What Does A Good Church Look Like - 1h
What Does a Good Church Look Like • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Turn to Romans 1. Wrap up the wrath while continuing to ask the question, what does a good church look like. Sometimes, the best sermon is simply Scripture itself. We’ll start with 1:16 and end in chapter 2. I’ll give a little commentary along the way. Ready?
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.
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Why do we need the gospel?
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
Because or … 18 For the wrath of God is revealed [continuous present experience of wrath – most likely natural consequences] from heaven against [what?] all ungodliness [wrong sinful behavior toward God] and unrighteousness [wrong sinful behavior toward people - alternately the wrath of God is revealed for a failure to love God and neighbor] of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them [Why is it plain? ], because God has shown it to them. [This is called
Universal revelation- everybody has the opportunity to know God is.
May not know about, Jesus. How do we know God is?]
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
[Psalm 19:1].
Because deep down inside everyone knows there is a Creator God - So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking [the sinful mind doesn’t think correctly or right. God some glitches in it. Rom. 8:6-7 - hostile], and their foolish hearts were darkened [the light of God dims or fades]. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
We have this suppression of truth and rejection of God – which may appear like wisdom, but in reality it is foolish. The fool says in his heart there is no God. Because of this suppression and rejection …
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
To give up - God surrendered or acquiesced.
“Have it your way.” God will fight for us. He doesn’t give up easily. However, He must allow freewill – must allow humanity the freedom to choose Him or reject Him because it’s the only way to have a genuine and loving relationship.
Why did God let them have their own way?
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
[Exo. 20]. Universal fact – every person will worship and serve someone or something. Undeniable. We will give ourselves over to someone or something. I’d just rather it be God who loves me ….
Again, we’re asking why do we have wrath? Because there is this exchange of God for something else. We gave Him up ….
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
We’re seeing the continuous present wrath of God carried out through primarily natural consequences. This progression or digression in Romans 1 can either be literal, general outline, individual or societal – past, present, future – prophetic, can pertain to different cultures. I believe this can be all of the above. Don’t put this in a narrow little box. However, this is being played out right in front of us in Western civilization. Paul did not write this for the US, but it fits.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Debased (Greek) means utterly worthless. In this verse, not necessarily referring to value but to incapability. A mind that is debased is incapable of moral or ethical discernment.
It's one thing to think incorrectly but it's another to be incapable of godly moral thought.
They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
That is why we have God’s wrath and that is why we have the gospel.
Like we said last week,
The gospel is God’s loving and proactive remedy for sin, judgment, and wrath.
Think about this. In Genesis 1:1-2, God created order out of chaos. God has dominion over chaos. Then He told humanity to go and subdue the earth – to expand God’s order, God’s peace, God’s way of living. But what does humanity continually do? Not only do we undo God’s order, we create chaos.
So what does a good church look like?
1) A good church partners with God to restore order in a chaotic world.
So, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a purpose, and it’s not to stand back and point fingers and complain about how bad the world is! Where might God be asking you to partner with Him (using your gifts and strengths) to restore or bring or create order? In someone’s life, a group of people (e.g. children), an organization, a place …?
Just something to take with you - having read vv18-32, I believe
2) A good church lives by a higher ethical and moral standard than the world.
Let’s head into chapter 2. There is a shift here in Paul’s writing. First, he shifts the focus from the Gentiles to the Jews. Secondly, he uses a
This question-and-answer format is a rhetorical literary style called a diatribe which is a hypothetical conversation between a teacher and student to provide instruction.
Need to be aware because Paul uses this technique intermittently throughout Romans.
It would be helpful to go into chapter 2 with this perspective – “God’s wrath is consistently being revealed against ungodly Gentiles, but guess what my Jewish friends, you’re not off the hook. Being Jewish doesn’t mean you automatically have a “get out of jail free” card.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
You can read the rest for yourself, but I want to draw your attention to verse 4. Notice what it says about God’s character. He is kind or benevolent or good. He is forbearing – tolerance (not affirmation) in the form of restraint (delayed wrath – Rev. 2:21). He is Patience – longsuffering. God is in this for the long-haul giving humanity every opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
If God exhibits His character for the purpose of giving rebellious sinful people space to repent, what characteristics should His Church exhibit?
In other words,
What characteristics should a good church exhibit to its community?
Where else do we find a list of godly characteristics like patience and kindness and goodness? Turn to Gal. 5:22. I'm not saying that Romans 2:4 is directly connected to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, but I think it’s applicable. If we take the fruit of the Spirit and insert that into Romans 2:4, this is what we get -
It is God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control that is meant to lead people to repentance (Rom. 2:4 & Gal. 5:22-23)
If this is God’s way of leading people to Christ, what should be our way?
What’s a takeaway? What’s the Spirit saying?