SERMON: GM15-058
SERIES: Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained
& Applied
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM (May 24, 2015)
SECTION: The
Perversion of Righteousness (Romans 1:1-18-3:20)
SUBTITLE: The
Revelation of God’s Wrath (Part 3)
SCRIPTURE: Romans1:24-27
SUBJECT: The wrath (anger) of God
SUMMARY: God
wants you to know he is angry with mankind
SCHEME: That each member of NKBC knows the truth of God so
well that you are
always prompted to worship and serve the living and true God rather than to
worship and serve idols.
_____________________________________________________________
Our theme is: The wrath (anger) of God
Proposition: God wants you to know he is angry with
mankind
Interrogatory Sentence: Why is God so angry at
mankind?
Transitional Sentence: Our text reveals three
reasons why God is so angry at mankind.
·
…because mankind has suppressed the truth of God
·
…because mankind has subverted the truth of God
·
…because mankind has spurned the truth of God
The
Perversion of Righteousness
Romans 1:24-27
Title: The
Revelation of God’s Wrath (Part 3)
Text: Romans
1:24-27
Theme: The Wrath (anger) of God
Thrust: You should know God is angry at sinners who
pervert righteousness
Transition: Our
text tells us that God has revealed his wrath against, or is angry with…
·
… Gentiles (Heathen) who have
suppressed the truth of God
·
… Gentiles(Heathen)
who have subverted the truth of God
·
…Gentiles (Heathen)
who have spurned the truth of God
REVIEW:
Last week we
reminded you that Paul is using this section, Romans 1:18-3:20 to show that all
men are condemned as unrighteous sinners. Paul is proving that all men, both
Gentiles and Jews have perverted the righteousness of God and stand condemned
by God.
Paul explains very
carefully and very thoroughly that all men are in need of a righteousness that
can only be supplied by God. Paul’s argument is this – God is revealing His
anger or His wrath against all those who have perverted the righteousness of
God – all Gentiles and all Jews, with no exceptions.
Toward this end,
Paul addresses three groups or types of people in this section:
·
He addresses the
gentiles, whom I call the Sinful Heathen
·
He addresses the
Jews, whom I call the Sinful Hebrews
·
He addresses both
groups combined, whom I call the Sinful Humanity
Last week we began
looking at the first group of people who have perverted the righteousness of
God and that group is…
The Sinful Heathen (18-32)
appokaluptetai gar orgn qeou...
“For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…”
We made the point that
it was King David who said, “God is a
just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
And so, I believe that we have to stop and ask ourselves,
“Why is God angry at the wicked, or the heathen?
Of course we see the answer in our passage of 1:18-32. The
answer is, “The wicked, or the sinful heathen has perverted the righteousness
of God.
We asked the question how
the heathen perverts righteousness. We began with the answer that the sinful heathen has perverted the righteousness of God when they…
Suppress the Truth of God (18-22)
“…who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness…” (18b)
How does the sinful heathen
suppress the truth of God? Our text reveals that
first of all, they suppresses the truth of God…
We saw last week that the heathen suppresses the
truth at least three ways. They suppress the truth of God:
By their Impious Attitudes
(18-20)
It is an amazing thing – When mankind is confronted with the
inner voice of God somehow demonstrating the truth of His existence, the
heathen refuses to submit to this revelation. It seems that the more the
conscience is informed by God the more the sinner hardens himself against the
truth of God. He evaluates God’s truth and rejects as unworthy or without
value.
So we see
that the heathen suppresses the truth by his impious or ungodly attitudes
toward or about God.
[There is
a second way the heathen suppresses the truth.]
Our text reveals that,
they suppresses the truth of God…
By
their Impious Actions (21)
In verse 21 Paul gives us three (3) ways
that the heathen suppresses the truth of God by their impious or ungodly
actions; they dishonor God, they are ungrateful towards God, the speculate incorrectly about God.
They refuse to value God as being God, they refuse to give thanks where thanks
is due, and they speculate incorrectly about the character and nature of God & about
everything else.
IOWs, they dishonor God, they disrespect God, and they distort
God.
Well there is a third and final way the heathen
suppresses the truth of God. The sinful heathen suppresses the truth of God…
By
their Impious Adoration (22-23)
They love the wrong things. They reject
God, therefore they do not love God. So they love other things and replace God
in their affections with idols. We see that…
First of all – they substitute the
worship of God for the worship of themselves.
Second – they substitute the
worship of God for birds, and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. They make idols of birds, animals,
insects and they worship them rather than God who created them.
So last week we saw that the heathen
suppresses the truth by their impious or
ungodly attitudes and they suppress the truth by their impious or ungodly actions and they suppress the
truth by their impious or ungodly
adorations.
[And so…]
Our theme continues to be: The Wrath of God
Proposition: You should
know God is angry with those who pervert righteousness
TRUTH
FOR TODAY
[So, let’s move to the second way that
the Sinful Heathen perverts the righteousness of God. First they suppress the
truth, secondly they…]
They Subvert the Truth of God (24-27)
(Read verses 24-27)
Subvert
means “to cause the downfall, to ruin something, or cause the destruction of
something, or to undermine the principles of something or someone, or to
corrupt something.”
The
Sinful Heathen subverts, or undermines the principles or corrupts the truth of
God by, “…exchanging the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the
creature rather than the Creator…”
We
have to ask ourselves, how does the Sinful Heathen subvert or undermine, or
corrupt the truth of God? The answer is in our text. There are at least three
(3) ways the sinful heathen subverts the truth of God. They subvert the truth
of God with unbelievable purposes,
unthinkable practices, and unnatural passions.
[Let’s
start with…]
Unbelievable Purposes
“Therefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness…”
In
addition to having become futile in their thoughts, their hearts darkened,
becoming fools and idol worshippers, God gave them up or delivered over to
uncleanness.
I
want you to notice four (4) important things about this phrase:
First of all – this phrase God gave them up is used three (3)
times in verses 24 to 28. This is a very serious revelation. To see it used
three (3) times is very serious and it should make us take very careful note to
its meaning.
Second, the word “therefore” shows that this delivering up or this handing
over of sinful heathens is a direct response of God to the willful and active
rejection of the knowledge provided by God to the sinful heathens, or Gentiles.
Thirdly, the Greek word is παραδίδωμι. It means to deliver
up or to hand over to someone or something. It means to abandon to something or
someone.
Fourth, our word carries within itself the flavor of “retribution”. The idea
comes from the OT usage of this word in such places that describe God handing
over the Israelites to their enemies for the purpose of punishment, i.e. to be
defeated by their enemies.
In
our passage God is handing over, delivering up or over sinful people for
punishment for rejecting the knowledge or information that He provided to them.
This
is serious! God is handing over people to someone or something for punishment.
So, what is it that God is handing
over these sinful people?
“…to
uncleanness…” God gave these
heathen, the ones who rejected the information that He had provided to them
over to uncleanness.
What is “uncleanness?”
It is moral impurity. This word implies the defilement
of the soul by all kinds of wrongdoings.
Normally
it is used in connection with sexual profligacy. Sexual profligacy is normally
thought of as unrestrained or unrestricted sexual activity, such as promiscuity
or even prostitution.
How serious is this uncleanness?
·
It precludes or
excludes men from any fellowship or relationship with God
·
It is an absolute
alienation from God and His presence
·
It is a
description of the immoral state of an individual prior to conversion
·
It is the
expression of the nature of the unregenerate man whose actions are determined
by a commitment to innate unnatural desires inside a sinful human
·
It is a removal
or loss of any desire to purification or cleansing from sin
That
is how serious this “uncleanness” is.
What governs this uncleanness or
these unbelievable purposes?
“…in
the lusts of their heart…”
This
word lust suggests direct impulses towards sexual satisfaction. It is a
driving, almost, if not uncontrollable hunger for sexual activity. It can be
likened to hunger or to thirst. Context determines whether a good desire or an
evil lust is under discussion.
Look
at the purpose in giving or delivering these sinful heathens over to their
lusts. It is “…to dishonor their bodies amongst themselves…”
God
gives or delivers sinners who reject the information about him over to the
power of their own lusts so that they dishonor their bodies, to disgrace their
bodies, to shame themselves amongst themselves by the abuse or misuse of their
bodies.
Now
liberal theologians don’t like to think in these terms. They don’t like to
think that God would hand one of his creatures over to the power of internal
lust for the purpose of disgracing or dishonoring themselves.
As a
matter of fact a Welsh liberal
theologian interpreted this as simply “the handing over” as the outworking
of the natural processes of history. He took this action away from God and made
it non-personal or impersonal. He thinks that man just historically decided to
become sexually deviant.
Chrysostom viewed this as a passive sense. He thought that God
merely withdrew his influence from these sinful people and let them plunge into
sin that they had already chosen.
Godet, a French theologian thought that “God ceased to hold the boat as it
was dragged by the current of the river.” He felt God had a hold of their
“boat” but just let it go. And when He let it go the current dragged them into
this uncleanness.
What
they all are saying and what they mean is that God would never be party in
actively handing someone over to sin in order to be punished by that sin.
Let
me quote from Douglas Moo’s commentary on Romans. I think this gives us the
exact idea or meaning of Paul’s words.
…the meaning of hand over demands that we give God a
more active role as the initiator of the process. God does not simply let the
boat go – He gives it a push downstream. Like a judge who hands over a prisoner
to the punishment of his crime has earned, God hands over the sinner to the
terrible cycle of ever-increasing sin. [1]
Keep
in mind that God is not some Meany who hands people over to their
uncontrollable lusts for no reason. No, the purpose is remedial or reformatory.
The depth of sin in which the sinner is pulled into is designed to awaken the
sinner to the awful consequences of their sin and to cause them to repent.
Also
God does cause them to or make them to sin. He hands them over to sin for sin.
The
sinful heathen, the unconverted man or woman is full of lusts that apart from
God’s grace, controls them. These lusts lead them to such horrible lows of
dishonoring or disgracing themselves through sexual immorality.
[So,
the sinful heathen subverts, or corrupts, or undermines the principals of the
truth of God by uncleansable purposes. These purposes are the lusts that
control and drive them into sexual immorality which is designed to shame and
dishonor themselves.]
Secondly,
we see that the sinful heathen subverts the truth of God by…
Unthinkable Practices (25)
“…who
exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature
rather than the Creator...”
First of all, the first clause of this verse is not continuing the
thought begun in verse 24. Verse 23 has already told us why God is handing the
sinful heathen over to their lusts. Verse 25 is actually starting a new
sentence and should have been translated that way.
Verse
25 is not looking back, but it is looking ahead. Verse 25 provides additional
basis for why God handed them over to their sinful lusts. He did so because of
their choice to sin, it is looking toward the consequences of their sin.
Second, the truth of God that Paul is talking about is the truth of the fact
that God had revealed Himself. God revealed His existence. The natural response
was to worship God. But sinful mankind determined to suppress that revelation
and to subvert it by the unthinkable practice of idol worship.
What
is “the lie?” The text says: “…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie…”
What is the lie?
First of all, it is singular, so it is a single lie.
Second, it can be defined or determined. Paul meant the Romans to understand
him
The
lie is the lie of idolatry. It is the lie that promotes “worshipping and
serving the creature rather than the creator.” The lie is that God can be
dishonored, disrespected, distorted and then dismissed in order to be replaced
by man, animals, or insects.
The
lie is that there is benefit from rejecting God. It is thinking that there is
nothing wrong with replacing God with some aspect of God’s creation. The lie is
that you can reject God and reverence idols for comfort and without
consequence.
And
so sinful men who reject God practice unthinkable things such as worshipping
idols or developing gods of their own imagination.
Is
the practice of worshipping idols truly “unthinkable?”
Well,
I think Paul answers that question for us when he wrote, “…who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Paul adds a doxology or a benediction. When Paul
reflects on God, His character, His revelation of Himself, and the suppressing and subverting of His truth, he shrinks back in what may be revulsion
at the very thought of these practices. Paul knows that He owes His very being,
his life, his soul, and his salvation to God adds these words of praise and
adoration.
How can anyone substitute God for mere creatures
that can do nothing for them? So he concludes his thought with an Amen. He adds
a solemn word of affirmation and approval to what he just said.
[Well, the sinful heathen subverts the
truth of God with unbelievable purposes, unthinkable practices. He believes a
lie & he worships creation rather than God.]
Now, we see the third and final way that
the sinful heathen subverts the truth of God, and is by…]
UNATURAL
PASSIONS (26-27)
“For this reason God gave them up to vile
passions…”
Because man rejected the knowledge of the
existence of God and replaced God with an aspect of creation in order to
worship and serve creation rather than God, God handed them over to the unclean
lusts of their heart (24) and to their vile passions. Once again this is not a
passive action on God’s part, this is active, God pushed them over the side if
you will, and He handed them directly over to the vile passions of the sinful
heathen.
But, Paul does not focus on sexual
immorality in general at this point. Paul becomes very specific and we would
add graphic. He now focuses on the most disgusting manifestation of a person’s vile
passion, and that is willful homosexuality.
Look at the progression:
·
God gave them up or over, He handed them
over
·
To the passions that are vile and bring
dishonor
·
So that their bodies are dishonored
“…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…”
Paul is showing that the vilest form of
human desires of sexuality is homosexuality. It is not just Paul by the way.
The bible is clear on the subject of homosexuality. It does not considered it to
be an alternative lifestyle or a personal choice. The bible does not treat this
vile passion lightly.
The bible clearly teaches that sexual
intercourse is a gift and command from God, it is between a man and a woman,
and more specifically it is between a husband
and a wife. Any other
practice such as homosexuality is contrary or against the design and will of
God.
Let me say, I was not able to find any
reason or suggestion for why Paul listed homosexual relations between women
before he wrote about the homosexual relations of men. It may be that he wanted
to emphasize the perversion of male and male sexual relations by the latter
part of verse 27.
Here is a side note – Paul did not use the
normal Greek word for women, he used the word qeleia, which means female. It seems historically that in
most cultures women have been more reluctant to become involved in promiscuity
or homosexuality. But not all women who reject God will fall into
homosexuality.
In Jewish writings and teachings gross
immorality was connected to idols. Although it is not considered inspired
Scripture, in the book The Wisdom of
Solomon, “the idea of making idols
was the beginning of fornication and the invention of them was the corruption
of life.” (14:12)
Paul was familiar with that ideology. We
have already seen him make his case, crafted like a great lawyer – exchange of
the true God for idols is the cause for God’s handing them over to be punished
by their vile passions of sexual immorality and homosexuality.
The Greek Word unnatural means “against
nature.” All of creation testifies that the normal sexual use of women is by
men and the normal sexual use of men by is by women. Therefore we conclude two
things:
·
Homosexuality is not normal in the plant
or animal world, or anywhere in nature
·
Since it is against “nature” or the divine
created order, it is against God
Whether it makes sense to you and me,
whether we think it is a right or wrong practice, and regardless of any
pleasure benefited it is against the divinely ordained order of God’s purposes.
God creates each and every creation to serve a distinct purpose. God created
man to use the women for sexual purposes and He created the women to use the
man for sexual purposes.
So, to wrap up Paul’s thought in this
verse, the words “sinful passions” show these activities to be contrary to
God’s will. When you think on these things clearly and biblically it is clear
that Paul has depicted homosexual activity or behavior as a violation of God’s
created order which is an indication of the suppression and subversion of the
true knowledge and worship of God.
This is the horrible extent and excesses
that God allows the sinful to sink into.
This was necessary for at least four (4)
reasons:
·
To demonstrate how wicked it is in the
sight of God to refuse to worship Him as God and to worship and/or serve
anything in creation.
·
To demonstrate how corrupt the human
nature is as a result of the fall
·
To demonstrate to believers the depth of
the evil and wickedness that God delivered us from
·
To prove the falseness of any and all
pagan or heathen religion apart from God
Do you see just how horrible it is to
reject or deny God? When human beings want to be free from God and God’s truth,
they are handed over to sexual immorality, which includes homosexuality.
By the way, no one is born into
homosexuality. All people are born into sin. All individuals have different
tendencies, temptations, proclivities, and such. No one is born a homosexual
any more than someone is born a thief, or a murder. Any person who becomes a
habitual and unrepentant thief, murderer or homosexual does so by their own
choice.
Verse 27 continues with “…likewise
the man leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one
another, men with men committing what is shameful…”
This verse is connected to verse 26 by the
word likewise. The same wicked
passions and lusts that lead women to engage in wicked homosexual acts cause
men to do the same thing. Homosexual acts between men are against the created
order of things by God.
Paul says men burn for one another.
Burned, to be set on fire. It is a known and proven fact that there is a
burning level of lust among homosexuals that is beyond our imagination and it
is rarely known among heterosexuals.
For
example:
The homosexuals of Sodom burned so much in
their lust for the angels that visited Lot that they were made blind and they
wearied themselves trying to find the door into Lot’s house so that they could
satisfy their burning passion with the angels in Lot’s house.
And lastly, Paul writes: “…and
receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”
Let me say two things here, first, this phrase has caused a
tremendous amount of confusion, speculation, and wild interpretations. Second, it really is self-explanatory
and not confusing at all.
Those who are homosexuals and by the way
the sexual promiscuous heterosexuals, both have had the restraints of God
removed in order for them to be handed over to these disgusting and perverted
behavior are controlled and punished by their passions causing them to be
perverted, have actually gotten what they deserved.
The penalty for rejecting God and His
truth and for worshipping and serving creation is to be controlled or ruled by
sexual immorality, whether it is heterosexual sins or homosexual sins.
If you reject God and His truth, God will
hand you over to the control of your flesh. Your passions, your lust.
So the sinful heathen not only suppresses
the truth by ungodly attitudes, and ungodly actions, and ungodly adorations;
the sinful heathen subverts the truth by unbelievable purposes, unthinkable
practices, and unnatural passions.
[What do you say we wrap
this up, shall we?]
CONCLUSION
Romans 3:18 says, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
That is a quote from Psalm 36:1. As a matter of fact the first four verses
are a description of those who have rejected the knowledge and revelation of
God. They do not fear God.
In his book, The
Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis chose a Lion to represent
Jesus Christ. At times the children in the story felt comfortable to run their
fingers through his mane, take rides on his back and enjoy being in his
presence.
But his roar was ferocious enough to introduce an
element of fear. It prompted one of the children to ask, “Is Aslan safe?” The
thoughtful answer was, “No, He’s not safe, but He is good.”
God is a God of love and justice; grace and wrath, and sometimes I think we need to hear Him roar to remind us of His holiness. We need to remember that our God who is indeed very good, is also not safe in some instances. He is a God of wrath. He is a God who is angry at the wicked, he is angry at those who suppress and subvert His truth.
So, I exhort
you as genuine
believers to: know the truth of God so well that you are always
prompted to worship and serve the living and true God rather than to worship
and serve idols.
Remember,
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11:21, “Though
they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished…” (Proverbs 11:21, NKJV)
Let’s
pray! J
Benediction Blessing:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you all. Amen. (Philippians 4:23, NKJV)
[1] Douglas
Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, NITNC,
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans’s Publishing Co. 1996) p. 111
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