The world is a frightful place, a dangerous place, and throughout most of human history that has been the case.
War, brutality, misery, poverty —these have been the lot of the majority of mankind for almost all of history
Philosophers and theologians have invented and wrestled with the so-called “problem of evil,” throughout most of church history—if God is good and loving, why is this all the case?
But, to those of us who understand the implications of the sin and rebellion of man, and who understand that God is not only loving, but is just, holy, and true, and He cannot and will not put up with sin in His universe, the so-called “problem of evil” is turned on its ear—
Given the effects of sin, the heinousness of sin, and the holiness and justice of God, the amazing thing is that we are not all in Hell right now.
It is only God’s hand of mercy extended which keeps lost men from falling immediately into Hell.
Let’s not forget—the cause of all of this misery is man’s sin. Remember: (Rom 1:18) "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,"
What we are going to see today are the results of unrestrained evil—the kind of things that go on in much of the world today, and the things which, during the Tribulation period, will dominate all of the world.
1. What God Did—1:24, 26, 28
a. These are not three stages in decline, they are three different expressions of the same judgment of god against the unrighteousness and ungodliness of man—this IS the wrath of God revealed (1:18), to allow man’s own consequences to come home to roost
b. The same word is used as the key word in all three verses.
(1) First, the word “gave them over,” is a common word, used over 100 times in the New Testament, which means “handed over to an authority.”
(2) The word is an aorist, indicating a snapshot—God gave them over, period. It was a judgment of His at a point in time.
(3) There came a time in each period or instance of decline when God Himself said, “enough!”
c. Gave them over to what? Impurity (uncleanness), vile passions, and a debased mind.
2. The judgment of God and its effects
a. Uncleanness, dishonoring the body (1:24)
(1) We were created in God’s image, and He had assigned an honor, a glory, to all things human, before we ruined this arrangement by our sins—
(1 Th 4:3-4) "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,"
(Heb 13:4) "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge."
(1 Cor 6:18-20) "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
(2) Dishonoring the body through sin degrades us and our society and our entire race (the human race)
b. Vile passions 1:26-27--homosexuality
(1) These are sin, period
(2) These are part of dishonoring God’s creation
(3) These are part of God’s judgment
c. The Positive Teaching on human sexuality:
(1) First, God invented sexuality and drew its boundaries from the beginning
(a) Gen 1:26-28 " 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth …""
(i) God made two genders
(ii) God, from the beginning, coupled them up together in the formula of one man, one woman.
(iii) This, of course is reinforced by the instruction for these new couples to multiply
(iv) God blessed the male/female union.
(2) In the detailed account of human creation, God was even more definitive about human sexuality and its proper expression—Gen 2:18-25
(3) Opponents of Biblical sexuality have long asserted that Jesus made no statements on the matter This is simply not true
(a) First, Jesus Christ is the author of the Bible through the Holy Spirit. Whatever the other scriptures say, He is consistent with that.
(b) Second, He most certainly made his understanding known in Mat 19:4-6, where He pointedly quotes Gen 2:24-25
(4) Paul, on the other hand, also quoted Genesis in his major passage on marriage in Eph 5:22-33—
(5) Every teaching on sexual union in the Bible—EVERY SINGLE TEACHING—reinforces the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, and of heterosexual marriage ONLY! Every Biblical reference to homosexuality or any other type is negative
(6) The negative teaching on sexuality—Any sexual activity of any kind outside the bounds of heterosexual marriage is immoral and sinful (1 Cor 6:12-20).
(a) Fornication—Sex where neither partner is married, including pre-marital sex, is a sin, on the same level as homosexuality. 1 Tim 1:9-10.
(b) Adultery, or sex where one or both of the partners is married to somebody else, is likewise sinful (Heb 13:4).
(c) Homosexuality of any kind is also forbidden. (Lev 18:22, 20:13, Deut 23:17).
(d) The good kings of Judah banished homosexuals from the land (1 Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46, 2 Ki 23:7).
(e) What does the New Testament say? The New Testament agrees totally with the Old! Rom 1:18-32, 1 Cor 6:9-11
(f) The Bottom line—
(i) Homosexuality is a sin.
(ii) Any sex outside of marriage is a sin.
(iii) It was a sin in the OT, it is a sin in the NT, it is a sin now, and it will always be a sin.
3. They did not want to retain God in their knowledge—
a. The Lost Mind is a choice—unless under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the lost mind wants nothing to do with God or the things of God.
(1) Lost minds naturally hate God--Rom 8:7
(2) They are beyond being able to understand God—1 Cor 2:14
(3) By nature Children of Wrath—Ep 2:2-3
(a) They are willing slaves of the “Prince of the power of the air”
(b) They are the “children of disobedience”
b. They could not stand the holiness of God, and they hated His law, so they did not like to retain even the innate knowledge of Him (conscience) that all men have.
c. Since they don’t want God…
(1) Gave them over--the same term used for handing over a prisoner to his sentence-- This abandonment is a judgment of God— Since they don’t want a mind attuned to spiritual and moral reality, God lets the consequences of evil take their course.
(2) Reprobate (debased) the Greek word refers to a metal that had not passed the test--useless metal because it contained too many impurities
(3) The root word--always used of being approved of God for faithful service—passing the test for a pure metal— 2 Tim 2:15, James 1:12
d. The word here--means NOT approved, having not passed the test, a mind that is full of impurities.
(1) This abandonment is the result of sinful rejection of God and His Truth—When a man, a woman, a church, or a nation rejects God’s Truth, He will often send them judgment by way of deception
(a) 2 Thes 2:7-12
(b) 2 Chron 18--
16Then Micaiah told him, “In a vision I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘Their master has been killed.£ Send them home in peace.’”
17“Didn’t I tell you?” the king of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat. “He never prophesies anything but trouble for me.”
18Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the LORD says! I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left. 19And the LORD said, ‘Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth-gilead so he can be killed?’
“There were many suggestions, 20and finally a spirit approached the LORD and said, ‘I can do it!’
“‘How will you do this?’ the LORD asked.
21“And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’
“‘You will succeed,’ said the LORD. ‘Go ahead and do it.’
22“So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. For the LORD has pronounced your doom.”
(2) Other Example: (Psa 81:11-12) ""But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. 12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels."
(3) The Lost mind is worthless, not because it is incapable of great and even beautiful things, but because its impurities twist it beyond repair, except through salvation.
e. The first result of a debased mind—debased lives—to do those things which are not convenient;, are not fitting; (NKJV), to do what ought not to be done. (NIV)
f. Once a person is given over to a debased, reprobate mind, there is no limit to the sin they will do except the limitations placed on them by their own limited resources--until God decides to cut them off permanently.
4. A Debased Mind—A Debased Society
a. The prime meaning of this passage is to detail the destruction of civilizations that we spoke of last week.
b. This pattern of decline has been repeated many times, particularly in the history of Israel
c. The supreme lesson-- a debased, degenerate society is the natural result of debased minds who reject God and His way.
(1) Why this is so—“… 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”
(2) What they ARE: “…29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice…” Perfect passive participle of the common verb plēroō, state of completion, “filled to the brim with” four vices…”ATR
(3) A debased society is hell on earth—(Rom 1:28-31) "… to do those things which are not fitting…”
(a) They are people who have totally lost touch with any real humanity at all. The perfect participle means they have been filled to the brim with evil, with no room for good.
(b) These are heartless, scary, evil people. There have always been individuals like this, and for most of history, people like this have dominated the world to one degree or another.
(c) But during the tribulation period, with the church removed from the Earth, this mindset will dominate all nations to a greater degree than ever before—2 Thes 2:7-12
(4) What they will do—(Adapted from ATR)
“…vivid touches to this composite photograph of the God abandoned soul.
(a) “…whisperers, backbiters…” This is the person who whispers slander in the ears of others. Some people think that freedom of speech covers this—
(i) First, even in public matters, this is limited—public defamation of character is a serious matter.
(ii) Second, the rules within the churches of the Lord Jesus are MORE restrictive than the secular world.
(Eph 4:31) "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."
(1 Pet 2:1) "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,"
(Psa 101:5) "Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy…”
(Prov 11:9) "The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor…”
(Prov 25:23) "The north wind brings forth rain, And a backbiting tongue an angry countenance."
(b) “…haters of God…” The Lost man hates God—not some kind of God, but the real God—(Rom 8:7) "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can he."
(c) (John 15:18-19) ""If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
(d) (John 15:23) ""He who hates Me hates My Father also."
(e) “…violent, proud, boasters…” The men described here are evil, violent, arrogant, murderers, with no mercy, they consider themselves better than all others, and therefore they have the right to oppress them.
(f) “…inventors of evil things…” They are continually devising new ways to be evil. People in this class have been the inventers of everything from torture devices to justifications for genocide.
(g) “…disobedient to parents…” Young people, see where this is ranked!
(h) “… 31 undiscerning…” Insensitive to righteousness
(i) “.. untrustworthy…” literally, covenant breakers, can’t be trusted to fulfill any agreement
(j) “… unloving…” People with no capacity to show real affection, who would really shoot their father, child, or grandmother to get ahead—like Nero, Stalin, or Mao.
(k) “…unforgiving…” People who will not and cannot truly forgive.
(l) “… unmerciful…" No pity, no mercy. Upon witnessing mass executions of Jews, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, decided to come up with a factory system to kill them quicker.
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