Romans 1:18-32

***Note: Due to a technological error we are providing Pastor TJ’s manuscript in lieu of the sermon audio. Please understand that this document was not written to be posted, but presented in sermon form. The manuscript has not been edited for the web, so the style may seem unusual. —

The past few weeks have been both exciting and encouraging for us as a church as we’ve been studying the book of Romans during our Sunday morning services…and in our weekly connect group gatherings. I looked forward to this series for months — and so far it hasn’t disappointed. Many of us have already been profoundly impacted and shaped through this study of Romans. So, it is was great anticipation that we continue our study in the first chapter of this epistle this morning. If you haven’t been here for the early part of this series it will help you to know that the book of Romans is really a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church that was gathered in the city of Rome. Rome was like a New York City of its day… Not only did it boast a large population, but people from around the world went there for business and for culture — so the city had a global influence. That made Rome an obvious target in Paul’s mind for getting the Gospel out in a big way… Actually, the church in Rome was already having an impact… The Christians there were so faithful to the Word of God that people around the world were talking about how devoted the church in Rome was. What Paul really wanted to do was go to Rome. But it seemed like the harder he tried to get there the more stood in his way. So, instead Paul gave them the next best thing… a letter… and the purpose of the letter was to galvanize the Roman church in the hope of the Gospel. — You know, I’m actually glad Paul was prevented from going to Rome… because the letter he wrote has had such an impact that the church wouldn’t be what it is today without it… Just as the Roman church was encouraged… so have thousands of other churches since… and so are we here — at the church in Wellsboro — thousands of years later. — So, let’s now turn our attention to Romans 1. As you’re turning there I must confess that I felt some discomfort when I first sat down to study the passage I’m about to read. The society we live in a has zero tolerance policy for the type of language the Apostle Paul uses at the end or Romans 1… To say that what I’m about to read is controversial is an understatement. Yet, I cannot — and I do not shrink away from the word of God when it goes against the grain of culture. And so it with boldness and humility that I endeavor to lead us to the truth in the last part of Romans 1. Why don’t we pause to pray and ask that God would give us the wisdom and the grace necessary to understand and apply and live out this passage well… Romans 1:18-32 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. The Khalifa tower in Dubai is the most impressive building in the world. The most obvious and extraordinary feature of this structure is its massive height. Clocking in at over 2,700 feet, it is the tallest manmade structure ever built. If you were to visit today you would be impressed not only by the exterior of the building, but also by what’s on the inside. The first several floors host a large upscale hotel. Above that, there are over 900 private residential apartments, high end restaurants, night clubs, swimming pools, and many corporate offices. Incase your wondering how much effort it might take to get to the top of the building — you could take one of the 57 elevators, some of the fastest in the world — or you could just take the stairs….all 2,909 of them. I can’t imagine the planning it must have taken to get get all of the electric — and the plumbing — and the air conditioning — and everything else needed to make the building function in place… — It’s obvious that a building like this didn’t come together by accident. Nobody who visits the Khalifa tower stands at its base and assumes that it came together by random chance… This tower took years of careful planning and design. In order for something so impressive to be constructed, everything had to be in perfect order. — Just as we can look at the Khalifa Tower and conclude that there must be a designer — we can look at the universe and arrive at the same conclusion. And the universe is far more impressive than any manmade tower. There is so much order in creation that it could not possibly have come together by random chance. There must be a designer. We could take anything in creation — and find evidence of the kind of order that requires a designer… Consider the stars… when you look into the night sky you’ll find order there… At first glance they may seem like they are randomly scattered about the universe, but on closer inspection you’ll see that there is so much order in the heavens that we can use the position of stars for navigation. Or consider the oceans… vast bodies of water…whose boundaries are influenced by the gravitational pull of the moon — which orbits the earth in perfect time to maintain the constant ebb and flow of the tides. Or think of how the systems within the human body work together…how oxygen and water and nutrition influence things like the skeletal system, and the blood, and muscles, and the brain… The whole human body is a specimen of God’s created order…. Friends, we could spend the rest of the day considering the intricate order of creation — and only begin to scratch the surface! — When God created the earth he brought everything into order…. In Genesis 1, we find that the earth was formless and void… that’s another way of saying there was no ORDER… And God spoke into that disorder… and brought everything into order! — And that order is seen not only in God’s creative activities — but in the way he expects man to live. God did not just create man and leave him to figure life out on his own… or to live as he pleases… There is an order — or a set of governing rules — that God gave man to live by… It began in the Garden of Eden where man was given the job of caring for the land and the instruction not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… Later in history, God provided the law — showing His people exactly the order He wanted them to live by… — In Romans 2 we learn that God established order by writing his law upon the heart of man — so we know the difference between right and wrong. That’s why people who don’t know Christ often do the right thing. Every time someone who does not know Christ does what is right he proves that he understands at least some sense of the order by which he is supposed to live! — So why have I spent all of this time talking about order? Because the order established by God and revealed in Scripture matters — and there are people everyday who reject that order — and thereby reject God — and God does not take that lightly. And we have to have an answer to the question… what — if anything is God REALLY going to do to those who reject Him? And that leads to the statement that summarizes our text this morning: Statement: God rejects those who reject Him. Before you start thinking that a statement like that seems harsh and vindictive, let me show you the reason God rejects those who reject Him. The first point in this outline is really a question: I. Why does God reject people? (vv. 18-23) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Paul begins by reminding us that those who reject God’s order by living unrigthteous lives — will experience the wrath of God. Or another way of saying it is that — God will severely punish sin. — And what I want you to notice — and maybe even underline in your Bible — is that last phrase in verse 18… who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. — Sometimes we talk about God as if we think He likes to keep His will hidden from us… Like He’s playing some cosmic game of hide and seek… and maybe if I do just the right combination of religious good things, then God will show me His will…. But, God isn’t like that at all. God has not hidden himself — or his ways — from anyone. He has made himself known in such a way that it requires intentional effort to reject Him. So, get this point: every person who sins against God is making an active choice to suppress the truth. — But, you ask — how has he made himself known? Verse 19… 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 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. Friends, God has provided enough information about himself in nature to hold all men accountable to the truth. — And you’ve probably had a sense of this before. Earlier we talked about the order of God seen in the stars. I’ll bet you’ve had the experience of stepping outside on a really dark night and looked up into the stars and being amazed at how vast they are and how small you are… That moment wasn’t just a scientific experience, was it? When you look into a sky like that, you feel it in your soul. There’s actually something to that! God has revealed himself in the night sky — and in the rest of creation — so that when you sense glory in nature you are being pointed to the glory of God! — Experiences like that make an impression on you that go deeper than observation… They make you aware of the undeniable reality that there must be a Creator who made all of this. — But not everyone wants to recognize the existence of a creator… Because — if there is a creator — we are not free to do as we please… we’re accountable to the one who made us. And if the one who made us has established an order according to which His creatures must function — then there is a certain we we must live — and a certain way we can’t live. But, people don’t like to hear that. So they suppress the truth… — That idea continues in verse 21 and following: 21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. When you are made aware of the reality of God, you have two choices… You can agree that He exists — and that He has authority over you — and you can submit to that authority… Or you can deny Him. You can reason that we can’t really know if there’s a god… or if there is…which one is the true one… You can reason that all god cares about is that you are a good person so as long as you’re trying he’ll probably be kind to you… People come up with all kinds of reasons to avoid being accountable to God… but in the end… all they are really doing is rejecting Him. — Some of the smartest minds sit on the shoulders of atheists. A good atheist could make any of us feel foolish in about 2 seconds by challenging what we believe to be true about God. Yet, those who claim to be wise — and consider Christianity to be a myth — are actually the most foolish people alive. Because they have made an exchange that will cost them their souls… They’ve exchanged the truth of God for a lie… And they’ve so foolishly elected to worship the creation rather than the creator. They will live for the temporary pleasures of this life, only to find out upon their death that they will spend their eternity in unending torment. But, it’s not just the atheists… It’s people who follow any form of religion that differs from the Biblical Gospel. There are even people in solid Bible teaching churches who aren’t there for the right reasons… They may come because it’s tradition… Or because they don’t want to disappoint some else… Or because they think it’s good for the kids… Or because they feel guilty if they don’t… Or because they’re convinced they’re really righteous and a really righteous person goes to church… Or they figure going to church gives them a better chance of not going to hell… — But, those are not good reasons… It’s not about your devotion to the church that matters first… It’s your devotion to Christ! Any lifestyle that does not include a sold out devotion to Christ is a foolish lifestyle that suppresses the truth and rejects the order God established. — So to be very clear — the reason God will reject some people is not that He just didn’t like them… or that they were less desirable… or that they didn’t pray the right prayer… The reason God rejects some people is that those people have already chosen to reject God. They have rejected Him, so He gives them what they wanted in the first place… He rejects them. And what does this rejection look like? We’ll consider that as our next point… II. How does God reject people? (vv. 24-32) 24 Therefore (because they have already rejected God)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. There is a direct connection that Paul points out here between the rejection of God and the engagement in sexual sin. Why do you think that is? It has to do with the idea that we were made to worship. We were made to crave those experiences in which our emotions and our minds combine with an almost euphoric sense of awe and wonder… And those experiences are meant to point us to Christ — our amazement and wonder is meant to turn our gaze to the One who is truly amazing and wonderful! Those who reject God still seek after those feelings of awe and wonder.., but since they’ve rejected the Creator, the only place they have to look is in the creation… And there is one place people always seem to turn… Sex. A sexual encounter has the potential to stir the mind and the emotions in a powerful way… Men and women who have rejected God tend to enter into impure relationships with one another by having sexual encounters outside of marriage… and to be clear…any sexual encounter of any kind outside of a marriage dishonors the body, just as Paul says in this passage. — So, catch the link. There is a direct connection between inappropriate sexual behavior and a mind that is not focused on Christ. — Now there is a phrase in verse 24 that I want you to notice… it appears again in verse 26 — and then again in verse 28…. Anything repeated like that is mean to get our attention. And what is the phrase? God gave them up. Those who reject God have said… I don’t want Him. And God’s response, ultimately is this… ok… if you don’t want me, you don’t have to have me… And He gives them over to their sin… and let’s them have what they really wanted anyway…a godless life. And when that happens, a pattern develops within the life of that person that is opposite to the pattern seen in the life of a Christian. A Christian places His faith in Christ for Salvation, and immediately God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in that person — and begins to help Him understand God’s Word — and convicts Him of sin — and leads Him to Christlikeness… His pattern is to look less like the world and more like Christ…and as this takes place, the man is experiences increasing satisfaction in Christ. But, when God gives a man or a woman over to their sin… the opposite is true. They begin to look more and more like the rest of the world… And they become less and less satisfied… There’s this unraveling that takes place in the life of someone who God has given over to his sin… — Which is why the sin we see in some people’s lives…and in society — seems to be progressively worse… As is often said, the more you sin the more you get used to it, and the further you have to go to get the same results… — Paul illustrates this in verses 26 and 27 by bringing up the greatest perversion against God’s intended order he can think of. Paul uses the idea of homosexual relations to drive home the point that those whom God has given over to their sin will go to extreme lengths in their desperate attempt to satisfy their soul through sin. Look again at those 2 verses: 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. Homosexuality is a complete inversion of God’s created order. And this is made obvious by the reality that the biology doesn’t work. A homosexual relationship cannot produce offspring…and thereby is acknowledged as futile. Although it is never framed this way in society — at it’s core, homosexuality is man’s attempt to declare His hatred for God’s authority by completely reversing the natural order God created. — That’s why it is sinful to engage in homosexual behavior for any reason at any time. It is forbidden because it is such a perversion of what God intended… At the same time, I want to be clear that there are men and women in our community — and perhaps even here this morning — who have struggled with — or have surrendered to homosexual thoughts and feelings. And they need to hear that in Christ, there is hope for their soul! Just as you once learned that despite your sin there was hope for yours… Homosexual behavior is not unforgivable… and those who have issues related to it should be treated with the same lovingkindness we would hope to receive from someone if the tables were turned. I am not suggesting that we want to keep people comfortable in their sin… that would not be loving someone…it would be hating them. I am suggesting that we learn to think about homosexuality in a way that is Gospel centered and not emotionally or politically charged. — In verse 28, we see the phrase again, God gave them up… let’s look there … 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Paul concludes this section with a short list of behaviors that are common in the lives of those who have rejected God… As you read that list, do you have reason to be concerned? It may be easy to reason that because I’m not a murderer, or I because I don’t hate God I’m doing ok… but look again at the list in verse 29. Those who have rejected God are those who are full of envy…or wishing you had the life or possessions of another person… and murder…which Jesus explains happens every time we hate someone in our hearts, or call someone else an idiot… and there is strife… There is also deceit… which could be something as simple as taking a 15 minute breaking when you were really only supposed to take 10… It goes on to mention gossip… Oh how gossip spreads so easily in the church… Later on the list is the condition of being boastful or arrogant… which carries the idea of living for the approval of man… Soon after we see that being disobedient to parents and living foolishly — or even faithlessly… are clear indicators of an evil lifestyle instead of Godly living. — If you are feeling guilty this morning because you know that some of your behavior matches the sinful behavior on this list, I want to point out the reality that you are not only rejecting God’s order through that behavior… you are rejecting God. If you are not a Christian I want you to know that in the end, you will get exactly what you wanted.. You won’t have to deal with people telling you to turn to God anymore…. Because you won’t have the chance to turn from Him. If you die in your sin you will spend your eternity separated from the goodness of God in a place of conscious torment…the likes of which cause my to shutter. Verse 32 kind of summarizes where you’re at… 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. — But, the very fact that you are here in church — hearing the Gospel — is evidence that God hasn’t totally turned you over to your sin yet. Today you have the chance to repent! Why wouldn’t you turn to Him before it’s too late? This could be your last opportunity. — There are more in the room, however who have already made a profession of faith. You realized you were a sinner in need of a savior — you apologized to God for your sin — and you trust in Christ alone — by grace, through faith — your soul is saved! But, you know you haven’t arrived at perfection yet. You’re moving in the right direction, but as you reflect on the list of sinful living — and compare your life to it — it’s clear that you’ve got some areas where you’re really functionally rejecting God. I just want to say to you, don’t stay there. Don’t turn back to the unsatisfying sin you used to live for. It won’t help you… it could even destroy you. Brothers and sisters in Christ — you’ve been set free from all of that! Rejoice in your salvation — Today is the day to take the step of faith to give up that bad habit… or to turn from that addiction… or to make it right with the person you’ve hurt… or start reading the Word…or sharing the Gospel…. I don’t know what the next step is for you, but you do. If you’re going to make any progress on your journey toward Christlikeness you must keep taking steps forward…even as you trust the Holy Spirit to work in and through you. Brothers and sisters, because of the Gospel it is well — let us live with even more passion as we serve Christ together.