INTRODUCTION
• Last week we started our journey though the book of Romans by looking at why the gospel is something to be proud of. Remember it is the power of God for salvation. Lives and destinies can be changed through the Gospel!
• Now that brings us to our text today. Please turn in your bibles to Romans chapter one, verses 18-32.
• We live in a time in which as a society we are doing all we can to kick God to the curb. God is an old fashion idea for many people. Some say God is a figment of man’s imagination.
• People wonder, “Who really needs God anyway?” Have we not “evolved” past the idea of needing a “god” in our lives?
• Today as we look at our text, I hope that you see that we do indeed need God. The world needs God.
• The thing that is tough for us today is that whenever we try to share the light of Jesus with people, we are told we are being judgmental. Whenever we see a person who is living outside the will of God and lovingly point it out, people get mad at us.
• Have you ever gone to the doctor because you were sick? Then when you got to the doctor, he told you what was wrong with you, and then you look at him and state, “why are you judging me?” You are being narrow-minded by saying that I need some kind of medicine for my “supposed” sickness.
• We would not do that would we? Today I am going to cover a section that some folks will react the same way. They will say I or the church is narrow-minded for suggesting that God would say some of the things I am going to cover. They will bristle over the fact that they are in need of God.
• We all have opinions over some of the text I will cover today. As Christians we must formulate what is right and wrong and what is considered sin from God’s revealed will in the Bible, not from “how I feel” about something.
• When we think of God today, we like to think that God is a god of love. We reason that only the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath.
• God has always been a God of love and a God of wrath. Today we are going to see that because of God’s wrath, which we have earned, we all need Jesus.
• Let’s read Romans 1:18 to get us started this morning.
SERMON
I. GOD’S WRATH IS REVEALED (18)
• Paul tells us the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. As I said in the introduction, many people bristle at the thought of God being a God of wrath. The wrath of God is mentioned over 30 times in the New Testament.
• When we think of wrath, we thing of someone getting mad at another to the point of a fire-breathing explosion towards another person.
• James 1:19-20 and Galatians 5:20 tells us that out bursts of anger is a sin.
• How then can God possess wrath if He is without sin? God’s wrath must be different than mine.
• When I get angry, it is not always over holy issues, but with God His wrath is not petty. There are a couple of words in the Greek that are used for wrath. One is a word that means to, “breathe violently”. The other word signifies indignation that has risen gradually and become more settled. This is the word that is used of God’s wrath.
• We get the picture of God being patient with people until He finally had enough.
• We are told that God’s wrath is “being” revealed. It is happening now. Part of God’s wrath involves punishment for what has been done. We will see that God “gave them over” in a bit. All of the things God gave us over to are forms of punishment.
• We are told the wrath is revealed against all ungodliness.
• Ungodliness is a failure in one’s duties to God. It is a lack of reverence, a neglect of worship due to Him, even giving homage to idols. It is cheating God out of what belongs to Him. Verses 19-27 speak to this.
• God finally got tired of people ignoring Him and His place in their lives. He is now revealing His wrath against this. We will look more at this later. Suffice to say that when we give our worship to anything or anyone else besides God, we will suffer consequences for it.
• God’s wrath is also revealed against all unrighteousness!
• Unrighteousness is failure in one’s duties to their fellow man. It shows itself in things such as murder, jealousy, theft, adultery, etc. When we are in a wrong relationship with God, it will affect our relationships with our fellow man. Verses 28-32 speak to this.
• God’s wrath is also revealed to those who would “suppress” the truth in unrighteousness. This deals with people who know the truth, but would withhold it, suppress it or restrain it. They have the truth, but the practice of their lives does not show it.
• We must be careful lest we fall into this trap. God is a God of love, but you had better not forget the wrath of God either. I see too many Christians who kick God to the curb when God gets in the way of what they want to do. Please do not do that.
Why is God’s wrath being revealed?
II. PEOPLE KNEW BETTER- THE REASON FOR GOD’S WRATH (19-23)
• Let’s read verses 19-23.
• These verses explain why God’s wrath is being revealed. If people were not capable of realizing there is a God in heaven, then God would not get so upset at them. Verse 19 says that God made Himself evident to people.
• The word “evident” means that the revelation from God was understood clearly. People knew enough to be responsible for their own sins. This flies in the face of extreme Calvinism which says we are not capable of doing anything good.
• This is one of the reasons we need God. We need God to help us clean up the mess we made for ourselves.
• God has given us minds and the ability to reason. We are capable of investigating God’s works and come to a proper conclusion concerning the existence of God.
• I saw a clip of a new show called Joan of Arcadia. In it a young girl meets God who is a good looking guy. She asks for a sign and he points to a tree. She says, “That is only a tree.” He responds, “Let’s see you make one.”
• Verse 20 tells us that God made Himself evident to us through creation.
• It is true that we cannot learn of God’s love, or the cross through creation, but we can learn of His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and His divine nature through creation.
• Think for a moment of the kind of power it takes to create something or to bring life to something. We are not capable of making something out of nothing like God did.
• Verse 20 says God’s power, divine nature and invisible attributes are clearly seen in nature.
• Clearly seen means that we have the intelligence to know what we see. We can see enough combined with contemplation to keep from worshipping the creation instead of the creator.
• God says it is so evident that we are without excuse! This implies a personal responsibility for what we do with what we know. Knowledge requires action. God expects us to do something with what we know. If we do not live in harmony with our knowledge, that is sin.
• In verses 21-23 we see more reasons why we are without excuse before God.
• Verse 21 says that even though they knew God, they did not honor Him. This means that people did not worship God was they should have. They gave no thanks to Him either.
• As people shut God out of their thoughts, they became futile in their reasoning or their speculations. Their supposed wisdom became foolishness.
• Sometime I have to marvel at the levels of foolishness people who try to write God off slump to.
• PSA 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.
• 1CO 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
III. CONSEQUENCES OF KICKING GOD TO THE CURB (24-32)
• READ VERSES 24-32
• Verse 24 tells us that God “gave the over.” This has a threefold meaning. God gave them over in the permissive sense. God allows us to have our own way. The second way God “gave them over” is in a privative sense. God withholds His gracious aid when we do things our own way. The third way is judicial. There is an appropriate punishment for various sins. There are not only temporal consequences. Get drunk; get a hang over, but eternal. Sin and you are separated from God unless you give your life to Jesus.
• Many people clamor for “freedom”. C.S. Lewis said in his book, “The Problem With Pain”, “The lost- enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and therefore are self-enslaved.”
• Instead of our mind and heart set on God directing our thoughts and actions, God allowed the lusts or desires of our hearts to rule our lives.
• God gave them up to the natural consequences of the desires already working in them. Unrestrained by reverence for and a sense of accountability to God, there is nothing to control the behavior except the desires or impulses of the heart. How many times have you have an impulse to do something. Then the only thing that stops you from carrying it out is your relationship with Jesus?
• People with no conscience for God have nothing to keep them on the right path.
• When I used to go on business trips, the guys would do what ever they wanted because there was no fear of their wives catching them. Well, not only did my love for Robyn keep me out of trouble, but my relationship with Jesus kept me in check also.
• The impurity in verse 24 speaks of sexual immorality. This dishonors our bodies.
• Verse 26-27 says that God gave them over to degrading passions.
• It is popular to say that homosexuality is “an alternative lifestyle.” I think people must use that word for a sanitized word for sin. I want you all to understand we are not to hate people or call them names. We are called to love people. With that said, homosexuality is an “alternative lifestyle”; it is an alternative to living a Godly life. It is a sin like stealing, lying, cheating, adultery, etc.
• Homosexuality is a sin; please make no mistake about it. It is called unnatural in these verses.
• What is the church supposed to do with homosexuals? Are we to call them names, tell them they are going to burn in hell? We are to love them and we are to take the gospel of Jesus to them. I used to work with a lot of lesbians in the factory. I got along with them all. They knew where I stood, but they also sensed that I cared about them as people. I hope none day that may lead to them giving their lives to Jesus.
• Those supposed “Christians” who want to say that lifestyle is acceptable to God is putting a death sentence on all whom they spread the lie to.
• The church needs to take a stand against SIN, not sinners! How would Jesus handle sinners? With love, but He would not condone their sins.
• Verse 28 says that God gave them over to a depraved mind. This is a mind that is no longer able to “see fit”- examine and judge and scrutinize. It is a mind void of judgment.
• Verses 29-31 explain all the things that are in a depraved mind.
• This is quiet a list of stuff. The BIG sin here is DISOBEDIENT TO PARENTS
• READ LIST.
• Verse 32 finishes out this section. READ.
• Verse 32 speaks of knowing God’s laws, yet just ignoring them anyway.
• We know the fatal consequences of our actions, yet we go ahead and sin. Not only that, we become callous to the moral ruin of others.
• This verse speaks of “giving hearty approval” to those who practice the above sins.
• This means we know what will happen to people who practice such things, yet we do not raise a voice in protect or indignation, or warning to help folks stop.
• Even though WE might not do something, we just sit back and watch people ruin themselves.
• Nothing so encourages a person to sin as to show them we think the better of them for doing it.
• There used to be a shame factor that kept many people straight, today there is no shame, not even in the church at times.
CONCLUSION
I want to summarize this text by showing how the downhill slide works.
They knew God- then they did not honor Him- then they became foolish in their speculations- their hearts became darkened – then they became foolish- which leads to losing their true notion of God- which end up in worshipping the creation instead of the creator- at which point God abandoned them, which lead to moral and physical corruption until they hit bottom.
Who needs God? WE all do! We need God to help keep us from slumping towards Gomorrah. WE Need Jesus to cleanse us from the unrighteousness we practice.
God loves us so much that He does not want us to suffer the consequences of our sins; He wants to cleanse us with the blood of Jesus!
Will you come today to experience forgiveness? Will you come today and experience the abundant life that Jesus wants you to have!
