WORSHIP SERIES
Romans 11:33-36
#2 - PRELUDE TO PERSONAL WORSHIP
We often take
people for granted. One of the best
things a wife can do for a husband sometimes is to be away for a few days. It is then when we husbands realize how much
you wives do, and how much we have taken you for granted!
We often take our
nation and our freedoms for granted. We
don’t think about our freedoms of security, of speech or of movement until they
are threatened as they were on 9-11.
It is wrong for us
to take people or things for granted. It
is a greater sin to take God for granted.
And yet throughout the day or even when we are supposed to be
worshipping in church, we do tend to take God for granted. He’s there, and we’re glad, but we don’t
often feel led to express our appreciation for Him and to Him.
Originally this
morning, I was going to speak on Romans 12:1-2 and “A Life That Worships”. I was going to try to show you how we should
worship throughout every day.
However, in
preparation for this sermon, I was struck with the fact that before we can
truly respond in worship to Romans 12:1-2, we must first deal with Romans
For in the
original writing of the Bible there were no chapters as we know them today.
They were added later.
That means the end
of chapter 11 ran right into the beginning of chapter 12 without any chapter
division.
Romans 11:33-36 is a doxology of praise to God.
Paul shows his appreciation for God and does not take God for
granted. As a result of this praise,
Paul then says, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God.
I see Romans
11:33-36 as a prelude to the personal acts of worship found in Romans
12:1-2 that God wants from each one of us. Our worship will only be enhanced
when we truly grasp these verses.
This morning,
let’s consider:
GOD’S
CHARACTERISTICS – Vs. 33
Romans
Do you ever have a
sense of wonder concerning God?
That is are you
ever in awe of God because God is so awesome, and so beyond us?
My friend this
sense of wonder, which needs to become part of our worship is exactly what the Apostle
Paul was experiencing when he said, O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
What brought Paul
to these words of wonder?
All through Romans
he had been teaching on such subjects as sin, grace, atonement, salvation, and
sanctification. God’s work in these areas is enough to elicit wonder. But then
in chapters 9-11, Paul talks about God’s sovereignty, and the salvation of the
Gentile, and the eventual salvation of
And now Paul
breaks into this doxology beginning in verse 33. This verse shows us some of the
characteristics or attributes of God. This is certainly not all of them by a
long stretch, but enough that we should stand in wonder before God.
·
GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING
Romans
There isn’t
anything that God doesn’t know. God doesn’t have to learn anything.
God knows everything
about creation. He knows everything because he created everything. Genesis
1:1-3, Colossians 3:16, Revelation 4:11
Think! God knows everything there is to know about elephants and insects,
lions and lizards, giraffes and gerbils.
God knows everything about the sun, moon, and stars.
God knows everything there is to know about medicine, psychology, the
weather, building houses, keeping house, computers, engines, and everything
else.
God knows
everything about history and He knows at accurately.
The most
astounding thing is how well He knows you and me. Psalm 139:1-7
·
GOD IS WISER THAN ANYONE
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God!
There are many
people who know much but don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.
Wisdom is the
right use of knowledge.
And it is God in
His wisdom who has made salvation a matter of grace
and not works.
Ephesians 2:8-9
It is God in His
wisdom who sent His Son to die on the cross for our
sins. Romans 5:6
It is God in His
wisdom who has not only made salvation a matter of
faith, but the Christian life also a matter of faith. Hebrews 11:6
When we don’t know
something, we know that God knows.
When we don’t
understand what God is doing, we know that God is wiser than we are.
These qualities
make God worthy of our worship.
·
GOD’S JUDGMENTS ARE UNSEARCHABLE
Romans
When we see the word
“judgments” we naturally think of the judicial end of things. When God judges,
you can’t search it out and find a loophole.
However the word
here probably refers to more than judicial judgments. It probably refers to the
decrees or plans of God.
God has a plan for
the universe, and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for
the unsaved and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for
the church and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for
each individual and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for
the Jews and He’s carrying it out.
God has a plan for
the world and He’s carrying it out.
We know some of
God’s plan because He has chosen to reveal it to us. But there is more to God’s plan than we can
possibly know. His judgments are unsearchable.
·
GOD’S WAYS (OR PATHS) ARE PAST
FINDING OUT
Romans
I have seen many
times when God’s ways are past finding out.
I’ve discovered that I don’t always have an answer for why God does what
he does.
GOD’S
COMPETENCE – Vss. 34-35
Romans
God has used my wife, Dottie, and some of you to counsel me so that I
made right decisions.
God has used many
Godly men to give counsel to great spiritual leaders.
No president, or
prime minister, or king is without his counselors.
Every person
growing up has had counselors, most often, parents.
BUT GOD HAS HAD NO
COUNSELORS.
GOD NEEDS NO
COUNSELORS.
GOD DOESN’T NEED
ANY HELP.
Oh yes, God has
chosen to work through us and to use us.
However God
doesn’t really need us, if He didn’t want to use us.
Romans
God is so
competent that He is obligated to no one.
Any gift we ever
give to God is something that He owns anyway.
And anything we
have that’s good in this life is because of the grace of God. It is God who has given it to us.
We have salvation
by the grace of God.
We have the
ability to live the Christian life by the grace of God.
We have abilities
to help others by the grace of God.
We have answers to
prayer by the grace of God.
We have money to
share by the grace of God.
And although God
does choose to reward us for doing right, He is not obligated to do so.
God has given so
much we can have eternal life. He owes us nothing. He will never be in our
debt. He is competent.
GOD’S
CHARACTERISTICS– Vs. 33
GOD’S COMPETENCE –
Vss. 34-35
GOD’S
COMPLETENESS – Vs. 36
Romans
All things are of
God – He is creator
All things are
through God – He brings His purposes to pass
All things are for
Him – Everything exists for His good
pleasure
That means there
is only one person who should get glory in our lives and that’s the triune God,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!
And yet it is so
easy to give glory to things, hobbies, sports, and people.
Isaiah 42:8 - I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
I want you to
leave here this morning with one central thought. Only God is worthy of your worship, adoration
and praise.
If you understand
that, you have understood the prelude to personal worship.