Why Do Most People Show Signs of Being Religious and Moral?

As we've gone through the first chapter of Jonah,

as it stood out to you

how it seems everyone on the ship but Jonah

have shown signs of spiritual interest,

even moral goodness,

except Jonah, more than Jonah.

For example, when the storm struck,

what did everybody on the ship besides Jonah do?

They prayed.

Jonah slept.

He never prayed.

They showed signs of a troubled conscience.

Those sailors, pagans,

they were worried they might have offended one of their gods

and we know they were not real but they thought they were

and when that storm struck,

they were afraid they might have offended one of their gods

and he was going to get them.

That's one of the reasons why they prayed.

But that didn't do any good so they cast lots

and God worked through that to single Jonah out.

My point here is they showed signs of a troubled conscience

but Jonah didn't.

Jonah showed signs of having a calloused conscience,

a hard heart.

He showed no interest in the one true God that he did know.

He's God's prophet.

He showed no interest,

at least recorded in chapter one,

about his own relationship with God.

The sailors even showed concern for Jonah,

a stranger,

that the lot revealed he was the cause of the trouble.

But they showed concern for Jonah

by trying to save his life

even when Jonah told him himself,

if you want the storm to stop,

throw me overboard.

But Jonah didn't show any concern

for anyone on the ship

until God revealed that he was the cause of the storm

and only then did Jonah tell them

they could save their lives by throwing him overboard.

Now, the contrast I'm trying to show is

these sailors,

if you just read chapter one of Jonah

and go by how their conduct,

well, there's a whole lot more to admire

in these sailors

than there is in Jonah.

Now, I want you to think with me for a minute.

What made these sailors show

such spiritual interest

and even moral goodness?

Well, two things,

two things on your outline in Roman numerals,

God's natural law and common grace.

I want us to think about these two things tonight

and I want us to see how they explain

why most people in this world are religious.

Most people in this world are religious.

And most people in this world have

what we'd call an innate sense of right and wrong.

We don't all, no one does everything

that we know to be right

and avoids, shuns doing everything

we know to be wrong,

but there is within people

this innate understanding

of basic right and wrong

or even what we might call morality.

Let's pray and let's look at it.

Dear God,

help us tonight

to see

your hand

everywhere in this world

as we look

at these concepts

of natural law

and how they're revealed in Scripture

and common grace

and how it's seen.

Help us, Father,

to open our eyes

to just the way you work

in every dimension

of our lives.

in the people around us,

in the things

that are happening.

And Lord,

help us to learn

to recognize the good

and be appreciative

to praise you

and thank you

and recognize

that a lot of things

come to us

through your common grace.

And Lord,

help us to be thankful

for people,

even unbelievers,

through whom you work

to bless our world

and bless our individual lives.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

I've been looking forward

to doing this

at some point

as we've been going through

Romans or

Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

So tonight's tonight.

Natural law.

Most Christian writers

who write about ethics

point to natural law

to explain

why most people

have a basic understanding

of right and wrong.

The sailors

on Jonah's ship

probably had never heard

of the Ten Commandments.

Things like

you shall not murder.

Yet they clearly

demonstrate

a commitment

to the sanctity

of human life

by not throwing

Jonah overboard

when they were told

he's the cause

of the storm

and he's the solution

to the storm,

to its ending.

Look at it.

From Jonah 1

Jonah 1:12

verses 12 and 13.

He said to them,

Pick me up

and hurl me

into the sea

then the sea

will quiet down

for you

for I know

it's because of me

that this great tempest

has come upon you.

Nevertheless,

the men rode hard

to get back

to dry land

but they could not

for the sea

grew more

and more

tempestuous

against them.

It was only

when they saw

we've got no choice.

we either throw

him overboard

or die

that they did it

but

they demonstrate

a good understanding

of the sacredness

of human life.

Look at it.

Even in the prayer

even when they know

we've got to do this

look at it.

Therefore they called out

to the Lord,

O Lord,

let us not perish

for this man's life

lay not on us

innocent blood

for you, O Lord,

have done it

as done

as it pleased you.

As I said last Sunday,

this may indicate

that these men

were already

under conviction

by God

as he was working

to save them

as it turns out

at the end.

But even if that's true,

they still show

a God-given

natural awareness

that life

is sacred.

The reformer,

John Calvin,

explains the actions

of these sailors

as an example

of natural law.

Look at what he says there.

Now I haven't numbered

or anything

but you can follow along

when you're outlined

the scriptures

and the quotes.

He says,

there is by nature

implanted in all

an abhorrence

of cruelty.

Though these men

had never known

the doctrine of the law,

they were yet

so taught by nature

that they knew

that the blood of man

is dear and precious

in the sight of God.

Now I want you

to look on this,

on your sheet.

The Bible clearly

teaches this idea

of natural law

in many places.

Some of the clearest

statements are in

Romans chapter 1

Romans 1 · chapter mention

and 2.

Look at Romans 2 first.

God has written

his law

on people's hearts.

Paul is writing,

he says,

for when the Gentiles

who do not have the law

by nature

do what the law requires,

they are a law

to themselves.

Even though they

do not have the law,

they show that the work

of the law

is written

on their hearts

while their conscience

also bears witness

and their conflicting

thoughts accuse

or even excuse them.

The point here is

God's put his law

on people's hearts.

They have a basic,

innate sense

of right and wrong

which at the end

of all this discussion,

Paul is saying,

which is another reason

why everybody

who sins

is condemned

in their sin

and rightly judged

by God

because we violate

our own conscience

when we do

what we know

is wrong

or don't do

what we know

is right.

The next one

in Romans 1,

19 and 20,

God has given people

a natural awareness

of himself

which is often

called natural revelation

or general revelation.

He says,

for what can be known

about God

is plain to them

because God

has shown it to them

for his invisible

attributes,

namely his eternal power

and divine nature

have been clearly

perceived

ever since the creation

of the world

and the things

that have been made

so that they are

without excuse.

God has made himself

known

through nature,

through his creation.

Everybody

has this sense

there is a creator.

Things just don't happen.

There had to be

a cause.

Wayne Grudem

does a good job

of explaining

the Bible's teaching

about natural law.

He says,

I must affirm

that people can indeed

know something

of God's moral laws

apart from the Bible.

Even without

the specific moral

teachings of the Bible,

human beings

have consciences

that give them

an inward sense

of right and wrong.

In addition,

people are able

to observe

the way many

other people act

and the way

everything functions

in the world

and then they can

reason

about those observations

and draw conclusions

about human nature

and about the right

and wrong actions

that are appropriate

to human nature.

The set of moral

conclusions resulting

from this type of study

is known as

natural law.

Things we see,

things we observe,

we can reason.

Now,

he's not saying

and certainly

the Bible doesn't talk

about our perceptions,

our reasonings

are infallible.

that sometimes

lead us to the wrong

conclusion.

But nonetheless,

there's some things

that we just observe,

we see how it works,

how it doesn't work,

we can figure things out.

That's a God-given ability.

Now,

what these scriptures

in Grudem describe

about natural law

and natural revelation

explain why

most unbelievers,

like the sailors

there in Jonah 1,

why most people

demonstrate

some kind of interest

in religion,

people are religious

and an ability

to act morally good

at times.

When unbelievers

act in such good ways,

we need to understand

and think about it

in a positive way,

they are following

their God-given

inclinations.

That's a God-given

gift to everyone,

including us.

What God has done

through natural law,

through our conscience,

through an awareness

of His presence

through nature,

that's what keeps people

from being any worse

than they are.

That gives order

to society.

Even in prisons.

People are not as bad

as they could possibly be.

You know,

what was it,

last year,

year before last,

the riots

at Bishopville

when about nine

or eleven men

were killed,

they just went wild.

Why doesn't that

happen every day?

God has put

restraints

within

most people,

even in the worst

environments.

that is God's

working,

that is God's

grace.

And we need

to be thankful

to God

and we need

to be thankful

for unbelievers

who treat us

like these sailors

treated Jonah.

They're blessings

to everyone.

But natural law

and natural revelation

are not sufficient

to save anyone.

It's as good

what God has done

in this world,

this general revelation.

this doing something

within people,

putting it on your heart,

putting it on your conscience

about right and wrong.

But it's not

what leads people

to salvation.

God's general

revelation of Himself

in nature

makes people aware

that He's real,

that He's there,

but people don't

naturally submit

to and worship

Him as their creator.

Look at Romans 1,

the next verse,

21 through 23.

Fallen sinful people

naturally choose

to worship

some aspect

of creation

rather than

the creator.

He says,

For although they knew God,

they did not honor Him

as God

or give thanks to Him,

but became futile

in their thinking

and their foolish hearts

were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools

and exchanged

the glory

of the immortal God

for images

resembling mortal man

and birds

and animals

and creeping things.

And He's just,

that's just a representative list.

He could talk about

and exchange

the glory

of the immortal God

for images

resembling

technology

or whatever else

you want to

put in there

for today.

Paul's point

in Romans 1

is to show

that all people

reject the true God.

All people

live for themselves

and all people

deserve the harmful

effects of sin

that result

and Paul

talks about

a lot of that

if you read

the rest of

Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

The sailors

on Jonah's ship

have many

positive qualities,

but they're still

sinners in need

of a Savior.

They have rejected

the true revelation

of God

that He gave

in nature.

And they're not

worshiping the Creator.

They're calling

on their false gods,

the many,

everything they've

heard of probably.

No doubt

in that storm

they were calling

on gods

of wind

and water

and all this

kind of stuff.

They,

they act,

give them their due,

they act better

than God's man

Jonah

in chapter 1.

But in spite

of all these

good things

I've said,

they are still

in need

of God's salvation

because they are

spiritually dead

in their spiritual,

in their sinful condition.

Now here's where

I want us to get

more personal.

That applies

to our morally

good family members

and friends

who do not have

a relationship

with Christ.

You may know

in your family,

in your immediate

family,

you may have

some good friends

that are not

Christians,

but they are

good moral people

in a general way.

Maybe better

than you.

I mean,

you're honest.

They're just

better than you.

And you think,

aren't they good

enough?

And the Bible

is real clear.

No,

they're not.

We're all

sinners by nature

and by choice.

Even the best

of people.

We all

come into this

world.

We don't,

nothing happens.

We come into this

world spiritually

dead and separated

from God.

Paul explains

the reality

of every person

born into this

world from Romans

1, 18 through

chapter 3,

verse 20.

I want you to

look at the

beginning part of

Romans 3,

Romans 3:9

verse 9.

He says,

For we have

already charged

that all,

both Jews and

Greeks,

are under sin.

That's what he's

been talking about

from 1, 18 to

that point.

As it is written,

none is righteous,

no, not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks for

God.

All have turned

aside.

Together they have

become worthless.

No one does good,

not even one.

Not your good

friend.

Not your family

member.

Not you.

Not me.

In and of

ourselves.

In terms of

fulfilling God's

commandments.

Then in verse 20,

For by works of the

law, no human being

will be justified in

his sight, since

through the law

comes knowledge of

sin.

There are many

benefits of natural

law, of what God

has done that we've

been looking at.

But it's not

sufficient to save

or control human

behavior.

Let's look now at

this idea of common

grace.

We can describe the

virtue of the sailors

on the ship with

Jonah as an example

of God's common

grace.

Look, here's two

definitions from

Wayne Grudem and

Timothy Keller.

Common grace is the

grace of God by which

he gives people

innumerable blessings

that are not a part

of salvation.

Keller says the

doctrine of common

grace is the

teaching that God

bestows gifts of

wisdom, moral

insight, goodness,

and beauty across

humanity regardless of

race or religious

belief.

And this is what,

this is found in

scripture in just

simple ways.

Look at what Jesus

said in the Sermon on

the Mount.

He said, but I say to

you, love your enemies

and pray for those who

persecute you so that

you may be sons of

your Father who is in

heaven for he makes

his son rise on the

evil and on the good

and sends rain on the

just and on the

unjust.

God shows his common

grace to all people,

the good and the bad

and those in between.

Paul said something

similar in a sermon to

Gentiles in Acts 14.

He said, in past

generations he allowed

all nations to walk in

their own ways.

Talking about God.

Yet he did not leave

himself without witness

for he did good by

giving you rains from

heaven and fruitful

seasons, satisfying your

hearts with food and

gladness.

God's common grace.

It's everywhere.

Tim Keller uses James

117 to elaborate on

this idea.

I think he does a

great job.

James 117 says, for

every good and perfect

gift is from above,

coming down from the

Father of the heavenly

lights.

He goes on to say,

that is, God is

ultimately enabling

every act, listen to

this, every act of

goodness, wisdom,

justice, and beauty,

no matter who does it.

Isaiah 45.1 speaks of

Cyrus, a pagan king

whom God anoints and

uses for world

leadership.

Isaiah 28.23-29 tells

us that when a farmer

is fruitful, it is God

who has been teaching

him to do so.

That means that all

good and great artistic

expressions, skillful

farming, effective

governments, and scientific

advances are God's

gifts to the human

race.

They are undeserved,

gifts of God's mercy

and grace that are also

common.

That is, they are

distributed to any and

all.

There is no indication

that the monarch or the

farmer mentioned in

Isaiah embraced God by

faith.

Now, I want to emphasize

this next sentence.

Common grace does not

regenerate the heart,

save the soul, or create a

personal covenant

relationship with God.

Understand.

Yet, without it, the

world would be an

intolerable place to

live.

It is wonderful

expression of God's love

to all people.

The eyes of all look to

you, this is Psalm 145,

and you give them their

food in due season.

You open your hand, you

satisfy the desire of

every living thing.

All of our lives, we have

seen evidence of God's

common grace in big ways,

well-known ways, and in

more personal ways.

The New York City

firefighters and

policemen who raced up the

stairway of the Twin Towers

on September the 11th, 2001,

they raced up those stairways

to save countless lives,

knowing that in all

likelihood they would lose

their own in the process.

The dedicated men and women

in the emergency room,

at Cannon, Easley, St. Francis,

General, Greenville Memorial,

these people in the ER,

when we or our family

members are rushed there

with serious, life-threatening

emergencies, that's God's

grace, God's common grace

in action.

All the people in all these

emergency rooms are not

Christians.

All the people who went up

those steps at the World

Trade Center were not

Christians.

Maybe most of them were not,

but they did, and they do

today, much good that we

profit from.

We all have unbelieving

people in our lives that

we're thankful for.

We all have had unbelieving

doctors, teachers, coaches,

neighbors, maybe even parents

or grandparents, that God

used to bless us in countless

ways.

That was God's common grace.

Whenever we benefit from such

virtue, nobility, and

unbelievers, we need to thank God

because it's coming from Him.

It's a part of His common

grace.

And we also need to thank those

people.

We can make it even more

personal right now if we think

about it.

In this room, there's a lot of

people on medication,

keeping your blood pressure in

check, keeping your arteries

flowing.

We've got people on medication for

all kinds of things.

I'm talking about good things

right now.

Most likely, most of the people

involved in the research of

those drugs, the development of

those drugs, the distribution of

those drugs, were not Christians.

But you're reaping the benefits of

that stuff right now that flows

through your body.

That's God's common grace.

It's everywhere.

And we need to acknowledge it.

And we need to be thankful.

And we as Christians, we need to be

challenged to respond to what we

have received, God's special saving

grace in our own lives.

When we see this in everybody else,

we need to look at it as, well, I've

received God's special saving grace.

So I, of all people, need to be more

thankful and cooperate with God as

He works in our lives to enable us to

be more godly, more Christ-like, more

loving, need, meeting of other people.

What do you think?

Any thoughts on this stuff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's, I mean, it's just amazed me.

I've read Jonah.

I've heard the story all my life when I

was a kid like you did.

I've read it a bunch of times.

I preached through it one time a long

time ago.

But I've just read through Jonah 1 and

just thought about that.

The good guys in Jonah 1 are the

sailors, the pagans.

Everything about them shines brighter,

than anything about Jonah in chapter 1.

And all you can rack that up to, all you

can do is ask God's example of God's

natural law at work in them.

God's common grace.

God's common grace.

But then when you start thinking about it, we

benefit from God's common grace every day of our lives.

And I think that's just another thing to thank Him for.

And I think it can help us be more appreciative of

unbelievers and the things they do for us.

I'll be real honest with you.

If I start having chest pains tonight and I go to the

emergency room, I'm not going to ask and I'm not going to

care if they're Christians.

I don't care if they're atheists or Muslims or Hindus or what

not, if they can do something to prevent me from having a

heart attack, I'm going to thank God and I'm going to thank

them.

Aren't you?

Everything.

Everything.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We don't, we're going to have to have crooked sticks that we

hope draw some straight lines, aren't we?

And that's what common grace is.

In fact, I read something somebody said about some of the

things in Jonah.

That's just a good example of God using crooked sticks to draw

straight lines.

And we see it everywhere.

And we need to be thankful and we don't need to sit on the

sidelines like that.

I lost some respect for some Christian leaders who sat on the

sideline and said, well, we just weren't going to vote this

last time because they didn't like Trump or Hillary.

I didn't like either one of them, but I voted for the, what I

thought was the lesser of two evils because one of them is

going to be president.

So I think we just can't stick your head in the sand.

You got to recognize God's in control of it all.

And God works through awful people.

Always has, always will.

And just be thankful for what he does and look to him and pray

that he'll change people.

Pray that he'll work good from bad.

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