#7 11-12-06 AM – HCBC
The Wrath of God – Part II
Romans 1:21-25
Exchanging the Truth Denies the Worship of God
Paul and the gospel. 1:1-7
Paul and the Romans. 1:8-13
The heart of God’s servant. 1:8-13
The paid and the unpaid debts. 1:14-15
8 reasons not to be ashamed of the gospel. 1:16-17
The Wrath of God Against All Mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
Depraved Gentile society Hedonist 1:18-32
Critical moralizers Moralist 2:1-16
Self-confident Jews Legalist 2:17 – 3:8
The whole human race Everyone 3:9-20
The Wrath of God – Part I Suppressing the Truth Demands the Wrath of God (18-20)
The Wrath of God – Part II Exchanging the Truth Denies the Worship of God (21-25)
The Wrath of God – Part III Rejecting the Truth Discards the Wisdom of God (26-32)
The Wrath of God:
The Greek word here is orge, which describes indignation.
This word focuses on an inward, considered, thoughtful, settled, righteous anger.
God’s wrath is His perfectly righteous indignation toward anything short of His perfect
righteousness!
J. I. Packer:
One of the most striking things about the Bible is the vigor with which both
Testaments emphasize the reality and terror of God’s wrath.
A. W. Pink:
A study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to
the anger, fury, and wrath of God than there are to His love and tenderness.
Is being Revealed from Heaven
God’s wrath has been revealed!
God’s wrath will be revealed!
God’s wrath is being revealed!
In what way is this so?
How is the wrath of God currently being made manifest?
“the inherent tendency of moral evil to produce evil.”
Boice:
“Human depravity and the misery involved are the revelation of God’s anger.”
Against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
This may come as a surprise to some, but this includes all of us.
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Obviously, some people are morally better than others, but even the most moral and upright
person falls far short of God’s standard of perfect righteousness. No one escapes.
Godlessness = asebia = ungodliness
Lack of reverence for God Lack of devotion to God Lack of worship of God
Godlessness means being without God!
God’s wrath is being revealed against those who are without God because,
as we shall see they suppress the truth,
they reject the truth,
and they do not consider the truth to be worthwhile!
Wickedness = adikia = unrighteousness
This word focuses on the result of men being godless or ungodly.
Wickedness is the result of godlessness!
Suppress the Truth
Paul says that the problem is that man is constantly attempting to suppress the truth by
steadfastly holding to their sin.
Unrighteousness is so much a part of man’s nature that every person has a built-in, natural,
compelling desire to suppress and oppose God’s truth.
Ps 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
Unless and until God intervenes in a life, man suppresses the truth!
What truth?
General Revelation
Every man is aware of God’s existence –
Everyone knows that God is, yet everyone suppresses this truth!
From general revelation, everyone knows about God!
Specifically, what is it that is known about God?
God’s eternal power Job 38
God’s divine nature
Yet man suppresses this truth because he loves darkness!
And because of this the wrath of God is being revealed!
The Wrath of God Against All Mankind. 1:18 – 3:20
Depraved Gentile society Hedonist 1:18-32
Rom 1:18-20 Part I Suppressing the Truth Demands the Wrath of God
Rom 1:21-25 Part II Exchanging the Truth Denies the Worship of God
Rom 1:26-32 Part III Rejecting the Truth Discards the Wisdom of God
Critical moralizers Moralist 2:1-16
Self-confident Jews Legalist 2:17 – 3:8
The whole human race Everyone 3:9-20
They knew God…
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
They knew God because of His self-revelation in creation!
They knew that God exists!
They knew about God!
They didn’t glorify Him
Ps 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God;…
Do we?
1 Cor 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God.
Do we?
1 Pet 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of
God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God
provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Do we?
Php 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father.
Do we?
The people who Paul was speaking about here in Romans 1:21 did not glorify God!
So the wrath of God was being revealed against them!
They didn’t give Him thanks
The Apostle Paul was constantly giving thanks to God for the faith of the people
in the churches that he planted.
Php 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Paul was often encouraging Christians to be thankful people!
1 Th 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
But perhaps the greatest example is seen in Luke 17:11-19!
One, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God, in a loud voice!
He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him!
We have been “healed” from so much!
Why aren’t we more thankful?
We take our salvation so much for granted!
Why aren’t we more thankful?
The people of whom Paul speaks didn’t give God glory - and they weren’t thankful!
BUT
Their thinking became futile
= pointless = useless = fruitless
Scripture teaches that for people who reject God, every inclination of their heart is evil.
God says that those who reject Him have followed worthless idols and became
worthless themselves.
This is what the theologian calls the depravity of man!
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Mankind knows God exists, but he doesn’t glorify God and he doesn’t give God thanks!
Instead his thinking becomes futile!
Eph 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer
live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
The Christian life must be a changed life!
Because the people in verse 21 of Romans 1 knew God and yet did not give him glory
nor give Him thanks, their thinking became futile, and then further…
Their hearts were darkened
Eph 4:18-19 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life
of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of
their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over
to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual
lust for more.
We may think: “How could they?”
We should not, because at one time we were in the same condition!
Were it not for the grace of God in our lives, we would have futile thinking and
darkened hearts!
God knows that sometimes we still do!
They claimed to be wise…
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the
immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Pro 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
Pro 14:16 A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.
Pro 26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Isa 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Jer 8:9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have
rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?
Mat 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is
like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
God will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
God has made foolish the wisdom of the world.
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
The people Paul spoke about here in Romans 1:21 claimed to be wise…
Instead:
They became fools one characterized by stupidity or deception
Ps 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
Pro 10:14 Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
Pro 10:23 A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding
delights in wisdom.
Pro 28:26 He who trusts in himself is a fool…
Eccl 2:14 …the fool walks in the darkness…
They claimed to be wise, but instead they became fools!
They were trusting in themselves, saying there is no God…
They exchanged the glory of God
They replaced the glory of God
They substituted the glory of God
They traded the glory of God
For images:
Man - Birds - Animals - Reptiles
What do fools today exchange, replace and substitute the glory of God for?
Relationships – careers – pets – pleasure – vehicles – technology
Food – security – ease – money – entertainment – houses – clothes…
They exchanged the truth…
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather
than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie
They knew God – but they traded that knowledge for a lie!
Adam & Eve did that! They traded the truth of God for a lie!
Paul did the reverse when he traded his status and accomplishments for the sake of
becoming a Christian!
“I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ!” (Php 3:8)
But the people described in our passage here in Romans 1 exchanged the truth of God
for a lie and…
They worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator
God wants our worship! God wants our attention! God wants our devotion!
We are so tempted, we are so attracted, we are so pulled towards giving our worship,
attention and devotion to some form of creation!
We are so open to exchanging the truth of God for a lie!
We are so in danger of becoming fools!
SO
God gave them over
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another.
This is the wrath of God being revealed.
God allowed them to have their own way.
And the result was catastrophic!
In what way are you exchanging the truth of God for a lie?
In what way are you worshipping the creation rather than the Creator?
Come to God for the first time!
Come back to God!