Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
"Parental Rights Video"; by an LGBTQ Activist"
With Discussion (Note: This is the link to the original video. The video shown during study was cropped for modesty, and an explicative was censored.) https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1708850321110311282?s=42
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. (Psalm 127:3)
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1)
Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. (2 Peter 3:3)
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30–31)
When God Abandons Society
We have moved through Paul’s introduction of his letter to the Church in Rome. Last week, we looked at the Gospel. Paul said in verse 16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel...” That becomes important as we get into tonight’s message’s content and the next few studies to come.
Paul was writing to the Roman Church because of a significant spiritual malady that had infected Roman society. This is a satanic, demonically-driven malady that infects a society when it abandons the very natural principles of God. What we see today is a worldwide magnification of what Paul was witnessing in his own day. Yet it would be on a level today that that would even leave Paul, a Roman citizen, aghast.
At the time of Paul’s writing to the Roman Church, Christians were outsiders. The Christian ethic would be harshly bashed by the immoral sexualized culture prominent in Rome. In Rome, sexuality was tied to ideas of masculinity, male domination, and the adoption of the Greek pursuit of beauty. “In the Roman mind, the strong took what they wanted to take. It was socially acceptable for a strong Roman male to have intercourse with men or women alike, [and boys] provided he was the aggressor.” (Tim Challies).
The Christian ethic that limited sex between a married man and woman, protected children, and taught that the man was to show love and fidelity was not only an alternative system of morality. Instead, it was condemning the Roman identity. So much so that Romans viewed Christians as traitors and a threat to their society. Today’s sexual revolution, which began in the sixties, pales the immoral ideologies of first-century Rome.
So, before Paul even begins to address what he is witnessing in the culture around him, he has to make sure that the Romans are reading that he is not ashamed of the gospel. He is not ashamed that the Gospel, in its power to save, stands in stark contrast to the depravity of the mind of men and to the spiritual darkness that looms in the heart of every man and society. What Paul will lay out for us, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is the means by which God abandons the depravity of men and, even more so, society.
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. (Romans 1:18–32, ESV)
There are a number of different aspects we need to understand as we consider ‘the wrath of God.’ While I cannot go over all of them in detail, it is crucial for us to have a general understanding of what the Bible means when it refers to God’s wrath. “Wrath is defined as “the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice,” often translated as “anger,” “indignation,” “vexation,” or “irritation.” Both humans and God express wrath. But there is a vast difference between God's wrath and man's. God’s wrath is holy and always justified; man’s is never holy and rarely justified. (GotQuestions).
In its most simplistic form, God’s wrath can be understood as a divine response to human sin. Romans 1:18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” It is best understood that God responds to the sinful heart of man in a variety of ways.
First, there is the eternal wrath of God. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
Secondly, the Bible talks about eschatological wrath, meaning God's final judgment. The Old Testament writers like Joel speak of the Great Tribulation as the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:1-2). We studied in Revelation how the outpouring of the various judgments on the world was an expression of God’s eschatological wrath (cf. Revelation 19).
Third, there is what is known as the cataclysmic wrath of God. We read about how God opened the earth at Korah in Numbers 16:18-25. You can see this against Pharoah in the Exodus 7-12. You see the Flood of Noah or how God stopped the rain in the days of Elijah. You can see it in Revelation. We see it today as well documented in Bill Koeing’s book Eye to Eye.
Fourth, there is the consequential wrath of God. That is, the natural result of a man living against the laws of God. Colossians 3:25: “For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”
But I think the most common type of wrath in view today isn’t found in some ‘event’ (although that is definitely in the purview of God). Rather, I think the most common and alarming wrath is when God abandons man to his sin. In the Bible, we see this happen personally, culturally, and nationally; one day, it will come on a worldwide scale. Herein lies the heart of Paul’s message to the Romans.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18)
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves (Romans 1:24)
For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature (Romans 1:26)
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. (Romans 1:28)
There comes a time in the heart of a man or woman, there comes a time in the life of a nation, and there will come a time in the entirety of this world that God lifts His retraining grace. In other words, the opportunity for salvation has passed, and all that is left is His impending wrath. Eschatologically, we know this as an element of the Great Tribulation.
Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone. (Hosea 4:17)
Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore, I will save you no more. (Judges 10:13)
And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. (Judges 16:20)
“God will abandon sinners to their own choices and the consequences of those choices. And just what is this abandoning act on God’s part? It is the removal of restraining grace. It is when God lets go and turns a – a society over to its own sinful freedoms and the results of those freedoms.” The idea of this should shutter the heart of man. It should cause one who is fence-sitting between God and sin to flee toward the light of God’s grace.
The realization that God will lift His hand of grace to give over to one their rebellion should cause a well of repentance in your heart in reverent fear of God. You may say, “Well, I don’t particularly like that thought.” Yet no Scripture more directly outlines the abandonment of God than Romans 1:18-32.
C.S. Lewis wrote, “The lost enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded and are therefore self-enslaved.”
The only hope against this is the unashamed preaching of the gospel. That is why Paul wrote Romans 1:16, “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.” When the Church reaches the point where we would rather try to entertain the lost into heaven than preach a message of repentance, the restraining grace of God is removed. Jesus told the Philadelphia Church they would be kept from the hour of tribulation for their faithfulness, but other churches were warned to repent (i.e., Revelation 2:22; 2:16; 3:10)
Just this past week, Andy Stanley’s church held the Unconditional Conference, in which they affirmed LGBTQ identities and that the church is impotent to do anything about it, so we should embrace the sin as normal human behavior. What Stanley did was uphold the Scriptural standard but called for pastoral accommodation of the homosexual lifestyle as a means of empathy instead of condemnation. This sounds very amenable and kind, but it is, in reality, inviting the wrath of God - or just turning people over to their debased minds instead of inviting them to find the joy of liberty and hope in Christ.
Just as liberal theology does, Stanley attempts to sever doctrine from ethics. So, we paint a picture of a tolerant, compassionate Jesus without wrath. The reality is the compassion of Christ is found in that sin is dealt with harshly and in full view of the wrath of God. That’s the image of the cross - God provided the means for us to forsake our sin, not to live in it.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)
The reality of our day is that our nation is under the judgment of God. I can offer no greater explanation about the state of affairs in our world than this. Paul shows us a progression of 3 steps that leads the Lord to this point. First, we see that there is a desire of society for sexual immorality through an immoral heart.
Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves (Romans 1:24)
This is evidenced since the sexual revolutions of the sixties and a steady and increasing lust for unbridled sex, pornography, and the degradation of marriage, and today, we see a landslide of immorality around children.
Secondly, Paul tells us that the body will have degrading passions. In other words, the behaviors of the immoral hearts become widely accepted and even championed in a culture.
For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature (Romans 1:26)
To that point, Paul mentions how it is evident among the women in a society who will give into these lusts. Usually, the women are the last to fall morally because an innate mothering instinct shields children from demonic behaviors. But the coming of feminism, particularly the rise of lesbianism, is a demonic stronghold of a society indicating the abandonment of God.
Lastly, Paul tells us that God completely gives us over to a debased mind. What this means is the presence of God’s grace is lifted from the minds of people or society, giving them over to their corrupt reasoning. The wrath of God rests (Romans 1:18) by His abandonment. The Greek word translated as “debased” in the New Testament is adokimos, which means literally “unapproved, that is, rejected; by implication, morally worthless.”
This is ultimately going to happen with the Rapture and the introduction of the Tribulation.
And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:6–7)
What will happen when the Spirit-filled believers are lifted from the world? That is, the restraining force and minds that are not debased. All that will be left are the debased minds of men who will shake their fists at God. With that, we have a better understanding of what Paul is referring to in Romans chapter 1 when he talks about the wrath of God. Next week, we will look deeper into idolatry's persistence in a godless world.
