We are without excuse…
Excuse here, has to do with our giving our account of ourselves before God, one day.
Psalm 19:1-3 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice in not heard.”
It is not just “glory” that the heavens show….but the glory of God….for the orbit of moon, and the stars….the clouds and rain….and the sun….are all under His control…in regular and orderly ways.
They declare it to all mankind.
We were created, to stand on our feet….to look up and see all that creation manifests…..
….yet….
…..if men will not see….eventually, blindness will set in, to the very things in front of them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
I mention all these, because I was struck by something in Romans:
Romans 1:20-21 “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:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; and became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Vain imaginations and darkened hearts begin with unthankfulness to God.
How much we let into our hearts, when we stop being grateful to God….
…..for that is what thanksgiving is:…..manifesting in word and deed, our gratefulness to God….for what He is….and what we have from Him.
It clearly says that they “knew” about God: His power and His Godhead.
But they refused that truth, not wanting to be thankful to Him.
They wanted to measure their stature by other men, and creatures….instead of looking up to the Lord…….and bowing in subjection to His Will….so they looked out to other creatures….and made idols of them.
Eve refused to be thankful for every other tree to eat from, but one….and became tricked by the devil into doubting God’s goodness…and sinned. (Genesis 3:2-6)
Cain knew from the shedding of blood to clothe his parents (Genesis 3:21), that he could not come before the altar of God without a sacrifice of blood…..
….but he refused to be grateful for the instruction….
……and chose to come before God in his own merits….not in subjection and thanksgiving. (Genesis 4:3)
…..then he refused to be grateful for the correction about his sacrifice……God giving him a second chance…..God told him, if he would only bring the right sacrifice….he would be accepted, like Abel…..
….But he was not grateful….
….and he became angry and became the first murderer (Genesis 4:8)
The children of Israel first praised God, after the deliverance of the Red Sea….
…then murmured. Twenty-two times it says that they complained….and murmured against God, Moses, and the circumstances.
“Murmur” literally means to stop….to be obstinate, to complain. To halt a forward movement (either spiritually or physically) till I get what I want.
These are examples of some who refused to be thankful and submit to God….
…but what about now….what about us?
Certainly, as Christians, we are without excuse before God for our words (Matthew 12:37)…and what we do with them…..for we have the Holy Spirit within us…
We are told:
Hebrews 13:5 “….be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
Our contentment should be in God….and our thanksgiving for all He gives us, should be in praise to Him.
We know God: as Savior, as Creator, as Lord, as King,….
…the more we know…the more He becomes what we need……the more we should give Him thanks.
(Twenty-three times, according to my count, Paul gives thanks, to God for something….or exhorts the churches he writes to, to give thanks.)
1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 “In everything give thanks: for this is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the Spirit.”
Colossians 3:16-17 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts in the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
(Often my husband, as we were going places for our ministry, would burst out in song…..a hymn,…..or the Hallelujah Chorus…..one of his favorites….and we would all join in.
Thankfully, we were traveling down the road….and not in the middle of a lot of people….although my husband’s voice is pretty good….
……..but as we sang, I would always feel more of the Lord’s presence with us.
It is amazing how a genuine praise, opens up our hearts to Him!)
Let us not grow “blind” to God’s mercy and goodness to us (2 Peter 1:9)……in good times, or under trials…..
…..but let us use these times to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Him Who is worthy to be praised….in everything.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 