Is ignorance bliss?

Good morning. Like Andrew said, we're reading from Romans chapter 1 and we're reading the first 17 verses.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

and was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness

by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith

for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,

grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son,

that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers,

asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you,

but thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you,

as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.

As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

For Romans, we are back to Romans again.

What a great book.

Today we are just recapping what we have talked about in the past,

just quite a few months ago.

The reading from chapter 1 to 17 just reminds us of what Romans is about.

And in the reading itself, there is already a summary of it.

There is the gospel of God.

There is Jesus Christ.

There is grace.

There is faith.

And there is righteousness.

So that is what we will be talking about today.

Before we start, let's pray first.

Almighty God, we thank you again for your mercy that is more.

That we can come before you, asking you to teach us what we need to know.

Show us how we should live.

That we might honor you with our life.

Thank you, Lord.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

In my childhood, I lived in a large wooden house,

which was built on a slope.

So we didn't take any good photograph of the house,

but that is part of it.

And it's actually a hill behind it with a big jungle in there.

And there was a large rock, very big, like a caravan,

just sitting right next to the roof that's on top of the hill.

And there were many people living in the house.

In the heyday, there were about 25 of us there.

Besides my parents' family, there's relatives who didn't have a place to live.

So they lived with us for many years.

Telling you that this house is built on the slope, on the hill,

and in that part of the world where it ran quite a lot,

especially towards the end of the year,

you would, I hope you would know that there's a danger of landslide.

And landslides did happen quite frequently in my hometown,

just not far away from us.

There was a few years,

no, one was a childhood.

There was one,

a few houses was damaged by that landslide,

and seven people died.

But we didn't,

as a child,

I never realized,

or didn't think about landslide,

although we were quite happy living in the house,

this big house,

and there's a hill we can climb.

So we had a happy time,

happy time there.

And I also climbed up to that big rock

and sat on top of it,

not knowing about the danger.

So the landslide did happen.

That was about 12 years ago.

That's 53 years after the house was built.

And you could see that the house is basically gone in there.

Thankfully, by that time,

most of us had moved away from the house to various places.

There were still two of my older brothers there

during that landslide.

It happened at about 4 a.m. in the morning,

in the heavy rain.

And miraculously,

they only sustained mild injury.

Not sure,

they also didn't know how to escape.

They somehow walk out in the dark,

in the rubble,

avoid everything.

But they're thankful that they escaped.

So,

for me,

ignorance was pleased

as I had a great childhood living in the house.

But if I knew that landslide could happen anytime,

then it would be a very anxious time living in the house.

Because my mom did tell me that she knew about ghost danger,

and every time it rains,

she would worry sick about this.

And it's just,

we're just thankful that we,

it did not happen during our childhood days.

And,

if it happened during our childhood days,

then ignorance was not a bliss,

obviously.

And,

so Romans 1 to 6

tells us ignorance is not bliss

for two reasons.

One is that

we are risking the danger of God's judgment.

The other one is that

we are missing the comfort of God's grace.

So,

when our days turn out as we have planned,

and we enjoy our time,

we do not think about God's judgment.

In fact,

we do not even think about God at all.

So,

these are too

dangerous.

In Romans 1,

it tells us that

there is a God,

and this God is angry

towards man's ungodliness.

and unrighteousness.

Ungodliness means that

we lost

the image of God.

I mean,

God created us

in his image.

And then we live in a way

that

nothing like God

in our character.

Unrighteousness means that

we live in a way

that we disregard God's rules.

We just live

whatever way we like.

The universe around us

tells us that there is a God.

Because we could see

the creation

and know that

it has to be

created by someone.

But we say that

the universe tells us

there is no God.

That it comes

by a big bang.

The presence of morality

in human society

tells us that

there is a God

who decides

what is

who decides

what is good

and what is bad.

So,

because we know

that if

something is good

and something is bad

there is that

moral standard.

And that

they have to think

who gives this

moral standard.

And then we should

consider that

there is a God

who would decide this.

But the society

will push for us

to

the freedom

for each person

to decide

what is good

and what is bad

for himself

and we think

that when the outcome

of our days

seems good to us

then this is

God's blessing.

But not knowing

that

this can be

God's judgment

as well.

That's what

chapter 1 says.

Because people

want to

ignore God

God's judgment

is to let people

do what they want.

So,

there are three things

that he mentioned there.

that he let people

worship

whatever they want

the creator beings.

In doing so

people

gradually

become

more and more

like what they worship.

We become

we will become

like what we worship.

So,

if we worship idols

we will like those idols

of

thoughts

and our character

we like those idols.

And so,

we lose

our identity

as the

image bearer

of God.

number two

is that

God

let

people

pursue

unnatural

identities.

We can now

choose our own

gender

our sexual

identities

so that it feels

good

we can identify

ourselves with

anything we like.

So,

in doing so

we lose our

identity as

men and women.

So,

we lose

our honor

as God's

creator beings.

and number

three

God

lets people

satisfy the

desires of

their heart.

We become

preoccupied with

getting what

we want

and in doing

so

we will compete

with one another

because

when we

want the

same thing

and everyone

wants money

or power

then

there is a

struggle

for

in the world

and there will be

conflict

between one

another

human beings

and between

countries

and

so that's

what the world

is like

at the moment

and

also we

make use of

one another

as instruments

to get what

we want

and we also

teach one another

that it's good

to have greed

and competition

so that there is

progress

in the society.

So,

in doing all

these things

we lose our

souls

we

become

dead

in our

souls

so Romans

1 and 2

also

tells us

that

ignorance

is not

an excuse

we can't

tell God

that we

didn't know

there's no

I didn't know

we didn't know

there's a God

we didn't know

there's your rules

because

the creator

universe

tells us

that there is

a creator

and our

own moral

codes

tells us

there is a

lawgiver

and when

we judge

other people

for doing

the wrong

thing

we are

affirming

that there

is such a

thing as

right and

wrong

we do not

have any

excuse

because we

cannot even

live up to

what we

know is

right

and Romans

2

tells us

that even

people who

know

that there

is a

God and

who know

God's

law

are under

God's

judgment

because

as we

see the

Jews

they

claim that

they know

God

and they

claim that

they know

God's

laws

but they

could not

live up

to those

what they

know

so it

is more

liability

for those

people

for them

to know

God and

know God's

law but

yet unable

to live

up to

it

so Romans

2 tells

us that

being

religious

does not

help either

we are still

under the

judgment of

God

so the

first two

chapters of

Romans tells

us that

everyone in

the world

either it

is religious

or irreligious

is living

under the

wrath of

God

the judgment

that comes

with God's

wrath is

not only a

future event

but it's

also taking

place right

now as

God let

us do

what is

right in

our own

eyes

so therefore

ignorance of

God's judgment

is not

pleased

the other

reason why

ignorance is

not pleased

is that we

cannot afford

to ignore

God's

grace

so we

can ignore

God's

judgment

we can

you may

also ignore

God's

grace

grace

during a

recent

trip

to

Nongpen

in

Cambodia

I went

through blood

test results

with most

of the

staff of

Joy Christian

School

and I

requested them

to have their

vitamin D

levels

checked

so I

received 86

results

which I

plotted on

the graph

so in

Cambodia

the minimum

accepted

level of

vitamin D

from blood

test is

30 nanogram

per mini

litre

which is

the same

as Australia

which is

50

minimum

per litre

in

Australian

term

but the

ideal blood

level of

vitamin D

is generally

considered

about 40

nanogram

per litre

which is

if you

can see

the graph

so

on the

y axis

so there

is 0

and then

you've got

10,

20,

30,

40

so

the mouse

is pointing

at the

40 level

that is

the ideal

level

or the

good level

of vitamin

D

so we

can see

that move

and then

in the

graph

there are

24 male

staff

at the

back of

the graph

the last

24

numbers

are male

and

the front

there are

62

are female

so

you can

see that

most of

the male

staff

actually

reach the

minimum

of 30

and many

of them

get to

40

but most

of the

females

don't even

get to

30

and

only one

got to

40

and so

there is

quite a

vitamin

D

deficiency

amount

of

the

female

staff

because

vitamin

D

deficiency

does not

cause

any

immediate

and obvious

symptoms

most

most people

are happily

ignorant

of this

deficiency

in

adults

persistent

vitamin D

deficiency

eventually

causes

osteoporosis

and in

infants

it

causes

malformation

of bones

but

vitamin D

deficiency

is also

known to

be

associated

with

depression

diabetes

heart

disease

and some

cancers

and so

we consider

what

causes

this

difference

in

vitamin

D

level

between

male

and

female

staff

I

think

it is

mainly

because

female

staff

wear

clothes

with

long

sleeves

and

why

do

they

wear

long

sleeves

because

the

school

is

air

conditioner

and

it's

cold

so

they

wear

long

sleeves

the other

thing

is

they

don't

want

to

get

sun

burn

because

their

skins

are

already

dark

so

they

don't

want

to

get

their

skin

any

darker

so

they

cover

their

skin

and

unfortunately

because

their

skins

are

darker

they

need

actually

more

sunlight

to

get

vitamin

D

unlike

the

Australian

skin

and

so

year

after

year

doing

that

they

don't

have

enough

sunlight

and

so

they

become

deficient

in

vitamin

D

and

there

is

plenty

of

sunlight

in

Cambodia

but

many

people

are

ignoring

the

need

of

sunlight

to

keep

their

bodies

healthy

I

understand

in

Australia

we

are

afraid

of

too

much

sunlight

because

of

different

skin

color

that is

one

thing

but

still

we

all

need

some

skin

some

sunlight

on

our

skins

also

by

the

way

you

may

worry

that

if

you

take

too

much

sunlight

your

body

may

have

overdose

of

vitamin

D

it

doesn't

happen

because

there's

automatic

shut off

when the

body

sense

that there's

enough

vitamin

D

it

will

not

make

any

more

and

that's

the

amazing

thing

about

God's

creation

so

I

advise

them

the

female

stuff

to get

about

20

minutes

of

sunlight

on

their

arms

that's

all

they

need

but

they

are

still

not

willing

to

do

that

they

would

rather

spend

their

money

to

buy

vitamin

D

supplement

but

at least

hopefully

this

will

prevent

many

of

them

getting

osteoporosis

in

their

older

age

so

in

some

ways

God's

grace

is like

sunlight

we're

ignoring

our

need

of

this

grace

we

think

that

we

are

doing

just

fine

without

any

sunlight

or

that

we

can

somehow

earn

God's

grace

by

our

own

efforts

what

difference

does

God's

grace

make

in

our

life

how

do

we

know

that

we

live

under

God's

grace

and

for

this

answer

we'll

jump

to

Romans

5

so

there's

Romans

5

the

difference

is that

we will

have

joy

we will

rejoice

people have

God's

grace

love

they will

rejoice

in

hope

in

hope

in

Romans

5

they will

rejoice in the hope of the glory of God

people who live under God's grace

they know that they have sinned and lost any hope of being like God

they have fallen short of the glory of God

but now that they have been forgiven by God

God is restoring this glory and honor and immortality to them

so because their hope is

is that God is restoring this glory and honor and immortality

so they will not be discouraged by the failures or weaknesses or suffering they face

each day

this hope keeps them going

and they also know that this hope is not dependent on what they do

it is

God given

so this

the second thing they rejoice

is in suffering

why do they rejoice in suffering?

because

people who live under the grace of God

they are not surprised by suffering

they are actually surprised that they don't suffer

because they know

that

they know two things

one is that

they are not perfect

they know that they are silly

they know that

they are foolish

and they know that

life

there will be lots of failures

and suffering

so this is one thing

they are not surprised

by their failure

second thing also

they know that

their life is different

to the life

people live in this world

and so

they will not

be able to mix well

with people in this world

and that

in that way

they will suffer

that is grace

that

that changed

their outlook

and they also know

that Jesus also suffered

in this world

and also

they know that

God is making them more like Jesus

through suffering

and so

they rejoice in suffering

the third thing

is that

they will rejoice in God

because they

start to understand

God's love

this love

has been poured

into the heart

by the Holy Spirit

and also through

revelation

in God's word

and

this love

keeps them

going

and also

they are no longer

just rejoicing

in their achievements

they rejoice in God

that means

they rejoice in

God's name being honoured

they rejoice

seeing God's kingdom come

and God's will being done

and this is

that's what

keeps them going

and these are the

people who live

under

the grace of God

so most of us

have joy deficiency

but we are not aware

of it

and it is easy

to check the level

of joy in our hearts

we can just

think for a moment

from the time

we wake up

this

we woke up

this morning

until now

how much our hearts

has been occupied

by worries

sadness

and disappointments

and

that happens

to all of us

every day

we do not have

much joy

in our heart

because we seek

satisfaction

in minor things

we rejoice

in our achievements

and our plans

being fulfilled

in our

entertainment

because

life does not

usually turn up

as it expects

it to be

and because

even when our plans

come true

we are not satisfied

and therefore

there is little joy

in our hearts

people who are

satisfied

in God's grace

and by God's grace

can rejoice

in major things

so they rejoice

in things which matter

they rejoice in the hope

of the glory of God

they rejoice in suffering

and they will rejoice

in God

and you know what

once you can rejoice

in major things

you will start

truly to rejoice

in minor things

God has given

to you to enjoy

and that is what

Ecclesiastes

is talking about

Solomon's writing

that vanity

everything is vanity

he is talking about

he couldn't enjoy

everything in the world

despite his wealth

his power

just because

his satisfaction

was

in the things

of the world

and we can't find

satisfaction in there

and that is why

he got disappointed

with all that

his experience

but if we

are satisfied

in God's grace

then we can truly

be free

to enjoy

God's creation

what God has given

to us

so

for those who

do not want

to ignore

God's grace

or do not want

to ignore

God's grace

Romans 5 and 6

tell us more

about this

grace

so if we

are joy

division

we need to

know grace

and we need

to understand

what grace

is

there's at least

five things

that

Romans 5 and 6

tell us

he said

grace is when

we were weak

and wicked

Christ died for us

grace is when

we were dead

Christ gave us

life

grace is when

we were enslaved

to sin

Christ set us

free

grace is when

we were lovers

of sin

Christ made us

lovers of

godliness

grace is when

we ought to

receive the

wages of

sin

Christ changed

it into the

gift of eternal

life

so Romans 1

and 2

tells us the

danger we are

facing if we

ignore God's

judgment

Romans 5 and 6

the place we are

missing if we

ignore God's

grace

then we need to

consider how does

the person get to

change from living

under God's

judgment to

living under God's

grace

and that's why

Romans 3

comes in

so Romans 3

first tells us

that no one is

acceptable in

God's eye

and by

the works of

the law no

human being

will be justified

in God's

sight for all

have sinned and

fallen short of

the glory of

God

we cannot

contribute

anything to

change our

status of

living under

God's judgment

to the status

of living under

God's grace

so we can

ask the

question

can't God

simply

forgive sin

to say

it doesn't

matter

God's holiness

is like light

and our sin

is like

darkness

holiness and

sin just

cannot come

together

without the

light consuming

the darkness

so it's not a

matter of if

light will

forgive the

darkness

darkness

but light

and darkness

just don't

mix

there's one

thing

the other

thing is that

God says

that already

the wages of

sin is death

and why will

God save

he can't

change it

or we can

ask

can't God

just say

let them be

they will grow

up someday

and return to

me

so people

will change

and become

a better

person

Romans 1

tells us

that God

does let

us be

but what

will happen

when God

let us be

when God

let us do

what is good

in our own

lives

so we will

grow up

not to be

a better

person

not to be

a person

who will

be

wanting to

know God

but we will

grow up to

be better

sinners

we will

become more

enslaved by

darkness

and we will

not come to

the light

so Romans 3

goes on

to tell us

the gospel

Paul said

that he

was not

ashamed of

the gospel

why did he

say that

because the

gospel is

not

we can do

something to

change our

life

but the

gospel is

God has

done something

to change

our lives

the gospel

is that

the judgment

of death

has been

received

by Christ

Jesus

the blood

of Christ

has satisfied

God's

holy

judgment

God can

now forgive

sin

because the

debt has

been paid

God can

now justify

sinners

without

violating

his own

justice

so will

all the

sinners

be justified

by God

no only

those who

are in

Christ

Jesus

can be

justified

now who

are those

in Christ

Jesus

they are

the sinners

who die

in Christ

and live

in Christ

they have

died to

their

darkness

and live

in the

light of

Christ

they can

therefore

return to

God

because they

are

covered by

the light

of Christ

or they

are consumed

by the

light of

Christ

so the

rest of

Romans 3

tells us

how someone

can be

in Christ

it is

both the

easiest

and the

hardest

things to

be in

Christ

and the

Bible

calls it

faith

so Romans

4

tells us

that from

the very

beginning

faith has

always been

necessary

for someone

to be

acceptable

to God

Abraham

was justified

because he

believed in

what God

has

promised

and

what he

caused

Abraham

to do

so

Abraham

had to

leave his

hometown

had to

go with

God

to

unknown

place

and had

to

sort of

sacrifice

his son

just because

he believed

in the

word of

God

so

believing

in God

does

cause us

something

and that's

why

faith is

the easiest

and the

hardest

thing at

the same

time

so easy

because we

just need to

listen and

believe

hard because

we need

to die

to ourselves

so in

accepting

what God

says

we need to

believe

at least

these five

things

I'm not

righteous

I have

not done

anything

good

this first

thing

I'm living

in darkness

second thing

is Jesus

Christ is the

only one who

is righteous

and the

light

third thing

only the death

of Jesus

Christ can

redeem me

fourth thing

Jesus Christ

alone can

be my

savior

and my

lord

and

15

once I

I'm in

Christ

it's no

longer I

who live

but Christ

lives in

me

even though

we do not

want to live

under God's

judgment

and that we

would like to

live under

God's grace

we are too

weak

on our own

to respond

to the

gospel

by faith

we do not

want to

give our

own rights

we are

fearful to

die

to ourselves

we thank

God that

he pulls

us along

helping us

to take

our first

steps

like a

father

helping his

infant to

walk

the gospel

comes to

us from

faith

for faith

God starts

our first

steps

after we

have tasted

the goodness

of walking

in grace

we will have

more confidence

to walk

on and

on

so today

many of us

have started

this walk

of faith

we are

thankful

that God

has been

holding our

hands

we are

thankful

that we

no longer

live under

the threat

of landslides

and we are

thankful that

God has

not left

us alone

to do

what seems

right

on us

and we

are thankful

for the

joy that

is ours

under

God's

grace

and I

hope that

for those

of us

walking in

this

path of

faith

in God's

grace

we will

keep

walking

as Jesus

told his

disciples

that

greater

things

you will

do

and I

hope that

we can

all

aspire to

that

to do

greater

things

in Christ

for the

kingdom

of God

to do

something

that

has

eternal

value

for those

of us

who have

not

started

this

walk

I hope

that you

do want

to live

under

the light

of

God's

grace

and if

you

want

to do

so

you

just

need to

ask God

to help

you

otherwise

we would

keep on

carrying our

burden

in life

and

at the

end

there will

be

judgment

to come

let us

pray

father we

thank you

for your

mercy

that we

can now

know that

there's no

condemnation

to those

who are

in Christ

not only

that we

also live

in your

grace

that we

can face

this day

with

confidence

with joy

and with

the ability

to

share the

concern of

others

and be

kind to

others

thank you

Lord

we also

pray for

those of

us who

are

thinking

and wanting

to

seek

the truth

may you

help them

to see

the glory

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

thank you

Lord

we pray

in Jesus

name

amen

I

Lord

I

thank you