Grace Community Church of Ramona Podcast

In 2008 we were rocked. Cancer. Stage 4. Aggressive. At first we were numb. We weren’t angry. God’s Word trained us to know we all fall into trials of various kinds. I hurt for the pain Cathy would suffer. But we accepted the diagnosis. Rejecting the diagnosis would have signed Cathy’s death warrant. Accepting the diagnosis was the first step towards her healing. In our passage today God delivers a devastating diagnosis. The question is, will we accept it or reject it?

Easter 2018, "The Lie"

Our passage today takes us deeper into the Jewish mind and its reasons for rejecting the Gospel. Unbelieving Jews have already been condemned by Paul in chapters 1 and 2. Paul taught that all humanity is under God’s wrath because of our refusal to acknowledge the evidence of God's "eternal power and divine nature," that is clearly seen through His creation. God's present wrath is expressed in that God gave humanity over to various forms of sin (1:18-32).

Are you pecksniffian? You really don’t want to be pecksniffian but if you are you probably don’t see it. People around you know if you’re pecksniffian. It’s unpleasant to say the least. Religious people are very susceptible to it. It was a deep seated problem in Judaism. It’s understandable why the Jews struggled with pecksniffianism given their special relationship with God:

When our children were little and we were out in public, they would wander. Despite our instructions to stay with us, they would wander off. A few times I just let them; I could always see them, but they couldn’t see me. They thought it was great; they didn’t realize I was disciplining them by letting them wander off. They were having a great time free to go wherever they pleased until after a little while it dawned on them they were alone, they couldn’t see us, they didn’t know how to find us…

I was trying to remember the first time I shared the Gospel. In 1976, Campus Crusade for Christ launched a nationwide evangelistic campaign called “I Found It”. I was a high school sophomore. The campaign included telephone evangelism. I remember several evenings at the church calling through our local telephone directory and sharing the gospel with those willing to listen.

Many years ago a young man completed our youth pastor internship and began searching for a youth pastor position. We were shocked to encounter churches that offered to hire him on the first phone call sight unseen.

The book of Romans is one of the most powerful and influential books ever written. Augustine, one of the most brilliant theologians of the early church, came to faith after reading Romans chapter thirteen. Martin Luther recovered the doctrine of salvation by faith from his study of Romans 1:17 and went on to lead the Protestant Reformation.

Our horizon includes the Rapture, the Kingdom, the Crushing of Satan and, as we will study today, Paradise Restored. The horizon for people separated from God is, however, horribly different. Many people in our society believe there will be some type of judgment in the afterlife. Mistakenly, they believe this judgment will determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.

Jesus will fulfill His promises through an event called the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). At the Rapture, the souls of deceased believers will be united with their resurrection bodies. Believers alive at the time of the Rapture will be changed and then caught up to meet the Lord after the resurrection of deceased believers. We don’t know the day or hour of the Rapture. But we do know it happens before Jesus returns.