Addressing the State of the World
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The State of the nation…state of the world, would you say it is a good one?
people fight for abortions
claim 72 genders
Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Lil Nas, Doja Cat, Demi Lovato- satanic lyrics/imagery
Murder
Wars
Police free zones
Computer screen addictions
Survey showed most teens view not recycling more harmful than looking at porn
it is an awful one
Does the depravity of it all surprise you? Why? Does not the Word of God make it clear that this would be the state of the world, the state of us if we were separated from him, in fact the world was us before we came to the Lord
So this morning I want to look at a passage that paints a clear picture of the world we live in and give you some points on how we should approach this world
often i read this passage to examine my life and to make sure i am keeping my old self in the grave, but this time I read it as a reminder of how the world is and reflected on how I should respond to that mindset
Often we focus on how the world needs to change and what they are doing wrong rather than pausing and asking how am I responding and how can I do better
The response is not to hide but to go
read Romans 3:9-18
Body of Sermon
Body of Sermon
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
If we as believers are left to our own devices are we any better than those of this world?
No, because we were once the world with no respect of God in us, just a desire to fulfill our own selfish desires
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Two things are certain:
We will all die
We will all stand before God to give an account
When you give an account will you enter into eternity by your good deeds?
Point 1: Don’t focus on the symptoms, but the heart issue.
Approach the world with an attitude with the world of grace and agape
Approach the world prayerfully
Sexual identity, drug/alcohol issues, etc. are root of something deeper
Sin is a result of a heart separated from God
Let the Gospel be central, if you want them to be delivered from their sins
How do you walk someone through the Gospel?
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
Since the fall of man no one has sought after God, we run and hid
What does Adam do in Genesis 3:8-9?
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
He ran and hid and God sought him out
In fact we run and seek answers in everything else:
Scientist/Academics
Drugs/alcohol
Sexual identity
other religions
Islam/Buddhism/Scientology
Play-dough Jesus
I want my Jesus to conform to my desires
Extra Biblical
Enoch
Obsession with end times prophecy
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Until people come to Jesus they are not going to seek a path that makes sense
the Bible says no one understands, the Bible has to be read through the lenses of the Holy Spirit, to truly grasp the depths of the Word, we need God to teach us and transform us
Point 2: Seek out the lost, God has chosen to use you as a seeker.
We are meant to be missionary
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
The word in Greek used here for worthless was a word commonly used by the Greeks to describe fruit that was unusable, so they could not eat it or sell it
No nutritional or monetary value
throw it out
bad fruit spoils other bad fruit
No one does as in no one does anything to merit salvation
Why does God want the world? Why did he want you? Did he gain anything from you? Does he benefit from people of the world coming to his sheepfold?
Because it brings him joy and glory
To bring us from dead to alive, perform a miracle in us
To make us from spoiled fruit to usable fruit
The abilities you have are a gift from God, when you came to God you were equipped to do nothing for the kingdom, but God then made you profitable
There is no excuse not to do what God has called you to do, he has equipped you
Point 3: The Lord equips us to be profitable to the kingdom to do what he has called you to do
How are you letting him fertilize your life?
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
Marks of an ungodly tongue (and counter points):
physically repulsive
an open grave does that smell nice? no
is it going to be enjoyable to be around? no
Our words should be a pleasant aroma to God, not just our words on Sunday morning, how do your words glorify God Monday through Saturday
Deceptive
a tongue that seeks its own benefit by ungodly means, selfish tongues
Our tongues should be truthful and honest, and selfless
And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
hurts others
inflicts more pain in others, injects venom
speaks more destruction and chaos
Our words should speak life and help diffuse situations
joyless words
a concentration on ungodly language and bitter
stirs up negativity
Our words should reflect the state of our heart, unspeakable joy should be in them
Point 4: Let the Lord control your response, not the world.
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Things do not end with words but carry over to action
The path to sin:
You may can not help the first look, but you can help the second or prolonged look and you cannot help the first intial thought but you can choose what to do with that thought
Once though you take the prolonged look or allow a thought to dwell it starts to take root in your mind, slowly corrupting your mind
Then what takes root in the mind soon will travel to the heart where it turns to action
We let anger and hate brew in our hearts and it affects how we interact with others
Sinful lifestyle impacts others, not just you
Point 5: Be proactive not reactive
Our words should also end in action, prayer leads to action
since words affect actions, be sure to put the Lord’s in your heart
What you are putting in is whats gonna come out when squeezed
takes time to build relationships but seconds to destroy
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
the wicked seem to prosper
A pilot once in Texas had his plane running but he had got out to do something and while we had got out the plane somehow took flight and flew for 90 minutes before running out of gas and crashing
See this plane from the outside looked like it was on mission and doing well when in reality it was wondering without aim on a path to destruction
So many in the world seem to be prospering, but just like that plane their time is limited before they crash
on the inside something is not right, they are without peace because they have no true destination
Point 6: Guard against temporary pleasures
the wicked live near sighted, we are called to live farsighted
Ask what benefit will this have in eternity
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
We serve a holy God, live like it
Let him dictate your path, not the fears of this world, not the what ifs of this world
Fear is not in their eyes, but hate and disrespect
This is what differentiates us from the world, we have a respect for the holiness of the Lord while they do not
And if the world is gonna come to live righteous they must meet the Lord
it is not going to come through politics or church attendance
Point 7: Preach the Gospel, not opinion.
the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.