Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Romans chapter 1 as we continue our study through the Word of God and we finish our study in this chapter of Romans.  As we saw last time Paul makes his opening salutation to the Romans in Romans 1:1-7.  Then Paul moves into his introduction in Romans 1:8-17.  It is here we see the theme of this epistle, THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST or the Good News that Jesus brings to a world full of bad news, a world that has man dead in his trespasses and sins and the Good News of our redemption through Jesus!

            Now, as move into Romans 1:18-3:20 Paul speaks of the condemnation of man, he shows that all are guilty before God, none are righteous, not even one!  If you would, picture Paul as a prosecuting attorney and we, man is on trial before the Judge, God!  You see, apart from Christ, we are all sinners separated from God and Paul is showing us that!

            As we go through this section on condemnation, Paul is going to present his case against the unrighteous heathen and how nature itself shows the glory of God. Thus, the unrighteous heathen are condemned by nature, and we will see that in Romans 1:18-32.

            Then Paul moves on and presents his case against the self-righteous moralist and how God has placed in the heart of every person what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad. Thus, the self-righteous moralist is condemned by his conscious, and we will see that in Romans 2:1-16.

            Then Paul moves on and he concludes his condemnation of man as he presents his case against the super-religious person who tries to live by the Law and fails miserably. Thus, the super-religious person is condemned by the commandments of God, and we will see that in Romans 2:17-29.    

            And then, interestingly enough, Paul places God on the stand to condemn man and in Romans 3:10-18 we see a 14 count indictment against man by God.

            Now some of you may be thinking, “This is really going to be an encouraging section to go through.  A real lifter of my soul!”  It may not be a “feel good” section, but it is not meant to be. The reason you turn and receive the Good News is because you have the bad news upon your life, you are guilty before God for your sins and you will be punished, the wrath of God will come upon your life.  You need to know that before you turn to Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  So this, I feel is a very important section we are starting as Paul condemns the unrighteous heathen, the self-righteous moralist and the super-religious person before the Judge – God!

            With that said, let’s begin reading in Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18 and see what the Lord has for us this evening.

VERSE 18

            How often have you heard a Bible teacher teach on the wrath of God?  It is not that often and in some churches you will never hear the wrath of God being spoken because it is too negative!  Paul tells us in II Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”  People want to feel good, they want a feel-good Gospel with no accountability, they don’t want to hear of God’s wrath, Hell, judgment, only that all get to heaven one way or another so the church is giving to them what they want, but that is not what Paul tells us we are to do. Listen to what he said to this young pastor, Timothy regarding times when people don’t want the truth of God and what he was to do, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”  II Timothy 4:2.

            We need to be faithful to what the Scriptures teach!  That point of God’s wrath is made very clear, not only in the Old Testament, but especially in the New Testament. For example, in John 3:36 we are told, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”  In Ephesians 5:6 we are told, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”  In  II Thessalonians 1:7-8 Paul tells us, “and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And there are many more, in fact Jesus spoke more of Hell and judgment than anyone else, but I think you get the point; God’s wrath will come upon the ungodly, upon sinners, upon those who have not received the Gospel, Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That is the bad news; the Good News is that Jesus has come to save us, sinners.  Do you see the contrast between the two?  One brings death and the other life, and who in their right mind would say they would rather spend eternity in Hell separated from God instead of spending eternity with Him?  You would be a fool, and Paul is going to say that very thing in a few verses!

            First Paul says that God’s wrath is Divine, it comes from heaven against us; the cute and adorable people?  Not exactly!  God’s wrath is against all ungodliness or man’s offenses against God and the unrighteousness of men or man’s offenses against man.  It is not that God responds in anger, not at all.  God’s wrath is righteous; it is not out of control.  The Puritan writer Thomas Watson said “Is God so infinitely holy?  Then see how unlike to God sin is . . . no wonder, therefore, that God hates sin, being so unlike to Him nay, so contrary to Him; it strikes at His holiness.” It is as Habakkuk 1:13 says, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. . .”  It is not that God doesn’t see what is going on, for He does.  It is speaking that God cannot look with favor upon sin, upon wickedness just as God the Father turned His face from the Son; fellowship was broken as Jesus bore the sins of the world upon the cross of Calvary!  In knowing that, why do we think that God will look favorably upon our sin?  He won’t!  Thus, God’s wrath is never unjust or wrong, it is totally righteous and fair!

            Now here is the kicker.  It is not that they don’t know there is a God, they do but they suppress the truth, hold it down, so they can practice their evil deeds!  And Paul is going to expound on man’s accountability before God, that he is without excuse in his rejection of God.  Remember is Psalm 14:1 the Psalmist tells us, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ . . .” (Also in Psalm 53:1).  That can also be translated “The fool has said in his heart, ‘No to God.’”  You see, not that he doesn’t believe that there is a God, but he is rejecting God in spite of what he sees and what he knows!

VERSES 19-20

            As I have said, Romans 1:18-32 deal with the unrighteous heathen who are condemned by creation itself!  You see, the Psalmist tells us “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.  Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.  In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.  Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.”  Psalm 19:1-6.

            God is seen through His creation and thus, to look at creation and then say there is no God only makes you a fool, you would have to suppress the truth that is all around you and believe the lie, that life from non-life, no information to all we have today and it all happened by random chance process, even though that has never been seen or reproduced.  Folks, it takes more faith to believe that garbage than to believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal days.  And think about it for a minute.  You have all heard the fairy tale about the princess kissing the frog and he turns into a handsome prince, and it is cute but non-the-less, a fairytale!  But, if you wrote a paper that a frog, over millions of years turned into a man, you would get a PhD.  Go figure?

            As you look at nature you see His power, His deity in these things, you can’t miss them unless you are not looking!  The heavens truly declare the glory of God if we would not suppress the truth and see God through His creation!

VERSES 21-22

            Why was man created in the first place?  We were created to bring glory to God, and rebellious man doesn’t want to do that and thus, he runs to and fro trying to find happiness, trying to find satisfaction to life but he will never be satisfied until he does what he was created for, to worship God, bring Him glory!  In Revelation 4:11, in the KJV we are told this very thing, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  Folks, it is as the Westminster Shorter Catechism declares, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”  I like that, and it is true!  Is there anything wrong with that?  Of course not!

            People wonder how man can be so evil?  Here it is, and Paul is going to pick-up on this thought again as we move on, but simply put, the downward plunge of man into evil is because of his rejection of God even though creation itself declares there is a God!  In fact, if you can believe this, one evolutionist said, “I refuse to believe in God, so what other alternative do I have but evolution?”  In other words, he suppressed the truth not because of the evidence but because he didn’t want to believe in God and thus, evolution was the only other alternative for him to help explain how life began. That is not science, folks, that is faith on his part, and I must say, he has a lot of faith to believe in evolution!  And the reality is, that is very sad!

            I like the observation that Donald Grey Barnhouse makes regarding this issue. He said: “Will God give man brains to see these things and will man then fail to exercise his will toward that God?  The sorrowful answer is that both of these things are true.  God will give a man brains to smelt iron and make a hammer head and nails. God will grow a tree and give man strength to cut it down and brains to fashion a hammer handle from its wood. And when man has the hammer and the nails, God will put out His hand and let man drive nails through it and place Him on a cross in the supreme demonstration that men are without excuse.”  What more can you add to that, it is powerful.  I guess Paul made a fitting conclusion to what Barnhouse said, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.”  Romans 1:27.  That can also be translated, “Professing to be wise, they became stupid.”  I didn’t say that, God did!

            Because they rejected God, and man has this built in need to worship, man tries to fill that void by the following. . .

VERSE 23

            Because man has rejected God, we see the foolishness of what man worships, the creation, himself!  Listen carefully to what Isaiah tells us in regards to idols, the works of man’s hands in Isaiah 44:9-20. We read, “Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.  Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?  Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men.  Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together.  The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint.  The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.  He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.  Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.  He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.’  And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. . .

. . . He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god!’  They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, ‘I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?  Shall I fall down before a block of wood?’  He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’”

            Do you see how foolish these idols are in our lives, they are nothing, formed out of the imagination of man’s heart, which God says is evil.  That goes for evolution or whatever you worship, whatever is more important to you than the true and living God.  Think about this, the Hindus have over 330 million gods they worship, which amounts to about 8 gods per family!  The gurus or these so-called enlighten ones, these so-called gods, have people follow them and will eat their feces and drink their urine so they can partake of these gods.  Do you see the foolishness of the things we worship when we turn from God!  Please understand this, whenever a person turns from God, the natural trend of religion, what they worship is never upward, but it is always downward!

VERSES 24-25  

            That is truly a sad statement, that God gave them up, He allowed them to have what they wanted, the lusts of their flesh, the lusts of their hearts, dishonoring their bodies, all kinds of uncleanness. And thus, self-worship is born, believing whatever you want, believing that we are gods, instead of the worship of the creator and Paul just has to end with an “Amen” or “Let it be” that is, the worship of God and not His creation!

VERSES 26-27

            Like it or not, the reason for homosexuality is not that they were born homosexuals but because they have rejected the true and living God and thus, God gave them over to what they desire, the lusts of their flesh. And folks, do you really think God meant this?  Do you think Paul was just talking about the days he was living in because they had such a problem with homosexuality back then?  Yes God meant it and yes he is talking to us today, God’s judgment is coming against all kinds of ungodly activity, including homosexuality.  This kind of lifestyle is a choice and it is a choice that flies in the face of what God has said; it is an open rebellion against God.

            In Matthew chapter 19 where Jesus is questioned regarding divorce, He goes back to the book of Genesis and says that God made them male and female, He joined them together, it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!  Thus, to go contrary to that means you have rejected God!  And folks, think about it, if a person was born a homosexual or lesbian, if it was not a choice, do you really believe God would pour out His wrath upon them?  Of course not!  You see, Paul even tells us that they gave up that which was natural, a marriage between a man and a woman, and did that which was unnatural, sex between a man and man or woman and woman!  Thus, God’s judgment has come upon them!

            Look at how Satan has seduced people to do these things that are unnatural, that are evil.  In fact, think about this, it is not uncommon for homosexuals to have over 300 partners a year!  Way back in 1981 the Chicago Tribune reported this: that a San Francisco coroner estimated that ten percent of his city’s homicides were probably related to sado-masochistic sex among homosexuals!  And listen to this: The average life-span of a heterosexual man is 75 years, for the heterosexual female it is 79 years. Now compare that to the homosexual male, their life-span is only 42 years and if they have AIDS it is only 39 years.  For the Lesbian it is only a life-span of 45 years!  As much as some like to blame Christians for this, it is their life-style, not Christians that shorten their life-span! And look how Satan rips them off and brings people to the lowest, the filthiest levels and tells them this is good, this is normal, but it is not!  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate homosexuals, I love them as I do all people, I just don’t agree with the choices they have made, nor does God, which is far more important than how I feel!

            When you look at the judgment of God against Sodom and Gomorrah, homosexuality was at its peak and it was one of the sins that God brought His judgment down upon them for.  Look at America today, almost 50% of Americans believe that sex between two members of the same sex is fine, they see no problem with it!  In New York City this year they opened their first homosexual high school, paid for by our tax dollars, some $3.2 million!  The Cathedral of Hope in Dallas Texas claims to be the largest homosexual church in the world with some 3,000 members!  Michigan University offers a course on “How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation.”  Can you even imagine that, you have to learn how to be gay and again our tax dollars are paying for these teachers to teach this garbage!  Every June Disney Corporation has its “Gay Days” for homosexuals and it is opened for all, including children and they draw some 125,000 people!  Can you imagine taking your child to something like that!  There is NAMBLA or National American Man Boy Love Association where they feel it is their right as adults to have sex with young boys!  Doesn’t that anger you, it does me!  I can go on, but I think you get the picture. In a nation that claims to be over 80% Christian, we are missing the boat!  I wonder how far away God’s judgment against America is as Homosexuality, that lifestyle is flaunted wherever you go, from television shows, to movies, to the newspapers and magazines, to parades and-so-on.  May we wake up before it is too late and God’s judgment falls, may we repent of our sin and get right with our Maker!

VERSES 28-31

            The word “debased” speaks of “that which has not stood the test.”  It was used of coins that were substandard and therefore rejected.  God set the standard for us to live by and it is found in His Word, the Bible, but man has rejected it and God gave them over to things that will not stand the test, they will fall short of His standard, far short. It speaks of not only wickedness towards God but also towards man as these things will affect those around us!

            Sexual sin is rampant today and we have seen what so-called “free love” has brought to us, how much it has cost us. We see broken families, a steady rise of STD’s or sexually transmitted diseases, some that are deadly.   It is so bad, so many people, young and old have the Herpes virus from having sex with someone who was infected that they have a commercial for treatment, not a cure because there is no cure, and everyone is smiling and having a good time, they don’t tell you the pain you have with it, they don’t tell you how, when you are ready to settle down you have to tell your wife or husband you have this disease and chances are they will get it too!  Do you know how we can get ride of these diseases, these STD’s, even AIDS?  By having a monogamous relationship, one man and one woman together in marriage and these things would be reduced down to nothing!  You see, the only sex that God approves of, and He created sex for man, don’t make that mistake and think sex is evil, it is not, it is just that Satan has perverted it, but God approves sex between a husband and wife, in fact, Paul put it this way in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”  And the men said “Amen!”

            And please understand this, when you have sex you are sharing with the other person something of yourself, and as you go from partner to partner you are losing some of yourself each time!  I am so thankful that the only person I have ever had sex with is my wife.  Some would say, “But you have never experienced all that is out there!”  I would say to them, “I have the best, and God has blessed our relationship and I don’t need to experience that which is not of God!”  Now, in saying that, one of the originators of the contemporary pornographic industry said this: “Sex is a biological function like eating and drinking.  So let’s forget all that prudery about it and do whatever we feel like doing.” That is not a new thought for Paul, writing this letter from Corinth, he was dealing with those very issues as well as were the Romans!  And Paul condemns this lifestyle some 2,000 ago and it still applies today!

            Paul lists some 23 things that are manifested in the life of a person who rejects God, the true and living God.  This is a result of what happens when you turn from God; it is a downward spiral, not upward.  Now, as you read the news, listen to the news or witness these things for yourself, man is like an animal today.  People can do the most heinous crimes without blinking an eye. They act just like animals!

            You may not agree with me but I see it like this.  Man who is in fellowship with God has the Spirit of God dwelling in Him.  He is not controlled by the lusts of his flesh but by the Spirit of God.  Man who has rejected God, turned from God, is just like the animals that roam this earth, they don’t have the Spirit of God in them and they live to satisfy the flesh!

            Let me just give you one example of what I mean.  If your male dog gets loose, what is one of the things he is going to look for?  A little female French Poodle or whatever so he can satisfy his bodily appetites.  There is no dating, just, and I am sorry, a “Wham, bam, thank you ma’am!”  And that goes for animals in general, just watch the nature shows and you will see what I mean.  They just get their female, do what they want and move on, territory conquered - they are animals!  Now look at man apart from God, he uses and abuses women for his sexual pleasure, sometimes even raping them.  When some teens were asked if they took a girl out on a date did they feel it was their right to then have sex with them, and most said “Yes!”  You see, man apart from God – he is an animal!

VERSE 32

            The end result of the unrighteous heathen, who are condemned by nature itself before God, is that the judgment of God will come upon them, they are guilty before God, and their righteousness is like filthy rags.   Now, some of the unrighteous heathen may be feeling good at this point because they do not partake of these activities, which is hard to believe, but I will give them that at this point. You see, it is not only those that do these things, but those that watch them, they are approving of them and they are guilty before God!  Either way, the unrighteous heathen are guilty before God!

            And please understand this; their sin is in direct contradiction to the revealed will of God, to His Word!  It is easy to be conformed to this world, but it is far better to be transformed by the Word of God as we read and apply these things to our lives.  Let me leave you with these words from Paul as He said, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”  Philippians 4:8-9.  Let these things fill your life and overflow into your actions instead of the ugliness of this world!  Be transformed and let others catch what you have – Jesus!