Given Over, or Getting In?
Text: Romans 1:18 – 32
Well, let me just start this morning by saying that I had intended to continue on with our current sermon series… but something happened this last week that just… well it just really caused my soul to ache. On Friday… the Obama Administration announced that it would be sending a letter to every single public school district in the United States, demanding the schools allow self-identified trans-gender students to use whatever bathroom and locker room they wanted, and if the schools did not comply they would lose federal funding. The week before the Obama Administration announced that it would be creating America’s first monument celebrating homosexual rights. Let that sink in for a moment… we recently had to remove the 10 Commandments from the capitol, but now our federal government is going to use our tax dollars to build a monument to celebrate same sex rights.
Take your Bibles and open them up to Romans chapter one… Look with me at verse 18… I’m going to be reading and going over these verses, so you’ll want to follow along in your Bibles. (READ Romans 1:18 – 32).
So the Apostle Paul here in verse 18 says that the wrath of God IS BEING revealed. That means it is being shown right now… and we might have all kinds of ideas about the wrath of God and what it would look like. Some people think that every natural disaster that takes place is the wrath of God being displayed… some people think that tragedies like the 9-11 terrorist attacks was the wrath of God… And I’m not saying that those things are a type of God’s wrath… I’m not saying they are, but what Paul was talking about here in Romans is something different. What Paul is talking about here in Romans when he says that the wrath of God is being revealed is what I would call the “wrath of abandonment.” And we actually see several examples of this throughout Scripture. Hold your place there in Romans and turn with me to Judges 10:10 – 14 (READ). Now turn with me over to Proverbs 1:24 – 31 (READ). In Hosea 4:17 God says, “Ephraim is joined to idols… let him alone.” There comes a time when God gets to the point where He lets a people go… He lets them go to the consequences of their own sinful choices. They won’t listen to His Word, they won’t obey Him, they won’t repent of their sin… so God pulls away from them. In Matthew 15:14 Jesus was speaking about the Pharisees and He said, “They are blind leaders of the blind… let them alone.” And usually when God says something like this, He’s saying it about a people. Like the Pharisees, or the nation of Israel, or other groups or nations. And it’s very relevant for us to talk about this, because we can see from our text in Romans that we as a nation are right there.
So what exactly does it mean for a nation to be abandoned by God?
Well… C.S. Lewis in his book “The Problem of Pain” said this, “The lost will forever face their horrible ‘freedom’ they have demanded.” Let me explain what he meant by that. He was saying that the lost, those who reject God and His Word, and His ways… are saying they want nothing to do with God, they don’t want to follow Him, they don’t want to obey His commands… they are saying they want freedom from God, and as they continue to demand that, eventually there comes a time when God pulls away from them. He pulls His hands back. But in doing that, His restraining grace is also removed. And there is no longer anything restraining them from being totally controlled by their sin nature. And so what happens is that they sin more and more, and as they sin more and more, society and culture become more and more sinful, and all of us see the consequences of this. And what this is – is the wrath of God. So in other words, a form of God’s wrath is to let sinful men be more and more controlled by their sin, and because they are controlled by their sin and sinning more, that means that more wickedness is perpetrated upon society. This is exactly what romans 1 is talking about.
Go back to Romans 1:24 (READ). Now verse 26 (READ). Now verse 28 (READ). Three times we see that statement “God gave them over.” And this isn’t just God giving them over to their sins… but to the consequences those sins bring.
And notice the progression here. First of all; in verse 24 we read: “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” That’s sexual immorality. The first indication of a society that’s been abandoned by God is sexual immorality.
When a society or a culture becomes depraved and immoral it’s a sign of God’s wrath upon them. It says that God gives them over to the lusts of their heart… and of course Scripture says that the heart of an unbeliever is wretched and wicked and depraved. The heart is deceitful and wicked above all else.
James 1:13 – 14 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” So when you or I are tempted to sin, the devil isn’t putting an evil desire in us… that evil desire is already there… the devil puts what we desire in front of us… but the evil desire is from the human heart. And God, by His restraining grace keeps that desire in check, but as man rejects God, God pulls back and His restraining grace is not longer keeping that evil desire in check, and it begins manifesting more and more… and the first step mentioned here is sexual immorality. And it’s crazy right
You know… they say the sexual revolution began in the 1960’s… but the things that are going on today can make that seem pretty tame. Pornography is an $85 billion dollar a year industry. Immorality and perversion fills TV shows… and not only the shows, the commercials too. A lot of the songs on the radio today are lewd and crude and immoral. And one thing leads to another, and we start seeing the horrible abuses of children, marriage becomes optional people would rather just live together in sin. And it’s been said that America’s greatest export is immorality.
Step two is in verses 26 & 27 (READ). I hope everyone sees what this is talking about here. This is deplorable wickedness… This is a sign of God’s judgment upon a nation… and our nation’s leader is wanting to build a monument to this? God help us! The Apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit is saying here that homosexuality is a clear sign of God’s wrath being revealed against a society… against a people, and we are going to build a monument to celebrate it. Let me ask you, What should God do with America? Now don’t get me wrong. I love my country. But if the country I love spits in the face of the God I love, I’m going to side with God every time… Because I am first and foremost a citizen of heaven. I’m just an ambassador here. And yes, it makes me really, really sad. But not nearly as sad as when I read a news article yesterday about a full grown man, walking into a ladies bathroom and attacking an 8 year old little girl in Chicago Illinois… and nowhere near as sad as when I read an article about Bruce Jenner who’s claiming that it was his Christian faith that caused him to get the surgery that changed him from a man into a woman. How in the world can he even think that way? Well… go down to verse 28 and you’ll see (READ vs 28). “A debased mind.” The Greek there is adokimos nous that literally means a mind that has been disqualified for its intended purpose. A mind whose reasoning has been so corrupted that it can no longer function correctly. That’s why if you take a stand and say, “This is wrong!” People look at you like you’re the most intolerant bigot who ever walked the face of the earth. Their conscience, their ability to reason, to think logically, and correctly is gone… they’ve been turned over to a depraved mind. And like the last part of verse 28 says, this results in people doing what is not proper. So immorality goes in every direction – that’s what verses 29 – 31 are dealing with… when a person, or a society no longer things properly about God, and about what’s right and wrong, the result is evil. But not only people committing immoral and evil acts, but people who approve of them as well. And it has permiated our culture, from top to bottom… from the federal government erecting monuments and demanding that public schools have transgender bath rooms and locker rooms, to the public schools out in California mandating that teachers read to their kindergartners a book titled “Johnny has two moms.”
What happens when the wrath of God is being revealed? Take a look around – this is it!
Why? Why does God do this? Well, let’s go back up to verse 18 (READ). They suppress the truth. Our society will not tolerate anger against sin. How do they suppress the truth? Well if you’re a baker who won’t celebrate a homosexual wedding by making a cake you get sued and your shop gets vandalized repeatedly. If you’re a governor of a state who says, “We’re not going to allow these transgender laws in our state.” You get sued by the federal government. That’s our tax dollars at work again. If you’re a pastor (again in the state of Illinois) and you refuse to perform a same-sex wedding you get thrown in jail and fined for every day you continue to refuse. But that’s not the only way they suppress the truth.
Look at verses 19 & 20 (READ).
A normal, rationally thinking human being should be able to look at creation and say, “there is a God.”
But they suppress that truth… ever heard of evolution? You’re a monkey, that came from an amoeba, that came from a cosmic accident. And you had better at least agree to this on the test, or you’re not going to pass general science in High School or college.
So all this stuff begins with a society that says, “Don’t talk about God, or Jesus, or all this sin stuff.” “Keep it to yourself. Don’t rock the boat. Worship Jesus in your own time.” That kind of goes against the direct command of Jesus when He gave the Great Commission to us though doesn’t it? It’s kind of hard to preach the Gospel to every creature when I’m ‘keeping it to myself.’
And so as we see our culture and our nation, and the world degenerate in front of us, I believe that we are getting a glimpse of what Jesus describes in Matthew 24:37 when He said, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” And how was it in the “days of Noah?” The wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of mans’ heart was only evil continually (that’s Genesis 6:5). That’s where we’re headed... if we’re not there already. But God provides an ark for us too.
Turn with me really quickly to Psalm 81:11 – 16 (READ). So verse 12 there looks an awful lot like Romans 1 right? Stubborn, sinful, rebellious people, and God gives them over… But then God calls out in verse 13 – “Oh that My people would just listen to Me!” If we would just listen to Him… He would defeat our enemies and satisfy our souls. 2nd Chronicles 7:14 gives the same remedy… “If My people who are called by My Name would humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, I would hear from heaven and heal their land.”
Church we live in a day and age that is very much like the Days of Noah, the hearts and minds of people are only wicked continually. We live in a day and age when people call good evil and evil good. We live in a day and age when people look at their creator and flat out say to Him, “I will not obey!” And its because men love darkness rather than light, so they will not come to the Light. We live in a day and age when people would rather see their kids participate in sporting leagues on Sunday that go to church… because by golly it’s more important that they play T-Ball than have a deep relationship with Jesus Christ! We live in a day and age when Christians wring their hands about same sex marriage, but they’ve been divorced twice and consume pornography at the same rate as the world. We live in a day and age when those within the Church have no problem justifying spending $20 thousand dollars on a boat and $150 on tickets to watch their NBA team, while thousands of people die every day from hunger.
So yeah… it’s very much like the Day’s of Noah, and God’s Word tells us that judgment is coming. And like in the days of Noah, people don’t really believe that. They don’t really think that it’s coming. Noah did… he believed God, and we know he believed God because his faith showed itself by his works. He believed God and he built an ark for himself and his family.
The question is: Do you believe God? Do you believe that a day is coming when Jesus Christ will return and judge the world? Do you believe that people without Christ are going to spend eternity in hell? Do you believe that the only way for them to be saved is to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and receive Him by faith? But how shall they believe if they never hear? Do you believe that Jesus gave us the Great Commission? Or was that just the “great suggestion”? Do you believe Jesus when He says, “Follow Me and I’ll make you fishers of men”? Do you believe Jesus when He says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands”? Does your faith show itself to be true by your works?
Church please hear me… the society and culture around us is of course going to deny God and reject Christ. A dog acts like a dog because IT IS a dog. A cat acts like a cat because IT IS a cat. And a sinner acts like, and thinks like, and behaves like, and lives like a sinner BECAUSE HE IS A SINNER. And the only answer to a sinners problem is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The answer isn’t in politics. It’s not in education… it’s not in legislation. It’s Jesus! Jesus is the answer. Jesus Christ is the answer! And it’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is the power of God unto salvation… it’s the Gospel that will transform the heart and mind and behavior of a sinner, and make him a new creation in Christ. But the sinner isn’t going to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the world. They’re not going to get it from CNN or ESPN or the latest block buster movie. Captain America is a great hero, but He cannot redeem humanity. Superman is really strong but he would be crushed by the weight of the worlds sin. Only Jesus could bear that weight. Only Jesus could take the wrath of God that we were owed.
It is as in the days of Noah, but you know what… just like Noah we have an Ark. His Name is Jesus Christ. He is our Ark of salvation. And God’s Word gives us this promise… if you are in Him then no matter how high the flood rises, you will be saved. If you are in Him, then no matter how bad the storm rages, you will be secure. The wrath of God is being revealed, but there is an even greater wrath to come… but we have the promise of God’s Word, that we have not been appointed unto wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you in Him this morning? Are you trying to bring others in as well?
I pray that you are.
