Rom 1-When God Lets Go-part 1

| What Happens When God Lets Go – Part 1! Romans 1:18-32

February 12, 2006 NIV 18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.  PRAY Scripture memory:Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. – Romans 12:4-5 NIV Intro: Have you ever tried to run away from home? This week: The Reason for God’s JudgmentNext week: The Form or Fruit of God’s Judgment The Reason for God’s JudgmentNIV 24Therefore God gave them over… NCV 24Because they did these things, God left them and let them go their sinful way. NIV 26Because of this, God gave them over…NIV 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over…God’s judgment, at least in this passage, comes in the form of being given over. A month ago we looked briefly at “the Wrath of God.” We looked at it from the perspective of what people do that provokes God’s wrath. There will be a lot of overlap this morning. However…Six Reasons God tells us that earn His judgment:Reason #1: They rejected what they knew in there hearts to be true about God. (v. 25)  NIV They exchanged the truth of God for a lieNLT Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies.Not a matter of more knowledge…It is an issue of the will.God will often let us go our own way when we insist, even though it will hurt us to go that way. – Q: Do we really WANT to go our own way, or would we rather that God brings us HIS way.Warning #1: Beware the danger of rationalization.Beware our fallen tendency and ability to reject what we know in our hearts to be true and to believe the lie.Satan’s power is in that lie. A lie has no power unless it is believed. Reason #2: They refused to give God the glory that was rightly His. (vv. 21 & 23)NIV 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…. 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images….We talked about that a couple of weeks backWorship is at the same time both a glorious privilege and a sacrifice. It is both right and natural.Ø   Worship is a glorious privilegeØ   Worship is sometimes a sacrifice, an act of faithØ   Worship is right – as long as it is pointing to GodØ   Worship is natural – We were designed to worship. We can no more cease breathing as cease worshipping. The only question is WHAT are we worshipping?Warning #2: Be careful to nurture worship, both publicly and privately. Reason #3: They refused to give God the thanks that were rightly His. (v. 21)NIV For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him….Why don’t we give thanks?Ø   Because of a sense of entitlement – ·    “He owes it to me.” ·    “I have a right to it.” ·    “It is no more than He gives anyone else.”Ø   Because of envyWe often miss the blessing of gifts received because we see someone else receive something better.Ø   Because of ignoranceSometimes we are just clueless. Perhaps we have just never heard it put that way before – i.e. being thankful for the air we breathØ   Because of wrong focusSometimes we are just plain distracted. We are so consumed with certain things in our lives, work, children, etc., that we just plain MISS many blessings God pours on us.Ø   Because of pride – “Yes, mother, but what have you done for me recently?”Self-sufficiency – We think we do not need and therefore that we do not WANT God to give us anything.Ø   Because of selfishness or self-consumptionNot exactly entitlement, but close – This is when we are so into our own little world that we are just plain oblivious to those around us, including GodThankfulness is the opposite of Complaining.1 Corinthians 10: 10 – NIV Do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. Thankfulness is incompatible with worry.Philippians 4:6 – NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Warning #3: Beware the danger of ingratitude. Reason #4: They refused to acknowledge God. (v. 28)NIV …they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God ….NLT When they refused to acknowledge God….NCV People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God…. They refused to acknowledge God. They saw no reason to keep God in their thinking. – The theology of atheism: no accountability – no hope, merely wishful thinking – Humanism |   | – We HAVE to believe in the innate goodness of man when we reject God, or we have NO hope…How can we look around us at this world we live in and find hope in the some belief that people are basically good?!?The humanist, the one who rejects God, tries to blame the religious zealots for the problems in this world…Warning #4: In all your ways acknowledge God. (Prov. 3:5-6)Trust Him. Do not demand to know the secret things of God. Acknowledge His hand at all times. The result: confidence in His loving sovereign providence – No accidents, no bad luck, always a confident expectation of God sovereign goodness.Next week: The fruit of setting aside our knowledge of God -  Reason #5: They worshipped and served created things rather than the creator. (vv. 23 & 25)NIV 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images…. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator….Technology – Celebrities – Form of religion – Stuff – HumanismStuff we have some control over – Stuff which we believe will make us feel good – Stuff which we can touch and see – It is easier to trust money in the bank than to trust God.It is easier to trust in some sort of job security than to trust God.Our flesh cries out to be first, to be coddled. God calls us to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily and to follow Him (Lk 9:23).Think of it: If you had to choose between comfort and pleasure, here and now, and knowing Christ more intimately, which would you choose?If you knew that all you would get out of being a Christian would be knowing Christ, would you want that, even if it meant considerable hurt?It is natural for us to exalt ourselves, to seek to satisfy our natural desires. However, seeking our natural desires is not always best and it should never come before God. It is our fallen nature which leads us to live for, to worship ourselves rather than God.Warning #5: Beware the danger of idolatry.NOTE: This is something we cannot do ourselves. If we desire this to be a reality in our lives, then it MUST become a matter of much prayer. Reason #6: They indulged their physical desires despite knowing they were wrong in doing so. (v. 32)NIV Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.NLT They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.A friend of ours told about the principle of the high school where he went as teenager. There “were no rules until you broke them.” What do you think of that?We live in a hedonistic society – If it feels good do it. “How can something so beautiful be wrong?”You surely shall not die…! (Gen. 3:4)Sometimes it comes down to a choice: God or fulfilling our desires – FASTINGGod makes it clear that those who indulge their desires in rejection of God’s standards are NOT in His Kingdom (1 Cor. 5:10-11; 6:9: Eph 5:5; Rev. 21:8; 22:15)1 Corinthians 9:24-27NCV 24You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! 25All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. 26So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. 27I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others. Warning #6: Beware the danger of indulging our appetites.Perelandra – eating what is needed rather than gluttony  “When our wants become our ruler and our desires our authority, we quickly become slaves to the next appealing offer.” (Life Application Commentary) “Professing to be wise, they became fools….”NOTE: Self-discipline, or lack thereof, does not DETERMINE our salvation. However, it is an indication of our heart’s condition. There is no room for assurance of our salvation when we are putting other gods before the one true God….  Summary/Review:In this passage we see Six Reasons God tells us that earn His judgment:We often reject what we know in our hearts to be true about God. Therefore we must beware the danger of rationalization rejecting what we know in our hearts to be true and in stead believing the lie.Satan’s power is in that lie. A lie has no power unless it is believed.We often refuse to give God the glory that is rightly His. Worship is natural – We were designed to worship. We can no more cease breathing as cease worshipping. The only question is WHAT are we worshipping? Therefore we must be careful to nurture worship, both publicly and privately.We often refuse to give God the thanks that is rightly His because of a sense of entitlement, because of envy, sometimes because of ignorance or wrong focus, often because of pride, self-sufficiency, or just plain selfishness or self-consumption.Thankfulness is incompatible with worry or with critical spirits.So we must beware the danger of ingratitude.Sometimes we refuse to acknowledge God, preferring, in practice, The theology of atheism: no accountability – no hope, merely wishful thinking. Therefore, we must be diligent in all our ways to acknowledge God.Oftentimes when we are not careful we find ourselves worshipping and serving created things rather than the creator, stuff we have some control over – Stuff which we believe will make us feel good – Stuff which we can touch and see – It is natural for us to exalt ourselves, to seek to satisfy our natural desires. However, seeking our natural desires is not always best and it should never come before God. It is our fallen nature which leads us to live for, to worship ourselves rather than God. Therefore, we must beware the danger of idolatry.Perhaps that which I am MOST guilty of, is indulging my physical desires even when I know in my heart that I am dishonoring God in doing so. Sometimes it comes down to a choice: God or fulfilling our desires – FASTINGGod makes it clear that those who indulge their desires in rejection of God’s standards are NOT in His Kingdom. Therefore we must Beware the danger of indulging our appetites. A Truth to Remember: It is a terrible thing for God to give us over to the desires of our hearts.A Challenge to Consider: Where do you need to turn from your natural desires in order to more fully enjoy God instead? |