ROMANS 1:18-32 GODS WRATH IS BEING REVEALED2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 1:18-32 Gods Wrath Is Being Revealed

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015.

Well, this evening we are in Romans chapter 1 and we'll be finishing up the chapter looking at verses 18 through 32. And I want to start off the evening reading through not the whole passage, but I'll first read verses 18 through 23, and then we'll get into the points and what God has for us this evening. So Romans chapter 1, looking at verses 18 through 23 first. Here's what it says in verse 18.

Verse 1.

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."

Here in Romans chapter 1, Paul is continuing to introduce this book and introduce his subject, which is the gospel message. We saw last week, uh,

In verses 16 through 19, the righteousness of God being revealed, and that's why Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And we also looked at verse 18 and 19, which we'll kind of look at and recap again this evening, at the wrath of God being revealed. And so the reason why the good news is good news is because, well, the bad news is that we are deserving of judgment.

that is the wrath of God. And so the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel and the opportunity for us to be delivered from the judgment that we deserve, which is found in this gospel message, the good news of what Christ has done for us.

Now, as Paul is beginning to deal with more in depth the gospel message, he takes some time to kind of paint the backdrop. And he paints this dark scene so that as he then goes on to explain the gospel, the brightness, the light of the gospel will shine even brighter against this backdrop of the reality of the judgment that we deserve.

And as he's writing these things about the wrath of God and the condition of humanity, he's writing in terms of generally speaking. He's talking in general terms about humanity as a whole, about, you could look at it as different societies or nations that have existed throughout history. And you can see this pattern of what Paul is talking about repeated from the very beginning in the garden onward.

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It's something that we observed when we looked at the nation of Israel going through the Old Testament and the Bible in three years or a few years back as we were working our way through the minor prophets and major prophets. We saw Jeremiah and Isaiah ministering to Israel and Judah. And we kept seeing them continue to get farther and farther away from God. And the destruction that came was a result of their rebellion against God.

And so they started out good, the nation of Israel did, but they cut God out of this part of their life and they began to practice those things that God had forbidden and began to worship these other gods. And as they went down this path, they got worse and worse until finally God brought immediate judgment on them using different nations to conquer them.

Well, you can see that same pattern repeat itself all throughout history. And as Paul is writing this, of course, he's planning to go to Rome, and that's why he's writing to the Romans, but

but it's Rome who is in authority at this time. It's the Roman Empire that has been established. And you can see this pattern in Rome as well. They kind of started off strong, but then they began this path of getting further and further away from God. They didn't start very close to God at all, adopting all kinds of junk from the Greek culture. But

they continued to go farther and farther away from God and rebel against God. And then the...

Roman Empire fell as a result of the deterioration of the society. Well, I point all of that out to also share that now as we are living today in 2015 in America, we can see this similar pattern unfolding in our own nation and we're watching it unfold. And a lot of what Paul will talk about here in Romans chapter 1 is

It's like reading our headlines today. We can see these things happening. And so these are, you know, not just things that were happening in Paul's day, but these are things that are appropriate for us to consider because this is where we are as a nation. This is where our society is. And so Paul says there in verse 18 that the wrath of God is revealed. It could also be translated as being revealed. Right?

That is, it's in the present tense. It's ongoing. The wrath of God continues to be revealed. And as we live, you know, in this nation as Americans, we are seeing the wrath of God being revealed in our own society. We're watching these things from Romans chapter 1 unfold. And so the title of the message this morning is God's Wrath is Being Revealed.

And I want to walk you through this passage and look at three reasons why the wrath of God is being revealed, and then look at three ways that the wrath of God is being revealed. So first of all, why is the wrath of God being revealed? And the first point is that God's wrath is being revealed because man suppresses the truth.

Our society as humanity, we suppress the truth. In verse 18, again, it says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Now, as Paul here is talking about the wrath of God, we dealt with this last week. The wrath of God is real. And sometimes it's hard for us to think about. It's hard for us to understand the wrath of God. But I would continue to encourage you that when you do not understand the wrath of God or the judgment of God, it's because you do not understand the severity of sin and the holiness of God.

That it is right, it is just, it is fair for God to have wrath against sin because sin is horrible and it is absolutely destructive. It is real rebellion against God. It deserves judgment. And the devastation of sin doesn't just affect the person who's involved in sin, but it affects all the people around them as well.

And so the wrath of God is real. And it's in the process of being revealed against unrighteousness because God hates sin and he must punish it. And yet in the midst of him revealing his wrath, he's patient. And so he doesn't just strike us all down completely at once the moment we get off track, but

but he reveals his wrath to a greater and greater degree in order to give us opportunity to repent and come back to have right relationship with God. But one of the reasons why God's wrath is being revealed is because of the suppression of truth.

The word suppress, it means to hold back, to detain or to retain. And one of the ways that this word is used is in the idea of holding a ship on course. And if you've ever been out on a boat in the water, you understand the water is constantly moving.

And so if you're trying to get from one place to another place, well, you can't just set it on autopilot and go just like you can't in a car, right? You have to hold on to the steering wheel. Well, in a boat, it's even more important because, well, if you're not holding on to that course, if you're not holding on to the rudder or holding on to the wheel, you're going to go wrong.

in random directions, and you're not going to get to where you want to go. And so you have to hold the ship on course. And there's going to be tides and currents. There's going to be waves that try to push you in different ways. And you have to hold the ship on course or hold the boat on course. And that's the idea of this word suppress. It's that holding the course, even though there's this opposition. Well, what he's saying here then is that

Humanity or society suppresses the truth, holds down the truth in unrighteousness, even against opposition. That is, even against the revelation of the wrath of God and the revelation that there is a God. Notice he says in verse 19, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

And so God is revealing himself and he is making himself manifest and they're holding fast, suppressing the truth in spite of that. And so they're suppressing the truth because God has shown it to them.

And they're saying, nope, nope, nope, nope. I want to pretend I don't know that. I want to pretend I don't hear that. I want to pretend I don't see that. And so there's this pushing down, this holding down against the revelation that God is bringing forth to them. The New Living Translation puts verse 19 this way. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

They know the truth about God. He's made it obvious to them, but they suppress the truth.

And again, this is a very accurate description of our society. There's the reality, there's the understanding of the truth, but there's the suppression of it, the holding down. We don't want to think about that. We want to pretend like that is not true. This is true, of course, of the Jewish people who have received the scriptures, the law of God. And so they have the knowledge of the truth and the revelation from God.

But it's not limited to them. This is true of Gentiles as well. And Paul is going to be making that point as we head into chapter 2 next week. And so whether we have the scriptures or not...

There is a revelation of God that is brought to us. There's a knowledge of God that he gives to everyone. And it's being suppressed by societies. It's being suppressed by humanity. And that's one of the reasons why the wrath of God is being revealed.

Now, as we look at these things, I want to continue to remind you of verse 16 here of Romans chapter 1, where Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

As we look at why the wrath of God is being revealed and then how the wrath of God is being revealed, it's important for us to remember this is why the gospel is so important. This is why Paul can say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And this is why you and I need to learn to say the same thing. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

Because while humanity and society is attempting to hold down and suppress the truth, the people around us are caught up in this system. Paul's speaking more in general terms. He's not saying every specific individual is this way, but the people around us are caught up in this system that is attempting to suppress the truth.

And Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because what the gospel does is it reveals the righteousness of God and it's powerful into salvation. And so I'm not ashamed of the gospel because in the midst of this suppression, well, there's something that can pierce through. They're trying to hold down this knowledge, but there's something that can break through that, that can pierce through that. And that is the gospel.

And so this is the only thing that can reverse this suppression. It's the gospel message. And that's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of it because it's what's needed. It's the only thing that can break through, that can reach the people around us who are caught up in this system, who are caught up in this mentality, who are caught up in this suppression of the truth. And the gospel can pierce through and bring truth to their hearts.

It can cause them to be face to face with the truth, having to deal with it and respond to the truth, which of course is, yes, there is the wrath of God. There is the judgment of God, but then there is the righteousness of God that's revealed by faith in Jesus Christ. And so the wrath of God is being revealed because man suppresses the truth.

Secondly, as we go on in verse 20 and 21, the wrath of God is being revealed because man does not glorify God. There is this refusal to acknowledge God enough.

In verse 20, he says, Paul says,

This has been going on since the beginning. The suppression of the truth, the trying to pretend like we don't know what's going on or we don't know that there is a God. He says this has been happening from the beginning, since the creation of the world. But also since the creation of the world, it's been clearly seen that there is a God. His invisible attributes are

He said, He says, Now, when he says Godhead, don't think Trinity. Think divinity. It's not that he's trying to say that creation reveals the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He's saying creation reveals that there is a God.

Creation reveals that there is a divine being. Creation declares this. There's two kinds of revelation that we usually talk about. There's general revelation and there's special revelation. General revelation is the revelation that everybody can see and know about God from creation.

Special revelation is the word of God. It's where God kind of goes supernatural and speaks forth to humanity. And so here Paul's talking about this general revelation that creation reveals to everybody generally that there is a God. It's clearly seen, and he says, being understood by the things that are made. This word understood means

It means to perceive with your mind. It means to think, to ponder, to consider. It's different than what you can perceive and receive with your eyes or with your senses, but it's reason. He says it's being understood. It's conclusions that we come to because of what we perceive.

Because of the world around us, because of creation, he says, mankind understands. Mankind is accountable for whether or not they come to the conclusion that God exists. What you clearly see around you in creation is enough to make you think. And if you will honestly think, you will know that there is a creator. That's what Paul is saying here.

David says something similar back in the book of Psalms, in Psalm chapter 19. He says, And notice verse 3. Every person for all history...

has heard the voice of creation speaking forth day and night that there is a God. The heavens declare the glory of God. And so no matter what kind of

revelation a person has, no matter if they've experienced visions, or they have the Bible, or they've heard the gospel. It doesn't matter what kind of revelation they've received. They have received enough revelation to know that there is a God, and God's going to be holding people accountable for the amount of revelation that they have. Going on in verse 21, he says, 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. So Paul says they saw creation around them. They thought. They understood. And so they knew God. They knew that there is a God. They knew that there is a creator. But then they refused to glorify God.

This word glorify, it means to recognize, to honor, or to praise. And so they know that there is a God, but they refuse to recognize him as God. They refuse to honor him as God. That is, they will not submit to him. They will not listen to him. They will not put his thoughts above their own thoughts. They insist on suppressing the truth.

And so they did not glorify him as God. And then notice it says, nor were thankful. So they wouldn't acknowledge God and they wouldn't thank God. And that's an interesting thing to say that not only would they not acknowledge God, but they wouldn't thank God. They don't appreciate that God is our creator, that he is the one that we, well, we owe all things to because we have nothing apart from him. But

Although they can look around, they can see, they can understand that. He says, although they knew God, they did not glorify him. They did not thank him. Instead, they became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. So instead of acknowledging God and thanking God, their hearts were darkened. He says their foolish hearts were darkened.

Reminds me of another Psalm. Psalm chapter 14 verse 1. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. That's what Paul is talking about here. The fool says there is no God. Not because he doesn't know that there is a God. Because although he knows, he refuses to acknowledge God. And because of this, the wrath of God is being revealed. God is revealing himself to those who refuse to acknowledge him by wrath.

And that's why, again, Paul says in verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Because not only is there this suppression of the truth, but there's this absolute refusal to glorify God, to acknowledge that there is a creator that we are accountable to. And again, it's

We can see this unfolding. We can see this being played out in our society. And the people around us are caught up in this system, which is teaching them and encouraging them and helping them to refuse to glorify God, to acknowledge God and be thankful to God. But the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. And if anything can pierce through this system that teaches us to ignore God,

It's the gospel message. If there's anything that can deal with the thoughts of futility and the foolish darkened hearts, it's the gospel message. It can shine light on those darkened hearts. It's the power of God unto salvation. It's able to pierce through, and it's the only thing that can reverse it. And so Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

And again, this is why I'm sharing this, because as we see these things unfold in our society, much as Paul was watching it unfold in Rome, or in the Roman Empire, we, well, we need to know the gospel. And we need to share the gospel. And we need to be excited about the gospel, because it's the gospel that can break through all of these things. Well, going on into verse 22 and 23, the third reason why the wrath of God is being revealed is,

is because man worships the creature instead of the creator. Man worships the creature. In verse 22, he says, We think that we are so smart, especially when we are in rebellion against God. We're convinced. We're so smart.

and we, I'm speaking generally as humanity, we can come up with some really impressive sounding arguments for why we refuse to believe in God. And our society is convinced that we are creating the best society that's ever existed when we exclude God. We're convinced of this, and our society is working hard to do that so that we can have the ultimate, the best society possible.

And so there's this effort, there's this work to remove God, to try to keep people from acknowledging God. But it's foolish to acknowledge what's right in front of you. And so professing to be wise, coming up with great sounding arguments. Now, there's a lot of things that we could talk about in this. One of those things, of course, is the whole idea of evolution. It's

Presented as fact. It's presented as you're stupid if you don't believe this because it's proven. It's true. There's no disputing it. But of course, that's not the reality. But there's this adherence to it. There's this insistence upon it because, well, we're so wise and we are so smart and here's what we have. And so in this insistence on their wisdom, they became fools.

And what that results in, in verse 23, it says, and change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible men and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. This insistence on our great wisdom always results in idolatry. Now, I talked a little bit about idolatry on Sunday as Jacob told his family to put away their false gods, their foreign gods.

And it was actual statues and things that they would worship. And so they buried those things. And of course, that kind of idolatry has always existed and still exists and continues to exist. But we have the same kinds of idolatry, the same concepts of idolatry in our society, but just in a little bit different format. We don't bow down to the statue necessarily, but

But the bottom line is that our culture worships ourselves. We worship ourselves in our society, in our culture. We worship our intellect, our ideas. We worship our pleasure. We worship our own selves. And so there's this exchange, changing the glory of the incorruptible God into

to an image made like corruptible man. We worship something that's corrupted. We worship something that is lesser when we worship ourselves. And there's this exchange that happens, exchanging the truth of God for a lie, he'll say in verse 25. The reality for this fantasy, which is not even a good fantasy, it's a destructive fantasy.

And so our society is working at changing the glory of the incorruptible God into something that, well, is in our image that we've created. And as I mentioned before, so there's this effort to remove all references to God. Again, speaking about our nation, our society, we're watching this unfold. There's the battles that are taking place. The battles regarding marriage are

are battles regarding the reality or the acknowledging of God and this higher authority that we are accountable to. The battles about, you know, meeting in public spaces are battles about acknowledging God. It's something that is continuing to happen throughout our society. Just a couple weeks ago, there was a

Kind of an issue that happened. There were some articles that were written as a result of this sign that was posted outside of an army recruitment office. And so the army has a picture of the Special Forces Ranger patch. And it says, on a mission for both God and country.

And so there was an uproar because God is mentioned here as this, you know, recruitment center is recruiting people into the military. And so there's an organization called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that brought this up and made a, you know, a big fuss and tried to get it removed. And it was removed. And the superiors in the military or superiors in the army removed it

Because of this reference to God. Well, one of the spokesperson for this Military Religious Freedom Foundation said something in the article that I wanted to highlight for you. He says, So they're saying it's unconstitutional. But then he goes on to say,

Although we're delighted that it's been removed, he says, whoever in any way, shape, or form allowed that poster to be designed, prepared, and displayed, those individuals should be aggressively investigated and very visibly punished.

So the whole idea of this being designed and put out there, he says, they should be aggressively investigated and very visibly punished. Let's strike down. Let's make sure nobody ever tries to do this again. We need to get this whole idea of God out of our system.

That's the mentality of the system that we're in, of our society. That's what's going on. And it's going to continue that way. And so there's this changing the truth of God mentality.

the glory of God for what we've created. Let's have a society without any concept of God, and it's going to be better than a society that's based on acknowledging that there is a God. That's the mindset. That's the philosophy.

And so there's this exchanging the truth of God for the lie. This is separate from not even talking about the gospel, but just refusing to admit, refusing to deal with the reality that there is a God, that there is a creator. He goes on in verse 25 to say that we worship and serve the creature rather than the creator.

There's this worship of the creature. Now, in our case, in our society, we're worshiping us as the creature. And the system that we'll create is going to be better than the system that God has created. And our ideas are better than God's ideas. And what we think is what is right and what we think is what is best. And there's this worship, there's this idolatry of our own mind, of our own intellect, of our own system and our ideas and philosophies.

And so the wrath of God is being revealed because of these things. Man suppresses the truth. Man does not glorify God because man worships the creature. It was true in Rome. It was true in Israel. It was true for many nations before and since. But it's true today. And again, this is why we should not be, we must not be ashamed of the gospel.

Because as our society, as humanity is intent on worshiping the creature instead of the creator, the gospel is a message that cuts right to the heart of that in revealing our need for a savior, in revealing there is a God who loves us, that he is a creator who has, well, sacrificed his only son for us. The people around us are caught up in this system.

And the gospel message can pierce through all the deception, all the lies, all the suppression, all the refusing, all the great sounding intellectual arguments. It's the gospel message. Again, as I quoted, I think it was last week from Corinthians, Paul said, the gospel message is foolishness to the Greeks. It's a stumbling block to the Jews. It's so simple, but it's powerful and it cuts through everything.

And it's desperately needed in our society. Now, as Paul goes on in the rest of these verses for this evening, we'll now look at how the wrath of God is revealed. So these are the reasons why the wrath of God is being revealed.

But as he unfolds how the wrath of God is being revealed, again, these are things that we can see happening in our society and in our nation. And so the first way to consider that the wrath of God is being revealed today is that God is letting us pursue our lust. Look at verse 24. He says, Therefore...

God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust 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.

And so because of all these things, because they've suppressed the truth and will not glorify God and worships the creature, therefore, verse 24, here's what's happening as a result of those things. Here's what God is doing. It says, God also gave them up to uncleanness. Now, make sure you take a note of this. This is not God giving up on them, but God giving them. It's different. It's

The whole idea here is this word that's translated to give them up or gave them up. It's to deliver into the hands of somebody, to give over to one's power, or to permit or allow. And that's why I put this way in the point. God reveals his wrath by letting us, by permitting us, by allowing us to pursue our lusts.

When a society, when a people, when a person suppresses the truth and refuses to glorify God and worships the creature rather than the creator, then God will then allows, permits, or will let that people, that society pursue uncleanness. Now again, he does this

so that we have opportunity to repent. We experience some of the wrath of God because the uncleanness that we pursue has devastating consequences. The wages of sin is death. There is destruction. The reason why sin is called sin and forbidden is because it destroys. God says, don't do that because it's going to hurt you.

But when we insist and insist and insist, no, we're going to do this, and we suppress the truth and reject God and worship ourselves and convince ourselves this is what's best and we can do what we want, well, then God will say at some point, okay, well, I'll let you go after that then. And that's his wrath being revealed. He's letting us go pursue those things that will destroy us so that we suffer consequences, so that we experience the devastation of

And again, it's still God in his grace and mercy through the midst of that, giving us opportunity to repent. If you or I was God and we were in control, we'd look at someone who's suppressing the truth and refusing to glorify God and worshiping the creature. We'd be like, you're out of here. No more chances for you. That's three strikes. You're out. But God gives more than three strikes. He gives this opportunity. And so he reveals his wrath in measures.

So that we experience some judgment. So that we can come back and get right with God if we decide, if we choose, if we will allow him to work in us. So he lets us pursue our lusts. It's something he also did with the nation of Israel in Psalm chapter 81.

Paul, I'm sorry, the psalmist is talking about the nation of Israel and speaking for God. He says, but my people would not heed my voice and Israel would have none of me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart to walk in their own councils. But then notice God's heart in this. In verse 13, oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways. So he's not saying I've given up, I'm done with them. He says, I've given them over to me.

And my heart in that is, oh, that they would come back, that they would listen to me and walk in my ways. The giving over, the revelation of the wrath of God is so that people might have opportunity to listen to God and to walk in his ways. And so God reveals his wrath by letting us pursue our lusts. He says, in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

The New Living Translation puts verse 24 this way. The New Living puts it this way, that God abandoned them. Now again, not that he's given up on them.

but that he's removed his restraints. He's removed his protections. And he says, okay, well, if you're insisting, go ahead and do those things that you want to do, the uncleanness that you want to participate in. Go ahead, and you will experience the consequences for that. That's the wrath of God being revealed. David Guzik says this about verse 24. He says, we err...

When we think it is God's mercy or kindness that allows man to continue in sin, it is actually his wrath that allows us to go on destroying ourselves with sin. Have you ever thought that? Maybe in your own life, God's allowing you to continue on in sin and you're thinking, wow, it's God's mercy or his kindness. And Guzik points out, no, actually it's his wrath. He's letting you continue to do those things which are destroying you, which are causing great harm.

Or you're looking on at somebody else's life and you're thinking, wow, God is so merciful to them. Look at what they're doing. And he's not judging them. He hasn't stricken them with lightning yet. God's showing his kindness, showing his mercy. And again, Guzik is saying, no, that's his wrath being demonstrated. It's his mercy in the sense that, well, he's still giving them opportunity to repent. But as they continue to practice that sin,

In the midst of that time where they have opportunity to repent, they're continuing to reap consequences and the wrath of God, the judgment that comes from that. And so the wrath of God is being revealed by God letting us pursue our lusts. Again, these are things that we can look around in our nation and we can see unfolding around us. There's the pursuit of our own lusts, the pursuit of the desires of our hearts, the

And this is why we should not be ashamed of the gospel. Because, well, people are experiencing the revelation of the wrath of God, reaping the consequences for pursuing those lusts. And so there's people who are hurting. They're devastated. They're empty. They're miserable. Because the wrath of God is being revealed in their hearts and in their lives. They're experiencing the consequences of those pursuits.

That's the wrath of God being revealed. But the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. And those people around us who are experiencing the consequences, who are experiencing the revelation of God's wrath as a result of their pursuit of these lusts, well, God, through the gospel message, is able to pierce through to their hearts. He's able to reveal his righteousness instead of his wrath through the gospel message.

And so this is the message that has power. This is why this is so important. This is why Paul is going to spend the next eight chapters really digging into the gospel message, because it's powerful. You think about our society, our nation, and it's not hard. You could find a

person on the radio, you can find a person on TV, you can find, you know, different articles online or in papers. And it's very easy to find those who would lament what's happening in our nation. Those who are distraught over the president that we have.

Those who would say, you know, it's tragic that we are turning from being a Christian nation and now we're no longer a Christian nation. And it's very easy in those conversations that are happening to kind of be like, it's kind of like a doom and gloom type of strain or theme that's going on. Like, well, now we're never going to be effective again as Christians because look at where our society is at. But here's what you got to understand.

We're living in conditions that were similar to the conditions that Paul was living in under the Roman Empire. The uncleanness that our nation is pursuing is the same uncleanness that those people were pursuing. And Paul's not saying, oh man, if only there was a Christian emperor, you know, then we could really thrive with the gospel message. Then the gospel message would be really powerful. No, he's saying, look,

There is devastation as a result of sin. Yeah, there's a complete rejection of God. And that's why I'm not ashamed of the gospel because that's what can change lives. And sometimes we get caught up in that, oh no, our nation is doomed. Well, yeah, it is doomed. We can't look for heaven on earth. That's not going to happen. We're not going to have a Calvary Chapel pastor as a president. It's not going to happen.

It could happen. God could do it. There could be great revival. It could happen, but it's probably not going to happen. We're not going to have state assemblies, Congress, completely Bible-believing, Bible-teaching. It's not going to happen. It could happen. God could do that. That would be a great revival.

But that's not really going to happen. That's not the reality. And that's not what we need. And it's not that we could only, you know, have a real powerful gospel message if that were the case. If only we had a Christian in the White House. If only we had a Christian in, you know, authority. Then everything would be great. Then the gospel would be powerful. No, no. The gospel is powerful. And even in the midst of the deterioration of our own nation, it's

it still remains that the gospel is powerful. It's the revelation of the righteousness of God. And as much as people refuse to acknowledge God and insist that there is no God and insist that there is no need for the gospel message, they know that there is a God. And that's why the wrath of God is being revealed. They're experiencing the wrath of God as God lets us pursue our lusts. Well, it continues on in verse 26 and 27.

The wrath of God is being revealed by God letting us pursue vile passions. Verse 26, for this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. He says, for this reason. What reason? Well, the reason that man suppresses the truth and does not glorify God and worships the creature rather than the creator. For this reason,

Because man is insisting on these things, God gave them up to vile passions. So first he says he gives us up to uncleanness, pursuing the lust of our hearts. But now God gives them up to vile passions. It's a progression. Things getting from bad to worse. From wrath being revealed to more wrath being revealed. And so in verse 24 and 25,

He's talking about uncleanness and lusts that are destructive, sinful behavior. And now that continues and the perversity increases. And that's what usually happens in a society when the wrath of God is being revealed. If in that time when the wrath is revealed that people aren't turning back to God, well, then there's going to be this increase. We're not satisfied with this particular amount of sin. We think it'll satisfy us. So we go down that path.

And the wrath of God is revealed. And we're left empty. We're left miserable. And then we have a choice. We can turn back to God or we can pursue our sin yet further. And that's what's being described here. There's this pursuit of these vile passions now.

I mean, if you want to think about it in a different way, maybe you could think about it back in the old school days, which were before my time. But, you know, there was the great, great commotion whenever, you know, there was the Elvis thrusting his hips on TV, right? I'm not going to attempt to do it. But it was like unthinkable that someone would ever do that.

you look back now and it's like, that's nothing compared to where we're at now, right? There's this increase in, well, in perversity, in our sinfulness. The word passion here, as he talks about these vile passions, it really speaks about our diseased condition in our soul. And so he's giving us over to this disease that we have, our sinful nature, right?

And so as we engage in these, the pursuit of our lusts, it leads to then even worse things, vile passions, like just completely letting us go in these things that ought not to be done. And so the example he gives here in verse 26 and 27 is that of homosexuality. He says, they exchange the natural use for what is against nature.

In verse 24 and 25, as he's letting us pursue our lusts, there's a lot of lusts that you can pursue that are within the natural context. And so if you're talking about sexual immorality, you know, thinking about, well, there's a lot of, you know, one night stands that you can have. There's a lot of fornication that you can involve yourself in. There's a lot of adultery that you can involve yourself in. And that's consistent with what's natural.

But then there's this progression into what's unnatural, and that is homosexuality. In verse 27, he says, And so as Paul addresses this idea of homosexuality here, we understand that it's not a new issue. This is not something that we're just, you know,

facing in our culture and it's never been faced before. In fact, this is something that's been repeated over and over and over throughout history from the very beginning. You might remember, of course, in the book of Genesis, the destruction, the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah as a result of these types of situations.

God makes reference to the Canaanites. Remember, as God brought Israel into the promised land, he said, wait, you can't do it yet. He told Abraham, we got to wait 400 years for their sin to be complete. That's 400 years of them suppressing the truth, refusing to glorify God, worshiping the creature instead of the creator.

And then God's going to reveal his wrath, and he's going to bring the children of Israel in to drive out the inhabitants of the land. But in Leviticus chapter 18, he talks about all the abominations that the Canaanites were practicing. And one of those things was the practice of homosexuality. And so we see it throughout history in Sodom and Gomorrah with the Canaanites, with Israel, with, you know, going on into Paul's day with Greece and Rome.

And then on to today. It's an ongoing issue that's part of a further revelation of the wrath of God being revealed, of the restraints being removed. And as a society, as we pursue these things. Now, this is really important. Again, Paul is talking about a society. As for an individual who's involved in homosexuality, it's not different than any other sin in that context.

The resolution of it is the same. And the need for repentance is the same as any other sin. And the power of the gospel is the same as with any other sin. But for us as a society, with the prevalence of homosexuality and the support of homosexuality, it's a strong indication of the wrath of God that is being revealed. And so we see that happening in our society. And again, it's an indication for us of where we're at.

And again, this is why we must not be ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God to salvation. The people around us are caught up in this system that is setting itself up and storing and treasuring for itself the wrath of God. And we're already experiencing the wrath of God. It's being revealed, but it's not complete yet. There's judgment that's coming as a result of where we're at as a nation and as a society. And the only thing that can pierce through

To the people around us, the suppression, the rejection of God, the worship of the creature. The only thing that can pierce through is the gospel. And that's why Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. Well, finally, the final way that God's wrath is being revealed is in verses 28 through 32. God's wrath is revealed by letting us pursue all unrighteousness.

Now, a lot of times as we talk about Romans chapter 1 as believers, we focus on, we, you know, hyper pay attention to the whole issue of homosexuality because it's kind of a hot topic these days. But as you look at these final verses, you can see this is not like the main issue or the only issue. This is one thing in the midst of a lot of things that

that the wrath of God is being revealed against. In verse 28, he says, So he says, Same things that we've been looking at before.

to a debased mind. That word debased, it means to be unapproved or unworthy, something that doesn't stand the test. And in the Greek, there's a play on words that we don't get to see really in English. But the idea here is they did not approve God. They didn't retain God in their knowledge. They did not approve God. And so God gave them a mind that is unapproved or disapproved.

So that they do the things which are not fitting. And he explains those or lists those in verse 29 through 31. He says,

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. Good thing we brought the youth back in here for that one. Let me read it again. Disobedient to parents,

Undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. And so he lists these things. He says, we've been given over to these things as part of the revelation of the wrath of God being given over to a debased mind. We're not able to test, to know what's good. And so we involve ourselves in all of this unrighteousness.

including sexual immorality, but also including disobedience, also including being unloving or unforgiving, also including backbiting or hating God. All of these things are part of the revelation. And so as we see, I mean, you'd have a hard time picking out one of these that we don't see prevalent in our society. I mean, these are happening right now because the wrath of God is being revealed today.

The wrath of God is being revealed and we're seeing all of this unfold. In verse 32, he says, 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. He goes back to the point that he kind of started with there in verse 18. He says, we know the righteous judgment of God. We know there is a God. We try to suppress the truth.

But we know that there is a God. And we know that those who practice those things are deserving of death. We deserve God's judgment. We know that. That's built into every one of us. But we do them anyways. Again, speaking as a society, we engage in these things anyways. And we approve those who practice them. And so Guzik says, we are genuinely spiritually insane in our rebellion against God.

Because we know the truth, we know the consequences, and we do it anyway. That's insane. But that is where our society is at. Because the wrath of God is being revealed. And so, as a nation, as a people, we are pursuing all unrighteousness. It started with us pursuing our lusts, and then it progressed to pursuing vile passions. And now it's just, everything's let loose.

And we're on an all-out sprint to run away from God and experience the fullness of the wrath of God. Judgment is coming. And every person without Christ will be judged. That's the reality. And again, that's why we must not be ashamed of the gospel.

People are caught up in this system. As our nation heads down this path towards more wrath and more destruction, there's people around us that are caught up in this. But the gospel reveals the righteousness of God. And the only thing that can pierce through is this gospel message. And people have been given over to a debased mind. They're not able to know what's right and wrong. They're not able to tell and approve what's right and wrong. But it can be reversed.

with the gospel message. That's why Paul says in Romans chapter 12, verse two, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You used to have a debased mind, but your mind can be renewed in Christ. The power of God to change your mind is found in the gospel message. It's the only thing that can reverse it. And so the wrath of God is being revealed because men suppress the truth.

Our society suppresses the truth, knows the truth, but tries to hold it down, tries to pretend it's not there. God's wrath is being revealed because man does not glorify God. Although we know there is a God, although we can see all the evidence and it's understood, our society is refusing to acknowledge and to submit to God. God's wrath is being revealed because man worships the creature.

Again, in our society, we worship ourselves, our own ideas, our own philosophies, our own intellect. We celebrate those as if they were superior to God's. And so God is really revealing his wrath by letting us pursue our lusts and our vile passions and all unrighteousness. And that's why the world around us desperately needs the gospel message because it's the only thing that can pierce through, but also the

Because as we're on this, we're in the last phase, you know, in that sense that the wrath of God is being revealed to greater and greater degree. And then comes the absolute destruction of a society, of a people as a result of this rebellion against God. And so we're on a limited time. Time's running short. People need the gospel message and it's the power of God unto salvation. Amen.

Jonathan is going to come up and lead us in a couple of last songs. As he does, I want to remind you of Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12 and 13. The author of Hebrews says, So the author of Hebrews says, watch out for yourself. Watch out for yourselves as a body.

So that there's not one of you that is caught up in the evil heart of unbelief. And how do we do that? How do we help each other not get caught up in this system that is around us? Well, he goes on to say in Hebrews 3.13, Paul's talking about societies here in Romans chapter 1.

But if we allow ourselves to follow and get sucked into that system and we begin to suppress the truth and involve ourselves in sin, we get hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And we get on that same trajectory. And so there's a danger for us to get caught up in sin and begin to suppress the truth and refuse to glorify God and worship the creature. There's a danger of us to get caught up in those things.

And so the author of Hebrews says, watch out for one another. And the way that you do that is by exhorting one another daily while it's called today. And so as he leads us in these last couple songs, I want to give you the opportunity to minister to one another, to exhort one another, to help each other. Again, it's practice for sharing the gospel because you've got to exercise those thoughts about going to share with somebody and going to pray with somebody. But it's a safe environment.

And they're not going to laugh at you here. There's no, there's no, you know, we're all wearing our foam pads, you know, it's like, okay, we can stumble over our words. It's okay. It's not a big deal. It's practice. But it's also exhortation that we all need so that we're not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So Jonathan's going to lead us in a couple songs. And as he does, I want to give you the freedom and encourage you. You can get up and move about. Go pray for one another. Encourage each other with scripture. Share with one another what God's put upon your heart. And allow God to use you to exhort and encourage someone else to help them not get caught up in this world system. Let's worship the Lord and minister to one another.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.