LOVE

Citizens of the Lost Colony

Romans 1:18-3:18

The Rebellion

Romans 1:18-21 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Raca (Raca means something like "thick headed" or "block head")

Psalms 14:1

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

I'm not angry with anyone here so I hope I am out of danger when I try to put labels of these kinds on these folks. My sincere desire is to help us all understand the predicament they are in so we can reach out to them in love and help them. Since Bible labels them in this way and I am not singling out anyone in particular I believe we can best understand by categorizing the lost into four general areas.

Verse 18 of Romans 1 calls the condition of the lost "ungodliness and unrighteousness." I have sorted the lost along these two categories as if they are spectrums. Spectrums are like rainbows. A color on one end gradually changes to a completely different color. Lost people can be high in spirituality and low and righteousness or vice versa. For that matter they can appear at any point along these spectrums. In fact, over their life times they may drift, as lost people do, from one place to another on this chart. Hopefully, as we talk about these categories it will become more clear to you.

We will take them in the order that Paul talks about them in Romans.

I tried to come up with an "R" label for this one so that they would all start with the same letter but I could not think of one.

Romans 1:22-25 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

The descriptions below are for those who are at the extreme points of the spectrum. If they fall somewhere in between not all the characteristics will apply.

How these people answer the question, "If you were to die today and stand at the gates of heaven, why should you be allowed to enter?"
"Everybody goes to heaven."

Religions: Paganism, witchcraft, occult, superstitious, (Hindu would probably come between pagan & religious)

What kinds of Christian churches they are attracted to: Charismatic or ones with lots of visible symbol - like Catholics. Please understand I am not saying people that go to these churches are all lost. I am saying these churches have a tendancy to attract certain kinds of lost people.

At work: Completely out for themselves. They will sometimes do irrational things. Their offices may or may not be decorated with symbols of their disbelief.

At home: Have trouble with family relationships. Here they tend to also make irrational choices. Almost always decorated with symbols of their paganism. May be unkempt.

Life: Their sometimes irrational decisions will lead them into many bizarre situations.

EXAMPLE: I have a friend that started out in the righteous square. When that did not work for her she made a profession of faith in Christ and moved into the religious square. Her profession was apparently only intellectual, not from the heart. Now she has drifted into Wicca (Witch craft) in the pagan square.

Romans 1:26-32 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

How these people answer the question, "If you were to die today and stand at the gates of heaven, why should you be allowed to enter?"
"I don't believe in heaven."

Religions: Atheism, agnosticism - skeptical, sometimes philosophical. Post-modern thought patterns. They would probably say there is no such thing as truth.

What kinds of Christian churches they are attracted to: Large churches where they can network for their business and/or to prey on women while at the same time blending in.

At work: Completely out for themselves. Almost always make decisions based on what is best for them (in their view). Will not appear different.

At home: Will have trouble with all relationships. Home will match their personality more than their world view.

Life: Tend to end up alone. May go to prison if they get caught.

EXAMPLE: I have a friend that started out, at least when I first knew him, very much trying to earn his way into heaven by having Bible studies in his home, founding churches, and being very busy for God. The religious square. He drifted into self-righteousnes in the righteous square and has ended up here, in the reprobate square, and is no longer interested in anything spiritual or moral. See how the lost are lost? The drift around.

Romans 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

How these people answer the question, "If you were to die today and stand at the gates of heaven, why should you be allowed to enter?"
"I am mostly good." And they are thinking, "If there is a heaven."

Religions: Buddhist, some other eastern religions, worldly philosophy, atheist, agnostic. Modern thought patterns - usually believe truth exists.

What kinds of Christian churches they are attracted to: Would consider it hypocritical to attend church.

At work: Have a strong work ethic. Try to do the "right" thing.

At home: Usually have good relationships. Homes are usually well kept.

Life: May slide into the grave uneventfully. If they fail to live up to most of what they think is right they may start doing self-destructive things to punish themselves or to medicate their pain. These are the ones that you read about that suddenly commit suicide right when everyone around them thinks all is well.

EXAMPLE: My parents and their friends were like this. I grew up among these kind of people.

Romans 2:17-23 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? 23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?

How these people answer the question, "If you were to die today and stand at the gates of heaven, why should you be allowed to enter?"
"I go to church."

Religions: Judism and Mohammedism

What kinds of Christian churches they are attracted to: Ones with well documented religious practice and relatively rigid doctrine - Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, some cults, etc.

At work: Have a strong work ethic. Often, delight in catching people doing things wrong and making sure they suffer the consequences for it. Often will decorate their offices with The Ten Commandments or something like it.

At home: If the family is all like them they often have a pleasant and harmonious home life. If not, bitter disputes will often erupt.

Life: They end up bitter and judgmental. They appear to live a godly life but they are not happy about it. If they realize this they will drift to one of the other sections.

EXAMPLE: 2 Timothy 3:5 - Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

Let review the churches that attract these kind of people remembering that I am not saying that these kinds of churches are full of only lost people.

Pagans are attracted to Charismatic churches or churches with lots of visible symbols like Catholics.

Reprobates are attracted to large churches where they can network for their business and/or to prey on women while at the same time blending in.

The Righteous consider it hypocritical to attend church.

The Religious are attracted to churches with well documented religious practice and generally well defined and well known doctrine like the Catholics, Episcopals, Lutherans, Methodists, some cults, etc.

The good news is that none of these people are attracted to a small Bible believing church like ours. We are not immune to hypocrisy here but we are probably not going to be associating with any of these people at church as long as we remain as small as we are. This is also bad news. That means we are not going to have lost people coming here for us to witness to them. We are going to have to go out of here to them.

Results of rebellion

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

There are basically three things being said here. The lost are corrupt, lost and pitiable.

So were you once, until you were rescued.

You can compare them to a drunk in the gutter.

Or someone trapped in a burning car.

Or someone drowning.

Or a baby in a dirty diaper.

They are in a bad way and without some help are going to stay that way or get worse.

I think the best analogy is a bear stuck in quicksand.

You want to help the bear but you can not get him out by yourself. If you try to help a bear get out of quicksand by yourself the most likely result is that either the bear or the quicksand will kill you. To help the bear, you need help, and lots of it.

And to help the lost you need help, and lots of it.

First and foremost you need God's help. Without the convicting power of the Holy Spirit working on their heart everything else will fail.

You need the counsel, prayers and partnership of your fellow Christians. Get some advice. Get the church to pray for them. Take someone with you when you go to talk with the lost.

Finally, you need to understand who they are and how they think in order to know best how to approach them. I hope this sermon today helped you to understand the lost a little better.

The altar is open for prayer. I am available to help you, talk to you, or pray with you.

Are you neglecting the Great Commission?

Other reasons to answer invitation.