Rev. David Holwick I
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
March 12, 1989
Romans 1:21-32
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I. Grand Central station, derelicts among commuters.
A. Woman sells body for $5. [1]
B. Rampant drug use.
C. People sleep in stairwells.
1) Society has only a thin veneer?
II. Where is society headed?
A. Some - things are getting better and better.
1) Best features of society: arts, philosophy, gov't -
are leading us closer to God's ideal.
B. Bible gives a different conclusion.
1) Society can be helpful (that's why God created it),
but it cannot save us.
2) Paul's premise - we should know God, but we reject Him.
III. Our basic sin is idolatry. 1:23
A. Wood and stone?
1) Not any more.
B. Anything that takes the place of God is an idol.
1) We want to create a god we can control.
2) Self-worship.
C. Philosophy, arts and religion are not so much our attempts to reach
God, as to replace him with something more to our liking.
D. Since we reject God, we deserve his condemnation, which is coming.
IV. This condemnation is already evident in society.
A. Paul uses one phrase 3 times to bring this out:
"God gave them over."
1) Acts 7:42 - the ultimate rejection.
B. God does not make us sin.
1) But if we want to rebel, he will permit us to.
2) C.S. Lewis - in the end, we use our freedom to become slaves.
V. God gave them over:
A. Sexual perversion. (general) 1:24
1) Sexual standards are changing in our society.
a) Comparison with my high school days.
b) Youth have a right to it now?
B. Sexual inversion. (homosexuality) 1:26
1) Dramatic force in American culture.
a) Gone from unmentionable to politically advocated.
1> High school counselors in California:
assume 10% of students are gay.
2) One result - alternate interpretation.
a) These are not "born" homosexuals, but staight people who
change.
b) Homosexuals "by nature" who are loving, are OK.
3) Unlikely interpretation.
a) Even pagans used "contrary to nature" to describe gay life.
b) Homosexuality viewed favorably in ancient world.
1> Greeks saw it as superior.
2> Roman emperors - 14 out of 15 were probably gay.
4) Paul says four things about homosexuality:
a) Degrading.
b) Contrary to nature.
c) Results from lust.
d) Involves a penalty.
1> Gay habit itself?
2> Or physical effects?
A> Application to AIDS.
1: Jerry Falwell - punishment from God.
2: United Methodists - no it is not.
5) Paul is not saying homosexuality is greatest sin.
a) People do not consciously say, "I defy God!" and then
become homosexual.
b) He is saying it is a sign society has gone far from God.
C. Depraved mind. 1:28
1) Focus moves from sexual sins to antisocial ones.
a) Something for everyone - murder, gossip, arrogance.
2) It is not necessary to be a pervert to be "given over."
a) Some here now may be so addicted to a sin they cannot
please God, and don't really want to please him.
b) God may give you over to it.
1> No more guilt, no awareness of being cast off.
2> But less and less pleasure as well.
3) Verse 32 - worse to approve than to practice?
a) Some will do these things, but know they are wrong.
b) To do it, think nothing of it, and put approval on it
shows you are thoroughly corrupt.
1> ACLU and legalization of drugs.
VI. Dark picture. Overdrawn?
A. Paul sees every level of society disintegrating.
1) He would feel right at home in our larger cities, and
increasingly in our smaller ones.
B. Is there any hope?
1) Some say passage deals with unforgivable sin.
a) Their hearts are hardened and can no longer repent.
b) Example of Pharaoh. Hardened by God. Unfair?
1> At first he hardens his own heart.
2> It is only at end that God hardens him.
2) Others say hope is still available.
a) Isaiah 19:22.
Sometimes God strikes in order to heal.
b) In darkest passages the love of God is still there.
Tony Campolo's friend. #475
His friend is a pastor in a declining Brooklyn church.
Funerals for unchurched people supplement his small income.
Funeral director approaches him about a funeral for an AIDS victim.
25 to 30 homosexual men sit frozen in chairs.
No talking.
Blank, unfocused stares.
Generic service for a man he never met.
They drive to a cemetery in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Stand at edge of grave.
Fitting words, Scripture, prayer.
Not a word from the men.
Service is concluded, he begins to walk away, but then turns to
offer help.
One man speaks up. "I was looking forward to the 23rd Psalm.
It's my favorite and you didn't read it."
The pastor reads the psalm.
Another man asks for Scripture, one about nothing separating us from
the love of God.
Pastor reads Romans 8:35-39.
Men show first signs of emotion. Some cry to themselves.
Pastor ended up reading Bible passages for over an hour.
VII. God may "give us over", but he never gives us up. (Till death)
[KJV uses both expressions]
A. He will always love us.
B. But we must choose him in repentance.
1) All of us are sinners.
2) In God's eyes, no difference between us and perverts.
C. Without repentance, God in love must allow us to fall away.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] "A Nightmare On 42Nd Street," George Hackett & Peter McKillop,
Newsweek magazine, February 27, 1989, p. 22.
#475 "Good News For Homosexuals," Tony Campolo, 20 HOT POTATOES
CHRISTIANS ARE AFRAID TO TOUCH, 1988, p. 105.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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