Damage Report (Part B)

When I'm in front of an unbeliever and God does not open the door, I can't open it.

I can try and damage it or I can just say, well, this one I'll have to wait. But when God puts me in front of somebody that I can share the Gospel with, I know it is the Father drawing that person. It is Jesus Christ that is there with me.

It is the power of the Holy Spirit. I am not alone. I am not unarmed. I am ready for this. This is why I'm still here on earth.

To hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in Romans chapter 1 as he continues his message called Damage Report. I think you've got to be pretty stubborn to reject God and say it all happened by chance. He says here it is manifest in them.

In other words, they know better. Ecclesiastes 3.11, He has put eternity in their hearts. God has programmed man to receive Him.

But man can opt out. Man is built to receive God, but sin adversely modifies the design to their own harm. Raw paganism bows to graven images. But there's another kind of paganism. There's refined paganism. And that one bows to the imagination. That's all it needs. You've got one that will make a figurine and bow to it and make sacrifices to it and then you have another one.

That's too sophisticated for that. I just make up God in my head. For God has shown it to them. Well, to be able to suppress the truth, one has to be exposed to what they're suppressing.

And this is what goes on. Ergo, God has shown it to them. Psalm 19 verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God.

The firmament shows His handiwork. Well, try to get a believer to believe that and you'll run into this line. Well, I don't believe the Bible because men wrote it. Well, I don't believe you because you said it. How about that?

We want to continue with that logic. So what are you saying to me? God has no right to talk to His people, to people who love Him.

He has no right to have them write things down. Well, what is an alternative to that? What would you like? A handwriting in the sky every morning? Everybody should get one of that. One of those. Every generation.

Every person. God says I'm just going to have it written down and then I'll preserve it. And then I'll dare you to try to disprove it. Well, it's better not to fight against God.

It's a match you cannot win. And, you know, it should irritate us a little bit that Satan gets away with blinding people with these false arguments. I was talking to a pastor friend of mine yesterday and we're just talking about where is the burden in Christians for lost souls? When you say I want to find a church, why? Why do you want to find a church? What is that involved? What is that for? Well, I want to be able to worship. Why? What does worship mean?

Is there any outcome to this or is it just taking in? You're just going to sing songs and hear a clever little sermon and then march on down your business? Or are you going to be burdened by the things you've heard? Because when you come to church, you should want to hear from God. When I open my Bible, I want to hear from God. And I always do.

I don't always care for it, but I always do. My flesh does not. My spirit does.

You say, well, what could possibly be wrong? Well, how about forgiving your enemies? My flesh doesn't say, yeah.

My flesh is the opposite of that. But the spiritual man knows better. What would happen if Christians were given a license to kill?

We'd be Islam. And it's done an insult. That is a fact.

And if they disputed that, they would be lying to your face. Well, coming back to this, because we've got one of my challenges. Well, what did I say to my pastor friend? That's what I was talking about.

Does anybody know? Well, I was telling him, you know, where's the burden of Christians? It's there. There are Christians that are burdened for lost souls. But if I remember, back in the 80s, there seemed to be a lot more of them. Maybe I'm a little removed because I'm in a pastoral position now and I'm not so much in the trenches. But it is a challenge to us all. We want to save souls and not just raise our children to believe in Christ. There are more people going to hell than those found under our rooftop.

And we may be their last stop before hell. And I want to be ready. I want to be ready not only when Jesus comes, but until he comes. I want to be ready.

What is the alternative to these things? Well, Paul says they're without excuse, verse 20. Coming back to this, keep not losing sight of it because he wants to reach souls too. That's the purpose of having a strong church.

And I want to add one other thing to that. No one comes to church by accident. No one comes to God's house by chance.

Without exception. Every single time it is a work of God. No man can come to me unless the Spirit draws him. The righteous come because they know this is what God wants. There may be variations in how he gets us here. But when people come to church, even against their will, God is a part of it. A righteous church.

All good gifts come from the Father. And if an unbeliever comes to the church, because God wants them in the kingdom. And I think it helps to know that when he says he's sovereign, he means it. When he says that he's desiring that all would be saved, he's very serious about that.

He's got this thing for understatement from our perspective. Why should God, you know, when he says yes or no, he's not going to insist this. He just says no or yes.

He may add, verily, verily, I say to you, in case you're a little slow to understand what I'm about to say to you. Well, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, verse 20, are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. I don't care what's happened to you in your life. There's no excuse to say, well, I'm not going to follow God. That is cutting off your nose to spite your face. What you're saying is, I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of my worship because he didn't allow this or he did that or that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. God is saying, listen, compared to eternity, the little lifetime you have here is nothing. You better pack your bags for eternity because that's where you're going. Now, which eternity will you have?

The one where you cut your nose off to spite your face or the one that is glorious where the streets are gold? And transparent, nothing in heaven has to be hidden because there's nothing there that's dirty. What would happen if people invited you over and you got to the house and said, can I look in your closet?

I just want to see what you stuffed in there because you know I would. Okay, never mind, just transparency. Anyhow, back to this, for since creation, verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen.

They're understood and they're understandable. Jeremiah, again, chapter 10, oh Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. We know we need God and we know since creation he is available. Paul talked about this in Acts, chapter 14, but I need to start skipping over some of these verses because we just won't get to the end. There's so many things in the scripture that supports all that Paul is saying. No one can say, well that was just Paul's view, this God's view. And Paul is just a vehicle God used to express it. But since God made attributes of God discernible, should we not avail ourselves? Because it takes away excuses of rejecting him, we the saved, we know that. How do we tell that to the unbeliever? How do we get the unbeliever to know that they're wasting their life away with whatever it is that's blocking them from their creator? Psalm 97, verse 6, the heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples see his glory. Now whether they submit to it is another question.

But how does heaven declare his righteousness? Well, God could have just created the heavens and had, you know, meteor showers take out people every five days or something. But the fact that there's so much order in the universe, that each thing knows its place and it stays there.

Well, overall, sometimes there's a rogue wave that will hit a ship and take it out. But in the grand scheme of things, there is order in creation. The mathematics alone should make people understand that someone's figured this out. Because there's a lot of math involved in holding things together. Just in dieting, there are laws, there's the numbers that have everything to do. You can prove this, just go eat 50 Twinkies and see what happens to you.

Other than just going this way, you're going to have other problems. Anyway, who else can possibly be credited with the heavens? Who do we blame for the defectiveness in creation? These questions are worth asking, but a lot of people don't want to face these questions.

They'd rather hide from them. And the answers are in the revelation of God, self-evident truths. Being understood, it says here in verse 20, by the things that are made. Well, the one word in our English, in the New King James, things that are made, four words, is a single word in the original Greek that the scripture was written in.

And the Greek word is poema, which we get our English word poetry from. So, it's creativity of God. The interesting thing is what we have are people who are very interested in the pottery. They just don't care a spit about the potter. That's the world against God.

His creation is the pottery. But what about the potter? Well, we don't want to know about him. He might have too much power for us. He might want us to change our lifestyle. He might condemn the way I live, the way I think, the way I treat other people, the way I treat him.

And so, we'd rather not know about those things. And Satan, aware of this, wants to, of course, silence, suppress the truth, silence the word of God. Even his eternal power. Well, God's power tells us right there that it is endless, it is eternal, and the Godhead, the state of being God, so that they are without excuse.

Well, since man has the capacity enough to grasp truths concerning God, but will not take hold of them, he is without excuse. John chapter 6, going back to God being very involved with people, so that they are without excuse. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. I believe every word of that. When I'm in front of an unbeliever, and God does not open the door, I can't open it.

I can try and damage it, or I can just say, well, this one, I'll have to wait. But when God puts me in front of somebody that I can share the gospel with, I know it is the Father drawing that person. It is Jesus Christ that is there with me.

It is the power of the Holy Spirit. I am not alone, I am not unarmed. I am ready for this. This is why I'm still here on earth. Otherwise, get a person born again, then take him to heaven, so he doesn't have to live through this stuff. But we do have to live through this, because we have work to do. And the fact that God draws them does not guarantee that they're going to be saved. That still comes down to them. I don't care who tells you otherwise, everyone has a choice. Otherwise, it's all a mockery. When God says, believe in me, well, why bother?

I'm already chosen. I'm not trying to strike out against things, although I am a little irritated at the concept that, you know, isn't it true that when someone's doing what you think is wrong, to see them get away with it is irritating? I don't want the police to catch me when I'm going over the speed limit, but when the other guy passes me, I hope he goes to jail.

Just take out his driver's license and shoot it right there. That's, you know, we have the... Maybe one of you are just very nice. You got other problems, you're just not hitting them. Verse 21, because although they knew God, and you can see he keeps hitting this, they don't have an excuse, they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. Yeah, oh, Mother Nature. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, there's no Mother Nature, there's God.

And there's a nature to things, but that is just a description of what has been created. Don't take what is his. They did not glorify him as God. Well, let's consider a few people where it says, because although they knew God, they didn't know him. Cain, who killed his brother. Pharaohs, who killed the Jews. Balaam, who told how to kill the Jews. Judas Iscariot, and then Satan himself. These had knowledge of God, but a ruined relationship with him, by their own choosing. Paul even makes this subtle distinction, because it's really subtle if you miss it in the sense that it doesn't hammer it, but it is there, Galatians 4, 9. But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, you have this relationship.

Not enough to be familiar with the things God says. You've got to make the move into the friendship, because it's there to be had. And what do you say when you die? Yeah, I know you extended me the hand of friendship, and I turned it down. I had a better way.

Well, that's going to be bad for you to do that. Psalm 100, verse 3. Know that Yahweh, he is God.

It is he who made us, and not we ourselves. Where would the psalmist get that from? Where does that kind of information come from? Is it science? No. Is it philosophy?

No. It is scripture. It is revelation. It is God manifesting this. He got it from Genesis chapter 1.

That's where he got it from. Now, that doesn't speak ill of science, or certain philosophies, but the fact is, science is not going to reveal the character of God. Not enough of it. It'll tell you he's creative, as I mentioned, he's omnipotent, but it's not going to tell you what really irritates him. And it's not going to tell you what he loves, and that he is loving. In fact, it could actually work to make a person resent God, if that's all they have. They did not glorify him as God. Again, we've met people on this toboggan slide into idolatry. The devolution of man, not the evolution of man. Man devolving. Trading God-given intelligence for godless intellect.

Happens all the time. They're very smug about it. How are we going to help them? How do we reach them?

Every Christian should have unbelievers that they're praying for, and they should be praying for them at least once every day. You know, kind of get your head in the game. What is my purpose in life? To be used by God until he uses you up. That's your purpose in life.

And how do I know the details about that? Well, that's why we have the scripture. How a man should live. How we are to go about this existence in the face of so many setbacks and pain. What about, you know, when you're just your broken heart, or just, you know, a victim of meanness and hurt feelings. What do you do with all these things? Sometimes you can't just turn the switch off.

You can't make people love you or like you. What do you do with this, what do you call it, like a goulash of bad things? You persevere. And you get ready to persevere. I know for me, when I get any of those hits, you know, and as a pastor you get a lot of them that you would not have otherwise had. You have to figure out a way to make these things work for the kingdom.

You have to be able to see, okay, I see what Satan wants to do with this. Satan wants me in a full retreat. I'm not retreating. I don't have to. I will stay the course. I know what I love about the scripture. I know what I love about God's word. It's up to me to try to live it out. Now, again, back to this, who will stand between a holy God and sinful man?

Who will bridge that gap? The glories of nature is not going to do that. Nothing in nature recovers man from sin.

No instances of people looking at nature and knowing about Jesus Christ. I mean, if you know him already, he certainly helps God's other. Boy, the Lord made this, you know. Jesus said, consider Solomon and all his glory, and I say to you, speaking of the lilies of the field, not one.

Solomon was not arrayed such as one of these. And so, yeah, there's the glory of God there. But still, there has to be the point. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5. Well, there is one God. The Trinity is one God. It's not three separate gods. Three persons distinct in one nature.

And the best I can do for you to illustrate this is a triangle with three distinct corners, but one triangle. And so we don't have three different gods. One God. And so he continues, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men. The man, Jesus Christ. The humanity, that's what he's saying. The one, the God who became human.

Jesus Christ, crystal clear. No one else. You go to Mary to try to get your sins forgiven and you will be dead in your sins. She has no power, nor would she want it. I'm telling you, if Mary knew people were praying to her, she'd smack them upside their head.

I mean, there's no way she'd put up with that kind of stuff. That's idolatry. And you say, well, that offends people.

What about God? What offends him? I think it offends him when his son dies for us and you say, well, there's another way.

I'll go to his mother. You misunderstand. When Jesus said, woman, not mother, what does that have to do with me? He was disconnecting her authority over him. Not disrespectfully.

He's making it clear. Well, professing to be wise, they became fools by factoring God out. Isaiah said it this way. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight.

You ever catch yourself patting yourself on the back? I mean, it's like you got to spit that out real quick. I mean, it might taste good, but it's poison. May we not. May we be able to spit it out. Now, if ever I get to preach and I say, boy, I did a good job.

I don't mean from heaven's or your perspective. I mean I made my points. I made points when I prepare and it's a joy in doing that.

But that does not mean that, boy, you're pretty good. You should call them all back in here again for a second dose. There's nothing like that. They became fools. We're the smart ones, spiritually speaking. Now, the English word here for fools is where we get, well, the Greek word used here for fools is where we get our English word, moron.

I'm not being sarcastic, although I wouldn't mind. But it's stupid. It is senseless. So seeking to be wise, they became morons from a spiritual perspective.

And one reason why they hate to hear this is because they can be very successful in life. You can be a heart surgeon. I've saved 50 people in the last year because of me. You did not.

You did not. Unless you preach the gospel to them, the most you could do is prolong their life. But you could not keep them here on earth forever. They're still going to die and they're still going to face God. There's more to the story than whatever achievements we make in this world with the things of this world. The Greek does not bypass the English.

It just zooms in a little closer with the details. And so it's not merely someone who is senseless or ignorant as used here. It means they're fooled by Satan, by self, by society, by any one of those three, all of those three, any combination. And so if Satan is allowed to write scripture of his own in books against God, false scripture. Then is not God?

Does he not have the right to write scripture also? Verse 23, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the image made like corruptible man, the birds, the four-footed animals, and creeping things. First on the list is man himself, deifying himself, fulfilling Satan's word to Eve. You'll be like God.

And here we see them acting that way. Psalm 106, verse 20, Thus they changed the glory into the image of an ox that eats grass, just one of many. Self-impressed creatures creating the Creator can never make God. It's not the evolution of man. Man devolves by doing that. So down it slides into birds and beasts and bugs and creeping things. The demonic influence behind false religion. We don't have time.

I can just give you the addresses in case you'd like to know them. Leviticus 17, 7, 2 Chronicles 11, 15, Psalm 106, verses 35 to 38, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 20, In all those verses, false religions are said to come from demons. That was true then.

It is true now. So, do people who ignore God tend to ignore Satan too? Isn't that an interesting question for the guy in the workplace? Okay, you're not into God. Do you ignore Satan too? And they probably do.

And as a result, they don't understand the wrath of God is upon them because of the work of the devil. You just want to kind of be in that neutral zone, don't you? It doesn't exist. Jesus said, if you're not for me, you're against me. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again or want to listen to others like it, head over to crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast too so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross-Reference Radio, so make a note of it, crossreferenceradio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross-Reference Radio.