“Tainted Love”
Romans 1: 18-25
October 2, 2011
Intro: Today we’re beginning a new series of messages entitled “Classic Rock.” Now for me, classic rock is music from the 1960s but when I talked to Matthew and James I was chagrined to find out that classic rock today is 1980s music! Man, talk @ making me feel OLD! So what we’ll be doing over the next several weeks is taking some songs from the 1980s and finding some biblical truths behind the music.
-One of my favorite songs was the 1981 hit “Tainted Love.” Y’all remember that song? Have to say it’s one of the most recognizable songs of the 1980s! But the song is @ a guy who’s fallen in love w/a girl, but the love doesn’t satisfy him. It leaves him empty.
-The opening lyrics say, “Sometimes I feel I've got to run away I've got to get away , From the pain that you drive into the heart of me. The love we share seems to go nowhere and I've lost my light. For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night.”
-I would quote you the rest of the song, but I’m afraid I might actually break out and start singing. But I believe the words to the song still ring true for so many of us today. People are always in search of meaning and love in their lives. Just @ every book you read or every movie you watch is @ someone’s search for meaning and love in their lives.
-It’s the primo subject of just @ everything we do. I think people are drawn to so much entertainment b/c in the movies they see people living out what they would like to see happen in their lives. We love movies and books where the guy gets the girl. We love it when we see a person be victorious over the world that seems out to get him.
-All of us are looking to love and be loved in a way that will satisfy the deepest longings of our heart. But more often than not, that which we seek after never comes to fruition. It’s my observation that so much of the love we have in this world is tainted and it seems to be like searching for the Holy Grail: we just can’t quite get our hands on it.
-So what’s the problem? The problem is we’re searching for it in the wrong places; we’re searching for it in the wrong way.
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture the Apostle Paul is going to point out to us several stages that have marked man’s futile search for love and meaning. And it’s my hope as we examine this text that we’ll discover how we can avoid these stages so that we can actually find and discover real love.
TEXT: ROMANS 1: 18-27
Bckgrd: Paul wrote this letter to the Xians who were living in Rome. And throughout this book Paul answers some of the greatest questions that man’s ever had @ the Xian faith. But before Paul got into the great news of the saving power of Christ, he felt compelled to share w/them the devastating lives we live w/o Christ.
-He felt compelled to share w/them why so many people go thru life dissatisfied and defeated. So what are some of the stages that have marked man’s futile search for love? The 1st stage is:
DIV. 1: INTELLIGENCE (vv. 18-20)
Exp: There is a view that holds that the longer man lives the wiser and more knowledgeable he gets. Our technological advances in just the past 10 years are astounding. The internet, social networking, cell phones that you don’t carry in a big bag, the iPad, and on and on are all examples of how far we’ve come. If you look at our advances in the past 100 years it’s absolutely astounding and it doesn’t seem like we’re stopping any time soon!
A.B/c of all these advances you’d think that man’s intelligence is increasing; that his wisdom would be at an all time high. But the exact opposite seems to be happening. I read an article in the paper by John Rosemond several Sundays ago @ our children’s decreasing test scores. There’s more to the article than that but it’s interesting that we test lower than before when we spend more $ per child in education than any nation in the world.
1. So what’s going on? I really don’t believe the root of the problem is political. The root of the problem is our spiritual condition. Paul tells us that God’s wrath and displeasure is being revealed b/c of man’s godlessness and wickedness. I don’t think we’re going to have many who’d argue against the point that we’ve become more and more godless over the years.
a. Just as an example, every state, except Hawaii, saw a decrease in church attendance from 1990-2000. Today, only 18.7% of Americans regularly attend church. Now this doesn’t give the entire picture but I think it helps serve Paul’s point where he tells us that we have “suppressed” the truth of God’s Word. The word “suppressed” means “to hold down.”
b. In other words, we do whatever we can to keep Scripture from informing our lives. We have evidences all around us of us running away from what the Bible teaches us. Just the other day I watched Chris Matthews on MSNBC talking @ some major presidential candidates who reject evolution and hold to creation. And he wondered out loud whether or not we could elect a president who held such a Neanderthal viewpoint!
2. The question for me is “Why in the world do we suppress the truth of God’s Word?” I think the answer’s fairly simple. Most people, including myself, like to feel like we have control over our lives. In general, we have a difficult time allowing someone or something else to hold sway over how we live.
a. So if there’s something we really want to do, we’re going to do it. And if Scripture teaches something different than what we want to do, it’s very easy for us to run roughshod over what’s taught in the Bible and do what we want anyway.
b. One of my least favorite parts of my job is having people come to me and tell me @ some devastating effect of sin in their lives. When I say that, I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to avoid these conversations w/people. I just hate to see the devastating effects that sin causes.
B. But more often than not, I’ll have people tell me that they’ve fallen into a particular kind of lifestyle that’s contrary to what the Bible teaches b/c it makes them happy. And they feel justified in cheating on their spouse or being totally irresponsible b/c it makes them happy. And after all, God wants me to be happy, therefore, it must be okay.
1. I’ve got news for you. The chief aim of life isn’t your happiness! The chief aim of your life is to be OBEDIENT to the leadership of God. It’s coming to the conclusion that God KNOWS best and allowing that fact to impact your living. Is. 55: 8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
a. Now obedience to God doesn’t mean misery! Obedience to God will put you on a path that will lead to life, hope and fulfillment. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy. That’s why Jesus said in Luke 9: 23, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
b. You see, once a person determines that he’s going to live apart from God’s leadership, he’s just put himself on a track that will ultimately lead to a separation from God. You and I both have the right to make that choice. But that choice carries w/it consequences.
2. You see, God has a road He desires for all of us to travel on. And He wants us on that road b/c He knows that road leads to life. Jesus said in Matt. 7: 13-14, “Enter thru the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter thru it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
a. When we suppress the truth, when we ignore the road God’s laid out for us in Scripture, we’re deciding to travel thru life off road. And off road living is a horrible choice.
ILLUS: When Hank turned 16 he took over driving my truck. The truck has 250,000 miles on it. After he’d been driving it for a while it wasn’t running right. I took it out and it would lurch any time you accelerated. So I took it in to the shop for them to check it out.
-When I went back to pick it up the mechanic asked me if I’d taken it off road. I told him No. He said, “Well, the underside of the truck’s caked w/mud and the mud’s got up in the wiring in the truck. That’s why it doesn’t run correctly so we had to rip out some wiring and replace it. In the future, keep your truck on the road.”
b. Here’s the lesson. Getting off road will mess you up when God’s created you to live ON road. Getting off road leaves you damaged and broken. To stay on the road will require you to trust in the intelligence of God instead of your own.
Reit: The 1st stage that marks man’s futile search for love is intelligence. The 2nd stage that marks man’s futile search for love is:
DIV. 2: IGNORANCE (vv. 21-23)
Exp: It’s almost an impossibility to look at creation and come away from it thinking, “Yep, all that stuff came @ by a cosmic accident.” Creation is such an impressive site that Paul said that man is w/o excuse in NOT knowing there is a God. Deep w/in each person is a knowledge that there is a God. This is born out by the fact that over 90% of the world population has some sort of belief in a god.
A. Yet even though there’s a recognition of a god, Paul wrote that people typically refuse to give Him His rightful place in their lives. This goes back to our 1st point that our search for love is futile b/c we choose our ways over God’s ways. And when we choose our ways over God’s ways the result is that our thinking becomes flawed. Why?
1. B/c when we’re left to our own devices we naturally elevate ourselves as King instead of God. Paul says we refuse to glorify God. The word “glorify” could also be translated “honor.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
a. Another thing that happens when we refuse to recognize God’s rightful place as leader in our lives is our thinking becomes futile. In other words our thinking becomes hopeless. Remove God and His leadership from your life and you will get hopelessness.
b. Remove God from creation and what do you get? That we’re here by accident. Remove God from the home and what do you get? A high divorce rate, huge rate of domestic violence, and children that are broken. Remove God from science and what do you get? The ability to abort over 53 million babies and think that there’s no consequence that comes w/that.
2. We’re told that our futile way of thinking leads to darkness. The word “darkened” has another meaning which is “w/o eyes.” It means you can’t see or you can’t see clearly b/c it’s too dark. Have you ever been in the dark in an unfamiliar area before? It’s not the best feeling b/c you don’t know where you are.
a. I get this feeling when I wake up in a hotel room and the curtains are made out of lead so it’s pitch black. And I’m stumbling around trying to find the light switch. It’s hard to operate in darkness b/c you don’t know where the boundaries are.
ILLUS: Y’all remember when our parking lot was just graveled over? We had a big open space for parking w/no boundary markers @ where to park your car. We just pulled in and parked wherever we wanted to. B/c the parking was willy nilly we didn’t fully utilize our parking lot. But when we paved it over, lined the parking lot for parking spaces and put up wheel stops, people automatically knew where to park. We ended up getting more cars in our lot b/c the space was utilized to its fullest.
b. Now when we try to go thru life w/o the boundaries God’s set up life gets willy nilly as well. When we shut out the light of God’s Word we can’t see God’s design for life. And when man shuts the door on God’s light, he shuts the door on virtue.
a. That’s why we’re warned in Col. 2: 8, “See to it that no one takes you captive thru hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” The wisdom of this world is operating w/the light of God which means you’ll be operating in darkness unable to see the path that God has laid out for you and me. And the result of that is an emptiness and hollowness that will follow us all the days of our lives.
Reit: The 1st stage that marks man’s futile search for love is intelligence. The 2nd stage is ignorance. And the final stage that marks man’s futile search for love is:
DIV. 3: INDULGENCE (vv. 24-25)
Exp: If we ignore God’s leadership then we end up becoming our own god. And that means we’ll live however we please in order to fulfill our own desires w/o any fear of judgment. God will never FORCE us to follow him. He allows us to make that decision. But if we choose ourselves over Him then our text says that He’ll give us over to our own sinful desires.
A.Let me share w/you a scary verse. Judges 10: 13, “You have forsaken Me and served other gods,’ the Lord said to Israel. ‘Therefore I will deliver you no more.” When we refuse God, when we ignore God, He turns us over to our own devices.
1. You might think, “Well I’m a pretty mature person! I can manage a good life by myself.” That sounds good but the fact is that we have a natural bent to live in rebellion to God. The Bible tells us in Rom. 3: 10-12, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understand, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
a. So, on our own we seek to indulge ourselves instead of God. And this is seen in sexual relationships, which Paul goes on to discuss in the verses following the ones we’re looking at. Pleasing our bodies seems like a right to many of us. But indulgence in this area is devastating.
b. We naturally choose to, as Paul says, degrade our bodies. That means to use ourselves in a way that we were never intended to be used. Throughout Scripture God tells us that sex is to be practiced between a husband and a wife. And whenever we get outside of that boundary, we’re living in a way that God never intended our bodies to be used. Now did God do this to keep us from enjoying ourselves?
2. Is God some cosmic killjoy? Absolutely not! He did this in order to protect us! There’s major damage that comes w/indulging yourself in this type of lifestyle. I can’t tell you how many families I’ve seen destroyed by infidelity. I know people who have diseases and unwanted pregnancies b/c they went after what THEY wanted. I’ve seen deep emotional scars in people b/c they strayed off God’s road for their life.
a. I’m becoming more and more aware of the fact that decisions in the dark very rarely make for good decisions! Commentator Alan Johnson said, “W/o God there are no abiding truths, lasting principles, or norms, and man is case upon a sea of speculation and skepticism and attempted self-salvation.”
b. B/c you WANT something doesn’t mean that it’s always BEST for you.
ILLUS: Let me give you an example. The last couple of years I’ve become a HUGE almond fan. Emily found lime chili almonds, cocoa almonds, cinnamon almonds, and sea salt almonds. When she brought them home I’d sit down and just start eating them hand over fist. It got so bad that I was burning thru @ $20 of almonds every week!
-The problem though is almonds don’t agree w/me very much and if I eat too many of them I get sick to my stomach. I KNOW this but every time she brings home a can of almonds I proceed to wipe them out and then I pay a price for it later. Now I WANT the almonds, but just b/c I want them doesn’t make them best for me. Obviously the solution is for me to cut back on my intake of almonds yet I haven’t done it!
B. Unfortunately for so many of us, we do the same thing in life. We are so desperate for love, we are so desperate to be accepted, that we’re willing to throw God overboard to get it!
1. The result? We end up sick b/c we’re trying to feed our need by indulging ourselves in our WANTS. You want to find love? You want to find hope and meaning in your life? I promise you it’s not going to be found by putting yourself in charge. It’s only going to be found in following the road God has laid out for us as given to us in His Word, the Bible.
a. My hope is that we’ll see that a life lived for God, lived under the direction of God, is better than being lived under our own direction. You can see failed attempt after failed attempt all throughout history of man trying to get thru this life on his own only to come to the end of it disappointed and unsatisfied.
b. So what’s the answer? It’s Jesus. Look at what Jesus said in John 10: 10. He said, “I have come that you might have life and have it to the fill.” You will never know love until you experience the love of Christ in your life. And that only comes @ as you allow Him to put His arms around you and lead your life.
Conclusion: It’s time for some of you to experience the love of Christ today. If you’re ready to do that, simply pray this prayer after me: Dear Jesus, I’ve spent my life living for me and I recognize that it’s just not working. I’ve sinned against you by not allowing you to lead my life. Forgive me of my sins. Today I’m entrusting my life to you and I ask you to save me.
-If you prayed that prayer, open your bulletin and fill out the right side and check the line that says you committed your life to Christ. Then after the service, take your bulletin and hand it to Beki at the Welcome Center table and she’ll give you a “Survival Kit” book for you to work thru that will help you begin your journey of living for Christ.
-Others of you have already made that commitment but over time you’ve wandered off God’s path. And it’s left you empty. I want to encourage you to simply take this time and pray like King David did where he called out to God and said, “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” Recommit your life to Him today and know that He will welcome you back to His fold.
