Please
turn to Romans 1.
We’re about to
read a section of Scripture which is so offensive, it’s hard to
know where to start. It describes the dilemma of mankind so offensively
that, there are people who would try to cause our church legal
trouble for hate-speech if they were seated here today. Yep, it’s
that bad. Paul’s words are stunningly contrary to how man assesses
things. Even people who consider themselves conservative morally
would recoil from putting the cards on the table the way Paul does
here. It’s the ultimate in politically incorrect speech. Even touchier
than that: it’s culturally incorrect speech. It doesn’t just offend
the politics; it offends the culture.
But that’s just
talking about one area of the offense. It’s just as offensive to
Christians.
Yes, Christians,
unwilling to accept how extensive the rights of God as Creator.
And how extensive His rights are as Judge of the Universe. I will
go out on a limb and say that most people in church in Tulsa, OK
today, would leave church and would walk out on worship, if they
learned that God claims for Himself the rights to do what Rom 1.
But if you are going to be a worshipper of God (and you just got
through singing to Him) you can’t do that! You can’t question God’s
rights. You submit: God has the rights He claims, and you understand
that your understanding is corrupt, so that you’re not a very good
judge of God.
We haven’t even
read it yet, and I’ve told that it offends the beliefs of a huge
number and variety of people in our culture to explain life in
the world the way Romans 1 does. So now I’ll read it. Just be sure
you listen carefully, to get the impact of what’s being said. (read
Rom 1:24-32).
It all raises
the question: what do you do when you find something massively
offensive? There are a couple of routes to go when that happens.
Normally, the hearer rejects it out of hand. Or, you can wonder
if the way you look at things has been all wrong. For sinners,
door # 2 is a good guess.
These are words
of astonishing cultural relevance for today; for Christians who
would witness to this world. You can’t have a bona fide Christian
witness if you won’t defy things the world holds dear. But as King
David said, even a youth may find that he’s wiser than the teachers
of the land, wiser than university professors and those who spend
a lifetime studying the habits of people, because you meditate
on God’s statutes, Ps 119:99. And one truth that even the children
of this church understand which scholars don’t is, that God’s wrath
on the world is reasonable. We’ve seen that the last 2 weeks.
And even if we
can persuade a man to accept, “Well, Ok, I can sort of see that
since man persists in breaking God’s laws, maybe it’s reasonable
that God has some anger. Maybe He has some justifiable reasons
for anger.” Men who buy that may not buy this. But receive it.
Because the outcome of justice is not your call. And this is about
the outcome of justice. And it’s so humbling, it shocks us. We’re
going to talk about:
3) The Reasonable
Results of God’s Wrath in the World – vv 24-32
I used to get personally wounded when I would hear someone say that
we emphasize God’s wrath too much. It made me very sad that they felt
that way about me, and closed the door to hearing God’s Word from me,
if I proclaimed the kind of stuff obvious in verses like these. But
now, when I hear that, I have different reactions: I’m sad that, when
people read the Bible, they are still in the dark. And I’m disappointed
in today’s pastors: because just reading your Bible at all, you have
to ask, how can any pastor neglect the theme of the wrath of God with
a clear conscience? When it’s so abundant in Scripture?
And how can he
live with himself, neglecting this theme, when the whole world
he sees around him lives under the heavy burden of the wrath of
God?? With the crushing weight of it so evident in all of life!
And as unloving
as it sounds for a preacher to talk about this, isn’t it obvious
that a preacher must love souls, to speak like this? Who would
take the risk of being misunderstood, for speaking so, except one
who didn’t care what people thought of him, and loved souls enough
to tell them what’s really going on in the world? Like what? Like
this:
That the God
who IS, abandons many a man to his own practices and wishes. What
we have here is the farthest possible idea from the belief that
God tries to save everyone. Instead, it describes the decision
of God to actively let some go into sin without interruption, without
rescue attempt, leaving them as they are. These verses describe
action on the part of God that many are convinced God would never
do. Many say that a good God would not do this: curse men by leaving
them in sin. But one cannot avoid it here.
People get angry
when Christians suggest that AIDS is the judgment of God. Don’t
back down: go farther. The homosexual deeds that caused AIDS are
the judgment of God. A person in that lifestyle is already judged
by God, whether he ever gets AIDS or not. Judgment does not just
come by striking the sinner; it comes by letting the sinner do
utterly crazy things. And what is crazier and more idolatrous than
enjoying, in that way, that which is just like you? (can you tell
that I’m speaking delicately? Since, parents, we have a full audience?
I promise you a whole sermon that is very delicate. I’m giving
you the tools to explain what you decide is appropriate to explain,
at the right time)
Paul knows that
what he’s going to declare about how God’s wrath works in the world
will be so shocking that, he repeats it 3x, with no apparent reason
that I can see except to make sure his point is explained so well
that it can’t be missed. 3x Paul covers the same ground in 5 verses.
It’s like a reconnaissance flight making 3 passes to view the damage
done by a storm. And it’s so horrific, you just keep flying over,
taking yet another pass to see the damage. Here are Paul’s 3 passes:
1st Pass: vv
24-25 – God gave them up to dishonoring impurity, because they
did not want to serve Him
2nd Pass: vv 26-27 – God gave them up to degradation and unnatural
impurity for the same reason
3rd Pass: vv 28ff – God gave them over to depravity of mind and outrageous
behavior, because they did
not desire Him in their knowledge
When you don’t
want God in your knowledge, you have no idea what fire you are
playing with. God deserves the service of all. And those who won’t
serve God, you’re resisting the Ruler of Creation. He will just
sell you into somebody else’s slavery. Often, you already chose
somebody else’s slavery. And He just lets you have the pains of
the master you chose. Or, He turns you over to a worse master than
what you would have chosen.
When people reject
what we know about God, the 1st step down is idol-worship. We serve
things other than God, and He lets us go to the point of the absurd
about it, worshipping first our own ideas, then things which are
even beneath us.
The 2nd step
of the decline is the perversions of the body described here. And
my terminology will talk just as straight as the Bible does, in
the language it uses, without crossing a line to be blunter than
the Bible, because that isn’t necessary for us to understand these
things. You’ll get the point. We know what we’re talking about,
and you can explain it your children in your timing when you choose
to. Just don’t wait too long. My advice: better earlier than later.
If later, someone else has already beaten you to it, and not someone
of your choosing or who will explain it to them as you would like
it explained.
Look at v 24:
God lets men’s hearts be affected
Look at v 26: God lets men’s passions get out of control
Look at v 28: God lets men lose control of their minds
The heart is
bound to impurity; the passions to degradation; the minds to depravity.
People who talk about men having a free will: what in the world
do they even mean? Free for what?
God’s wrath is
the perfect storm. And a storm leaves terrible results in its wake.
Romans 1 is about the results of the perfect storm of God’s wrath.
We’re going to view the results of the storm.
A) A First Pass
to View the Results of the Storm – vv 24-25
“Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,
that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged
the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather
than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Do not miss the
cause-and-effect relationship here: the cause: “they exchanged
the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
rather than the Creator.” The effect: “therefore God gave them
over in the lusts of their heart to impurity, that their bodies
might be dishonored among them.” This thought rushed to my mind
this morning: When creatures made in God’s image deny Who He is,
God has decided that He will not let them live up to what they
are, as His image. If you are ashamed of Him, He will make you
ashamed of yourself. If you corrupt the original (that’s Him) He
will corrupt the copy (that’s you).
The lesson is,
don’t exchange the truth! A Proverb says: “Buy truth, and do not
sell it!” Do not trade truth about God for anything. Here’s what
the whole verse says: Prov 23:23: “Buy truth, and do not sell it,
get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” And I love how Prov
4:5ff puts it:
Prov 4:5-9: “Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget,
nor turn away from the words
of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her,
and she will watch over you. The
beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring,
get understanding. Prize her,
and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She
will place on your head a garland of
grace; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
That’s a polar
opposite of what Rom 1 says: the way perverting truth about God
results in disgrace, cherishing truth you learn about God results
in beautifying a life. The tide gets flowing in the opposite direction!
That phrase,
“the beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom” – that is a Hebrew
way of saying, “The first thing to know about wisdom, the main
thing to know about wisdom, is: get yourself some! Get all of it
you can!”
But one common
result of laziness about learning the Word of God is, losing what
you know. If you are guilty of disregarding God in your knowledge,
He gives you over to your lusts: things you preferred to think
about rather than “theology”. Those who go that route are “given
over” to the lusts in their hearts. To the point of impurity. I
read someone who said, “God lets men go down as far as they desire.”
Romans 1 says more: God allows men to go there, and then further;
beyond what they desired. Past impurity, to personal dishonor.
Where they even sometimes disgust themselves. I can’t believe that
I would stoop that low. But there is:
B) A 2nd Pass
to View the Results of the Storm – vv 26-27
“For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their
women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and
in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the
woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing
indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of
their error.”
Because it is
so serious, and so severe, and so shocking that God would do this,
Paul says a 2nd time, in more detail, vv 25-27, what he said in
vv 23-24 – he puts it in fuller language.
In response to
the rejection of knowing God as their greatest gift, God wills
that they be incapable of enjoying His gifts as intended. He permits
their desires to be dissatisfied so that their lusts become twisted
tastes, which make them pursue dishonorable deeds. The perversions
on the rise in America are a judgment of God for our exchanging
Him for the creature. And even if it was proven that this was genetic,
do you know what that would prove? It would prove that God’s judgment
permeates to deeper levels than we even knew.
With a 2nd “God
gave them over” – and it’s enlightening to see where else those
words are used: Jn 19:16, one of many such places. Delivered up!
Turns you over to the power of. We don’t know how serious this
is.
Here, in the
2nd pass, it moves from dishonoring to degrading. Passions that
make you behave in ways that debase your humanity. For instance:
broadcasting one’s self as “gay”. Imagine feeling it important
that you be defined by your preference in that area? Holding that
up as the defining thing about you? It’s absurd. But it’s done
all the time now. People who could glory in their accomplishments,
instead glory in this preference. That is degrading.
There is nothing
wrong with you or I feeling revulsion or disgust at that lifestyle.
It is natural to feel that way. That is very different from sitting
in judgment of them, as though their choice of sins makes them
worse persons than you for your choice of sins. But we can say
that the sin they choose is a result of God allowing their will
– their chooser – to get out of control. It’s like Him allowing
an unnatural re-wiring of the brain. If you feel any of that attraction,
drawn to it, please seek help from godly people right away. For
God may be letting you go. You must hurry to be recovered before
it goes further.
In v 27, Paul
makes himself so clear, there can be no doubt what he means by
“natural” and “unnatural”, as he speaks of the natural function
of man with woman, and instead having desires for their own gender.
Paul brings this up because it was thought highly of in Greek culture.
When he closes v 27 with “receiving in their own persons the due
penalty of their error”, how His penalty “in their own persons”
is inflicted is not stated. It is not certain that he is talking
about STD’s, but he could be. It is possible that he is speaking
of the desires themselves, taking over their nature and driving
them to do things that they would otherwise have once found despicable,
so that it is as if their very bodies are penalized. It is possible
that he means what some call “sexual addiction.” Whatever it is,
God lays on the penalty.
V 26 gives the
reason! “For this reason” – And God’s wrath is not hasty. Romans
1 does not teach that God lays on the punishment as soon as these
deeds are committed. No, you have to give Him a lot of reason to
be severe. He only acts so after being provoked well beyond a reasonable
expectation of Him waiting any longer. And the reason is still
that men are not moved by what they know of Him, to serve Him.
They will not worship. They will not serve. They prefer to go for
a lie about God. They resist an ocean of knowledge about God.
Christians still
have to be warned against this tendency: “Little children, guard
yourselves from idols.” Any error about God tends towards a degree
of idolatry. We should love to learn of God! Loving to learn whatever
we can of His attributes, His nature, His being. Your only safeguard
against the attractive appeal of idols is, if the knowledge of
God is the ultimate pleasure to you! You can only battle the allure
of idolatry with the power of a superior affection for the true
God! That’s how to keep your heart! Keep it to Him.
C) A 3rd Pass
to View the Results of the Storm – v 28
“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God
gave them over to a
depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”
–- and then he runs off that list of “things which are not proper”,
v 29ff.
How can men even
talk about someone having a “free will” when in just 5 verses,
it says God delivers sinners into the power of their heart’s lusts,
degrading passions, and a depraved mind? So that we dishonor ourselves,
commit acts unnatural to normal taste, and do those things which
are not proper – notice the word “do” – what we DO is different,
because of what God did to us. That is definitely contrary to the
idea of freedom of choice. We’re subdued! We’re out of control
and under His control.
Again, Paul’s
point is so serious, he re-states it once more, in v 28 – but with
a difference this time. There is a marked difference in what he
emphasizes, that I will point out – but first note the cause and
effect again: it’s so similar to vv 24-25 (because v 25, therefore
v 24) – so in v 28: because “they did not see fit to acknowledge
God any longer”, as a response to that, “God gave them over to
a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper”. The
mind is gone. A person becomes so corrupted as to be an untrustworthy
guide when it comes to moral decisions.
“Not proper”
doesn’t sound too serious, but maybe a contemporary way to put
it would be “deeds that are way out of line!” Since men would not
elevate God to where He belonged in their affections, their praise,
their knowledge, their service – this is the great sin of humanity
– it’s not the sexual abnormalities that are the great sin! The
great sin is the neglect of the worship and honor of God! Those
others are the results of punishment, which He allows to follow.
He let their deeds get way out of line!
But I said there
was a difference between this and the previous statements. The
difference: Paul does not want us to make the mistake of thinking
that only that unnatural perversion he brought up is what happens
when God lets some sinners get out of control. He shows that other
types of sinners have no grounds to gloat if they can say that
“I’m not gay” – God gives men over to other sins, too: vv 29-32.
Here he names sins which every person is prone to. For every sin
is preferring something else to God. And being given over to any
sin is God’s hand letting up.
Don’t miss the
big problem. Your “lifestyle preference” is not the huge sin. That
is the punishment. Here is the huge sin:
Exchanging the
glory of God for images (verse 23)
Exchanging the truth of God for a lie (verse 25)
Rejecting the knowledge of God in our minds (verse 28)
Whatever sins
you have a taste for, the remedy is, put the glory of God back
at the center, and like the sun in the center of the solar system,
it holds all the planets of our passions in their proper place.
When you exchange the sun for a man-made satellite all the planets
leave their orbit and sail off into oblivion. But if you would
avoid sailing off like that, then this is the path to be sure you
are on:
- be given over
to thankfulness!
- be devoted to worship
- love learning of and knowing God!
In other words,
put the glory of God back at the center. That will mean things
like:
- Slow down
when Scripture comes up (like that spot in a book where they quote
it – don’t let your eye pass over it quick; slow down)
- In worship,
give it all your attention. Forget everything else. Hurl yourself
into it. (a first step in decline is deciding not to come to worship)
- Search out
any new thing that you learn about God, to the hilt. To the fullest
extent. In other words, whatever you learn about God, learn it
to the max.
- Praise God
for every good event. Assign God all glory for every grace you
get. As your head hits the pillow, don’t just be thinking about
what you have to face tomorrow. Praise God for how He got you through
today.
So: For your witness
Do you talk to men about the judgment of God? Don’t just tell them
that it’s coming. You need to tell them it has come, in the form of
their continuance in sin. Why can’t they stop? Because their bondage
to sin is His judgment. When they don’t know what else to do on a Friday
night, it’s His judgment. When they have little qualms now and then
about how, I really ought to spend my life doing something more worthwhile,
they can’t, and keep resorting back to the same sins – that’s His judgment.
When they make a vow to change their ways, and they make some righteous
aspirations: “I’ll start going to church, I’ll start reading the Bible”
– and they don’t keep up – they can’t keep up! It’s His judgment! Tell
them that.
Perhaps if you
make them aware of their sins, from this perspective, it will lead
to a healthy fear of God which will provoke faith and repentance.
And may the people who walk in great darkness, see great light.
And: For your
own soul
Failing to worship Who we ought and as we ought is the worst possible
offense. The other sins of the world are punishment for this. So, not
neglecting this is your main focus in life. Don’t just try to resist
the heinous sin Paul has talked about. Learn instead to make worshipping
God first!!
I said it was offensive, and I was right, wasn’t I? But do you know
what Paul’s goal here is? To evaporate any confidence in humanity.
Any belief in the natural virtue of people; any belief in the innate
innocence of people; any belief in the perfectibility of people.
That has to go. Or you can’t see what God has given you in Christ.
If Paul can bankrupt you, you just might finally seek Christ! –
which is what you so badly need to do!
And then to get you to love the true, invisible God! To get you to
love the truth of God! To get you to cherish the obtaining of the
knowledge of God!
And – for the
Worst Case Scenario
It doesn’t matter if you have done all the things on Paul’s list, and
including the perversion spoken of before, too. What you were doesn’t
matter! Whether the judgment of God has been upon your life may be
a history lesson, but you should turn it into a current events lesson.
What was does not have to be what is. That’s why Paul has another list
which many would read as worse than this one, in 1 Cor 6:9-11, talking
about “fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals,
thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, swindlers,” he says in 6:11,
“Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified,
but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in
the Spirit of our God.”
And that the
God Who “turns men over” to sin, also said this about other people:
Rom 6:17: “Thanks be to God that, though you were slaves of sin,
you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to
which you were handed over” – and it’s the exact same wording as
Rom 1:28, but it’s a reversal of the hand-over Rom 1:28 speaks
of. God did that to sinners and God does this for those who are
delivered. Each of these deliverances are of God. If you live in
sin, God delivered you there. If you walk in righteousness, God
delivered you to there.
If you would
not tempt God to give up on you, then pursue God in a way that
He simply can’t.
