Sunday Morning Series - Under the Surface - How Should I Respond?

Text:  Romans 2:1-16 & Various

There are people in our lives that are difficult. How do we deal with them? There are three groups of difficult people:

1.  Selfish believers (also known as carnal believers)
2.  Selfish heathen.
3.  Vessels of Wrath

Jesus' encounters with the second group were few or just not recorded. However, He did have many with the first and third groups. The response to each group will be different.

Vessels of Wrath

There are numerous examples in scripture.

1.  I Kings 22:1-28 - Ahab was a vessel of wrath, repented, and then didn't end well.

2.  Solomon - I Kings 11:1-25 - With all his God-given wisdom, he married and kept concubines from cultures that served other gods. When he was old, he bowed to their pressure and constructed heathen temples and introduced false worship into the nation. He finally came to his senses and returned to the Lord.

Vessels of wrath face God's judgment. We should not get in the way when this happens except to intercede in prayer.

Selfish Believers

It is against their newborn nature to act this way. They act on their own self interest exclusively or primarily. The examples in the  Word show us we are not to allow that to go on unaddressed.

Examples of believers who were selfish:

1.  David - the prophet confronted him about his sin,and he repented.
2.  Peter - Jesus rebuked him and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan..."

Selfish Heathen

It is their nature to act this way (Romans 1:18-19, 7:14, and 8:7). You cannot deal with the symptoms (the actions). You must deal with the root.

Their nature must be changed. Response: I should direct them in the way of a changed inner nature and quite trying to get them to stop sinning.

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If you're visiting in the area or looking for a Bible-believing church, we invite you to our Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 AM. Zoe Christian  Fellowship is located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Route 611), in Warrington, PA. We look forward to  meeting you!