Romans 1:18-20

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If I refuse to believe the truth, what does that make me?

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2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 ESV
10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Romans 1:18–23 ESV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
:18-23
John 3:19–20 ESV
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Jhn 3:19-21

Intro

Romans 1:18–20 ESV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Recap:
1-7 = Introduction / Greeting
From Paul - To Roman Believers
8-12 = Paul’s Prayer
13-15 = Intentions
16-17 = Micro Presentation
Next:
Section 1:18-3:20 = Heart of Sin
Right Diagnosis = Right Remedy
Observance = Wisdom
Understanding Sin = Love of God
Today:
Truth - Knowledge - Ignorance
Video

Title / Text

He Must Reign | Intelligence or Ignorance

Opening Prayer

Romans 1:18–20 ESV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
V18
Pauls Logical Progression / Dichotomy
Romans 1:18–23 ESV
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
For = progression in argument
Revelation of God
righteousness
wrath
Wrath of God
The Difference
man’s wrath
emotional
personal
fleeting
God’s wrath
The Degree’s
God’s Wrath
present
eschatological
The Destination
from heaven
to men
Ungodliness / Unrighteousness
ungodliness
unrighteousness
Romans 3:10 ESV
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
Suppress Truth [the truth]
The Gospel of God: Romans The Wrath of God (Verse 18)

The Greek word katakein means to press down with force against something that is exercising a counterforce

The Gospel of God: Romans The Wrath of God (Verse 18)

The image that comes into my mind would be a giant steel spring, which would take the full weight of a human being to press down. Because of the tension, if the person lets go for a second, the spring will shoot right up. The word is used in a negative sense where people are thrown into prison and are held in prison against their will. They are, in a word, incarcerated.

Paul is saying that the truth of God is, in some way, pushed down, repressed, hindered, stifled. It almost sounds like a textbook in psychology, because modern psychologists note that this is exactly what we do with memories of painful and traumatic experiences. We push them out of the painful areas of our conscious minds and push them into the deepest recesses and chambers of our minds.

Truth?
What truth?
That God should be worshiped
John 18:37–38 ESV
37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
John 18:38 ESV
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I find no guilt in him.
Revelation
general
special
V19
Romans 1:19 ESV
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
I like Magic…
God does not seek to make illusion to us!
v17 = is revealed
v18 = is revealed
What Can Be Known = Is Palin = God Has Revealed It
reverse order also...
Revelation
general
special
What Can be Known? = Truth? = of creation…
God exists
He creates
He controlls
He is powerfull
He deserves worship
There is a God and it is not me!
V
The Message of Romans 2. Against What Is God’s Wrath Revealed?

after the satellite detection of the birthpangs of the universe was announced to the American Physical Society in April 1992, an anonymous Guardian contributor wrote: ‘It is difficult to know what the appropriate reaction to such mind-expanding discoveries should be, except to get down on one’s knees in total humility and give thanks to God or Big Bang or both, for cunningly contriving to allow this infinitesimal part of the universe called Earth to be bestowed with something called Air.’ At the opposite end of the size scale, a consultant surgeon wrote to me a few years ago: ‘I am filled with the same awe and humility when I contemplate something of what goes on in a single cell as when I contemplate the sky on a clear night. The coordination of the complex activities of the cell in a common purpose hits the scientific part of me as the best evidence for an Ultimate Purpose.’

Carl Gustav Boberg 1885 / Stuart K. Hine = “How Great Thou Art”
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder Consider all the works Thy hand hath made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee: How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
V20
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made.I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,Thy power throughout the universe displayed.Refrain:Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:How great Thou art, how great Thou art!Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Romans 1:20 ESV
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Rom 1
Invisible Atributes = can be witnessed?
Eternal Power
creator
sustainer
intelligence
Divine Nature
the god-ness of God
v18 - ungodliness… of men
Clearly Perceived?
2x Greek
nooumena = grasped intellectually
kathoratai = perceived mentally
Ever Since Creation
in creation!
The Gospel of God: Romans General Knowledge of God (1:19–20)

Immanuel Kant, perhaps the greatest philosopher in the history of Western civilisation, established a watershed in modern intellectual attempts to know God, by saying that it is impossible to use the traditional arguments for the existence of God, whereby men reason from this world back to a Creator. They look at the world around themselves and say, Something had to make this world. Kant said that it is not possible for us to move from visible things to an invisible God.

On that point we have an absolute collision between the best of secular philosophy and the assertion here of the apostle Paul. Paul is stating as clearly as he could possibly have stated, exactly what Immanuel Kant says is fundamentally impossible. He is saying that the invisible qualities of God are clearly seen in the created order. Just as we can look at a painting and know that there was a painter, so we can look at this universe and know that there is a Creator. Something of the nature of that Creator can be discerned from the visible things of his creation.

Arguments of Today!!

It has always seemed to most people that they are, on the whole, pretty decent people. They may not be perfect but they have done no great wrong. Since they are conscious of no really disastrous sin, they feel that they must be right with God. But for Paul the significant thing is not that people have met their own standard but that they have not met God’s. They have come short of his demand. They are in the greatest of danger because they are subject to his wrath.

absolute truth
agnosticism
atheism
deism
Romans 3:10 ESV
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
Romans 3:10–18 ESV
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3:10–12 ESV
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Rom 3.10-

So We Are Without Excuse!

Romans 2:1–3 ESV
1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
This is why Paul shifts here to talk about Sin
This is why this Church will expose the full council of God’s word
This is why we will spend time going through 1:18-3:20
This is why Paul like us can rest in and rejoice over 1.16-17
Without Excuse.... Not without Hope!

Invitation for Salvation

do not trade the ignorance of humanity for the knowledge of God!
smart phones, tvs, watches, cars - foolishness of man / wisdom of God

Closing prayer

Joel 2:12–13 ESV
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Benediction
May the peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with you always. Amen.
Hughes, R. Kent. The Pastor's Book: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide to Pastoral Ministry (p. 309). Crossway. Kindle Edition.
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