## He is a God Who Speaks

## Romans 1:18-21

Communicating with others is not always easy. A couple of weeks ago Don Nevels had some trouble. After 34 years in Argentina, it was difficult for him to preach in English. But even when the language and words used are understood, the real meanings can be mistaken. Miscommunication is always a possibility no matter how hard we try to avoid it. Take, for instance, the following examples of written communication, as quoted from actual insurance forms.

- The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
- I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.
- I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home, as I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision. I did not see the other car.
- The telephone pole was approaching fast. I was attempting to swerve out of its path when it struck my front end.
- The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.
- I saw the slow-moving, sad-faced old gentlemen as he bounced off the hood of my car.
- I was thrown from my car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows,
- I had been driving my car for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.

Perhaps these are exaggerations of poor communication, but every day we are called upon to communicate with other people. We must do our best to communicate well. As believers, we are to communicate with God in prayer as well. But our communication with God is not a one-way avenue. He communicates with us, too, in some general as well as specific and special ways.

I. General Revelation.

A. How does God communicate with us?

1. God reveals Himself through nature.

a. David declared the importance of natural revelation in Ps. 19:1-6.

1) Creation testifies to God's glory continuously. v1b

The words "declare," "showeth," "day unto day," "night unto night" emphasize a nonstop manifestation of God everywhere.

2) Creation testifies to God's glory completely. v3- 4a

a) God's glorious revelation transcends all language barriers and reaches out through all the earth.

b) This revelation is not restricted, but it extends "to the end of the world."

3) Creation testifies to God's glory clearly. v4b-6

) David singled out the impact the sun has on all people.

b) God "set" the sun as a pene-trating signal that broadcasts God's power and glory as the solar system travels along God's predetermined orbit.

b. Creation is sending a clear message that everyone can receive.

1) There is one, true God.

2) He is our creator, our glorious sustainer, and we all stand accountable to Him in this earthly life.

2. God reveals Himself through human conscience.

a. While natural revelation is external, Paul describes an internal witness or revelation that also comes from God.

(Rom 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 show 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;)"

b. Even though the Gentiles did not receive the Law of God, they have an awareness of who God is and what is right and wrong.

1) Their God-given "hearts," is a term used by Paul to refer to their intellectual conclusions.

2) Their "conscience" speaks of an awareness of right and wrong actions.

3) And their "thoughts" speaks of a person's reasoning capabilities,

c. According to this passage, every human being has within himself an awareness of God.

1) Though sin distorts the thought processes and leads them away from God…

2) All men everywhere have the capacity to receive revelation from God.

B. God's communication rejected. (Ro.1:18-21)

1. What has been man's response to this communication from God?

a. Man's "ungodliness" disregards God-sent revelation…

b. And man's "unrighteousness" rebels against God's authority over people.

2. So, all men everywhere are "without excuse" before God (Ro. 1:20), because "they knew God, "yet did not glorify Him as such" (Ro. 1:21).

3. Consequently, whether people believe in God or not:

a. The self-revelation of God through His creation stands as reality.

b. And all mankind stands account-able before God for this privilege of being exposed to general revelation through nature.

Beyond natural revelation, God has communicated with man in special ways.

II. Special Revelation.

A. Through the inspired, written Word of God. (THE BIBLE)

1. The written Word reveals God inerrantly.

a. The written revelation of God is the product of God's authorship.

b. God used human writers within the scope of their own personalities and historical cultures to pen 66 books.

c. The result is the living, inspired Scriptures (2Ti. 3:16, Heb. 4:12).

d. Though the written revelation does not communicate all of God's mind; what is stated is completely what God intended to say.

e. Every word in the Bible is equally profitable and authoritative.

2. The written revelation graciously proclaims the answer to our sinful condition.

a. God's redemptive solution came through His only begotten Son and His magnificent ministry on our behalf.

b. The Bible is God's life-line given out to dying people to save them from their sins and from a literal Hell. Jn. 3:14-16

B. Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God.

1. Heb 1:1-4 reveals the superiority of the revelation of God's Son over many previous methods used to communi-cate God's message.

2. The most important statement here is this: "God hath spoken unto us by his Son."

a. Before Christ came to earth, God communicated 'at sundry times' (various time periods) through "divers manners" (various methods).

b. When Christ came, God's commun-ication became complete.

3. Notice the close connection between the written Word of God and Jesus Christ, the "Son" revelation from God.

a. It is from the Bible we discover the truth of Jesus, the Son of God.

b. As Luke narrated our Lord's counsel to the two on the road to Emmaus:

Luke 24:27, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

Luke 24:44, "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."

III. Revealing God's Light to the World.

A. It is impossible for people to discover the one true God through human reasoning alone. Acts 17:15-34

1. If it were possible for people to discover God through human reason alone, it would have been realized at Athens, the center for world learning.

2. But the intellectuals there were groping in spiritual darkness until Paul arrived.

B. We must show them the way.

1. Paul used natural revelation as the starting point in his witness.

2. His sermon on Mars' hill described God in His glory as viewed through natural revelation.

a. First, God is our creator; He is the originator of all life. v24-25

b. Second, God is our sustainer; He is the mastermind behind all existence. v26-29

3. Then he turned from the truth of the God of natural revelation to the fact that God is the God of salvation through the resurrected Jesus Christ.

a. The Athenian audience needed to turn from their human reasoning to Jesus Christ.

b. He invited them to change their mind (as he did on the road to Damascus) and receive the resurrected Jesus Christ as Savior.

c. He also warned them that this rejected Savior today would someday become their judge.

4. Out of man's rejection of God's self revelation comes the believers' God- given mission to proclaim His truth.

a. Ro. 10:14, "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?"

b. Here is our call to action.

c. The world needs to see our light (Mt. 5:14-16), and our love (John 13:34-35).

d. This involves living a holy life (1 Cor. 15:34) as well as sharing the gospel verbally (Acts 1:8).

God has spoken to us, are we listening? To those who do not know Him personally, He calls for you to come to Him in faith. For the believer, He calls us to go to the lost and dying world with the message of life and hope. Are we listening?