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Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Parts of this study are based upon a commentary written by Dr. Dan Hill. His complete work on Romans can be read free of charge at http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/homepage.html
Pastor James May
MAN’S REJECTION OF GOD
Romans 1:18-20
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
In our study last time we discussed the fact all men are born under the curse of sin and deserve God’s punishment. We also discussed that there is nothing that we can do about that sinful nature except to rely upon the Blood of the Lamb for deliverance. It is through faith in the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross and His subsequent resurrection that our eternal life is purchased.
We begin now with verse 18 of the 1st Chapter of Romans. Paul is speaking to the Roman church concerning the effects of sin in the heart of man and the wrath of God that is incurred because of that sin.
The WRATH that Paul speaks of here is spelled “Orgei” in the Greek and speaks of God’s anger at sin that is mixed with desire to bring His children into a right relationship with Him and the grief that He faces because He cannot tolerate the sin in our lives.
John 3:36, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Thus we can see that God’s wrath is never poured out upon those who serve Him and trust in Him, but God’s wrath is directed toward those who are living in sin and rebellion against God’s laws.
By placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His cleansing blood, we are washed from sin and God no longer looks upon us with anger but with the love of the Father.
We must remember that there are two sides to God. To most people on earth, the only God that they will admit is the God of Love! Is my God the God of Love? He is absolutely the God of Love, so there is nothing wrong with this in and of itself. There is a problem though when man forgets that the God of Love is also the God of Righteousness, Justice and Holiness.
God’s love forgives, grieves, and pursues the lost souls who are yet alive, but it is God’s Justice and Holiness that will cause anger to rise in God and then those who are living in sin must face the wrath of God for that sin.
If God looks upon us and finds us living by faith in His name, then He gives us His blessing. But, If we are living in unrighteousness, He must send the wrath of His indignation upon us.
God uses His Word to reveal what is expected from man. Man can have no excuse for not knowing what is right and holy. Man cannot claim ignorance for his ignorance is only the result of man’s refusal to read and to hear the Word of the Lord in the first place.
Just as ignorance of the law is no excuse if we are caught speeding, or in violation of any local community ordnance, we have no defense in the courts of Heaven for not knowing that God expects us to live in a godly and righteous manner.
Mankind does everything in his power to suppress or forget the commandments of God. We pass our laws that become contrary to God’s law and then expect God to obey our law.
We call good evil and evil good.
We kill babies and call it legal.
We commit genocide against another race or ethnic group and call it cleansing.
We steal through high interest rates and call it business savvy.
We cry out against that which is good, riot in the streets, murder, pillage and plunder and call it freedom of expression.
We can pass all the laws and try to justify our every action but that doesn’t negate the law of God and we will incur the Wrath of God for every one of those deeds.
Not only has God revealed Himself through the written word but He reveals His presence in other ways also.
He has given man a conscience. We can sear that conscience until we no longer hear the still, small voice that speaks to us from deep within our own heart, through rebellion and continual neglect of that voice. But God has placed within each of us a sense of right and wrong, a sense of justice and the knowledge of good and evil that we inherited from Adam & Eve.
That voice of our conscience speaks to us to let us know that there is truly a Creator and that we are accountable for our every deed. Since we are created beings, there has to be a Creator that we will answer to.
True, the standards of morality are very different from one culture to another. Certainly there are different views on religious matters and various convictions in the heart of each of us that differ from those of even our own faith, but there are some basic standards that God has place within the heart of every man. Murder, violence, stealing, abuse and other things are wrong in every society and in every religious belief system. Those things alone are sufficient for us to know that there is a Creator out there who has set the limits of what is right and what is not.
God also reveals himself through nature. We can look into the skies, into the natural order of all things and realize that there had to be a higher power and a supreme intelligence that began all of this into motion. There was no Big Bang, there is no such thing as Evolution of the Species; there is only Creation and God’s order that everything should bring forth others after its kind.
There are no animals in all creation that are half dog and half cat except in the cartoons that man uses to deny the creation. There are no half men and apes that show that there is any kind of ongoing transformation. God set the limits and the boundaries of all things and that’s the final authority of all things.
When we look at the universe and its order, the body of a human being that is created in the very image of God with all of its intricate systems and renewal processes, and when we look at nature that renews and replenishes its own resources, then we cannot but realize that God has to have all this under His control.
All of these things help us to realize and know that God exists – but – they cannot lead us to salvation and the love of God.
This way of salvation, way back to righteousness before God, way back to holiness, is only found in the person, sacrifice and message of the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, the Word of God made into flesh that dwelt among men to show them the way back to God.
Now that Jesus has ascended back into Heaven, that written word that existed before Christ died on the Cross, and the Word that was written under the anointing of the Holy Spirit since that day, are now alive with the power, presence and mind of Jesus Christ. His Word, His Spirit and His Blood now work together to reveal God to man and then shows man the way back to God.
If we fail to recognize Jesus Christ as the only Savior or we reject the message of the gospel, then we must face the wrath of God by default. There is no middle or neutral position. It’s either obey and worship God and get His blessing or reject Him and face His wrath for eternity. THAT’S OUR ONLY CHOICE AND NO OTHER!
Romans 1:21-25
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the un-corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Men do not want to recognize that God is God. We ignore every revelation that God gives to us concerning Him. We ignore our own conscience and we refuse to recognize God through nature.
Oh, the world may say that there is a God but they don’t worship Him, they don’t serve Him, and they will not bow down before Him in honor, respect and awe of His great power. They give Him lip service only. Most people will admit that God is there but the only time you will hear them mention His name is when they use it in a profane manner.
They know in a God! They know of a God! They know about God! But, they have no personal relationship with God at all!
Behind the scenes, in the spiritual world, the power of Satan is hard at work to deceive mankind and keep us blind of the fact of God’s existence and of the plan of salvation!
He is subtle and wise to a degree for Satan knows that he could not hide God’s truth from us in a frontal attack by just attempting to force us to rebel against the Creator, so he brings about all types of beliefs and philosophies that are designed to take the place of God and relegate God to the status of being irrelevant for everyday life.
Satan convinces man that God is dead, or that God doesn’t care, or that God never existed in the first place. He uses the Theory of Evolution, and other methods to explain the origin of the universe and man, in his state of sin and depravation, is quick to accept anything but the truth.
Man, when he loses the conviction that there is a Creator, will begin to worship anything he can find. He begins by worshipping the creation, the sun, moon and stars. Then when, those objects don’t satisfy, man’s sin nature forces him to look a little lower and he begins to worship the trees, snakes, animals and himself. That doesn’t satisfy either, so man continues down the path of worshipping lower and lower objects until he begins to worship the ground and “Mother Earth”. Finally, when he has worshipped all that he can see and none of these satisfy the deep down hunger of the heart, man will turn to worshipping that which is beneath the earth, Satan, demons and evil spirits.
When we reject the truth and reject God, then the scripture says that God looks upon us as fools. We search for truth where there is no truth. We worship things that cannot hear our cries. We become vain and empty, convincing ourselves that we can solve all things if we are only left alone – but reality sets in and we see that our situation only grows more desperate by the day.
Man loves to profess and confess his own “great wisdom”. We love to stand and shake our fist in the face of God and say to Him that He can’t keep us from doing what we want to do. God says that we profess to be “SOPHOS” (Greek for wise), but if we reject Him then we are really “MORAINO” (Greek for morons). God’s estimation of our wisdom is far different than what we claim it to be.
We claim our wisdom, knowledge and understanding and reject God. From that viewpoint we begin to formulate our own “plan of salvation”. Then we begin the path toward “humanistic” based religions.
Men will worship Buddha, Mohammed, Hare Krishna, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, or any one of a host of others. Man turns to idolatry in lieu of worshipping the true God.
The Truth of the Word of God is watered down by false teaching; leaving just enough Truth to deceive even God’s people if we aren’t careful. Every religion has a seed of Truth and most contain good moral values but these aren’t enough to bring us into right relationship with God. The Blood of Jesus and belief in Him as the only Living God is the only “religion” that has real power to save a lost soul.
What does God have to say about all of this? How does He react? Does He just allow us to believe what we want and do what we want and overlook our rebellion and rejection of His Truth?
When man chooses to abandon God’s truth, then God backs off and lets man do what he wants. God is a perfect gentleman. He never forces Himself upon anyone. He gently asks, leads, & pleads but he never manipulates us into serving Him. He will not offend our free-will moral agency but will allow us to make our own choices.
God’s mercy and grace is slowly removed as we continue down the path of rebellion. God has no choice, because of His justice and righteousness, than to give us over to a reprobate mind to do just what we want to do and face our own consequences.
Man’s downward spiral into depravity knows no bounds. The further we go from God the worse our hearts are hardened. What can be more perverse than to have prostitutes in the worship of idols, or homosexuals serving as priests in so-called, “Christian churches”? Take God out of the picture and the power of Satan and the influence of evil goes ever deeper. It culminates in the worship of the Prince of Darkness and the shedding of innocent blood to gain his favor.
God continually leaves the rebellious soul to its own devices. This is what many refer to and what the Bible refers to when it speaks of “hardening the heart”. When man rejects God, then God rejects man.
According to one writer that I examined, there are 7 steps downward into sin and depravation. I think it would do us well to see those steps.
1)First, we play around with sin
2)Then we Yield to sin & its controlling power
3)Then we serve sin, or commit sin, habitually
4)Then we give in totally and abandon ourselves to sin
5)Then we are abandoned by God to go and commit the sin we love
6)Then we begin to try to get others to join us in our sin
7)Finally we experience the depravity of sin and the powers of hell on earth
Finally, Paul brings us to close of this message for today. It is a resignation to the fact that man is lost, desires to remain lost and rejects God, and that man will be abandoned in his sin and then man will suffer rejection of God.
The last words of Paul are the words that we must hear though. We must recognize the Truth of the existence of the Creator. We must worship Him for He is eternal and blessed. We must realize that we are accountable to God and that reigns over all.
Then Paul says, AMEN – So Be It! God’s Word will never fail. Let’s serve Him and worship Him for only in Him can we be truly blessed.
