Why God Abandons a Nation
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God,
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Romans 1:18-23
We just read a section of Scripture that deals with the wrath of God upon the world, for the unrighteous acts of mankind. The rest of the section on the wrath of God extends to verse 32, which covers how God has unleashed His wrath…yes, God is sending His wrath today. Although the text speaks as if it is speaking of the past, we need to understand that the Word of God is timeless, and what is being said about at the time of Paul writing this some 2000 years ago applies to use today, because just a few seconds ago God revealed His wrath to someone or someplace, and sorry to say, is revealing His wrath to our nation today.
We may thing of God’s wrath as placing the soul in hell, but God’s wrath happens in different forms. There is the wrath that will fall upon the earth at the end of human history, and that will happen in the time of tribulation. There is a wrath that comes to individuals for their sins, and it is whatever a person sows they reap. We like to call this one karma, but it is all God. There is wrath involved in natural events, such as floods or other massive events that deal with the ungodly. Then there is eternal wrath, and that is the wrath of God that puts the unrighteous into hell. But The verses we have read and will read today deal with the wrath of abandonment, where God removes His hand from people and He lets them be themselves…letting the evils flow from the heart, because the Bible tells us the heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? Only God can know it, and whether you like it or not His hand keeps us from doing some of the dastardly things our hearts want to do.
When we get to verses 24, 26, and 28 we will read a repeated theme; God gives them over, gives them over, gives them over. In other words, it is when God abandons a nation due to their unrighteousness, turning them over to the consequences of their behavior which is escalating iniquity and disaster, leading to judgment. Verses 18 through 23 gave us the why God does it…because people suppress the truth about God, Jesus, and salvation. They do so by creating manmade gods, and even calling themselves gods, finding ways to avoid what is placed in their conscience. They suppress the truth that God has placed in our hearts. And he goes on to say they all have the truth; the truth is visible from creation – you can know something of God and His nature - and from the heart. Romans 2 says the Law of God is written in the heart.
This fighting against the truth happens when man abandons God as presented in creation; when man abandons God as revealed in conscience; when man abandons God as revealed in Holy Scripture, suppressing the truth, God judges that society and nation. And although that society may consider itself to be wise, it is in fact fools. The heart becomes darkened when God is abandoned, and then God abandons the darkened heart. That is why God abandons a nation.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 1:24-25
Now we get to the sequence of things that happens when God abandons a nation. First, it says that He gives them over to sexual sin, the dishonoring of their bodies among one another. When God abandons a society, the first thing that happens is it becomes pornographic; it becomes obsessed with sex, obsessed with fornication, adultery, every kind of sexual behavior. I’ll tell you this folks, our social media is giving us the picture of this uncleanliness happening right now. On a few of these media channels I hear of woman bragging about sleeping with 100 and 200 men in a month. And yes, I said bragging. Because man has abandoned God uncleanliness in the form of promiscuity is skyrocketing. The word says that this stems from the fact that people no longer believe there is a God of creation, instead believing themselves to hold the keys to the future…believing only n manmade myths and lies.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Romans 1:26-27
The second thing that happens, when God abandons a culture, is found in these verses here, in that homosexual acts will rise, acts that God calls vile passions, degrading passions, shameful passions. It plainly states that women started having intimate relations with other woman, which is not the natural function, because God says it is unnatural. Same for the men who abandoned their natural function woman for that of a man. God calls homosexuality an indecent act, and in so doing will receive in their own person the penalty of these actions…which are the diseases that are a consequence of homosexual and bisexual activity. And as we know, these activities have unleashed on the world the horror of AIDS, HIV, dysentery, and others. What was written 2000 years ago is happening this very day and shows that when God abandons a nation or a culture under His wrath, there will be a sexual revolution followed by a homosexual revolution. And we are living in this very condition today.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God,
that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Romans 1:28-32
Now we get to the third thing that happens, where God gives them over to a depraved mind – that’s a mind that doesn’t function normally; they can’t think right with morals and ethics being blurred. In this blurred state life becomes filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder – which all fit squarely in the sights of abortion, where we have the massive murder of millions and millions of unborn infants in the womb that is carried on in our country and around the world because our deprived minds think it is okay, and even justified because it messes with the life I want to have. Talk about blurred morals and ethics.
Also present in that blurred moral and ethical state of the depraved mind is that they become haters of God. No longer happy with just saying they do not believe in God, but outright hatred of Him, and distain for anyone who loves God. So, look around your neighborhood, your workplace, social media, television, and the news media…we’re living in the outpouring of the wrath of God in the category of His abandoning a culture, and we’re living in the sequence that is here: a sexual revolution, a homosexual revolution, a reprobate mind that unleashes everything, including murder on a massive scale and hate toward God.
When I look back at the Democratic Party debates that occurred a few years back, I was shocked to see that these very things that God hates were affirmed as part of their platform: open sex with government-provided contraception, murder of babies in wombs and even minutes after being delivered, God purposefully left out of the platform, and the championing of homosexual behavior, even advocating homosexual marriage.
Like it or not, the Democratic Party has made, and is continuing to make the sins of Romans 1– their agenda. What God condemns, they affirm; what God punishes, they exalt. A shocking really. The Democratic Party has become the anti-God party, the sin-promoting party. By the way, there are 72 million registered Democrats in this country who have identified themselves with that party, and maybe they need to rethink that identification.
Now you be asking yourselves, “why is pastor getting political?” Well folks, Romans 1 has nothing to do with politics. The Bible is not about politics. This has nothing to do with politics; but has everything to do with proclaiming the Word of God. If I see you steal I will call you a thief. If I hear you lie, I’ll call you a liar. So, I am just calling out that party for what they are…a party that promotes sin. As the job given to me by God this has to do with speaking the Word of God to the culture in which we live. It has nothing to do with politics. It’s not about personalities. It’s about iniquity and judgment. And why do we say this? Because this must be recognized for what it is: sin – serious sin, damning sin, destructive sin.
Then you might say that You say, “Well, our society cultivates tolerance, and you’re giving hate speech.” If you say that, then I will tell you that you are looking at things from the wrong perspective. I will tell you that the Democratic Party is the one saying hate speech. Why? Because if they really cared about homosexuals, they would not allow them to go in the direction they are going, because the Bible says that direction leads to hell. So, what I am doing is giving a love speech, because I do not want to see anyone purposefully put themselves in the direction of hell. Romans 1 tries to warn them. And any faithful Christian tries to warn of the consequences just as Romans 1 does, “This is dangerous; this is deadly.” It’s better to warn them of their behavior that goes against God than to affirm them. You might be the nice guy to affirm them, but that’s not love speech; that’s hate speech. Remember that the end of the verse just read says that no only those that do these acts, but also those that give approval to those acts will be judged.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Incase Romans 1 didn’t make it clear, here Paul gives the full laundry list of folks who will not make it into heaven. He also stresses that we are to not be deceived into thinking otherwise about who will and will not make it into eternal life. Do not be deceived – by the propaganda, by the media, by the films, the television programs, everything you’re exposed to, educators – “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators” – that’s people who engage in heterosexual sin – “nor idolaters” – and sexual sin and idolatry always historically have been connected – “nor adulterers” – that’s people who have relationships with other than their spouse – “nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Now as I have gone through all this, some of you who fall into one or more of these groups may think there is no hope, but I say to you look again at verse 11. “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Homosexuals may say that they are born this way and cannot change. The fornicators may say that their sexual desire is too great to fix, but God says that such were some of you…you were in one of those groups but the power of God by your desire to seek Him can and has brought you out of that God into the marvelous light of Jesus Christ. God says that although the nation will be abandoned by Him, you can be one who walks out of the abandonment into the loving arms of Jesus. Romans 1 tells us why God abandons a nation, but you are not a nation; collectively you are part of a nation, but know that within this nation there are two smaller nations: those that believe in the death burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and those that don’t, these are the culture that God’s wrath will be poured out onto…the choice is yours.
Such were some of you before you decided to seek God.
