God’s Wrath Is Being Displayed

Transcript

GRM 1141
07/12/2015
God's Wrath Is Being Displayed
Romans 1:18-32
Gil Rugh

We've taken a break in our study of 2 Corinthians the last couple of weeks to talk about the subject of homosexuality, what the Scripture says about it and where we are as a church and as believers on this subject. And I want to talk further about that today. If you were not in the previous two studies, encourage you to listen to those. You may pick them up at Sound Words or you can get online and get those. Important area. We want to be clear on what the Bible says about this subject and be sure we are handling things biblically. We are not on a crusade as though homosexuality is the unforgivable sin, nor do we want to compromise the fact the Bible says homosexuality is sin. But homosexuality is not the determining factor whether you are going to heaven or hell. That's what we want to be clear on. The Bible is clear on the subject of sin. It specifically points out certain things that are sin, but in our basic character and nature we are sinful beings. And apart from the redemption that is found in Christ we are on our way to eternal condemnation.

We started out just by beginning in Genesis with the creation and that is foundational. Our view of male and female is determined by the act of the Creator. It's not because statistics show this or studies have proved this, it's God says He created man as male and female. And in Genesis 2 He explains how He did it. He created man as male first then He created the female out of the side part of the man, brought the woman to the man. For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, shall cleave to his wife, the two shall become one flesh. When Jesus was asked about the subject of marriage in Matthew 19 He said, ”have you not read the Scriptures?” He who created them in the beginning created them male and female. For this reason man shall leave his father and mother, cleave to his wife, the two shall become one flesh.

For us as Bible-believing Christians that is why we hold the position we do, on the distinction between men and women. Not just as regards the issue of homosexuality, but we see there is a creative difference between a man and a woman. They are not the same. It's just not some superficial physical differences, there are created differences in the purpose of the Creator and we were created by Him as male and female but we were created differently to function differently in complimentary ways. The world has been on a crusade to try to annul and cancel out any differences and distinctions as much as possible between men and women. We can see the promotion of homosexual marriage as a continuing of that pattern.

We're going to look into Romans 1. This is the fullest consideration of this subject, but we have looked at other passages. We're not going to go back and revisit them. Let me just say a word. There are a number of passages that we've looked at that speak of homosexuality as a sin. Sometimes people say that the Bible doesn't say a lot about it. But it does because homosexuality is included in the general category of immorality. When the Bible talks about fornication, pornea, it would include all kinds of sexual sin outside of marriage, and adultery, sexual sin with the context of the marriage relationship. We looked at Hebrews 13, “Fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Homosexuality would be included in any discussion of immorality or fornication. So it's not just it isn't specifically identified, although there are a number of those passages and it will be included in the passage we are going to look at as well.

Important to see the context here. Paul is writing to the church at Rome, anticipating coming to visit them. And he says in Romans 1:15, “For my part I am eager to preach the Gospel to you who are in Rome.” The Gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection, salvation by faith in Him. So he says in verse 16, “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,” the non-Jew. And he is going to break that division down, we'll note it in a moment. “For in it,” in the Gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Come over to Romans 3:21, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested.” So you see in Romans 1:17, “For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed.” Now we pick up that same subject when you get to Romans 3:21, “Now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,” has been revealed. It's a different word in Romans 3:21 translated manifested from the word translated revealed in Romans 1:17, but in this kind of context they are really basically synonymous—something that has been revealed, manifested, made known. He's talking about God making known His salvation. It's His power in the Gospel that brings salvation. Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God for salvation.” It reveals God's plan for providing His righteousness. And he picks up on that then, the righteousness of God provided to man in Christ in Romans 3:21.

What is going on from Romans 1:18 through Romans 3:20? He is showing why we need the salvation that only God can provide, why we need God to credit us, provide His righteousness for us. Otherwise the question is, you want to come and preach the Gospel, it's the power of God for salvation. I don't think I need salvation. It provides the righteousness of God for you. Well, I think I'm a pretty righteous person. But he is going to demonstrate beginning with Romans 1:18 all the way down through Romans 3:20 that there is none righteous, that all are sinners. The end of Romans 3:19 he says, “so that every mouth may be closed, all the world may become accountable to God,” showing that without God's righteousness, without the salvation He provides in Christ we are lost, we are under the wrath and condemnation of Almighty God and condemned to an eternal hell.

So what we are going to talk about is the sinfulness of man in Romans 1:18 down through Romans 3:20. There is some discussion, is the Bible teaching on sin part of the Gospel or is it preliminary to the Gospel? It is necessary to the Gospel however you want to phrase it. When Paul lays out the Gospel when he preached it to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15, he speaks about Christ died, was buried, was raised, was seen by witnesses. But that first point, Christ died for our sins. You cannot begin the Gospel by talking to people about Christ died. He loves you, God loves you, He loves the world. Christ died so you could be happy, so you could have a good life, a good marriage, be successful. Why don't you believe in Christ? I believe in Christ. That's not God's plan of salvation. God's plan of salvation begins with you understanding, me understanding that we are sinners.

So that's why verses 15-17 lead to verse 18 which begins with “for.” He is eager to preach the Gospel. Why? It's the Gospel that is God's power for salvation, verse 16; “it's the Gospel that reveals God's plan to bring righteousness to man.” Why is this necessary? Verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” We have a connection in verses 17-18. Note verse 17, “In it,” referring to the Gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed.” The righteousness of God is revealed, you come to verse 18, “the wrath of God is revealed.” We need the righteousness of God which has been revealed because the wrath of God has been revealed. This is not a popular subject, the wrath of God. One of the commentators known back with some of the Greek philosophers long ago, they began to teach that God could not be a God of anger or wrath. And that kind of thinking has come down to our day. If you want to talk about the love of God to people, they believe God is a God of love, that's the kind of God I believe in. But you want to talk to them about sin and judgment and God's wrath, I don't believe God is a God of wrath, I don't believe God would send people to hell. That's not the kind of God I would believe in. Well, God is a God of wrath, His wrath is real.

Just listen to a couple of verses. Psalm 76:7 says, “You, even you, are to be feared, and who may stand in your presence when once you are angry?” Psalm 90:11, “Who understands the power of your anger and your fury according to the fear that is due you?” Psalm 2:12, “Do homage to the Son lest He become angry and you perish in the way, for His wrath may be soon kindled.” We have to understand why Christ had to die, why we need the salvation that is only found in Christ—because “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness of men,” now note this, “who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” They want to pursue unrighteousness, they suppress the truth. Important here in this context, what he is going to show is that man is not ignorant, unknowing. He is willfully in rebellion against Christ. So that's important. You ought to mark there they suppress the truth in unrighteousness by their pursuit of unrighteousness. How do we know they know the truth?

Look at the next verse, verse 19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them or among them for God made it evident to them.” They know truth about God, they will not acknowledge it, they suppress it. It's a conspiracy, if you are in to conspiracies, that everyone is involved in. How do they know God? How do they know about God? What has God made evident to them? Verse 20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse.” You ought to have that underlined, “they are without excuse.” The end of verse 18, “they suppress the truth.” What is the truth? In God's creation He has made visible what is invisible. His invisible nature becomes visible. No man has seen God at any time, it took the incarnation of Christ to bring the fullness of revelation. But in His creation He has revealed His invisible attributes, His eternal power, His divine nature. They have been clearly seen. I mean, look around at the creation. This is general revelation. General revelation is revelation that is available to everyone. General, available to all. The creation reveals His eternal power. Just look around the creation and what you see—the diversity, the complexity, the beauty. Well, science has told us it has evolved, there was an explosion and here we are. Does anyone who has not gone over the hill mentally really believe that? The Bible says no. They suppress the truth. Verse 21 will start, “Even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks.” There is a determination that we will pursue our unrighteousness, our sin. That means we cannot acknowledge the God who brought everything into existence because then we would have to acknowledge that we must bow before Him.

Come back to a couple of passages in the Old Testament, three to be precise. First in the Psalms, Psalm 8. This is not new material, God spoke to this fact a thousand years before in David. Psalm 8. We sing of this, we have sung of it, of God's creation, God's power, the wonder. “Oh Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have displayed your splendor above the heavens.” Verse 3, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you take thought of him? Or the son of man that you take care of him? You have made him a little lower than God,” or perhaps the angels, “you crown him with glory and majesty.” Verse 9, “Oh Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” And the psalmist had no concept of the vastness of the universes and the galaxies and the stars that are out there. I can look, I can see. I mean, I am amazed, God, that you would have created me, take an interest in me, a God of awesome power, wisdom.

Turn over to Psalm 19. Psalm 19 is a psalm broken into two parts—general revelation and special revelation. General revelation is the revelation available to all people everywhere, the creation, doesn't matter where a person is on the earth, they see the creation. That is general, available to everyone. Special revelation is the revelation God has given in His Word. And the first six verses of Psalm 19 talk about general revelation and then the rest of the psalm talks about special revelation. Look at verse 1, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God. Their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words, their voice is not heard. Their line has gone throughout the earth, their utterances to the end of the world. In them is placed the tent for the sun.” You see what he is saying, doesn't matter what your language is, you see this, you know. It is not conveyed with words. So whatever the language of the person, wherever they are in the world, they see the creation which tells of the glory of God.

And when you come to verse 7 he'll pick up with special revelation, the Word of God. “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.” The testimony of the Lord, the precepts of the Lord, His commandments and so on. But the revelation of creation is there, it is clear. Now we need special revelation as we'll see as we move along. There is enough revelation in creation to show man is justly condemned, there is not enough revelation in creation to bring salvation to a man. Important. Evangelicals have gotten off track and some begin to say well, if people are in parts of the world who have never heard of Jesus Christ but are following what they have seen in creation, they, too, are saved. That is totally anti-biblical. What we see in Romans 1, man's response to the creation shows everyone responds negatively to the revelation of creation.

Stop in Jeremiah 10, its context is very similar to where Paul is going in Romans 1. In Jeremiah 10 he is warning people about idolatry and the worship of idols. “The customs,” verse 3, “of the people are a delusion. It's wood cut from a forest, it's made with men's hands.” And you see idols and so on and people construct them, make them beautifully, maybe put precious jewels in them. Sarcasm with Jeremiah here, mockery. Verse 4, “They decorate it with silver and gold, fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter.” That's a great god, better nail him down or he will fall over is his point. The end of verse 5, “Do not fear them, they can do no harm nor can they do any good. There is none like you, oh Lord, you are great, great is your name.” Come down into verse 12, “It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom. By His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.” You see the creation demonstrates His power, His wisdom, His understanding. We know that through the creation. The God who brought all this into existence must be awesome in power, in wisdom to create all the stars, create this world, people in it, the animals, the plants. Look around at the beauty. Can pull into the driveway and see the beauty of the flowers along the street and say God created these. They wither and die. What beauty He creates. What a God He is. We live in a world that says you cannot bring God into the discussion, He cannot be part of the discussion. We've come up with the idea that man evolved, science is our god.

I met a man who taught in an evangelical seminary for years and he has totally changed his views on Genesis 1-3. And he says if science proves there is no Adam and Eve, that's fine with me, won't change anything for me, I'm fine. What do you mean it's fine? You worship science, you worship man and his thinking. Don't bring God into . . . We had the Supreme Court making a decision, you'll note God wasn't mentioned in the decision. You can't do that, we are a secular society now. Don't bring Him up in the schools, you can't talk about creation because we've already ruled that out. God can't have done it, we'll tell you how it was done. Believe what you want, but keep it out of here. We are tolerant of everything but biblical views. We live in an open, free society—voice your opinion but you better not disagree. And there is a unity among fallen people.

Come back to Romans 1. The wrath of God is revealed since the creation of the world. You can tell, you know there is a sovereign God who has done this, a God who is to be feared, a God who is to be honored. Creation doesn't reveal all the details about God, but you know there is a God who has created all this. And we look at Paul used this in the book of Acts. Look around, you are a human being, what makes you think God is a piece of rock? Piece of stone? Piece of wood? We are created in His image. No, no, no. Look at that ape, look behind that ape. We all started with that amoeba or whatever it was that crawled out of that sea that came from somewhere. But we have to deny God. They are without excuse. That is why it is futile to start trying to convince the unbeliever, if I just had the right arguments and knew what to say. Let's cut right to the chase. The issue that you are facing is you are a sinner, guilty before a holy God. How are you going to have your sins forgiven?

I was speaking with a professor, wanted to have lunch, several years ago. He said I want to talk to you about why you would believe the opening chapters of Genesis are literal. I said that's an interesting topic for discussion, but you know that's not the most important thing God has to say to you. What you really have to deal with, God says you are a sinner and I am a sinner, guilty before Him, under His condemnation. How can we be brought into a right relationship with this God? He already knows there is a God. He won't admit it. He already knows that God created everything. They are without excuse. They are suppressing that truth.

Come to verse 21, “Even though they knew God.” They have a knowledge of God, not the saving knowledge but who could have brought this into existence? Who could have created all of this? Who could have made the marvel of animals, human beings and a world in which we can live? The stars in the heavens? It just happened. “Even though they knew God they did not honor Him as God, give thanks. They became futile in their speculations, their foolish heart was darkened.” We're not going to go to the verses, looking at some of the passages where God says men are stupid. We sometimes say sin makes you stupid, but stupid is a word we don't like. But I am amazed how many times God tells people they are stupid. Here he says they became futile in their speculations, they became empty in their reasoning.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 3. We have a quote from the Old Testament, we'll take it from here because this is real close to where we are in Romans. It's a quote from Psalm 94:11 as you'll note in your margin. But 1 Corinthians 3:20, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are useless,” futile, worthless. That's what he says back in Romans 1, “they became futile,” useless, “in their speculations,” in their reasoning. Paul writes to the Corinthians in that letter to the Corinthians and the Corinthians loved wisdom. Paul says to those who prided themselves on their wisdom, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are futile,” they are empty, they have nothing. See what happens, it's like I say here is my watch and I'm going to give $1000 to the person who finds my watch and you can look everywhere but in my hand. Go. It's a pursuit of nothing. So that's how fallen man begins. We are going to provide answers that God cannot be included with the possible answer. Now go. I'm not getting out of my seat. Why? You can become empty in your reasoning. That's why you cannot start and think if we just had the right arguments and could have that scientific knowledge and if we had the wisdom with philosophy we could . . . They are suppressing the truth so they are empty in their reasoning. Who else would think that all of this complexity came from an explosion? If I said there was an explosion in my basement and when all the parts came down, lo and behold it had created a watch, you would probably ask a couple of the ushers to come up and help Gil get down, that it probably is time for him to move on to a comfortable place in his retirement. But yet we are expected to believe that.

We sometimes watch programs, like animal programs, and you see they get down into the depths of the ocean and they find creatures down there, they can't understand how they can live two miles down with all the pressure and how cold it is. There they are, floating around. That explosion covered everything. They are empty in their reasoning, their foolish heart was darkened. It's like somebody turned off the light. That's what they did, when they suppressed the truth, refused to acknowledge God, they turned off the light. Now they live in spiritual darkness, coming up with all kinds of guesses for explaining everything without God.

“Professing to be wise,” verse 22, “they became fools.” Now they exchange. Man doesn't quit, man comes up with alternatives. So that word exchange used three times, if you don't have it marked in your Bible, mark it—exchange, verse 23; exchange, verse 25; exchanged in the middle of verse 26. Three times we are told they exchange. When they refused to acknowledge God, suppressed the truth concerning Him, they replace it with something else. They don't just say we don't know how the world and all that is connected with it came into existence. They don't just deny God, they exchange that for another idea, their own. “They exchange the glory of an incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, birds, four-footed beast, crawling animals.” They worship the creation rather than the Creator as he is going on to say. So you'll note man doesn't cease being religious, he just changes, exchanges what he honors and worships. And it comes from the darkness of their heart, their inner being, the heart which is “deceitful and desperately wicked above all things,” Jeremiah 17:9 says.

So in idolatry it is often expressed as Jeremiah did by an idol carved out of wood or stone. Sometimes it is just a man or man's idea that is worshiped, like worshiping the god of science. Men have come up with this idea. I don't think the Bible is unscientific, but the idea that science puts forward doesn't make it true science. It comes from those who are empty in their reasonings and have a foolish heart that is darkened. So they give the glory that belongs to God to man or to the gods they create. This is true of all false religions, they are created by man. It is true of various forms of Protestantism that are corrupted or Roman Catholicism. What is the pope? Well, Catholics worship God but it has to happen where? Through the pope who is the vicar of Christ on earth. We don't worship the pope. No, but all the doctrine, all that you are to believe in how you are saved and all is established through the magisterium headed by the pope. It's a worship of man, man's ideas and you multiply it. It is in Protestantism as well.

Verse 24. Now you have a threefold expression. They made an exchange and the result is God exercises His wrath. And when it says in verse 18, “the wrath of God is revealed,” the culmination of that wrath is yet future. As we've talked about, the world is ripening for judgment. Down in Romans 2:5, “Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” That ultimate climax and finality in judgment, the display of the wrath of God when God's wrath will be mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger, as Revelation 14 says, will be the Great White Throne judgment, sentencing to hell.

So that is going on but there is a present display. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. How is it? It helps explain what is going on in our day. “Therefore,” verse 24, “God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so their bodies would be dishonored among them.” And the word impurity usually used of sexual impurity and that's the context he is going to develop here. Now God didn't cause them to be impure, but because they had chosen to suppress the truth concerning Him they were unwilling to honor Him as God, the wrath of God is displayed and He turns them over to their sin, what they want so badly. That's the wrath displayed. The fuller display of sin, the more clear the display of the wrath of God.

“God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so their bodies would be dishonored among them.” How did this happen? “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” That's it. When you have rejected the truth, everything else you grab onto is a lie. And you see why opinion polls don't help believers. There may be a blip and we think we're like the moral majority. If you studied your Bible you would have known there is not a moral majority, there is an immoral majority because the whole world lies in the evil one. “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever, amen.” That settles it. There is only one worthy of our honor, our worship, our service—He's the Creator. But God in His wrath for their rejection of Him turns them over so they serve their sin. One thing sin does is it enslaves you. “He that sins is a slave of sin,” Jesus said that in John 8. Paul will get into that aspect in Romans 6. The unregenerate man is a slave to his sin and those changes wrap them around more and more. We see it manifest in like the druggies, those doing drugs. I'm just going to take another shot and that will make me feel better. But it's a declining thing and you look at someone who has done that and what they look like when they started as a vibrant, healthy, alive young person and then you look at their shell of a person. That's what sin does to a person, destroys them from within. The wages of sin is death, culminating in the ultimate death.

“They serve the creature rather than the Creator. They worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator.” That's where it is, you can't bring God in. Who are they serving? Man's ideas, man. Man wants to be God. The devil is happy that all worship that is not directed to the true and living God is directed to him. Understand the devil is not against religion or worship, he's against biblical truth and the worship of the living God. The devil offered the kingdoms of the world to Christ in Matthew 4 if He would fall down and worship him. And the people of the world follow the lie. That's why Jesus said in John 8, “you are of your father the devil. You are liars and he is a liar from the beginning. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, they worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. For this reason God gave them over.”

So we had the exchanging in verse 23, “for the glory of God for the image of man and the creation; in verse 25 “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie;” verse 26, “God gave them over,” second time. Verse 24, “God gave them over to impurity;” verse 26, “God them over to degrading passions.” And here is the manifestation. “Their women exchanged,” (here is another exchange) “the natural function for that which is unnatural,” verse 26. Natural, that which is according to nature, what God intended it to be. “For that which is against nature,” contrary to nature, unnatural. And the men made the same exchange, “In the same way the men also abandoned the natural function,” the function of nature as God created them to be, “of the woman and burned,” strong word, a fiery burning, “in their desire toward one another. Men with men committing indecent acts, receiving in their own person the due penalty of their error.”

You ought to note something, in verse 26 it says they are women and then in verse 27 in the same way the men. The two words used there for men and women are words, not normal words for men and women, but words that note the sexual distinction—the male and the female. We connect this back to Genesis 1 and the elaboration in Genesis 2. God said let us make man in our image, male and female He made them. But you have a problem here. That's what God planned, that's what is according to nature, but the woman exchanged the function which is according to nature for that which is contrary to nature, and the males did the same thing. So God created man as male and female, why has there been such a crusade, and this has been going on for years and Christians have often slid into it, while in the name of equality, which for the world is synonymous with sameness. Women must be seen as the same as men. There may be some physical, sexual distinctions, but we have to obliterate this as much as possible. Why? Because we are suppressing the truth of the Creator, and we will do it our way, which is the devil's way, which is the way of the lie. This is where God puts homosexuality which is a subset of pornea or immorality.

But it carries immorality even further. Sexual immorality between a man and a woman is contrary to God's plan if they are not married to each other. But homosexuality carries it a step further, it pollutes the natural in the context of a man and a woman mating with an animal, which Leviticus deals with. It's unnatural. God created a man to be a male and a woman to be a female. And they were to express their oneness in a physical relationship that binds them as one physically when they are married. A man with a man or a woman with a woman is contrary to nature, the very plan of God, and yet we celebrate it. And it is in our day for the first time that it is celebrated by nations as a marriage. The Romans, as we have talked about, never went to that level, that it is a marriage. Not saying that they didn't indulge in homosexual practices, and the Greeks, but now we celebrate it. The highest court of the land declares it what is to be accepted in the land and if you don't, you cannot discriminate against that. We overrule God.

They suppress the truth, they know better but we will serve the creature rather than the Creator. And we decide that this is what people want and they need, and we are understanding. No matter how you word it, no matter how kind you want to come across with it, it is a rejection of God—the exchanging of the truth of God for a lie. It is worshiping and serving the creation rather than the Creator. There is no middle ground here. Now I am not saying then that they are worse sinners. Let's keep on going. The exchange goes on, it doesn't matter whether it's homosexual, now I understand that is a pejorative word, we shouldn't us it—gay, because you think of it as happy, nice, good. We move on.

“Receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” Receiving in themselves, that could refer to the future time of judgment that will come. It could refer to presently and inside of the fact the wrath of God is presently revealed, it seems present things going on. What happens? The more you indulge sin, the more you get entangled in it. These men's lust burn. Well, if it's like that, they must have been born that way. They were born sinners, but then you feed the lust of your sinful desires and you become more entangled. Like we say, you can see it in things like drugs and drunkenness and so on. I used to go to the mission in Philadelphia many years ago on skid row and listen to stories of these men as we brought the Gospel to them. And they would say, at one time I had a great job, a beautiful family, a wonderful wife. I lost it all, I started drinking and drinking and I couldn't stop and my whole life . . . What happened? And all sin is like that. He who sins is the slave of sin. Don't minimize the power of sin. The world's explanation is if you have that much desire for it, it must be genetic. Well, it's part of fallen man's rebellion against God.

Verse 28, “Just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over.” So you'll note, this is His wrath being displayed. So the more openly displayed the sin of man is, the more clear God's wrath is. We see it, they don't. They didn't see fit to acknowledge God, they refuse that. Now we can't bring God into the picture, we can't bring Him into the discussion, not in the schools, not in your job. You have to be careful in your conversations, we are a secular society which means we worship man and his ideas.

“He gave them over to a depraved mind to do the things which are not proper.” Now note all the sins because we don't want to just select out homosexuality and give people the idea, hold up our placard, homosexuals are going to hell. And you see these people who have no clue what they’re doing. What are the things that are not proper, that are characteristic of depraved minds? “They are filled with these things.” What fills the heart and mind of the unbeliever? “Filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, slanderers.” You know some of these things we minimize, God puts it all together as characteristic of a depraved mind. “Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful.” We try to build up the self-confidence of our conceited, arrogant young ones. “Inventors of evil, disobedient to parents.” How many books have been written trying to deal with rebellious children? The Old Testament said, take them to the elders, if they've been disobedient, we'll stone them to death. We don't live under Mosaic Law now, but it's a characteristic of sin. “Without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.” Unloving, that's a particular word for love that denotes particularly family kind of relationship, storga.

Now note verse 32, “Although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death.” Now you have to mark this down because we as believers say, I don't think they know. Remember the end of verse 18, “They suppress the truth;” the end of verse 20, “they are without excuse;” verse 21, “they knew God;” now down in verse 32, “they know the ordinance of God.” It is built into man, we are created in His image. Paul gets into this in Romans 2, we're not going to get there, but if you just come down to verse 14, “When the Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively,” by nature, there is our word, “the things of the Law not having the Law are a law to themselves. They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, their thoughts either accusing or defending them.” We were created in the image of God. That was Paul's argument I mentioned in the book of Acts. God is not a piece of stone, look at yourself. What is God like? Well, I came from an amoeba. We somehow came out of an explosion of something, we don't know where it came from. What do you mean? Paul says, look at yourself, you are in the image of God.

So there is that innate awareness and knowledge, men have a conscience, that's not a reliable guide because it gets seared by sin. But they know the ordinance of God. We still have assent that certain people deserve to be punished, deserve this. Somebody goes by you 100 MPH on 84th Street they deserve to get a ticket. We'll leave it there. “They know the ordinance of God. Those who practice such things are worthy of death.” They have a sense, they know there is a God to whom they are accountable. “They not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” It's not bad enough that they would practice it, but we give our approval to it. Someone mentioned there is a small percentage of those who really claim to be homosexual, but the whole country wants to give approval to them and to that kind of conduct. They are without excuse. Because it’s not just homosexuality, it’s the whole issue of sin. That's why this is framed by Romans 1:15-17, the Gospel is the power of God for salvation. In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

Come over to Romans 3, Paul says he has demonstrated all are under sin, verse 9. Then verse 10 he quotes, “There is none righteous, not even one. None who understands, none who seeks for God. All turned aside. None who does good.” Verse 18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” So we don't get drawn down like homosexuality, if they only wouldn't practice homosexuality. Well, that's just one manifestation of sin. We've been on this crusade, we've promoted pride and arrogance, we admire them, we call it their confidence and they hire organizations to promote themselves. That's just a display of sin.

So all are unrighteous. But we come to Romans 3:21, “But apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested.” We ought to celebrate, this is what we want to tell God. God has revealed something you have to know, it has been made known, manifested—“the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” And there is no distinction, for everybody, Jew and Gentile. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So all have sinned and are in the same sinking ship, we are justified as a gift by His grace, multiplying words. Declared righteous as a gift, something not earned, “by His grace,” something not earned, through the “redemption which is in Jesus Christ whom God displayed publicly as a satisfaction, a propitiation, in His blood through faith. He is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus,” the end of verse 26. Verse 28, “We maintain that a man is justified,” declared righteous, “by faith.” Here is how you can be righteous before God, have God declare you righteous.

So we want to be careful. We want to understand that homosexuality is sin and if it comes to that we will have to take our stand. And persecution and suffering to come because it is now you cannot discriminate on the basis of race, religion, unless they are Bible-believing Christians. We don't have to be tolerant of them, they can be excluded because the will of our society is greater. How many serious persecutions of Christians have been based on that? Just like the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Why? They are bad for our society, they are bad for our country. You are, too, because all those following the devil are uncomfortable, they have rejected the God we serve and those who follow the God we serve because they are serving a different god.

So we want to bring the message. Understand homosexuality is sin. It goes back to the creative act of God. It is a violation of what God created us to be, no matter how many Presidents or legislators or judges declare otherwise. Let every man be found a liar and God true. That's where we are. So if a person asks, I'd say yes, homosexuality is sin but I want you to understand it's not that, that sends you to hell because people who don't commit homosexuality are also sinners. In fact the Bible says we all are sinners, guilty before God. There is none righteous, no not one. So we are all in the same boat but there is a Savior, God has made a way. He has provided a salvation given as a gift to all who will believe in Jesus Christ who died for our sins and was raised from the dead because the penalty had been paid.

What great days we live in to be able to proclaim Jesus Christ. A world of lostness, darkness, Paul wrote to the Philippians that we are to shine as lights in the midst of the darkness. Not bemoan the darkness. God has brought us out of darkness into light and now enables us to pass on the light of the Gospel to those still lost and without hope.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. You are a God of great patience, not willing that any should perish but all should come to the knowledge of the truth. But You are a God of justice who deals in wrath with those who reject the revelation You have given. Lord, as we face the reality of the sinfulness of man, the rebellion, we acknowledge we were just like them. Now, Lord, we bring to them the message of life. God, give us the courage to stand firm for the truth, not be afraid, not be fearful, but in love present the truth that can save and make new. We pray in Christ's name, amen.