Roman's Road Of National Depravity

“The Roman’s Road of National Depravity”

Romans 1:18-32

Your bulletins say that today we will be revisiting the “Biblically Functioning Church”

Yet, I have to ask you to suspend your anticipation of that message until next week, as this morning we are going to focus our attention in another direction.

As most of you know, I preach verse-by-verse through Scripture, and rarely do I engage specific issues and topics. I simply allow Scripture to guide our direction of learning.

Yet, as I examine history, I note that so many of the most notable pastors of history took to their pulpits at times of great cultural distress to remind their hearers of Scriptural truth when it was being rejected by society.

I am reminded of Augustine who stood against the heretical teachers of his day like Pelagius, and the Reformers who preached many of their messages in direct response to the heresies being perpetuated by the Roman Church.

Today, men like Albert Meholer and the late Dr. D. James Kennedy preach and teach about the problems facing the culture all around us, and what the Bible says about it.

We see this also in the Biblical presentation. The Prophets often dealt specifically with the national sins of Israel, and cried out for their repentance. The Apostles often did the same as well (In our study of Hebrews, we note that the entire book is based on the problem of Jews wanting to defect from Christ).

Even Jesus, in His great Sermon on the Mount dealt specifically with the problems and misunderstandings of the people of His day. He spoke to them saying, “You have heard it said...but I say to you…” By doing this, Jesus was addressing the specific problems facing His immediate audience, while at the same time laying a groundwork of theology for generations to come.

Now, I predicate this message with these things because I was struck this week by reading a legal decision in our land.

The ruling was on the subject of a disastrous oxymoron that has crept into our vernacular: “Homosexual Marriage”

Even though the people stood against this exercise of depravity in their votes, they have been overruled by a radical judiciary.

I believe this is pushing us further down what I call, “The Roman’s Road of National Depravity”.

We have what is called “The Romans Road to Salvation”, which is a group of passages used to lead a person to faith in Christ.

But also in Romans we find a section of Scripture that pictures for us what it looks like when God gives a people over to their inherent depravity.

My fear, beloved, is that what we are seeing in our nation is no less than this passage being fulfilled before our very eyes.

READ: Romans 1:18-32

COMMENTS FROM THE CALIFORNIA RULING, NOW LAW:

Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals.

Religious beliefs that gay and lesbian relationships are sinful or inferior to heterosexual relationships harm gays and lesbians.

Children do not need to be raised by a male parent and a female parent to be well-adjusted, and having both a male and a female parent does not increase the likelihood that a child will be well-adjusted.

The gender of a child’s parent is not a factor in the child’s adjustment. The sexual orientation of an individual does not determine whether that individual can be a good parent.

"Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples."

QUOTE: Albert Mohler #1

“The question of homosexual marriage presents the American people with an inescapable moral challenge. The words homosexual and marriage are inherently contradictory. The very fact that these terms are in public conflict demonstrates the radical character of the social revolutionaries that now demand the legalization of homosexual marriage.

For at least the last one hundred years, America has experienced an unprecedented season of social transformation. Now, this transformation has been extended to experimentation with the most basic institutions and cherished principles of our common life. A conversation about "homosexual marriage" is only possible if the concept of marriage is completely redefined and severed from its historic roots and organic meaning.

Civilization requires the regulation of human sexuality and relationships. No society--ancient or modern--has survived by advocating a laissez faire approach to sex and sexual relationships. Every society, no matter how liberal, sanctions some sexual behaviors and proscribes others. Every society establishes some form of sexual norm.

Pitirim Sorokin, the founder of sociology at Harvard University, pointed to the regulation of sexuality as the essential first mark of civilization. According to Sorokin, civilization is possible only when marriage is normative and sexual conduct is censured outside of the marital relationship. Furthermore, Sorokin traced the rise and fall of civilizations and concluded that the weakening of marriage was a first sign of civilizational collapse.”