I Peter 2:9-10
Suffering from happiness: I saw the light!
He was a scientist, a sculptor, a engineer, a painter, a philosopher, a musician and a man who historians say will never again be endowed with as many God given gifts .
One of his greatest works was that of the last supper. I am speaking of Leonardo da Vinci
This painting is a work of art and what is interesting about it is the expressions of the desciples when they are told that one of them would betray them.
What you may not know about this painting is that he painted real people with expressions in 1495. When he was painting the face of Christ he sought long and hard for the right face. In one of the churches in Italy he found a boy named Pietro Bandinelli. His face became the focal point of the painting.
Yet in 1498 all the disciples faces were painted except one. Judas Iscoriot - He need one that had the miseries of SIN all over it. After a long and hard search he found the man and Leonardo stated his face made him sudder.
He ask the man his name and this man stated I am Pietro Bandinelli the one who you painted 3years ago. What happened?
Sin
I. There are only two types of people mentioned in the Bible.
A. People not of God – who have not received mercy.
B. People of God – who have received mercy.
A. People not of God – who have not received mercy.
1. The state of man is shown to us here. (Romans 1:18 - 32) *** Page 1107 HOB
a. What is known about God has been reviled to us.
b. Man turns his back on God .
c. They made their own religion.
2. The four downward steps in the world today.
a. Ingratitude to God
b. Arrogance toward God
c. Selective reasoning towards God.
d. Total abandonment of God
3. Remember the hope- Jesus Christ, God gave them over not God gave them up!!
B. People of God – who have received mercy.
1. The state of man (who believes) is shown to us here. (Romans 3:21 - 31) *** Page 1109 HOB
a. God has provided a righteousness of His own for us – one we did not have or deserve
b. It is given by grace alone
c. It is the completed work of Jesus Christ
d. It is received by faith alone.
2. But now! What? 3:21a
a. No greater words in the Christian life!
i. Wrath to righteousness!
ii. Condemnation to justification!
iii. Bondage to freedom!
II. So what?
Our Christian lives is summed up in this old English hymn. This is the message of Romans 3:20-31!
Lord I was blind! - 1856
Lord, I was blind: I could not see
In Thy marred visage any grace;
But now the beauty of Thy face
In radiant vision dawns on me.
Lord, I was deaf: I could not hear
The thrilling music of Thy voice;
But now I hear Thee and rejoice,
And all Thine uttered words are dear.
Lord, I was dumb: I could not speak
The grace and glory of Thy Name;
But now, as touched with living flame,
My lips Thine eager praises wake.
Lord, I was dead: I could not stir
My lifeless soul to come to Thee;
But now, since Thou hast quickened me,
I rise from sin’s dark sepulcher.
Lord, Thou hast made the blind to see,
The deaf to hear, the dumb to speak,
The dead to live; and lo, you broke
The chains of my captivity.
A. The state of the lost religion is shown to us here.
B. The four downward steps in the world today.
a. Arrogance toward God v22
b. Selective Reasoning towards God v25
c. Total abandonment of God v28
d. God’s Action to release again v28b
Remember this - an old Indian Proverb: Keep five yards from a carriage, ten yards from a horse, and 100 yards from an elephant; but the distance one should keep from a wicked man can not be measured.
C. Remember the hope- Jesus Christ, God gave them over not God gave them up!!
