Let's turn in God's Word in the Bible first to the book of Romans, chapter 1. We'll begin reading at verse 16. We'll read through verse 23 of Romans 1. Romans 1, beginning at verse 16. People of God, hear now the very words of God. 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 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 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 in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. and exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Let us also turn to Ephesians 3, beginning at verse 7. Ephesians 3, verses 7-13. Ephesians 3, verse 7 and following, of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of His power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that He is realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory. as far as the reading of God's Holy Word. Congregation, why are children sent to school? We started a new school year. Why are they sent to school? Perhaps a better question to ask would be, why should parents seek to educate their children? These are good questions to consider, once again. They're timely, too, for where we are at in studying the teachings of God's Word about the principal truths of the Christian faith. About knowledge. Knowledge about God. That's the most important knowledge there is. Now, children, maybe you really like math, maybe you really like literature or history or art or something, or maybe you don't. The most important, though, is knowledge about God. And part of that we gain from creation around us. And we are to hear what nature tells us about God. We are to hear what nature tells us about God. First, that there's a clear message. A clear message. Now when God changes a person's heart, regenerates it, makes them to be born again, there's a real change. And it shows up in different ways in our lives. We see the world differently. As children of God rather than enemies. Maybe you've dealt with someone in an argument, They see the same facts, but they have a different slant on it, don't they? Well, how much more then when God changes our hearts? We see the same stuff around, but we see it now as coming from the hand of our Father. Our motivations, our hopes, our outlook, they're all changed. There's a great change. Now that being said, just because someone is not a true Christian, is not born again, that doesn't mean they know nothing about God. They can know about God. They can know much about God. Because the God who changes the heart is the same God who made the heart. Created the heart. And He has left a testimony to Himself throughout the universe that He has created. We call that general revelation. Natural revelation. Please turn with me in the back. The Psalter Hymnal to page 70. Confession of Faith. The Belgic Confession. Article 2, page 70. By what means God is made known unto us? We know Him by two means. First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, which is before our eyes as a most elegant book. wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters, leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even as everlasting power and divinity, as the Apostle Paul says. all which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. Second, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to His glory and our salvation. We know God by the universe around us. And we see this, don't we? in other areas of experience. You can tell often who's playing the piano, who's playing the organ in worship just by their style of playing, even if you don't look and see who is playing. Or various painters, they have a way of painting that clues you in when you see their paintings. This is what they do, their brush strokes, their coloring, whatever. Parents, you often know when one of your children is coming, which one it is before you even see him or see her. You know, the way they walk, even their breathing, how they sound, maybe even smell. It's as though each one of us is a detective, piecing together clues. We don't even have to try to do it, it just happens. How much more so with the author of history, with the grand artist of the universe, the source of all creation, God. He has left unmistakable clues, pointers to Himself in all creation. We are to hear what nature tells us about God. It's a clear message. The Apostle Paul wrote of this even in our reading from Romans 1. He wrote in verse 19, what can be known about God is plain. It's plain to them. Because God has shown it to them. Verse 20, His invisible attributes have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. Everything that's been made is the handiwork of God. We think of Psalm 139 that speaks of God knitting us together in our mother's womb. A baby just born this past week in our congregation. One born just a little bit before that. Some are expecting even now. Think of what the Lord does there in the womb. Brought new life. Knitting together the bodies of these little ones, even now. Of course, the Lord uses things in creation, material processes. It's not a brand new creation like when He first created Adam and Eve, breathing into Adam, taking that rib from him and forming Eve. It's not a miracle in that sense, but it's extraordinary. Each person, handcrafted over about nine months. Each person, each baby, and then as we grow, testifying to God's handiwork. Billions of us. When the time of delivery of a baby comes, we trust, we pray for a safe delivery. And the baby emerges. Again, in God's kind providence, fully formed, alive, eagerly received in love. That's just one example. We can multiply them. Think of farming with planting, germinating, all the way to harvest. How the beans grow, the corn grows, the hay. Think of math, art, literature. human behavior, the flow of history. Clear messages. Now what's the content of that message? Well, many contents in one sense, but the overall content, the most important, is that there is a God. He exists, but also the character of that God. Again, as Paul wrote in verse 20 there, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. Verse 21, for although they knew God. It's clear there is a God. It's clear He is powerful enough to create, to sustain, to govern, control, continue. that He is separate from man. He is the standard, the judge of justice and right, truth, goodness, beauty. Now, we know man might not be able to reconcile various aspects of God's character, God's works. Think even to the book of Job. There was a believer. His three friends came. Children, you know the book of Job. God gave permission to Satan to bring much trial upon Job. Much suffering. And the three friends came and they thought they made sense of it, but God said, no, they were wrong. But even Job wasn't getting the full picture of it. In the small, the focused, minute parts, the big parts, the difficult parts of our life, man might not be able to piece everything together, but the big picture is clear. And the friends got that right, too. There's a God. The forest can be clearly seen, so to speak, even if we can't always make sense of the trees or the branches. And that's helpful to us, brothers and sisters, because we encounter unbelievers, don't we? They might not agree with what the Bible says, but we know, because God tells us, we know, they know there's a God, even if they don't admit it. They know His power. They know His divinity. That's what the Apostle told us here. And from that knowledge, we can seek to interact with them at one level. We hope to come to this later. But in one sense, there's a common ground we have with others, even with unbelievers. They know there's a God. They know about his power, his divine nature. And we can use that in our lives. If we talk with someone about abortion, why is it wrong? Well, one way of talking about that is that human life, what's human life? What is abortion? The taking of human life. Let's talk about this. You can use it to talk about homosexual relations, why they're wrong, that boys are boys and girls are girls, why that's the case. You can use it when talking about lying, stealing, adultery, murder, other things that are wrong. And you can talk about what's good and true and beautiful, about love, hope, and joy. We, as a Christian, we're at a wonderful advantage in discussing matters related to God and morality because God has told us, no matter what they say, everyone knows there's a God. Everyone knows these things. It's a clear message God has given about Himself. So we are to hear what nature tells us about God. It's clear message. Now that clear message, as the Apostle says, echoed by our confession of faith, it gives every human being something we move to in our second point, inexcusable knowledge. Inexcusable knowledge. Now we think about knowledge. Children, again, you're learning, hopefully, starting to learn again a lot in school. Some of that knowledge elsewhere isn't all that important, you know? That is, you know it and you simply know it. You might know a lot of facts and figures, historical, economic, leisure. You might be able to do well on game shows. But other types of knowledge, and children, this is a lot of the knowledge you're learning in school, let's be clear. It's knowledge of great importance. And some knowledge is of really great importance, and there's an obligation with it. For instance, if you knew someone had a severe food allergy, and you're serving them food, and you know they have this, and you do nothing, well, that's horrible. We recognize that, don't we? Or if you knew someone was planning, what do we just celebrate? Celebrate, remember. September 11th, didn't we? If you knew someone was planning a terrorist event, not just guess or imagine, but actually knew it, you have solid proof, you have knowledge, and you don't warn anyone, you would be sinning. Perhaps the civil government, when it prosecutes you, maybe, maybe not, but that would not remove your guilt before God. Or if you see a tornado coming toward your house, and the children are sleeping in bed, and you do nothing with that knowledge, that would be unthinkable. You see, there's an obligation. Sometimes this knowledge gives us a very great moral obligation to act in a certain way. The clearer, the more weighty, the more critical the knowledge is, the greater the moral obligation. And so now apply that to knowledge of God in creation. Now first, man's knowledge of God from created things is clear. Very clear. Crystal clear. We saw that from Romans 1. There isn't some other deity interfering or obscuring. Wherever mankind turns, there is proof, evidence, a clear message. There's that clear knowledge. The second, man's knowledge of God from created things, it concerns that which is most important of all. Knowing God. Again, children, knowing God. It's the greatest of knowledge. And we think about that. There is nothing greater than knowing who created us. Knowing who He is. Knowing our duty toward Him. And the Apostle brings that up too. In Romans 1 there, verse 21, For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. Then verse 23, They exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. With the message of creation, the knowledge of God that man has from creation, man is to honor God, to give thanks to God, to treasure the glory of that immortal God. That's important. Now we think of a severe food allergy, we think of tornadoes, we think of a terrorist event. Okay, we ought to use the knowledge of those rightly. Even more is the knowledge of God. It's that important. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1 verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against man because they do not use their knowledge of God rightly. That's how important God understands it. Maybe the world doesn't think of it that way, but that's how God places it in importance. Again, with school going on, children, young people, understand how important the knowledge of God is. It's good to know math, it's good to know spelling, literature, history, art, to know all those things, but it's especially important to know God. Think about something. Math is not obvious from nature. Some people say, yep, that's true. Math is not obvious from nature. But also spelling. Spelling is not obvious from nature. Literature is not obvious from nature. History isn't obvious from nature in one sense. Knowledge of God is, though. That's how important it is for man to know God. The sinful world spends so much time trying to teach those other things. And again, children, it's good to learn about math and spelling and literature and art. Sinful man spends so much time, somewhat, trying to teach those things, learn them, but rejects the greatest, the clearest knowledge of God. As we saw last time from Ephesians, we are in a spiritual war. That is evidence right there. The most important, clearest thing. Man suppresses, denies, ignores, refuses. And so the clarity of creation's message, of man's knowledge about God from creation, and the importance of that knowledge, there is a great obligation. And Paul brought it out. Honor God. Thank God. Treasure His glory. So when sinful man suppresses that truth, they are without excuse. Again, verse 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. That means they push it down, they cover it. Now in one sense, maybe you've noticed, maybe in your yard there are mole holes, right? Or vole holes, whatever. And it pops up where you go and you try to push it down, right? Because you don't like to see all these holes, this dirt there. You try to push it down, right? Well, that doesn't solve the problem, does it? You kind of push it down, hold it down. How much more with unbelievers? Without excuse. No human can claim they're ignorant of God. It's a clear message. And no human can claim, well, the knowledge of God, sure it's clear, but it's of little use, little importance. I shouldn't suffer God's wrath because of how I misuse it. That's not what God says. It's the most important knowledge of all. And they're without excuse. No human will appear before God's judgment throne and escape God's wrath with saying, well, it was unclear or it's not that important. They're without excuse. They didn't give God glory or thanks. Every human ought to glorify God, thank God, treasure His glory. And yet, not one does by nature. Now, some might say then, well, doesn't that show that it's not true? We say, no, what it shows His sin. How horrible sin is. The heathen make idol gods and false worship. The learned atheist in our society proudly declares, oh, there is no God. And he worships himself. He worships mankind. The Apostle wrote there in Romans 1, verses 21 and following is so true. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking. Worthless in their thinking. 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." We see that around us, don't we? So it's not just unbelievers that need to hear this. We need to hear this. Think of the knowledge we have of God. Let's bring that a little further. And even more of the knowledge of Jesus, His Son. That knowledge, a great responsibility comes with it. A responsibility to tell others the good news of Jesus. Maybe you've heard that analogy if you were walking by a house that was on fire. Ought you not to go up and tell those people? They're in danger. There's a fire. How much more so we who have this clear knowledge and admit it. There's eternal fire out there. Share it. Tell them the Gospel. That clear knowledge. Inexcusable. But also, even though there are those things, there's something else we're going to come to now in our third point. There's knowledge out there, but not power. Article 2 of the Confession of Faith brings out we know God by two means. First, by general, natural revelation. Second, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known by His holy and divine Word. So we've covered the general revelation, natural revelation. But then there's also special revelation. And Lord willing, we'll come to that more in the following weeks about Scripture. All the knowledge in creation, because of sin, won't do sinful man any good ultimately. Romans 1 says, it's very clear to man, it's very important, it's inexcusable, but he uses it wrongly. He suppresses it. What we need, what every human needs, is for God to powerfully work in our minds, yes, but in our hearts to use this knowledge rightly. Fallen man knows there is a God. knows somewhat what this God is like, His divine power, His eternal power, His divine nature. But He doesn't use that knowledge rightly. He suppresses it. And again, we see that. We could have read on in Romans 1. It's a frightful, timely description of our own society, isn't it? One in bondage to sin, suppressing the knowledge of God, rejecting God and God, handing Him over and going deeper and deeper and deeper. The solution is not for our country to have merely more education from the government. The solution for society's ills is not more or higher or deeper education. It's not more knowledge of nature even. The solution is a revival by God. We need God to change our hearts. We can't change our own. Parents, you can't change the heart of your son, your daughter. The elders can't change anyone's heart here. Only God can. And the means He uses to do that is by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus. That's what Paul brings out here. I am not ashamed of the Gospel. In it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. The righteous shall live by faith. He didn't write this about the knowledge of God in creation, but only the message of the Gospel. Here's power. In fact, he says, it is the power of God. Even what we read in Ephesians 3 there. The Apostle wrote of himself in Ephesians 3, verse 7, he was made a minister, a servant, according to the gift of God's grace, what? To preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Those aren't earthly riches, although Christ owns everything. But eternal riches, righteousness, eternal life. Here's something not found in creation. And that even Paul brings up was hidden, was a mystery, hidden for ages in God who created all things. Oh, the Gospel in general was revealed right from the get-go when Adam and Eve first sinned. But the specifics of it, the glory of it, that here is Jesus, the name of Him, it's certainly not found in creation. Even that was a mystery to the saints of old. But the Son of God has come into our world. He has taken upon Himself our human nature. And in that nature, He has fulfilled all righteousness, even to the point of suffering God's wrath against sin, man's sin, when he suffered and died on the cross. But on the third day, God raised him up from the dead. He brings eternal life. He brings righteousness to man. He ascended into heaven. He will come again. That's the Gospel message. a mystery in ages past, one that can't be known from nature at all, but that's clearly proclaimed week after week from faithful pulpits. The Gospel of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Trust Jesus and you are saved. It doesn't matter how much knowledge, how much you know. It doesn't matter your grade level, your grades, your advanced degrees or lack of. Believer, you're right with God. They're heir to everlasting life. You can see then why we have an obligation, a great obligation to tell others and to thank God, to treasure His glory. Coming to church is just one of those ways of thanking God, of treasuring that glory, of giving praise to Him, hearing what He has to say from His Word. We have the knowledge of God in creation. We have the knowledge of God as Redeemer, as Savior. God has changed your heart, believer. That's power. Some people say knowledge is power. And again, education is wonderful. Don't take anything from this saying, well, education is horrible, we don't need it. Don't take that at all. But there's a greater, a better, a more glorious, power over the guilt of sin, power over being enslaved to sin. Young people, young adults, any of us, you might find a particular sin very hard to fight against. It might be besetting you. You might try again and again and again to overcome it. Don't give up. But don't fight in your own power, in your own knowledge. Fight it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Christ has conquered sin. We have that knowledge. We have that reality. He has conquered Satan. He has brought righteousness by His death, His resurrection. He has brought the Kingdom of Heaven. You have died with Christ. You have been raised with Him. That's knowledge, yes, but even more reality. That the Spirit works in our life. And this morning, not only do we hear this message, but believers, you are invited to come to the table of the Lord. And here we are nourished. Here we are refreshed with Christ by the work of the Spirit. Nourished, refreshed, how? Why? To go forth and live for Him in His power. To take that knowledge, but even more, to be changed by Him. To receive from Jesus all you need. The sinful world lacks that knowledge, lacks that power. It's always mired in sin and rebellion. It knows enough in one sense, but it lacks power to use that knowledge rightly. It lacks spiritual power, which God gives through the Gospel. And each human is responsible, and yet, spiritually in themselves, unable to break free. But what a blessing for us. We have the Gospel. We have that power. He comes. He invites us to be nourished and refreshed, to go forth and live in it. Don't forget it. Don't neglect. Encourage one another, fathers, husbands in the home, husbands, wives, each other, teachers, principals in the school, staff. Encourage to remembering, believing, living in the power of the Gospel of Christ. The Kingdom of Heaven has come. Things are different. You are different. God receive all the praise. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, You have revealed so much about Yourself in the world around us. Thank You we can teach and learn. Give us hearts that want to learn more about You, to trace Your thoughts after You, to see Your ways as much as You reveal without trying to pry too deep. but to delight, to trace out the knowledge You have put there, Lord. But even more in Your Word. and knowledge of You. We pray, O Lord, bless those who are teaching and being taught that it would not just be facts and figures and how to get a better job, but to see Your hand, Your character, to give You thanks. And Lord, You've given us power in Christ and to take that knowledge and use it rightly. Fill us with Your Spirit to do that. We won't on our own, but in the power of Christ we can do all these things. And so bless us, we pray. May we hold fast to You in faith. We thank You. In Jesus' name, Amen.