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So beginning in chapter 1 at 
verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for 
it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for 
the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness 
of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the 
just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of 
God is manifest in them. For God has shown it to them. 
For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes 
are clearly seen. being understood by the things 
that are made, even as eternal power and Godhead, so that they 
are without excuse. Because, although they knew God, 
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became 
futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory 
of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible 
man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 
Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts 
of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and 
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave 
them up to vile passions. 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. Men with men committing what 
is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their 
error which was due. And even as they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased 
mind, to do those things which are not fitting, being filled 
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, 
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, 
unmerciful, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God that 
those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only 
do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that 
it is the inspired word of the living and true God. We ask that 
you would grant us ears to hear and hearts to receive your truth. 
And Father, as we survey this chapter, as we survey our modern 
society and that affection from the living and true God, may 
we respond with the Apostle Paul, not simply calling upon men and 
women to modify their behavior or to simply change their ways, 
but to look on to the Lord Jesus Christ, that Lamb of God who 
takes away the sin of the world. And may you be pleased to bless 
the gospel as it is proclaimed throughout this world. May it 
run swiftly and be glorified. And may persons from every tribe 
and tongue and people and nation come to the living and true God 
through the mediation of the Son in the power and by the majesty 
of the Holy Spirit. Do forgive us now for all of 
our sin and transgression. Guide us by your Spirit as we 
consider Holy Scripture, and we ask in the name of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, as we look at this 
particular section from chapter 1 beginning in verse 18 to chapter 
3 in verse 20, Paul's emphasis is to underscore, to set forth 
the universality of sin and condemnation for all men everywhere. Here 
in verses 18 to 32, In chapter 1, he deals with the 
guilt of the Gentiles. In chapter 2, the emphasis falls 
upon the Jews. And then in chapter 3, from about 
1 to 20, he summarizes, indicating that all are sinful, all have 
gone astray, and all are liable to the just condemnation of God 
Most High. Again, he starts with the plight 
of man. He starts with the problem of 
man. He starts with sin and rebellion and defection. He starts with 
the issue so that he can then prescribe the remedy. Very often 
today we hear sermons that are moralistic in nature. try a little 
harder, be a little better, do a little bit more. That's not 
the gospel. The gospel is not about us doing 
or being or trying. The gospel is about Christ and 
Him crucified, His life of obedience to the Father, His sacrificial 
death, and His resurrection again the third day. So if we understand 
man's problem, then we ought to preach the proper remedy Namely, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Now, 
as we survey this particular chapter, we'll look at the guilt 
of the Gentiles. And there's three things we're 
going to look at. First, the revelation of God's wrath in 
verse 18. Secondly, the reason for God's 
wrath in verses 19 and following. And then thirdly, the nature 
of God's judgment. There are three statements in 
verses 24, 26, and 28 that show us or indicate to us the punitive 
justice of God that is poured out upon those who rebel against 
Him. But before that, notice the thesis 
of the book in verses 16 and 17. Before he gets to the bad 
news and then the good news, he gives an overarching description 
of his aim in the book of Romans. He says, I am not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation 
for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the 
Greek. For in it, the righteousness 
of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the 
just shall live by faith. So the apostle declares his conviction. I am not ashamed of the gospel. The apostle shows the demonstration 
of God's power. For it is the power of God to 
salvation for everyone who believes. and then he sets forth the righteousness 
of God as it's revealed in the gospel. Now here, the righteousness 
of God does not refer to that perfection or that attribute 
by which God is considered as righteous. When we look at this 
particular chapter, when we put it into the context, and then 
when we compare, say, for instance, Philippians 3, we'll see that 
the righteousness of God, as Paul uses it here, is that righteousness 
that God demands and the righteousness that God supplies. For in it, 
for in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith 
to faith. Again, that's just not our appreciation 
of that perfection of God's righteousness. Rather, it is the righteousness 
that he both demands and that he supplies. You can turn to 
Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three, the 
apostle Paul tells us concerning his conversion to our Lord. And 
in Philippians 3 at verse 7, he says, But what things were 
gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I 
also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge 
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss 
of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 
and be found in him. not having my own righteousness 
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, 
the righteousness which is from God by faith." Again, not the 
attribute, not the perfection, not that that's not true of God 
in terms of his perfections and attributes. He is most certainly 
righteous. But as Paul employs it in these 
contexts concerning justification, By faith alone, he is speaking 
about the righteousness that he demands and the righteousness 
that he supplies. And intriguingly, he has this 
conviction. He has this understanding. He 
recognizes God's power even in light of the fact that man's 
plight is severe. Man's condition is grave. Man is in a bad state, as Paul 
declares from Romans 1 18 to Romans 3 20. Man is not in a 
position to help himself. So if it isn't the power of God, 
then man will be forever damned. So Paul's confidence in that 
gospel comes not to some people that are just a little bit off, 
but it comes to the filthy, it comes to the wretched, it comes 
to the morally depraved, sinner that's in rejection or rather 
rebellion against the living and true God. So his thesis, 
his conviction, is such that the power of God is able to overcome 
even the kinds of sins that he's going to describe in Romans 1 
to 3. Now notice in terms of the guilt 
of the Gentiles. First, the revelation of God's 
wrath, verse 18. He says, for the wrath of God 
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Hold your 
finger there and look over at 321. 321, after having concluded 
this declaration concerning the universality of sin and condemnation, 
notice he uses the same convention in verse 21, but now, the righteousness 
of God apart from the law is revealed. So in Romans 1.18, 
you have the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against 
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man. After he describes that, 
he then indicates, but now the righteousness of God apart from 
the law is revealed. So again, bad news and then good 
news. Now with reference to the wrath 
of God, John Murray describes it as the holy revulsion of God's 
being against that which is the contradiction of His holiness. It is technically an improper 
predication. God does not move from one state 
to another. But what this improper predication 
or this speaking in the manner of man or manner of men indicates 
is God's righteousness, God's justice, God's opposition to 
that which is opposed to him. And so the apostle says the wrath 
of God is revealed from heaven. And then notice the specific 
order against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. I 
do not think that's accidental. I don't think that's haphazard. 
I think it is specific in terms of trajectory. Our ungodliness 
precedes our unrighteousness. In other words, what we think 
about God, for good or ill, affects the way that we live for God. And when Paul comes to deal with 
the specific sin of the Gentile, the accent falls upon their idolatry. They have certain truths about 
God, they know that God exists, but they reject that, they resist 
that, and they turn to the creature, they turn to idols. And it's 
from that vantage point that the vice list then proceeds. So the specific order is that 
what we think about God, for good or ill, affects the way 
that we live for God, for good or ill. You'll see this in the 
prophets. When the prophets come to upbraid 
the nation of Israel, typically the first charge is theological 
in nature. They had forgotten God. They 
had rejected God. They had resisted God. And then 
the prophets detail the specific social vices of the nation of 
Israel. As a result of your violation 
of the first two commandments, then the second table of the 
law is in jeopardy as well. When a man does not honor the 
living and true God, he doesn't typically honor his fellow man. 
When a man does not worship the living and true God, he doesn't 
typically respond well to his fellows. In other words, if we 
sin against God, we can mark it that we will sin against others 
as well. So the order is particular here. It's against all ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of man. And then notice the particular 
offense that he mentions in verse 18. Who suppress the truth in 
unrighteousness. We'll see what he means in more 
detail in just a moment. But he says they suppress the 
truth in unrighteousness. The idea is clear in what follows. God has made himself clear through 
the created order. We know the Creator through the 
creature. We know the cause through the 
effect. And that's what the Apostle is 
going to indicate here. And so men, Gentile men, those 
apart from the oracles of God, look at chapter 2 for a moment, 
verse 17 specifically indeed. You are called a Jew, and rest 
on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and 
approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 
and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light 
to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, 
a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in 
the law. There he's speaking to Jews, those who had the Old 
Testament. What he's speaking to in chapter 
1 are the Gentiles. They don't have the Old Testament. 
They don't have the oracles of God. They haven't been benefited 
with that special revelation. But what he goes on to say is 
that general revelation is enough to make man culpable. They are 
responsible based on the revelation of God in the created order. 
Notice in chapter 3 at verse 1, what advantage then has the 
Jew? Or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way, 
chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. 
You see what he's doing? He moves from the Gentiles, and 
then he directs his argument against the Jews. You're no better. 
You have the oracles, you have the special revelation, you have 
the Old Testament, and you haven't lived in light of that. You're 
as bad off as are the Gentiles, And that's why in chapter 3, 
at verse 19, he can say, now we know that whatever the law 
says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth 
may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. 
Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified 
in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. So going 
back to chapter 1 and verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed 
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth 
in unrighteousness. The psalmist refers to these 
kinds of people. Psalm 10, verse 4, the wicked 
in his proud countenance does not seek God. God is in none 
of his thoughts. Drop down to verse 28 in chapter 
1. Notice, and even as they did 
not like to retain God in their knowledge, even as they did not 
like to retain God in their knowledge, who do we think we are? Who does 
the creature think that He is? We have the knowledge of the 
true and the living God, and we don't want that. We don't 
want to keep it. We want to eradicate it. We want 
to suppress that truth and unrighteousness. This echoes what we see in the 
prophet Jeremiah. you can turn to chapter 32. Jeremiah 
chapter 32. God is rehearsing new covenant 
blessing. But before he gets to new covenant 
blessing, he gives the current state of the nation of Judah. They are in Babylon or they're 
heading to Babylon because of their sin and depravity. Notice 
for about verse 31 of Jeremiah 32. For this city has been to 
me a provocation of my anger and my fury from the day that 
they built it, even to this day. So I will remove it from before 
my face because of all the evil of the children of Israel and 
the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me 
to anger. They, their kings, their princes, their priests, 
their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." 
Now notice verse 33, very similar to what Paul says. Much of the 
condemnation of Paul against the Gentiles has its taproots 
in the prophets against Israel. Notice in verse 33, they have 
turned to me the back and not the face, though I taught them, 
rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened 
to receive instruction. They turn to me the back? You 
turn your back on the living and true God? You don't like 
to retain God in your knowledge? Now drop down to verse 36. Now, 
therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning 
this city of which you say, it shall be delivered into the hand 
of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by 
the pestilence. Very much similar to Romans 1, 
24, 26, and 28. For this cause, God gave them 
up. Punitive justice upon the heads 
of those who do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Punitive 
justice on those who say, you know what? I'm going to turn 
to God the back and not the face. You know what? I'm going to take 
all of this data provided to me by God in general revelation, 
and I'm going to suppress it in unrighteousness. I'm going 
to dig a hole. I'm going to bury it in there. 
I'm going to cover it, and then I'm going to stamp it down, and 
I'm never going to think about it again. That's the mindset 
of the Gentile, of the pagan. This is the mindset of neo-paganism 
today. What Paul is writing in Romans 
chapter one is not far afield from what we're witnessing in 
Canadian culture. Now, back to Romans chapter 1. 
So there is this revelation of God's wrath. Notice, secondly, 
the reason for God's wrath. Verses 19 and following. Notice 
in the first place, and it does attach to what he says at the 
end of verse 18, "...who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." 
He's going to explain this. He is going to bring the receipts. He is going to indict. He is 
going to rebuke. He's going to evidence and demonstrate 
how it is that the Gentile pagan is refusing God Most High. And he appeals to what we call 
general revelation. Special revelation is God's speaking 
to us in His Word. It's the way we have special 
revelation. Of course, dreams and visions 
and the prophetic word and all those sorts of things that we 
find throughout the Bible, the sign gifts, the tongues, the 
prophesying in the New Testament is all special revelation. But 
on this side of the closed canon, we don't look for that. We have 
special revelation in Genesis 2 revelation. But then there's 
what's called general revelation. God manifests himself through 
the created order. As I said, we can know the Creator 
based on His creature. We can know the cause based on 
the effects. Belgian Confession, Article 2, 
asks the question, by what means God is made known unto us? We know him by two means. First, 
by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe, 
which is before our eyes as a most beautiful book, wherein all creatures, 
great and small, are as so many characters leading us to contemplate 
the invisible things of God, namely His power and divinity. 
as the Apostle Paul says, Romans 1.20, all things which are sufficient 
to convince men and leave them without excuse. Secondly, he 
makes himself more clearly fully known to us by his holy and divine 
word. That is to say, as far as is 
necessary for us to know in this life to his glory and our salvation. So the accent falls here on general 
revelation. And we see by a survey of this 
passage or this chapter that general revelation is enough 
to render men inexcusable before a thrice holy God. General revelation 
does not provide the contents of blood atonement at Calvary, 
but it does manifest the glory and the power and the majesty 
of God such that man is responsible to worship that God based on 
the light of nature He has received. Notice, the Apostle says, His 
invisible attributes are clearly seen. Verse 19, Because what 
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it 
to them. For since the creation of the 
world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen. So verse 19, 
he says, you can't tell me that you don't know. You can't tell 
me that you're an atheist. You can't tell me that you just 
aren't aware. No, God has so structured the 
created order. God has so created man in his 
image that everything we see resonates God. And yet man suppresses 
that truth and unrighteousness. So verse 19, because what may 
be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to 
them. And then the specifics. For since 
the creation of the world is in invisible attributes, are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. 
So when we look at the things that are made, we are led to 
a consideration of the maker of the things. Now, something 
happens, obviously, because of our sin and our propensity to 
suppress that truth and unrighteousness. But if we weren't sinning, if 
we weren't using our minds in rebellion against God, it would 
be the case. We'd look at Mount Shem and it 
would lead us to a consideration of the God who made Mount Shem. We would look at the oceans and 
it would lead us to a consideration of the God who made the oceans. 
Now, of course, we see that depravity manifest in atheism, or a professed 
or espoused atheism, or in agnosticism. But if you understand Paul's 
words in verse 19, you'll have to conclude there's no such thing 
as a true atheist. There are those who profess atheism. The fool has said in his heart, 
there is no God, Psalm 14.1. But he can't escape it. He can't 
run from it. He can't ultimately fly from 
the knowledge of God Most High. That's what Paul says. When someone 
says, well, I'm an atheist, there's just not enough evidence to support 
the belief in God. Paul says, because what may be 
known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 
The problem isn't a lack of evidence. The problem is the interpreter 
of the evidence. The problem is sin, and that's 
why Paul is addressing it, and that's why Paul is establishing 
this reality before he gets to Romans 3.21. But now, the righteousness 
of God, apart from the law, is revealed. Notice, his invisible 
attributes are clearly seen, and specifically his eternal 
power. Verse 20. It says, being understood 
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, 
the glory of God Most High, is seen in the created order. This 
isn't confined to Paul in Romans chapter 1. Psalm 19, the heavens 
do what? They declare the righteousness, 
the glory, the majesty of God Almighty. Spurgeon makes the 
observation that if a man looks up, in fact, I'll read it because 
I think it is germane to our understanding here, especially 
living in neo-paganism when people profess to be atheists. Psalm 
19.1, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament 
shows his handiwork. Spurgeon says, he who looks unto 
the firmament and then writes himself down an atheist, brands 
himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar. He brands 
himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar. That's what 
Paul's point is in verses 19 and 20. So his eternal power 
and his Godhead, those are indicated clearly in verse 20. But before 
we leave this point, notice verse 32. There's something else that 
the pagan, that the heathen, that the Gentile, apart from 
the oracles of God, know about God. They know that God is righteous. They know that God is just. They know that God must ultimately 
punish all rebellion and transgression and sin. Look at verse 32, "...who, 
knowing the righteous judgment of God..." He's not changed subjects. He's not moved on into the Jews 
at this point. He's still dealing with the Gentiles. 
He's still dealing with the heathen. He's still dealing with those 
upon whom the wrath of God is revealed against their ungodliness 
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So, who knowing the righteous 
judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving 
of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who 
practice them. So in the sinner's heart of hearts, 
when he gets alone, as John Owen says, when he sees tempests and 
he hears thunderings and he sees lightnings and all those sorts 
of things, it's not so much the phenomena in nature. Now that 
can cause a bit of a fear, but the reality that God is nigh 
and that he's a consuming fire. You see, we can't underestimate 
Romans 1 in apologetics and in evangelism. The sinner to whom 
we speak knows that God is. Now, he suppresses that truth 
and unrighteousness, and he busies himself with argumentation to 
try and satisfy himself and others that he's legitimate in his espousal 
of no-God-ism. But the reality is, is that Paul 
tells us that man does know that God exists. Now notice in verse 
21, we see the response by man to the general revelation that 
he has received from God. So God has made it manifest in 
them. So what does man do? According 
to verses 21 to 23, we see what he does. In the first place, verse 21, 
because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, 
nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and 
their foolish hearts were darkened. Think about what the apostle 
says there. Man's problem, yes, is homosexuality. Man's problem is, yes, reviling. Man's problem is gossip. Man's problem is blotting. Man's 
problem is lying. Man's problem is theft. But in 
the first place, man's problem is ungodliness. who, although 
they knew God, did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful." 
So they're living in this tension. On the one hand, they know that 
there's a God, and on the other hand, they don't glorify Him. 
They don't honor Him. They don't bow to Him, the face. They turn to Him, the back. They 
don't treasure the knowledge of this God in their heart of 
hearts. Rather, according to verse 28, 
and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
they exclude the thought of God because of their sin and their 
perversion and their rebellion against the living and true God. 
Now brethren, obviously, I'm not just picking on people out 
there. We were all right there. We were all in this boat. We 
all lived in this particular manner. If you were raised in 
a Christian home, you had a bit of Romans 1 and a bit of Romans 
2. Not a Jew, but you certainly had reception of the oracles 
of God. For those of us not raised in 
Christian homes, we had general revelation, but what did we do 
with it? We suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. We knew that 
God was, but instead of glorifying Him as God or being thankful 
to that God, we became futile in our thoughts and our foolish 
hearts became darkened. That's the trajectory. When a 
man rejects the living and true God, when a man does not live 
consistent with the knowledge that he possesses, good things 
don't follow. In other words, Peter's right, 
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ. The more we know God, the more 
we understand God, the more our conduct should be consistent 
with that information and data. But for the pagan, the heathen, 
the Gentile, he doesn't want to retain the knowledge of God. 
He knows that God is, but rather he does not glorify God as God, 
nor is he thankful. John Murray says to glorify God 
as God is not to augment God's glory or to add to it. It means 
simply to ascribe to God the glory that belongs to Him in 
virtue of the perfections which the visible creation itself makes 
known. Live in light of the data that 
is available instead of suppressing that truth in unrighteousness. 
Now notice the profession and the reality of verse 22. Professing 
to be wise. That's what we do, don't we? 
We reject God, and we have 15 reasons why we're right. Why 
the infinite God of heaven and earth, the Creator, Governor, 
and Redeemer, is somehow subject to our sort of pontification 
that He's not there, that He doesn't exist. Notice, professing 
to be wise, They became fools. That's the transition. That's 
the trajectory. That's what happens when a man 
does not receive the truth of God and act upon it. Notice then 
he turns to idols, according to verse 23. And he changed the 
glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible 
man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 
So when a man rejects the true God, that does not divest himself 
of religiosity. God made us in His image. God 
made us with a sense of divinity. God made us with a sense of the 
divine. If we don't worship the true 
and living God, We will direct that energy elsewhere, and that's 
specifically what the apostle addresses here in verse 23. So 
they change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image 
made like corruptible man, and birds and four-footed animals 
and creeping things." Again, backdrop. Psalm 106, the indictment 
of Israel. They made a calf in Horeb and 
worshiped the molded image. Thus they exchanged their glory 
into the image of an ox that eats grass. Well, there may be 
a difference in terms of the reception of God's revelation. The Gentiles, via general. The Jews, via special. The endgame is the same when 
we reject it. When we reject that, verse 23 
is the reality. That's precisely Psalm 106. Thus 
they exchanged their glory into an image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, 
who had done great things in Egypt. Well, the prophet Jeremiah, 
Jeremiah chapter 2, the prophet takes great pains to upbraid 
Israel and to show them their sin so that in chapter 3, he 
can five times say to those people, yet return to me, says Yahweh. Yet return to me, says Yahweh. 
Yet return to me, says Yahweh. See a pattern? Tell people the 
bad news so that you can then give them the good news. If we 
don't tell people the bad news, they'll never see their need 
for the good news. When we simply preach Jesus as 
a happier life, when we simply preach Jesus as a better way 
to go, we're not doing justice to the evangel. We need to tell 
men their plight in order to provide to them the remedy and 
thus make sense. Jeremiah 2.11, has a nation changed 
its gods, which are not gods, but my people have changed their 
glory for what does not profit. Same thing that the Gentiles 
do in their rejection of the God of general revelation. Douglas 
Moon, his commentary says on verse 23, this tragic process 
of human God-making continues apace in our own day. And Paul's 
words have as much relevance for people who have made money 
or sex or famed their gods as for those who carved idols out 
of wood and stone. Thus, as verses 24 to 31 show, 
the whole dreadful range of sins that plague humanity has its 
roots in the soil of this idolatry. Here's the connection. The wrath 
of God is revealed against all ungodliness, verses 21 to 23, 
and unrighteousness of man. When we exchange the glory of 
the incorruptible God and direct our worship and attention to 
corruptible creature, that's our theological commitment. That 
is our embrace of idolatry. That is our rejection of the 
living and true God. And it's from that vantage point 
that all of the wickedness and all of the vices and all of the 
evils that we engage in flow. That's why it's not enough to 
just tell the fornicator, stop fornicating. It's not enough 
to tell the thief to stop stealing. You see that in Paul's epistles 
to believers, but the primary emphasis that we bring to the 
fornicator, the primary emphasis that we bring to the thief, the 
primary emphasis that we bring to the sinner is believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Not behavior modification, 
but blood atonement. When we understand the bad news, 
we will point sinners to the good news. Now notice in terms 
of the response of man, his practice. He has his theological commitments 
according to verses 21 to 23. Now notice his practice in verses 
24 to 32. He engages in sexual immorality. 
You see, brethren, we think this is a sign, not we personally 
or we specifically, but we generically, generally, in society today, 
especially in North America, the Western world, we think that 
sexual profligacy is the sign of independence. We think that 
it's the sign of freedom. We think that it's the sign of 
good things. Well, believers who come to this 
particular passage of scripture ought to fear and tremble when 
we consider the modern situation and God's wrath revealed against 
it. Notice the practice of sexual 
immorality, verses 24 to 27. Therefore, God also gave them 
up. to uncleanness. And again, this 
is punitive justice. This giving them up is akin to 
God giving up Jerusalem and the nation of Judah to Babylon in 
the captivity in the 7th century BC. What we have is God's justice 
manifested. God, as it were, says to the 
sinner, you don't want me? You're not going to get me. In 
fact, I'm going to deliver you up to the uncleanness that you 
crave. So verse 24, therefore God also 
gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts, to 
dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God 
for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than 
the creator, who is blessed forever, amen. See, that is man in sin, 
will exchange the glory of God most high for that which does 
not satisfy. Turn to the prophet Isaiah. He 
takes this tack when he's preaching the gospel to the nation of Israel. In Isaiah chapter 55, he says, 
ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, verse one, and 
you have no money, come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk 
without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what 
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen 
carefully to me and eat what is good and let your soul delight 
itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to 
me, here in your soul shall live. Notice, four times in the space 
of three verses, God through the prophet says, come. God through 
the prophet upbraids them. He chides them. He reproves them. He rebukes them. Why do you spend 
your money for what does not bread and your wages for what 
does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat 
what is good and let your soul delight itself in abundance. 
This is the nature of depravity. It is the nature of sin. It causes 
us to judge the glory of God negatively. And it causes us 
to look upon the sinfulness of man positively. You see why Paul 
can say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel? For it is the power of 
God unto salvation. If it isn't God involved in the 
saving of sinners, no sinner will ever be saved. Because sinners 
take the knowledge of God and they suppress that truth and 
unrighteousness. Though God has clearly manifested 
Himself to them, they nevertheless put that information away and 
they live in light of their own lusts and their own idols. So 
they turned to that which is wicked. Verses 26 and 27. Again, the sexual sin component. 
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. 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. Men with men committing 
what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of 
their error which was due. If you understand Paul here, 
and you look at our modern situation in terms of sexual ethics, you 
ought to fear and tremble. Again, this is not a good sign 
when we openly violate and transgress the law of God Most High. When 
we take Deuteronomy 518, the seventh commandment, and we pretend 
like it's not even there. Or worse, we understand that 
it's there, and we in our pride and arrogance and hubris just 
go out and do the exact opposite? When governments legislate immorality? I remember that as a young believer, 
hearing people complain, well, the government can't legislate 
morality. So what have we done? We've adopted 
a posture. We've adopted a policy of legislating 
immorality. That's the way we want to go 
as civil society. What are we doing? We are invoking 
God's wrath. We are invoking God's judgment. We are calling upon him to destroy 
us. It really is a collision course 
that we are on in the Western world relative to sexual ethics. So we've got their sexual immorality. We've already covered verse 28, 
their rejection of God. They did not like to retain God 
in their knowledge. And then notice the transgression 
of God's law. We won't go through every vice. 
This is a vice list. Paul the apostle gives vice lists 
in various epistles to underscore and demonstrate and to evidence 
and manifest the sinfulness of man. Again, why does Paul do 
that? Is he consumed with sin? No, 
he's consumed with Christ. And he knows that unless the 
sinner understands his sin, he'll never look unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ. These two are inextricably connected. The preaching of God's law must 
go hand in hand with the preaching of God's gospel. Without the 
law, there's no gospel. Again, it's typically relegated 
to a happier life. I remember several years ago, 
many years ago, our brother Steve saw a church sign that likened 
Jesus to Coca-Cola. Things go better with Jesus. 
Remember the old Coca-Cola campaign? Things go better with Coke? I 
mean, that's arguable in itself. But to liken Jesus to a refreshing 
beverage? It may work well in Western civilization, 
but it does complete injustice to the glory of the gospel. to 
the beauty of the Savior, to the altogether lovely and chief 
among ten thousand. To relegate Jesus to a refreshing 
beverage is to take Him from His throne and to put Him into 
service of carnal men. That is not gospel preaching. Gospel preaching comes on the 
heels of declaring to people their sin, their depravity, and 
their rebellion against the living and true God. Notice, verses 
29 and following, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual 
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, Now, think about this vice list, 
because you may not be given to homosexuality. You may not 
be given to an actual exchanging of the glory of God for a four-footed 
beast that you bow down to in your backyard. But this vice 
list finds us all out, even little children among us. being filled 
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, 
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, backbiters, 
haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things." 
Notice that next clause, disobedient to parents. You mean God has 
a concern about disobedience to parents? Absolutely, positively. A rejection of parental authority 
is a rejection of divine authority. A rejection of mommy and daddy 
is a rejection of the living and true God who gave you mommy 
and daddy and a specific commandment for you to honor mommy and daddy. 
So that is a horrific sin that finds its way into this vice 
list that is descriptive of paganism. Notice, undiscerning, untrustworthy, 
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. And then verse 32 not only underscores 
that they know it's righteous with God to judge rebel sinners, 
but as well it points to the solidarity of sinfulness or solidarity 
rather of sinners. It was kind of nice today. This 
morning I mentioned that a lot of pastors throughout Canada 
agreed that we would preach a sermon on biblical sexual ethics. There 
was some solidarity shown this morning. There's something good 
about that. There's something nice about that. It's good to 
have a body of people that you can connect to. Well, sinners 
have their solidarity as well. And notice what the apostle says. 
He says, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who 
practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, 
but also approve of those who practice them. This solidarity 
is seen in persons not only engaging in damnable practices, but urging 
and encouraging others to participate likewise, to finding solidarity 
among rebel sinners as they resist Yahweh and His Christ. John Calvin 
calls this the summit of evil, when we rejoice in the wickedness 
that others engage that is similar to our own. John Murray says, 
to put it bluntly, we're not only bent on damning ourselves, 
but we congratulate others in the doing of those things that 
we know have their issue in damnation. So this is a bleak picture that 
Paul paints in terms of Gentile disobedience to the true and 
living God. We've seen the revelation of 
God's wrath, verse 18, the reason for God's wrath in verses 19 
to 32. Now notice the nature of God's 
wrath or judgment in verses 24, 26, and 28. Verse 24, therefore 
God also gave them up to uncleanness. Verse 26, for 
this reason God gave them up to vile passions. Verse 28, and 
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, 
God gave them over to a debased mind. Have you ever heard a person 
say, do you think God's going to judge our generation? There 
is every evidence and every descriptor and every manifestation that 
we are presently under that judgment. When this kind of sexual sin 
is rampant, when this kind of perversion is vaunted, when the 
government actually sanctions those who would challenge that 
prevailing wickedness, we are in a difficult place. We need 
to pray to God Most High with the prophet Habakkuk. He says, 
in wrath, remember mercy. We know that God is angry with 
the wicked every day. Psalm 711. We know that we live 
in a world that is filled with wickedness. We ought to be intercessors. We ought to be evangelists. We 
ought to be pointers to our Lord Jesus Christ. Understanding the 
plight of man, realizing the power of God, let us proclaim 
the remedy of blood atonement through our Lord Jesus Christ. The people exchanged the truth 
for idols, God gave them up. The people exchanged the truth 
for a lie, God gave them up. The people exchanged the natural 
use for the unnatural, God gave them up. Again, Psalm 106, verses 
40 and 41. Therefore the wrath of the Lord 
was kindled against His people, so that He abhorred His own inheritance, 
and He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, and those who 
hated them ruled over them. When we see civic unrighteousness 
at these levels, we have to properly conclude there are big problems 
facing us in Canada today. I'm not talking about supply 
lines. I'm not talking about inflation. 
I mean, those are symptomatic, to be sure, but the wrath and 
fury of God Most High is evident in the giving up of sinners onto 
uncleanness, onto a reprobate mind, onto this place where they 
do those things which are not fitting. Well, in conclusion, 
just a few thoughts and then we'll go. First, the effect of 
idolatry. Idolatry doesn't promote good 
things. Steve read the psalm at the outset 
of worship, Psalm 115. It's a mockery of the idols of 
the heathen nations. They have mouths, but they don't 
speak. They have ears, but they don't 
hear. The psalmist is mocking. The 
psalmist is holding them in contempt. The psalmist is comparing our 
God, who is in heaven, who does whatever he pleases, to the idols 
of men that can't function. They're dumb. They have no wherewithal. Sort of like Dagon when he falls 
over in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. Those Philistines 
have to go in the next morning and they have to pick him up 
and prop him back up. That is not a good God to serve. But with reference to the effect 
of idolatry in Psalm 115 at verse 8, it tells us that those who 
make them, those who trust in them, will be like them. G.K. Beal has a book on idolatry, 
and the thesis of that book is, what you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin or restoration. What you revere, you resemble, 
either for ruin or restoration. You follow idols, that's ruinous. You follow the living and true 
God, that's restorative. You see that in the history of 
Israel. The effect upon the Israelites, 
say for instance, in Exodus chapter 32, verses 7 to 10. had turned 
aside from the worship of the true and the living God. What 
do they do? They bow down to the calf idols that Aaron constructed 
and predicated of them that this is your God who led you out of 
the land of bondage. Romans 3.12, the apostle says, 
they have all turned aside. When we look at Israel, you'll 
see that the prophets upbraid the Israelites for being stiff-necked, 
for being rebels. They are like what they worship. Calves are stiff neck. You need 
to put a yoke on them. You need to break them. You need 
to subdue them so that they follow and do what you say. Consider 
that statement in Psalm 115. They have eyes, but they don't 
see. They have ears, but they don't hear. They have mouths, 
but they don't speak. How many times do the prophets 
indict Israel? Having ears, you do not hear. 
Having eyes you do not see. Why is that? Because they resemble 
their idols for ruin. You see this, not just in Exodus 
32. I've already alluded to Psalm 
106, as I think Paul the Apostle does. Certainly the idol makers 
become like idols in Psalm 115. The Israelites in Jeremiah 2.11, 
I mentioned that. Has a nation changed its gods, 
which are not gods? but my people have changed their 
glory for what does not profit. And in 2.5, it says, they have 
gone far from me, have followed vanity, and have become vanity. They followed the idols, which 
are vain things. So what happens to them? Do they 
get restored? Are they conformed under the 
image of their blessed God? No, they have become vanity. You see it in Hosea 4 at verses 
16 and 17, and then the Israelites in Isaiah 6, 9 to 10. They take on the characteristic 
of the God that they worship. They have eyes, but they don't 
see. They have ears, but they don't hear. They become like 
that which they worship. I think Beal is right. What you 
revere, you resemble, either for ruin or restoration. Secondly, 
the types of idolatry. And we need to be on guard for 
this. In 1 John 5, verse 21, a letter to Christians, a letter 
to believers, the last thing that John says is, my little 
children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. It's the last thing 
he says in a letter that describes the truth-loving nature of believers, 
the righteousness-practicing nature of believers, the obedience 
that they manifest. There is this tendency, there 
is this proneness to wander and a proneness to leave the God 
that we love. Turn to Psalm 119. Very often, if we are not cautious, 
we will find ourselves compromised because we didn't pay attention 
to Scripture. Psalm 119, if I asked you to give me a short statement, 
concerning the content of Psalm 119, you'd probably say something 
like, it's about the word of God. It is a celebration of God's 
law, God's commandments, God's statutes. It is a celebration 
of God's blessedness as it's revealed chiefly in the word 
of the living and true God. I mean, here's a man who knows 
his Bible. Here's a man who relishes his Bible. Here's a man who loves 
his Bible. Here's a man who loves the God 
of his Bible. Look at how the psalm ends, verse 
175. Let my soul live and it shall 
praise you and let your judgments help me. I have gone astray like 
a lost sheep. Seek your servant for I do not 
forget your commandments. There is this recognition, and 
he does this in Psalm 19 as well, another psalm that extols both 
the general revelation and special revelation of God. And he underscores 
the reality that the hymn writer was right. There is a proneness 
to wander. and a proneness to leave the 
God that we love. There is theological rebellion, 
the breaking of the first commandment, worshipping another God. Most 
likely, that's what Paul is indicting the Gentiles for in this particular 
chapter. Worshippers of Mother Earth, 
worshippers of environmentalism, worshipping that which is created 
rather than that which has created them. There is theological innovation, 
worshiping the true God in a false manner. This is a breach of the 
second commandment. Those two go hand in hand. The 
first describes the object of worship. The second describes 
the manner of worship. We're not left to improvise. 
We're not left to innovate. We're left rather to be obedient 
to what God says. And then there is theological 
utilitarianism. Worshipping a god in order to 
secure specific privilege. You can see Ahaz do this in 2 
Chronicles chapter 28. You can see that at the fall 
of the Northern Kingdom when the Assyrians repopulate that 
Northern Kingdom. When God sicks lions on them 
for their gross idolatry, they cry out to a priest of Bethel 
and say, how do we get these lions to stop? That's theological 
utilitarianism. I'm going to use God insofar 
as he does me a solid. I'm going to serve God insofar 
as he gives me what I want. That's not Christianity. That's 
not biblical religion. That is not what we are to aspire 
after. We are to serve God because God 
is good. And then finally, the response 
by the believer. In order to separate ourselves 
from this kind of a depiction, we need to know our God. We need 
to understand what the Bible says concerning the true and 
living God, our great triune God, who is from everlasting 
to everlasting, the Father unbegotten, the Son begotten by the Father, 
and the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. Secondly, 
we need to exercise caution. Again, 1 John 5, 21. My little 
children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. That's a tremendous 
statement, brethren, in the context. You've got to consider the reality 
that we have a propensity in us to wander and to leave the 
God that we love. In terms of this exercise of 
caution, we need to recognize the idol of false religion. And 
false religion can take place even in the professing church. 
Not just Jehovah's Witnesses, not just Mormons, not just the 
various cultists, but it can happen within professing Christianity, 
when we deny the truth as it is in Jesus, when we deny the 
truth about God Most High, when we deny who Jesus Christ is. 
John the Apostle, in the first and second epistles, deals with 
what he calls Antichrist. John, I don't think, is talking 
about Adolf Hitler or Mao Zedong. He's not talking about Joseph 
Stalin. He's not talking about somebody that's in our future. 
Antichrist was a present heresy at the time of the Apostle John. 
He says there are many antichrists. They denied cardinal truth about 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So you can have a man professing 
to be a Christian, but if he denies cardinal truth about the 
Lord Jesus, he is an idolater. There is the idol of Mammon. 
You're all familiar with the text in Matthew chapter six and 
verse 24. You can't serve God and Mammon. 
Jesus doesn't mean divest yourself of all your money, put an orange 
robe on and bang a tambourine down at the airport. That's not 
what he means. He does not indicate whatsoever 
that it's necessarily evil to have money. But it is a tendency 
to be drawn away in the pursuit of money. C.S. Lewis has this 
observation. I'm just going to paraphrase 
it. He says, you know, oftentimes a young man says he's making 
his way in the world. He doesn't realize that it's 
actually the world making its way in his own heart. Solomon 
or Edgar provides for us a happy medium. Give me neither poverty 
nor riches. If I'm poor, I may go out and 
steal and dishonor my God. If I'm rich, then I may have 
the tendency to forget God. Now again, that doesn't mean 
to vest yourself of everything. Take your kids out and live on 
the street corner. Better yet, under the stairwell 
here at Free Grace Baptist Church. That's not what I mean. There's 
instructions for the rich in 1 Timothy chapter 6 that help 
to counterbalance the tendency or propensity to be led astray. And then the final idol that 
I think we need to exercise caution over is the idol of self. The idol of self. Genesis chapter 
3. What was the enticement? Ye shall 
be as gods. It's all about you. 2 Timothy 
3, men will be lovers of themselves. Look at one of the designs behind 
the crosswork of our Lord Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5. Excuse me, 
2 Corinthians 5. A caution concerning the idol 
of self. 2 Corinthians 5.12. For we do 
not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity 
to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those 
who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside 
ourselves, it is for God. Or if we are of sound mind, it 
is for you. For the love of Christ compels 
us, because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all 
died. And he died for all that Those who live should live no 
longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose 
again. It's easy to see the pagan bowing 
down to his stick or bowing down to his stone and upbraiding him 
for his idolatry. Oh, look at that wretched heathen 
worshiping his rock. Look at that man worshiping his 
stacks of money. Look at that man fabricating 
a doctrine of God that has no track with what Scripture says. 
It's very easy to see that and not see the overindulgence upon 
ourselves. Now brethren, there's a place 
where there is self-love. Love your neighbor as yourself. You don't walk in front of trucks 
or trains. You don't ingest arsenic. You 
don't drink hemlock. You do things to preserve yourself. Some degree of self-love is absolutely 
assumed by the scripture. But there's a threshold, and 
this devotion to self, this reality of a 2 Timothy 3.2, that men 
will be lovers of themselves. Listen to David Wells commenting 
on this idol of self. He says much of the church today, 
especially that part of it which is evangelical, is in captivity 
to this idolatry of the self. This is a form of corruption 
far more profound than the list of infractions that typically 
pop into our minds when we hear the word sin. We are trying to 
hold at bay the gnats of small sins while swallowing the camel 
of self. It is idolatry as pervasive and 
as spiritually debilitating as were many of the entanglements 
with pagan religions recounted for us in the Old Testament. 
that this devotion to the self seems not to be like that older 
devotion to a pagan god blinds the church to its own unfaithfulness. The end result, however, is no 
less devastating because the self is no less demanding. It 
is as powerful an organizing center as any god or goddess 
on the market. The contemporary church is whoring 
after this God as assiduously as the Israelites in their darker 
days. It is baptizing as faith the 
pride that leads us to think much about ourselves and much 
of ourselves. My little children, keep yourselves 
from idols. Amen. That's what John says. There are religious idols, there 
are monetary idols, there's pleasure idols, there's certainly the 
sticks and the stones of the heathen, but there is that idol 
of self. That desire for ourself, that 
devotion for ourself. Again, there's a biblical self-love, 
but boy, we really, really extend that to the outer reaches, and 
we need to guard our hearts and minds. So a bleak picture that 
the Apostle presents in Romans 1. He's going to do the same 
thing in Romans 2 when he says to the Jews, you're no better. 
And in some sense, you're even worse, because you had the oracles, 
you had the special revelation. You not only had the manifestation 
of God in creation, You're not only created in His image, such 
that you're hardwired to think His thoughts after Him, but you've 
had the prophets, you've had Moses, you've had all of this 
data, and instead of serving and glorifying that God, you've 
rebelled against Him, you've transgressed against Him, and 
you've rejected Him. That's the basis upon which the 
apostle begins his gospel presentation. He doesn't start with, God loves 
you and has a wonderful plan for your life. No, he starts 
with God is angry with you, and if you don't believe the gospel 
of his son, you will be cut off and damned to hell eternally. So he says, I am not ashamed 
of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to 
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 
For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, the righteousness 
that he demands and the righteousness that he provides. And this is 
not an innovation. This isn't new with the apostle. 
Habakkuk 2, the just shall live by faith. When the apostle declares 
the doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 4, who does 
he point to? Abraham and David. This isn't 
a new thing. This isn't a brand new way. This 
is how it's always been. Grace alone through faith alone 
in Christ alone. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you that you not only tell us the good 
news, but you tell us the bad news. And God help us as the 
church to imitate this pattern, to imitate this way. I ask and 
pray, Father in heaven, that you would bless my brothers and 
sisters here, that we'd all have a good understanding of the problem 
that faces mankind. so that we could see the power 
of God in response to that and that remedy through the blood 
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one you made who knew no 
sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. We thank you for this Lord's 
Day. We thank you for the privilege of gathering together and worshiping 
you corporately. We pray now that you would go 
with us and keep us and watch over us and may your face shine 
upon us each and every day. And we ask through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.