Paul's Warning to America

Introduction

Good morning and welcome back!

This morning if you will turn in your Bible’s to Romans 1.

We have a lot to cover this morning and a short time to do it in, so we are going to get right to it.

So, Romans 1, starting in verse 16, Paul writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Romans 1:16–32 NIV - Anglicised

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For 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. For 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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is for ever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In 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. Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They 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, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 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 practise them.

Paul Gets to the Point

Now, as we get into our passage here, we see that Paul is not wasting any time.

He gets right down to business, and the first thing he does is make the declaration that he is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not ashamed to proclaim that gospel.

In fact, starting in verse 16, he writes . . .

Romans 1:16–17 NIV - Anglicised

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

In other words, he is saying that this Gospel is the very power of God at work saving absolutely everyone who believes in God.

He says, first the Jew and then the Gentile.

The Jew first because the Jews are God's chosen people whom the gospel was prepared (John 4:22) and then to the Gentiles because the Jews rejected Christ.

By the way, this also blows the arguments of racist groups and people out of the water.

God's salvation is for us all.

We are all entitled to come to Christ, regardless of who we are or where we come from.

And it is not just people out in world that are acting this way.

This racist attitude is so prevelant in the church world.

Just because somebody looks different we are suspicous of them and go out of our way to avoid them.

And sometimes are just nasty toward them.

That is not of God.

And it extends beyond our own borders as well.

I am so tired of hearing people badmouth saints of God who are going to places like Africa and Hati, and China to adopt children who "don't look like them" and don't "talk like them."

Really?

Is that really what the church has become?

That’s not what my Bible says.

In fact, my Bible tells me this .....

Galatians 3:27–28 NIV - Anglicised

for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And . . .

Acts 10:34–35 NIV - Anglicised

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.

We are all God's creation and every one of us have equal access to the love of Christ and the saving power of Christ.

If we are to love one another as ourselves then we are to love and care for everyone the same way we want to be loved and cared for.

Paul says that he is not ashamed of this and is not ashamed of Jesus.

He goes on in verse 17 to explain that it is only by the gospel of Christ that God makes us right in God’s sight.

There is no other way to God but through Jesus Christ.

Remember, Jesus said, I am the way and the truth, and the life and no man comes unto the father but through me!" (John 14:6).

And it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we have eternal life.

This springboards Paul into the main focus of our scripture.

If we skip over to Romans 6, Paul tells us that:

Romans 6:23 NIV - Anglicised

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And before Paul can make this statement, He first explains how the wages of sin is death, in chapter 1.

Paul talks about the three reasons why man has been brought under condemnation by God.

Suppressing God’s Truth and Ignoring God’s Revelation

Starting in verse 18 of chapter 1, Paul writes . . .

Romans 1:18–20 NIV - Anglicised

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For 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.

What Paul is saying here starting in verse 18 is that that God shows His anger against this sinful and wicked world first because Man has suppressed the truth about God and God's existence.

Paul says that we know the truth about God, because God has made the truth obvious to us.

But how? How has He done this?

Well, ever since the beginning at creation, we have seen the earth, seen the sky, felt the wind, the rain, the warmth of the sun.

How do we think all of this got here?

People want to say the big bang theory or space aliens, or just by chance, but HELLO!

You can't get something from nothing.

Somebody had to make all this we look at every day.

It was obvious then and it is obvious now!

But that wasn't good enough for man.

Man had have is own way.

Man had to not only suppress the truth about God but had to also pervert God's perfect glory and reshape God’s image into man’s image.

And this is where the problems started.

Paul Goes on . . .

Perverting God’s Glory

Staring in verse 21 . . .

Romans 1:21–23 NIV - Anglicised

For 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. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

So, he is saying that we all knew all about God.

We all know all about God today.

The United States of America was founded on the principles of God's Word and America was a God fearing nation.

America walked with God and American knew God.

This nation was founded in 1776 for God and for almost 200 years this nation was blessed by God, but it all began to change.

In 1963, one lady, Madlyn Murry O'Hair won a lawsuit in Baltimore Maryland that took God out of our schools.

That act has given birth to groups like the ACLU whose sole mission is to remove God from every aspect of American society as we know it.

These people and groups weren't the cause of the problem though, they were just the byproduct.

Just like in Paul's day America and the world has begun to think up foolish ideas of what God was like and who God is.

They say that everything and everybody is God, they say there is no God, they say that there are many gods.

And, as a result our minds have become warped, dark, and confused.

We know longer know the difference between reality and make believe.

We think we are oh so smart and wise but we have become utter fools or literally translated, we have "became stupid."

So, instead of worshipping God, what have we done?

We have made up all these things to worship.

WE ARE WORSHIPING THINGS THAT WE OURSELVES HAVE CREATED INSTEAD OF WORSHIPING THE ONE WHO CREATED US!

It has been a downward spiral made up of

worthless thinking

moral insensitivity

religious stupidity.

So now we have the situation where we have

suppressed the truth about God

Completely ignored God's revelation

completely perverted God's Glory.

And if this don't describe America, I don't know what does!

And as a result as a nation, we have now fallen into God's condemnation.

And the results of that?

Well, Paul spells it out . . .

Abandoned to Our Own Perversions

Paul writes . . .

Romans 1:24–25 NIV - Anglicised

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is for ever praised. Amen.

God has removed the hedge of protection and the gates of hell have swung wide open.

Here is how that manifests today.

live in lovers and "partners"

swinging

group sex parties.

People degrading their bodies, and thus degrading the image of God.

That is what happens when you abandon God, when you turn your back on God.

You began to degrade yourself, cheapen yourself.

Then you trade the truth about God for a lie (atheism, Islam, Hinduism, Christian science, Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormon, etc....) It is all a lie of the devil.

So, we begin to worship and serve the things God created instead of God.

We serve the one who wanted to be God.

But wait, there’s more . . .

Romans 1:26–27 NIV - Anglicised

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In 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.

Women will begin to turn from the natural relation with a man to unnatural with a woman. The same with the men. That perversion of the mind, that abandonment of God eventually leads to this time of behavior.

This also means natural affection between parent and child as well.

And when the natural affection is lost, then people’s minds become perverted and one manifestation of that is people doing unthinkable things to children and justifying this unnatural behavior as normal.

This complete perversion of the truth also leads to people being locked up for preaching this message.

Everything becomes so twisted and turned around that people lose the ability to discern the truth from a lie.

And as the ultimate result of this . . .

Romans 1:28–32 NIV - Anglicised

Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They 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, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 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 practise them.

In essence, they have become the United States of America.

The land of the free.

Altar/Challenge

But what does that mean for us?

How do we respond to that?

That means we become the church God has intended.

We become the voice crying out in the desert.

We become the ones sounding the alarm to repent before it’s too late.

We identify the sin in our own lives and deal with that before it’s too late.

And then we may be able to help others deal with their own sin.

But it really boils down to what we are willing to do.

So, as we pray this morning, ask yourselves, where do I fit in here?

And what am I willing to do about it?

That’s really what we are talking about.

Let’s pray . . .