Sermon Tone Analysis

WALK WORTHY

THE SHAMEFUL PERVERSION

Sunday March 13, 2022

Scripture Reference: Romans 1:24-27 (NLT)

Intro.

A. I said a few weeks ago when we entered into V.18 that Paul was turning a corner in his words to the church at Rome.

These are not easy words to read.

It is a message that can easily make us uncomfortable because without Jesus in our lives, or for some of you I can say, before Jesus was in your life.

This was YOU.

Sadly, this is the picture of many of those you love and want to see come to a saving faith in Jesus.

1.

I saw something in my study of these verses that I had never seen before.

Perhaps you had already seen it.

When Paul begins this admonition to the church at Rome back in V.18, it appears that he is specifically addressing the gentile population.

Now please do not take this to mean that this sinful behavior is somehow reserved for a particular group of people because it is not.

In fact, let's look at what Paul said as he begins chapter two.

"You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!

When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things."

Romans 2:1 (NLT) We could also go back to Pauls' words in 1 Corinthians 10:13 where he tells us that temptation, whatever kind it might be, is common to everyone.

Then he tells us that God provides a pathway to escape or overcome that temptation no matter what it is.

2.

Last week I encouraged you to read V.18-32 so that you could get the better picture of the incredible downward spiral that takes place when we reject or ignore the truth of God in our lives and today, we continue to see the terrible consequences of this decision, and please remember.

This is OUR decision, not God's.

B. Let's look at the verses we are now exploring.

Chapter 1:24-27, "So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.

As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies.

25 They traded the truth about God for a lie.

So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise!

Amen.

26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.

Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other.

Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved."

Romans 1:24-27 (NLT)

1.

What we are seeing in these verses that we have been looking at now since V.18 is that the root of human sin is the perversion of religion.

Here is what James told us.

27 "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

James 1:27 (NLT) What we are seeing here in these verses is the very opposite of what James said pure and genuine religion is.

I can't take the time to do it today but look back over these verses we have studies so far and what you see is a perversion of true faith in God.

Now the root of human sin is religious perversion, but now we are going to begin to see the fruit, which is moral corruption.

Friends we have seen this play out since the opening chapters of Genesis.

When you separate yourself from the life of God, and how does a righteous person have life?

FAITH!

You take that life away and the result is that you fall into depravity.

You become a helpless slave to the creature instead of the Creator.

Trans.

Ok let's look at this shameful perversion Paul speaks of here.

I. THE SHAMEFUL PERVERSION.

Now I need to remind you again of what we just spent two weeks studying.

We talked about how people have a knowledge of God.

It is both moral and philosophical, but they rejected that knowledge and then began to create their own god.

The sad results of this are seen in the very next words in V.24.

"So God abandoned them"

A. God Abandon Them.

1.

This reminds me of the words Jesus used as he looked down upon the city of Jerusalem.

37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers!

How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me.

38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate."

Matthew 23:37-38 (NLT) He wanted to protect them, to be their true God, but sadly and tragically they would not let him.

Friends this same thing is happening today.

It is happening with many that you care for and want to come to Christ.

He would, but they will not and the results for them are the same.

2. Now I need to tell you people that right here and right now we have to begin to address what I consider to be the biggest controversy in the Christian church today.

It is an issue that has literally divided the Christian Church into two camps.

Now I will say right up front that I do not think this need to be the case, but I am also not optimistic enough to believe that I will settle the controversy that has raged for hundreds of years in this message or in the others I will preach.

This will not be the only place we will confront this controversy in Romans.

We will come nose to nose with it again in chapters nine and ten.

The controversy I am speaking of is the issue of Eternal Security.

Another word we use in this controversy is Predestination.

The two camps, if you are not familiar with this is Calvinism and Arminism.

This refers to two theologians, John Calvin, and Jacob Arminius.

Now my definition of these two camps will be very basic, but they will do for now.

Basically, one camp says that God has already predetermined who will be saved and go to Heaven and who will be lost and go to hell.

This theology also says that if you do make the decision to accept Christ, after doing that it doesn't matter if you continue in a life of sin, you will still go to heaven.

Even in my reading for this series I read one preacher who said the idea that you and I have a free will when it comes to our salvation is absurd.

The other camp, of which I am a part I will add, is the camp that says you do have a free will in your salvation and that free will also allows you to say at some point, "I no longer believe in God.

I want to live my life as I chose so I am walking away from this thing called Christianity."

Now I will not be getting into all the specific issues pertaining to these two theological differences today, but we will be fleshing this discussion out as Paul brings it up in chapters to come.

Today I want us to give our attention to these words, "So God abandoned them"

3. Now I will admit again as I have many times that I am pretty simplistic in my thinking, but for me some of this seems awfully simple.

What I have seen in the verses we have looked at so far seem to point to people who have a free will to choose to believe in God or not believe and these opening words of V.24.

Which by the way are repeated again V.26 and again in V.28.

These words seem to indicate to me that God gave these people a choice and their choice led God to make a choice as well.

Let me share a quote from one commentator I read.

It is kind of long, but very good.

"Man abandons God, actually turns away from God and gives God up.

This may be called spiritual abandonment: man spiritually abandons God.

God has given man a free will, and if a man wills to turn away from God, he can.

God cannot interfere with that choice.

To do so would be to take away man's freedom.

So God appeals to man spiritually, through mercy and love and grace, but He does not violate man's choice.

He cannot.

To do so would be to have a coerced and mechanical universe.

Man would become nothing but a robot, coerced to do this and that and to do it exactly as God wills.

The result would be tragic: man would never experience love, goodness, care, concern, or feelings.

Love is not love if it is coerced.

It is mechanical and meaningless.

The expression of any affection or virtue is meaningless unless it is freely given.

Therefore, when man turns away from God, he himself makes the choice to do so, and God cannot interfere.

The choice is man's, and man is abandoned-left all alone to himself to do exactly as he has chosen.

Therefore, God has no choice."

Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996)