Declaring Doctrine (Part 2) | The Doctrine of Revelation
Alright well we’re there in Psalm 19. And of course last week we started a new series on Sunday nights called “Declaring Doctrine”. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to spend many weeks on Sunday nights doing a systematic study of the major doctrines of the Word of God. And honestly, this is the type of thing that people go to Bible College for. They take Bible doctrines classes in Bible College and things like that. It’s going to be very much learning. And we want you to be grounded in the truth, grounded in what the Bible teaches. And I want to encourage all of you to be taking notes. And if you remember last week, we began with an introductory sermon on just the importance of doctrine and why we would want to even learn about doctrine. Tonight we’re going to jump in to the first major doctrine. I’m preaching on the subject of the doctrine of Revelation. Now when we talk about the Doctrine of Revelation, we’re not talking about the book of Revelation. We’re not talking about prophecy or end times. That’s actually a doctrine as well and we’ll cover that in this series of the doctrine of end times. But when we’re talking about the doctrine of revelation, what we’re talking about is how God reveals himself to mankind.
When we talk about the doctrine of revelation, I want you to understand that there are two major parts to this idea. There’s what’s known as general revelation and then there’s what’s known as specific revelation. Tonight we’re going to focus on general revelation. Then next week we’ll talk about specific revelation. And I’ll tell you right now that the specific revelation of course is referring to the Word of God. And Psalm 19 is interesting because when you look at the first six verses, and we’re going to go walk through them here in a minute, you’ll notice that the emphasis is on general revelation; how God generally reveals himself to mankind. And then starting in verse seven, he shifts the focus to specific revelation. Psalm 19:7 “7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”. And of course this is all referring to the Word of God. “10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”.
So, tonight we’re going to learn and we’re going to study this idea of general revelation and what that means. How is it that God in general or generally reveals himself to mankind. So, I’ve got two major points and we’ve got some sub points. Point number one is this, God reveals himself through creation, that God in general reveals himself to mankind through creation. Now he specifically reveals himself through the Word of God and we’ll talk about that next week. But in general, without taking into account the Bible and the Word of God, God reveals himself through creation and God reveals himself specifically through the creation of the universe. Creation declares a creator. Creation itself declares the fact that there is a creator there. Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament” The word firmament is a reference or a synonym for the word heaven or sky. The firmament is where the birds fly, where the clouds are. He says “the firmament sheweth his handywork.”. Notice verse 2 “2 Day unto day uttereth speech,”. He says look, every day, day after day, week after week, month after month, the heavens and the firmament declare the glory and the handiwork of God. It’s like they’re preaching a sermon to us. It’s like they’re communicating something to us about God. He says day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Notice what he says. “3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”. Where whose voice is not heard? The voice of creation. He says there is not one place on this earth. Eventually in this series we’ll talk about the doctrine of evangelism and the work that God has given us, the ministry of reconciliation. And our goal is to go unto the uttermost parts of the earth and to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But you know, the message of creation, there’s not one place on this earth, there’s not any language, there’s no speech, there’s no group of people that have not heard the message from creation. We all see that the glory of God is declared through the creation of the universe. He says “3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line is gone out” Notice “through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,”. And he’s saying throughout all the earth and throughout all of time, creation has been a witness and has preached a sermon. It has uttered speech to every man, every language, every tribe, every society on earth. The universe preaches a sermon to all mankind. And no one is left out.
So, when we are learning about this doctrine of revelation, how God reveals himself to mankind, we start of course with this idea that God reveals himself through creation and creation declares a creator. He reveals himself through the creation of the universe and the creation declares a creator. You’ll find that this is a consistent thought throughout the Bible. And I would say that this is the reason that every society, every group of people, tribes, villages throughout history, since the creation of mankind, every people group, no matter how remote, no matter how far, no matter how isolated, everyone has always believed that there is a God. Now, they don’t necessarily believe in the Jehovah God or understand Jehovah, understand the Lord, understand the Lord Jesus Christ. Understanding that comes through specific revelation of the Word of God. But in general, the existence of God has been revealed through the creation of the universe and everyone is born and is able to look up and that’s why throughout all history, men and women have always believed that there is a God, that there is a higher being, that there is someone that created them. And in fact, the only people who believe that there is no God had to go to an institution to be taught that. They had to be brainwashed and they had to have that belief dismantled from them. Because just naturally speaking, as humans are born and grow up and look up at the sky and look at the sunset and look at the stars and look at nature, nature declares the glory in the handiwork of God.
Psalm 50:6 “6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.”. Psalm 97:6, the Bible says “6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.”. So, throughout the Bible, the Bible teaches this idea that the heavens declare the righteousness of God, that the heavens declare the existence of God, that the firmament showeth his handiwork. And here’s what you need to understand, when we’re talking about the doctrine of revelation, how God reveals himself to mankind, generally speaking we must understand that God does it through creation and he does it through the creation of the universe. We just saw several verses in Psalms that creation declares a creator. But there’s more than that. Not only does creation declare a creator but creation reveals judgment. Romans 1:18 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed” Notice that word “revealed”. What does that mean? It means it’s made known, it’s disclosed, it’s made to be able to see. “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” So, revealed from heaven by nature to earth. “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”.
Verse 20 “20 For the invisible things of him” The invisible things of who? The invisible things of God. “from the creation of the world are clearly seen,”. The Bible teaches that God, though God is invisible, his existence is clearly seen. “being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”. Notice, that the Bible says the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. And the Bible teaches this concept, that God reveals himself in nature, in creation. God reveals himself to mankind. But I want you to understand something. There is no good news in that message. That message goes to the ends of the world. That message is translated into every language, into every speech, into every village, into every tribe, into every society. All mankind can look at creation and understand that there is a creator. But the message of creation only reveals the wrath of God. Do you understand that?
Notice verse 18 “18 For the wrath of God is revealed” I mean have you ever wondered why mankind without the Bible basically believes the same thing? Heathen pagans through history for thousands of years, whether they were Greek, whether they were Romans, whether they were Aztecs in South America, all throughout the universe, you have mankind without the Word of God but they believe in a God who’s wrathful and angry. That’s why they sacrifice, right? That’s why every religion has human sacrifices and animal sacrifices and this sacrifice and that sacrifice. Why? Where did they come to that? Well, they came to that because you can look at heaven and realize that we didn’t put ourselves here. Someone put us here. Someone created us. Someone with intellect and intelligence, with wisdom and knowledge put us here. And if we were put here by someone then we are accountable to someone. The doctrine of general revelation teaches that God reveals himself through creation. And creation not only declares a creator but it reveals judgment. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Now the message that comes from creation is not enough to get anybody saved. No one’s going to look up to the Sun, look up to the moon, look up to the Stars and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That will require specific revelation from the Word of God and someone with the Holy Spirit communicating that. But creation is enough to put in the heart of man that we are accountable to someone and that there is a God whose wrath is revealed from heaven. The reason that an unregenerate man can look up to heaven with understanding of a creator whom they are accountable to is because of the complexity of the universe. The Bible says that God created the world in wisdom and in knowledge. Look, the only way you could look at creation and think that it just came about, that nothing created everything, that perfect order came from chaos, the only way that someone would think that is if they spent 4 years in an institution where they’re being brainwashed. Because no one would look at our stars and the moon, no one would look at that, no one would look at the animals and how they interact, nobody would look at the way that our world is developed and the seasons, nobody would look at that and say oh this was a mistake. Anyone would look at that and realize that someone designed this, someone created this, somebody planned this out.
Psalm 136:5 “5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.”. The Bible says this “to him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth forever.”. Psalm 104:24 “24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.”. Job 37:14 “14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. 15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine? 16 Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?”. The Bible is clear that the earth was created by a God who was full of knowledge, who was full of wisdom, who was full of power.
Jeremiah 10:12 “12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.”. And again, nobody could look at nature and say this perfect balance came from chaos or this perfect design came from nowhere. The Bible is clear that God generally speaking and in general reveals himself to mankind through creation. And he does it first of all through the creation of the universe. And the creation of the universe, what does that do? It declares a creator and it reveals judgment. It reveals the wrath of God. It won’t get anybody saved but it’ll get them condemned. It’ll get them fearful enough and scared enough to try to search out some God and maybe make some sort of sacrifice or appeasement of that God. And it basically just sets them up for a missionary to be able to come and preach to them the revealed gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want you to notice that not only does God reveal himself through the creation of the universe but there’s another way that God reveals himself to creation. He does it through the creation of the universe and then he also does it through the creation of life. See, God is the source of life and God reveals himself physically through you, the universe, the Stars, the heavens, the moon, the sky, but he also reveals himself through the creation of life. Job 12:7 “7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:”. They said just look at the animals, just look at the amazing wildlife that is on this earth. He said, and if you pay attention, they will teach thee. And if you listen, they will tell thee. Verse 8 “8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 9 Who knoweth not in all these”. Job would say, who can look at the fish and at the fowls and at the beasts and at the earth. He says then “9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?”. He says you can’t honestly look at life without realizing that the Lord made this.
Psalm 104:24, notice what the Bible says. Psalm 104:24 “24 O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” Look at verse 25. “25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.” Notice, the Bible says hey, do you want to know God, do you want to see God revealed, do you want God to reveal himself? He says just look at the sky, look at the earth, look at creation. It declares the heavens, the firmament, the glory and the handiwork of God. And then the Bible would say you still want to see God? Just look at life. He said look at “great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.” Look at the animals. They’ll tell you there’s a God, that God reveals himself through the creation of the universe. The creation declares a creator and the decree in the creation declares judgment. God reveals himself through the creation of life. He declares himself through animal life. But he also declares himself through human life.
Notice Psalm 139. And it’s important that we make that distinction because human life and animal life are not the same. I know we live in a society today that has rejected God and that wants to tell us that we came from animals and that we’re equal to animals. But the bible does not teach that. The Bible says that you and I were created in the image of God. The Bible says that we were created different and greater and better than the animals. Now God says you can look at the animals and realize that this was not a mistake, this was not some sort of a weird accident, this was not a process of evolution. He says look, if you just look at the animals and look at how they’re built and how they perform, it’s obvious that there’s a creator behind it. But then God says this, you can look at yourself, you can look at human life.
Psalm 139:13 “13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”. By the way, he’s talking about a human in the womb. You know this already but there is value in the life of a human. Those babies that are being aborted today by the tune of 3,000 a day, God would say of those children that they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Notice verse 15. He says “15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. He says “17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”. He says when I was in the womb, before that I even had members, before I even had the body parts, I was already precious in God’s sight and he had thoughts about me.
He said “17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”. You say well how does God reveal himself? Well look, you should be able to look at your own body and realize you were fearfully and wonderfully made. You were created by a creator. And if you were created by a creator, that means that that creator has a purpose and that means that that creator has a plan and that means that that creator will hold you accountable. So, we begin this series of lessons on the doctrine and we kind of have to start where all mankind starts. And it’s with this, the doctrine of revelation. How God generally reveals himself to mankind. And God does it through creation. He reveals himself through the creation of the universe. See, the moon, the stars, the planets, they declare a creator and they reveal judgment. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven. And not only does creation reveal God through the creation of the universe but creation reveals God through the creation of life, both animal and human life.
Here’s point number 2, when we’re talking about general revelation, how God reveals himself to mankind in general, I want you to notice first of all that God does it through creation. But there’s a second way God does it. It’s a two-pronged approach. One is that God does it outside of us through creation. But he also does it inside of us through conscience. God reveals himself outwardly through creation and God reveals himself inwardly through conscience. Are you there in Romans 1? Look at verse 19. Notice what the Bible says. “19 Because that” Notice this can be known “Because that which may be known of God is manifest” Is readily perceived, is evident, is apparent. That’s what that means. He says “19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;”. He says God reveals himself outside of them through creation but then God also reveals himself inside of them. You say how? Through conscience. “for God hath shewed it unto them.”. The word “shewed” means to make visible. You say well how does God do that?
Well notice what Paul says in Romans 2:14 “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,” They don’t have the specific revelation of God. They don’t have the oracles of God. They don’t have the Word of God. This is Paul speaking to the Romans 2,000 years ago. The Gentiles is a reference to the heathen, the pagans. He says look, “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,” They didn’t have the law of Moses. They didn’t have the Book of Moses. They didn’t have the commandments of Moses. He says “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,”. Have you ever thought about the heathen who do not have God by nature just kind of do the things that are contained in the law? He says “14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:”.
And here’s the truth, throughout history, throughout time, throughout this world, in every village, people have agreed that there is a God and that the wrath of God is revealed and we must appease that God. But you know that generally speaking most people have just agreed with certain basic truths like murder is wrong, stealing is wrong, adultery is wrong. Now we understand that there are some reprobate cultures out there that are gonna be eating people and cannibals and all that stuff. We understand that there are those. But in general, throughout human history, no matter what society, whether it’s the Far East, whether it’s the West, throughout human history men in general people have all kind of agreed that murder is wrong. They’ve all agreed that it is a bad thing. They’ve agreed that stealing is not a good thing, that lying is a bad thing. What does that come from? Where does that come from? Because here’s the truth, if there is no God and evolution is true then there’s nothing wrong with murder. I mean you’re just a mistake, you’re just a body. Because if there is no God and evolution is true, you have no soul. You aren’t anything. You don’t actually love. You’ve just got these cells and these wires and these hormones inside of you that make you think you love your wife, your husband, your children. But it’s really just survival of the fittest and something that they’ve evolved so we can group together and protect each other and keep the species alive. It’s a really weird way of looking at life.
If evolution is true then there’s nothing wrong with killing. That’s why these kids that walk into these schools and shoot up all their friends, a lot of them are evolutionists and Nazis and all these things. Why? Because that’s where that thinking leads. But see, most people by nature, most people whether they’re Christian or non-Christian, whether they’ve ever heard thou shalt not kill, whether they’ve ever heard the message of the Bible, most people by nature are a law unto themselves. Notice verse 15 “15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”. Have you ever had this internal dialogue of should I do it or not? Where does that come from? I’ll tell you where it comes from, from God. God put something inside of every human being and it’s called a conscience. Everyone is born with a conscience. You say well why did God do that? Here’s why. God did that because God reveals himself outwardly through creation and God reveals himself inwardly through our conscience. And there’s this two prong approach that when a Holy Spirit filled witness of the Lord Jesus Christ shows up on a shore in Africa or in the Philippines or in a real heathen place like California, they can go to unbelievers and say you’re accountable to a God, you’re accountable to the God of the Bible. And there is something inside of them that says “I know”. Because God generally reveals himself through creation and God generally reveals himself through conscience. Everyone is born with a conscience. Now your conscience can be seared. That’s a sermon for another day. That’s a different doctrine called the doctrine of being a reprobate. We’ll deal with that in this series. But your conscience can be seared. Your conscience can be hurt. Your conscience can be ignored. But you’re born with a conscience and even unsaved people have a conscience.
John 8:3 “3 And the scribes and Pharisees” These are religious people that are not saved. “And the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.”. I always think that’s interesting in the very act. It’s like okay. Well if it was in the very act, where’s the guy? Verse 5 “5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?”. I don’t want to go into great detail regarding this but I just want you to notice something in verse 6. “6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.”. And the idea is that there’s no right answer to this question. There’s no right answer no matter what Jesus says. If he says yeah, you’re right, the law of Moses says to stone her then they will say so stone her. If he says well the Roman law says don’t stone her so don’t stone her then they’ll go to all the people and say he’s telling us not to follow the law of Moses. So there’s really no right answer to this question. It’s just kind of a catch-22. And by the way, I’m not preaching on this but do you realize that you don’t have to answer every question? There are some questions you don’t need to answer. There are some details you don’t need to give.
And here Jesus is being tempted that they might have to accuse. “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.”. Now nobody knows what Jesus wrote. And we would like to argue and debate what he might have wrote but we don’t know what he was writing. He could’ve been writing his grocery list for all we know. I had to take a guess, and this was totally my opinion, I think he probably started writing their names with a list of specific sins of theirs. If I had to guess, that’s what I would say he was doing. Because notice what happens in verse seven. “7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”. And he said if there’s anybody here that’s without sin, cast the first stone. “8And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.”. “Jim you’re lying on your taxes or whatever”. Verse 9 “9 And they which heard it,” Notice, unsaved people with no Holy Spirit inside of them. “being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”. And of course he tells her to go and sin no more. And the idea is this, the idea is that God has revealed himself through creation outwardly and through conscience inwardly.
We’re doing a systematic study of doctrine and we’re starting where all mankind has to start and it’s through the doctrine of revelation. And specifically we’re talking about not specific revelation but general revelation. How does God generally reveal himself to mankind? And he does it through creation. He does it through conscience. And here’s the application, because I like to end every sermon with some sort of an application. And here we go in Romans 1:20. “20 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;” Notice “so that they are without excuse:”. You know that there’s no human being who will ever stand before God with a proper and true excuse, no one. And here’s what I believe and here’s what I think I honestly and this might sound odd. If you study Acts chapter 10, we read recently how Cornelius was an unsaved man in a different religion and he’s genuinely searching after God and God orchestrates this thing where Peter goes to preach the gospel to him. I believe if people are honestly searching for the truth that God will do his best to get us involved in the Ministry of reconciliation to find them. But whether you and I do what we’re supposed to do, and we’ll talk about that here in a minute, the point is this, that the doctrine of general revelation teaches that all mankind is without excuse whether they know the gospel or not. Because God reveals himself through creation and conscience and because God reveals himself through creation and conscience, everyone is without excuse.
I’m gonna give you one more verse and a quick story and we’ll be done. When you preach sermons like this, people will say “Well it’s not fair. You mean to tell me that creation is enough to condemn someone? Creation is enough to judge someone? Creation is enough to bring the wrath of God so that they will stand before God without an excuse?”. People always want to say “What about that guy in the Amazon jungle who never heard the gospel? What about that guy? God’s not fair. God’s not right.”. Well the answer to that question is in 1 Corinthians 3:5.
“5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos,”. He says let me tell you exactly who Paul and Apollos are. “5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, “. He said you know that Paul and Apollos are just ministers that brought you the gospel that you may believe. And then he says this and I want you to notice “even as the Lord gave to every man?”. The Bible teaches that God has orchestrated a plan so that every unbeliever has a believer assigned to them and it’s their job to get that person the gospel. And he says there’s nothing special about them. The Lord gave to every man a Paul. The Lord gave to every man an Apollos. The Lord gave to every man someone that’s supposed to bring the gospel to them.
And here’s what I think is funny. People will say “Well if someone doesn’t hear the gospel that means that God is not fair and God is not doing enough.”. You know who’s not fair are the believers out there who aren’t soul winning. They’re not fair. You say “God’s not doing enough.”. No, you’re not doing enough. Do you understand that God has given you a responsibility? There are certain people that you’re supposed to bring the gospel to and when you fail to do it, it’s not God’s fault. It’s your fault. It’s my fault. Because God gave a minister to every man. So, quit the gardening and show up for soul-winning. Quit the Little League and show up for soul-winning. Quit whatever distractions are distracting you and show up for soulwinning. Because there are people out there whose conscience is telling them there is a God and they need you to bring the gospel to them. Because on the day of judgment, they will be without excuse.
When I was a teenager, many of you know or most of you know I think that I was born in Venezuela. My family’s from Venezuela. We moved to the US when I was 4 years old. Yes, we are citizens. And when I was a teenager, we had our cousins visiting from Venezuela and they came and visited. I was like 15 years old or something and I had one of my older cousins who was maybe 17 years old. He came to visit and we went to our church where we had a teen soul-winning. We went out soul-winning and we were out knocking doors and inviting people to church and asking people about salvation. I remember we were trying to give the gospel to this one lady. And she listened and she wanted to hear it. But she said to me “I can’t believe that. I can’t believe that because that’s just not fair. That’s not right. That means that if somebody never got the message of salvation just through Jesus Christ then they would go to hell. I you can only come to father through Jesus then what about people in Venezuela who have never heard the gospel”. My cousin had just gotten to the US from Venezuela like the day before. I said “Well actually I was born in Venezuela. He just got here from Venezuela and we’re here trying to give you the gospel.”.
Because the message of salvation has truly gone through all the world and God has revealed himself to all mankind through creation and through conscience. But it is our job to take the specific revelation of God’s Word to the uttermost part of the earth. So you stay tuned as we learn about specific revelation next week. We talked about general revelation tonight, about how God reveals himself generally to mankind. Next week we’ll learn how God reveals himself specifically to mankind.
Let’s pray.