a billion people, with Israel always just hoping no one, you know, shoots a nuclear bomb at them, with Iran saying they're gonna destroy Israel, and then America saying, Okay, we'll give you nuclear power. I mean, it's crazy what's happening in this world. And you would think that God would just be focused on these world powers, and yet he tells us, my eye is on you this morning. What? Why?
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I'm in a town of 8,000 people, why do you even care? Like David said, why, Lord, who am I that you're even mindful of me? But God cares so much, He loves you so much because He's in that covenant relationship with you. You are as significant to Him as world leaders. Wow, that's what it means to be a daughter of the King.
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You are royalty. You may not feel it, but that is the truth. That's what the Lord says. Paul goes on in verse 11, I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong. That is that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
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Why does Paul want to go to Rome? You know, probably the Christians in Rome suffered like no other Christians. I mean, was the center of the empire, and as Warren Wiersbe says, immorality flowed out of Rome like their advanced sewage system. So Christians were very different. They did not embrace the immorality of the Romans.
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So Paul is telling them, I want to come and see you. I want to hear how you trusted God, how you received His grace, and how He got you through. And then I'm going to share what He did with me. Paul is saying, We should encourage one another. We should be iron sharpening iron.
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When we trust God, He moves. And then I share that with you and it encourages you. And Paul is like, that's what we should be doing with one another. And he goes on to say in verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. Okay.
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If we were just one on one and I were to ask you, Do you share the gospel? Is it embarrassing? Is it uncomfortable? No, not everyone receives it. I've had people yell at me before for sharing the gospel.
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It's an icky feeling to be rejected, isn't it? But you know, I think with my life, the more time I've spent in the word with the Lord, the more I've trusted him, the more I've seen him work in my life, sharing the gospel just kinda comes out of me. It's not some artificial talking points that I have to memorize. It's not some awkward, let's go through the four spiritual laws. It's just sharing my life.
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That's really sharing the Gospel. And I can't help but do it. And my kids will look at me and go, Oh my gosh, there goes mom again. She's so embarrassing. And I'm like, I'm not embarrassed of the Gospel.
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I'm not embarrassed of what God has done in my life. But that takes time. So I want to encourage you today. If you read this and go, Well, I am kind of ashamed or embarrassed to share the Gospel. Just spend more time with the Lord.
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Spend more time with Him and His word. Spend more time asking Him to work out your life with you. And then I promise you, you can't help but share it. It will just come out. Paul goes on to say, For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous live by faith.
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This is very interesting. The Greek word for this word righteousness is I justify. And this is a big part of Romans, and we'll be talking about this over the next twelve weeks. But you know what God is saying to you here? He's saying, When you believed in Me, I justified you.
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I looked at you just as though you had never sinned. Okay, we don't feel that because we may still feel the consequences of sin, and we still may see sin around us, but that's how God looks at us, and it's up to us to receive that truth. But we have to receive that truth. And then as I move forward and I continue to sin, God says, I've forgiven you. My grace is greater than any sin you can do.
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And I love in Scripture where He says, I take that sin and I hurl it into the depths of the sea. And you know what Corrie Timbuhm says? She says, He hurls it into the depths of the sea and then He puts up a no fishing sign. Don't go back there. God is looking at you clean.
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You're clean, just as though you've never sinned. But we have to say we believe that. We have to see it, and we have to say, Yes, Lord, I receive that grace from you. Yes, Lord, I receive that truth. I love what John Piper says.
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He says, every time the Bible demands you to do something, we have to change our thinking. We have to think. Every time the Bible demands us to do something, we cannot think, I must do this to take away my guilt or get forgiveness or have a right standing. Rather, I will do this because my guilt is removed. I am forgiven.
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I have already been the gift of righteousness, so I know that God is for me and will help me. He is for me. He will help me. I trust Him. So you know what?
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I'm just gonna cross that line and I'm gonna radically obey Him. It's changing, it's a shift in our thinking. I don't obey because I want God's approval. I've already got that. I obey because He's got my back.
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Paul goes on to say, The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain? Look at that picture. Does He make it plain? 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 people are without excuse.
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Do you know that term, what has been made in the Greek? It's the Greek word, we get our English word, poem. God's masterpiece is this universe. It's a beautiful poem. But think about a poem.
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In order for us to have a poem in our hand, someone had to think it and design it and have the power to write it, and that was God in our amazing universe. But Paul says we can deny it. And I think it's so interesting, the 1960s, Russia, an atheistic country, sent an astronaut up into space and he orbited around Earth, and he came home, and you know what he said? Well, I have just proved there is no God. I've been up there, I didn't see God.
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Well, six months later, America sent astronaut John Glenn. And John Glenn came home, and you know what John Glenn said? I saw God everywhere. I saw His masterpiece on display for me in those galaxies. I looked down upon the earth and I saw God.
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So we can choose. Do we see it or do we not see it? Paul goes on to say, For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and foolish, and their hearts were darkened. Paul is saying mankind in general, if we continue over time to not glorify God and to not thank Him, we are not wise. We are going to become fools.
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And he says we become futile. What does that mean? It means empty. We just become empty. This is one of the keys to Romans one, to be right, to being right with God, and right with ourselves.
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Know Him, glorify Him, and give Him thanks. Henry War Beecher says, Pride slays Thanksgiving. It is impossible for a grateful person to be a prideful person. God tells us to give thanks because it's good for us and to glorify Him. I'm reminded of an old saying that says, Gratitude turns what we have into enough, always enough.
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You know, Jesus had two loaves and five fish, and what did he say? He said, Thank you, Lord, for this provision, and he had enough to feed thousands of people. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. I was thinking about this knowing God, glorifying Him, and thanking Him. Paul has this term that I love.
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It's called training in righteousness. We can't try to become a better Christian. We can't try. Just like I can't stand here and say, I'm trying to work this bicep up. I have to go to the gym and train.
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And then one day, I'm going to have a bicep if I've been training. And that's what Paul is saying here. He's saying, Train in righteousness. If you screw up, which you will, don't beat yourself up. Don't hate yourself.
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Say, Thank you, God. Thank you that you have forgiven me 100%. Thank you that sins in the death of the sea. Now, how can I glorify you today? I want to know you better today.
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How can I glorify you today? Do you see the difference between legalism and grace? Legalistic repentance is fear based repentance, which makes me just hate myself. God doesn't want me to hate myself. Timothy Keller says, Joy based repentance makes me hate the sin and gives me joy because I know God has something for me now.
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I'm moving forward with the Lord. Verse 22, Paul says, Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and they exchanged the glory of immortal God for images. They traded God for some copy. And this is really the root of patterns of sin that lead to immorality. Notice, Paul does not unpack the 21 sins that we are coming up on.
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Paul does not lay down even the homosexual sin that we are going to talk about in a second. The first thing Paul says is, If you exchange the glory of God for an imitation, then you are going to go down this very slippery slope. If you do it We do it all the time here and there, but as Christians, we ask for forgiveness and we move on. But Paul says, If you stay there, if you stay there, you're going to go to not a great place. And then he starts telling us where that place is.
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But first of all, he says in verse 24, God gave them over to their sinful desires because they kept trading his they wouldn't give God the glory or the thanks. So he finally gave them over, and their hearts led to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies for one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and they worshipped and created things rather than the Creator. Now you know the correct translation is not for a lie, but the lie. What is the lie?
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The big lie started right with Eve when Satan slithered up to her and he said, Come on, Eve. God doesn't want you to do it because you can be like God. Eve, get in the driver's seat, be your own God, do what you want. It's really okay. There's a fascinating story of a man who would not give glory to God and who really thought he was a god in Daniel four with King Nebuchadnezzar.
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In Daniel four, it says King Nebuchadnezzar says this, is not this great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power just incredible? And he had people bow down and worship him as God. And God was extremely patient with Nebuchadnezzar, but I love the sense of humor that our Lord has. Finally, he said, Alright, you think you're God? You're out in the wilderness, guy.
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He leads him out to the wilderness, and this is what Daniel says, He ate grass like an ox. Not much of a God, And his body was wet with the dew of heaven until his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like bird claws. God's like, Alright, you think you're God? You reign over the greatest power on earth, you're still not God, Nebuchadnezzar. I love it.
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And you know what Nebuchadnezzar said? He's like, Okay, at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, I lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised Him, and I honored Him with my life. Nebuchadnezzar said, my reason returned to me when I gave God the glory that God was due and he returned to the Lord. I need a drink before we go to this next section. Just of water though.
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I know that didn't sound right, did it? Okay. Guys, we have to have this discussion. You're not going to hear it anywhere else. You're not going to hear it from the media, from Hollywood, heck no.
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Our kids don't hear it from professors. There is an indoctrination, like a dark black cloud that's come over America, And it's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking. And I share this section with you with a very heavy heart, because I live it too. My youngest brother is gay, and I love him to pieces.
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Our whole family loves him. But we have been on a journey with him that I wish we would not have to take. My children have brought good friends home from college who are gay. They sit at my table, and I feed them, and I love on them. So know that I come to you with very mixed emotions, because we are called to love people.
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But God's word is not confusing. It's pretty clear. And God's word tells us where the boundary lines are to fall for us. And sadly, today in America, many churches will not even teach Romans one. So Paul says, because they would not glorify God, because they didn't wanna know God, they would not give thanks to God, where does it eventually lead?
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In verse 26, God gave them over to shameful lust, and their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way, the men abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. You know, Paul was writing this in a culture that openly accepted homosexuality. Paul was writing this at a time when Nero was the emperor Nero, who would kill Paul for his faith.
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At a time when Nero took a young boy, castrated him, married him, and moved him into the palace. And then, a few days later, he took a man and married him. Paul wrote this knowing it was going to stir up a hornet's nest. But Paul said, This is what God says about it. And you know what?
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It's divine. It's holy. It doesn't matter what we think. It doesn't matter what our culture says. It matters what God says.
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He created us. He has the right to tell us where the boundary lines fall. And it's for our own good. It's for our own happiness and for our own safety. Paul goes on to say, Just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to their depraved mind so that they did what ought not to be done.
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And I think today, you see that. Do you not see that in America? We don't want the knowledge of God. We don't want it talked about. We don't want to share God.
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Heaven forbid should someone on the media or Hollywood say they love Jesus. Well, then they're coming after Him. And Paul says, In that time, it's exactly what's happening today. John Piper writes, Homosexuality is just the most vivid and visual form of this breakdown. God and man in covenant worship are represented throughout Scripture as male and female in covenant relationship.
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When man turns from God to images of himself, God hands him over to that. It is a vivid demonstration of a human exchanging the glory of God for the glory of themselves. So in America, our Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot ban same sex marriage. Is it really about marriage? Is it about the marriage that you and I know?
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Last year in a Daily Beast article entitled Were Christians Right About Gay Marriage All Along? Gay activist Jane Mikkelsen acknowledged, you know what, there is some truth to the conservative claim that gay marriage is changing marriage, not expanding marriage. He goes on to say, It is well known in our gay community that we are not monogamous. He uses the term called monogamish. There's no monogamous relationships.
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That's a completely different covenant than the institution of marriage that God designed. In fact, theologian David Gussick says, Statistics tell us, and this is very politically incorrect by the way, and you're not gonna hear this in the media. But this is like from, I think it's from human resources, from the government statistics, that forty three percent of homosexuals say they've had at least 500 or more partners in their lifetime, and only one percent have had four or less. Is it really about marriage, or is it about destroying the marriage that God designed for the family and for the culture and for the society to flourish? You know, we hear a lot about Christians being on the wrong side of history today on this issue, but I want to encourage you.
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It's really only America and Europe. The churches that will not teach this are dwindling in America and Europe. You can check that out. But in Africa, in South America, in China, in Korea, the church is exploding because they are teaching the whole council of God's Word. They're not on the wrong side of history.
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In fact, the archbishop of Uganda said, We feel so betrayed by the American church on this issue. You came to us with your Bible. You taught us about your Jesus, and now you're turning from His teachings. You know what he said? He said, We feel like our mother has lost her faith.
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But I want to encourage you, God's eye is on you personally. God is calling His remnant. There is no time like today. He is calling us to know Him, to glorify Him and to thank Him, and He will give us the grace to even want to do that. He'll give us the grace and the power to live a life that honors Him.
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You know, the thing too in America is homosexuality has been here since the beginning. But what's shifted in America is that we say it's normal and we've legalized it. That has never happened. Paul says, he goes on to list the 21 sins that I'm not going to list. They're so depressing.
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It's gossiping and murder and envy. He's like, that's just where the human mind goes. When we don't want God, when we don't glorify Him, when we don't receive His grace and thank Him, our human mind goes to bad places. Now, he's not saying every person goes there, but in general, we're gonna go there. And I was thinking about our great country.
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It's always about God. In America, have we gone there? Our murder rate is the highest in the Western world. It's about God. Wall Street is known for its greed.
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That's about God. Our politicians are known for being liars. That's about God. I see Christian women gossip all the time behind each other's back. That's about their relationship with God.
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What about Christian loyalty anymore? People commit all the time to do things, and then, oh, well, sorry, I can't do it. Changed my mind. Something better came along. What kind of Christian character is that?
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That's about you and God. If we are lukewarm, unforgiving, unmerciful, that's about God. You know, Paul ends with saying they know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway, and worse, they encourage others. That's worse. You know what Paul is saying here?
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Paul is saying that imprinted on every soul is a conscience. Every society knows it's wrong to murder and steal. Every society questions, How are we going to be judged? Where does that come from? It comes from God.
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Paul says it's imprinted on us. So you and I have to have this discussion. Going through Romans is going to bless us like nothing else, because how are we right with God? We just say, thank you, Lord. I'm thank you.
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I'm gonna trust you, and how do I glorify you today? And I'm gonna get to know you. That's how we're right with God. I wanna leave you with just five things the Lord gave me for us today and how to live this life. Number one, make time with the Lord a priority.
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I know it's hard. I know for young mommies, it is really hard. If you just write one verse on an index card and carry that verse with you all day, that's something. Make Him a priority. Talk to Him.
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He wants to be intimate with you. He'll show you the right path. Number two, every day, and the Lord's doing a great work in my heart in this one, receive the grace that He's extending. He loves you to pieces. Just say, Yes, Lord, I receive that.
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Yes, Lord, I receive that You have my back. Thank You. Number three, ask for opportunities to extend that love and grace. That's how God made you. That's how you're right with other people.
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You know, when it's all about us, it's the most miserable place to be, guys. But we are more blessed to give than receive. Look for opportunities. Number four: Be ready. Be ready to share the hope that is within you.
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You know, this world sends a really hopeless message. I limit myself to one news program because I love the news, but then it gets me depressed. And it's very hopeless. So be ready to share that hope that you and I have. We're going to a better place and along the way, we've got someone right beside us helping us.
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And finally, determine to keep on keeping on no matter what comes your way. Job said, Even if the Lord slays me, I will praise the name of the Lord. Don't go lukewarm in these days. You may be tempted, but don't do it. Say every day, I trust you, Jesus.
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What are we going to do today? That is the amazing grace that Paul's talking about, the right living he's talking about in Romans. Father, thank you for your word. It really is alive, and it's powerful, and it changes our life. I ask that you shine your face upon these women, Lord, that you give them your grace and your mercy that you promise to give us that's new every morning.
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Great is your faithfulness to us. I ask, Lord, that you bless us all with the peace that only comes from you in these crazy times that we live, and to You be the glory forever and ever. In Jesus' name, amen.
