we're considering Romans verse chapter 1 verses 18 through 23 and I've given this the somewhat cumbersome title the beginning of the gospel is the wrath of God and I'd like to read just a bit longer getting a running start with verses we looked at last week, so I'd like to start in Romans chapter one, beginning in verse 16, and then I'll read through verse 23, and I'll invite you to stand if you're able for this reading of God's word, Romans 1, 16 through 23. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, that the righteous man shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks They became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and the birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Please be seated and pray with me. Father, we are grateful for your revelation and for your rescue of us. We are sobered by these verses in how far the human race has descended, how far we have strayed from you, and how righteous it is that your wrath is revealed. against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of humans who knowing of your existence and your nature have pushed aside and held down that knowledge and instead turned away from the light to the darkness and exchanged even worship of you the infinitely worthy one for images of your creation. How grateful we are that you have called us out of our natural bent to a supernatural new orientation. We ask for your Grace, this morning as we consider these things, help me to be faithful to your text. Help me to declare it openly to your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Last week, we consider the end of Paul's introduction to this great epistle and What we considered was this idea of the gospel itself, the message, the gospel is the power of God. And we looked at Paul's obligation to proclaim the gospel to everyone, whether they were well-educated or poorly educated, whether they were part of Israel or part of all the other nations. And we saw his openness in proclaiming the gospel He said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm declaring this openly everywhere because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes this is how the gospel operates within us. And the summary last week was this idea. We boldly proclaim the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus because it is the power of God to save sinners and to credit the righteousness of Christ to those who believe. So this week we actually turn to a new section. We finished the introduction, we're now in the main body of Paul's letter to the church at Rome and looking at this Outline, you might think, oh, well, we're about done, right? There's three things on the board, and we're in the middle one, so maybe we'll be done in the next couple of weeks. No, actually, this is a very long section, the main body of Paul's letter, and I wanna just drill in for a moment. This main body runs from chapter one, verse 18, through chapter 15, verse 13, and my title for this section is God's Grace in Salvation for All People. The gospel offered to all on the basis of faith, and within that there's two major sections that I see. First, God's grace revealed in the gospel, and that is Again, beginning at chapter one, verse 18, and then running through the end of chapter 11 with that great doxology, everything glorifying God. God's grace is revealed in the gospel. And then the second section, God's grace resident in believers. And so beginning in chapter 12, verse one through 15, 13, We see how does this actually operate? How do we as believers live with God's grace resident within us? How do we respond to the gospel? So those two major sections we'll look at over the coming weeks, God's grace revealed in the gospel in particular, And going down one more level in the outline, the first major chunk of that is from chapter one, verse 18 through 320, and I've entitled this, All Are Accountable to God for Their Sin. You may recall that in that passage in chapter three, Paul explains the extent of sin, and he concludes that everyone is indicted under sin, that every mouth may be closed and all the world accountable to God. But praise God, he doesn't end there. Once everyone is understood to be in sin and accountable to God, he's able to bring in grace and be kind to us. And it's interesting in the, construction of this letter, Paul brilliantly put this together. And if we think about chapter one, verse 17, where we ended last week, Paul said, for in it, that is in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. And then we'll see sometime later in chapter three, verse 21, after this next section, that he picks up that exact same theme. And he says, the righteousness of God has been manifested and it's through faith in Christ Jesus. So in between these two great statements of God's righteousness and his righteousness in granting forgiveness to sinners, We have this major section 118 through 320 in which I'm informally calling the wrath of God rightly comes upon all mankind. So that's what we're beginning to study this morning. And in one sentence, God's wrath is being revealed. against all those who have rejected his being and claims upon them, leading to humanity being ruined spiritually, but rescued in Christ. Just one more time, God's wrath is being revealed against all those who have rejected his being and his claims upon them, leading to humanity being ruined spiritually, rescued in Christ. So we'll look at this in four chunks. God's wrath revealed and we'll think about what that means and how that operates. Then we'll consider God's existence rejected. How humanity as a whole has rejected what's obvious about God and as a result humans have been ruined And then, praise God, a bit of good news rescued in Christ. And if you're paying very careful attention, you may say, now wait a minute, you just read this passage, 18 through 23, and I didn't remember any good news in there. I didn't remember there was a rescue in Christ. And I just feel like the message is incomplete. if we simply end on mankind worshiping idols. So we need to also consider that God graciously rescues us in Christ. So as we begin to think about these things, God's wrath is revealed. And God's wrath is revealed because, Malt tells us, people actively restrain the truth about him, which is plainly evident to everyone. In fact, he says that no one has any excuse. And turning to our text again, chapter one, verse 18, for the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. And I wanna just pause and notice a few things right on the surface level of the text. What Paul is talking about here is the wrath of God. It's not the wrath of man, it's not the wrath of the devil. This is God's wrath and it is something that bears thinking about. It's being revealed from heaven. God is controlling his world, his universe, from his throne in heaven, and all of God's wrath that we see comes from his throne. And it's coming against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Now how tempting it is for us to say, well, God, you go get him. like a dog, you know, sick him, get those sinners over there, those guys. But God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, including the ungodliness and unrighteousness in me. God is not pleased with my sin, but Christ has paid the penalty for it, for which I am grateful. But all sin is of concern to God, and it's being revealed against all those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because, Paul says in verse 19, that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. told us, revealed to us, and in the words of Romans 1, revealed in us everything we need to know to simply acknowledge him as our God. The creation is sufficient to condemn us, but it is not sufficient to redeem us. Well, let's consider first What is God's wrath? Now, wrath is not a word we use a lot. We are familiar with anger and some people have anger issues. Some people get mad real easily. Is that what God is like? Does God have bad days? Like you figuratively go to speak with The Lord and his secretary comes out and says, oh, not today. He's having one of those days. That doesn't happen to God. God does not have bad days. He does not lose his cool. God's wrath is always righteous and holy. It is as holy as his love and his mercy. God's wrath is a subtle opposition to all that is contrary to his nature. All that is contrary to what God is, and we think of all the perfections that are in God, perfectly loving, perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, and kind, and merciful, and good. Anything that is outside of that is something that is outside of God's nature, he is opposed to that, and it is the target of his wrath. And in the passage, we see Paul writes, God's wrath is revealed. And when we think about God's wrath being revealed, we probably most frequently think about the future. God's wrath is revealed. It's a future thing. And you may recall John the Baptist always very straightforward in your face. Luke 3 verse 7 records, he began saying to the crowds who were coming out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, snakes, who warned you to flee from the wrath of God? to come. So John was recognizing there's a wrath that is coming it is in the future. Somewhat differently Paul says to the Thessalonians praising them encouraging them for their faith you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus who rescues us from the wrath to come. If you're in Christ, you are rescued from the wrath to come. It hasn't even happened yet and yet you have been rescued from God's wrath that is coming upon this world. And just one sample of many that we could look at in the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter 6 as the world literally begins to come apart and it's obvious that God's wrath is falling in judgment during this time we call the tribulation. There are people who are terrified of all strata of society And they say, Revelation 6, 16 and 17, talking to the mountains and the rocks. Like we used to have this thing, if you're old enough, we used to have this thing called a pet rock. It was a gimmick, but they sold a lot of them. These people are talking to rocks as though the rocks could hear them. and they say to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand? So there's certainly a future wrath coming upon this earth. That is a revealing of God's wrath, no question. And it will be expressed during the tribulation and it will be expressed in finality at the lake of fire in eternal judgment. But we might also look at the past and see God's wrath has been revealed, it has been poured out in the past as well. And certainly, one of those key occurrences is the flood and Noah, to which we will turn, Lord willing, next Sunday. And in Hebrews 11, verse seven, by faith, Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen. From his perspective, that wrath was in the future, it was coming. in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. And in reference to that same event, 2 Peter records, 2 Peter 2 verses four and five, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell. and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. Ungodliness is opposed to God. He has revealed his wrath against it in the past. and we know God's wrath is coming in the future. But in the present, are we seeing God's wrath revealed right now? What are some evidences of God's wrath being revealed right now? And I'm emphasizing this point because The verb is in the present tense. It's not in the future tense, God's wrath will be revealed, nor is it in the past, God's wrath was revealed, but it's in the present tense. God's wrath is being revealed. Do we see that in our world? Certainly we see that in the consequences of sin. difficulty just in living in this world but particularly in committing sin. There is difficulty, there is disease often as a result of sin and that could be something as seemingly innocent as overeating and getting type 2 diabetes or getting liver failure because of drinking too much. There is difficulty, there is disease as a consequence of sin. But of course, ultimately, we know that death itself is a consequence of sin. And the fact that everyone dies, one per customer, and after this comes judgment, the scripture tells us, that's a revealing, of the wrath of God. But in addition to that, there are more global things, more broad sweeping things that happen. Besides the consequences of sin personally, there is the collapse of society. And we'll see in future passages in Romans A repeated phrase, God gave them over. Those who demand to sin, who long to sin, God in his wrath, not in his mercy, says essentially, you may pursue this fully. I won't restrain you anymore. that leads to a societal collapse. And as we look at our current world, much as we may feel like, well, perhaps we got a bit of reprieve in terms of unrighteousness prevailing, and yet, as we see sin dominating our society, we see that it's pursuing further and further consequences of sin. And God has actually judged us for our sin. It's not that we should be concerned. This nation is so sinful. God's judgment surely must be coming. No, it is already here. And the prevailing sins, homosexuality and Now the transgender movement, that is evidence of the consequences of sin God has given us over as a society. We aren't right for God's judgment, we are experiencing it right now. God's wrath is revealed, being revealed currently. And it is merciful. There is a sense in which if someone stood up in a public forum or on television, some media, and railed against belief in God and claimed there's no evidence for God and I defy God to punish me for my unbelief, In some sense, the kindest thing God could do for everyone else would be to zap that person with a lightning bolt and they're just a smoldering charcoal briquette on the sidewalk. People would realize, oh, you better not do that. God is real and he is serious. The fact that God lets people continue sinning is not merely his patience, but it is also a judgment. And in society, as things begin to crumble, as sin becomes more and more pervasive, we can see this is God's judgment. Then we consider God's existence is rejected. And we saw in the first set of verses that what can be known about God, what is knowable, literally, is evident within us. God made it evident. And that is from the very creation of the world. Things understood through what has been made. Humans actively push away and hold down their knowledge of God, making a conscious choice to dishonor God, not thanking Him. And the word here that is translated suppressing the truth, holding down the truth, I always think of a beach ball. We used to have these when I was a kid. You'd put air into it, If you had good lungs, you could just blow it up yourself. But then you try and push it down under the water. And it was kind of a game. Can you push it down? And inevitably, that thing would pop back up because it, like the truth about God, simply can't be permanently suppressed. But people work at it. they try to suppress what they actually know about God from creation. And Paul writes here, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes. Now this is interesting. Notice Paul is saying there's something about God that's invisible that becomes visible. Since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, you can't really see those. Those invisible attributes have been clearly seen. Oh, how interesting. You can see something about God through what has been made, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. So Paul is saying people are actively suppressing what they actually know about God. It's evident in creation, but they're trying to hide it. And there's no excuse. No one can claim that they have no idea whether there's God or not. Now people will make strong claims and objections, but the scripture tells us what's actually true is they know deep down that God exists and they know something of his nature, his eternal power and divine nature. And it's appropriate to perhaps pause at this point and just Consider, if the problem is this bad, if we collectively are characterized by this suppression of the truth about God, how is it possible that I believe in God? And let me suggest one wrong way of answering that question. Is there something special about me? I mean, maybe I'm just, you know, kind of cool. And that's why I believe in God. But in actuality, there is something special about you. And it is that you are so hopeless in your sin. I was such an obvious case of someone totally lost without God that God chose to show mercy and grace to me. Because it would be obvious that didn't come from him, nothing in him that's worthy. Each of us can say, yes, I was in such bad shape without Christ that God is glorified by showing his mercy to me because it's obvious only he could do that. But then, perhaps more thoughtfully, we could say, why do people reject God? What's not to like? If you think about who God is, what he is like, loving, kind, merciful, infinitely powerful, intelligent, designer. Why wouldn't you love God? Why do people reject God? And perhaps head of the list is that God is sovereign. He is the king. And we want to be our own king. Thank you very much. We talked a few weeks ago about this term Autonomy, that is currently a big word politically. Everybody wants autonomy. I wanna be myself and manage myself and do everything for me. I wanna live without reference to anyone else and certainly not with reference to God. But God is sovereign and he has a rightful claim over all of his creatures. And so in the twistedness of our sin, following all the way back to our parents, Adam and Eve, Adam chose to be autonomous. I want to be my own God. I want to be like God, as Satan said. So I'm going to disobey. It's baked into us. People hate God, reject God, because God is sovereign. People reject God because God is holy and they are not. And perhaps someone has accused you of having an attitude of holier than thou. Oh, you think you're so good. And as a matter of fact, maybe you are so much better, so much holier than that other person is, but that same attitude extends to God. resent and reject God because he is holy and they are not, they love their sin. And we are still struggling with this. We can love our sin until Christ frees us from it. That's part of the blessing of the new covenant. transformed from the inside out this new heart that wants to obey God. People reject God because he is king, he is sovereign, because he is holy, and because God does not compromise. Everybody can kind of get along with somebody who, you know, will work something up. God doesn't work something out by compromise. He works something out by sending his son to die and pay the penalty for our sin. There is no compromise. There's no halfway with God. God's wrath is revealed. And in a sense, we could say God's wrath is revealed because his nature is revealed through creation. but people have rejected it. And as a result then, Paul tells us that humans have been ruined. Human reasoning has been made futile. Their hearts become dark, worshiping the creation rather than the creator. It seems obvious to say But it's worth thinking about, if you turn away from the light, it becomes dark. If you try and hide the light, put something over the light so the light won't shine anymore, you're left with darkness. And that's what Paul tells us here. Their hearts become dark, Paul says, for even though they knew God based on what was revealed in nature, they did not honor him as God or give thanks. Didn't give proper response to who God is. They became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. It's interesting to think of this word Futile. Again, maybe not a word we use a lot, but pointless. Like, why bother? There's nothing to be gained. Futile in their speculations. It's not their musings. It's just like, well, I think it ought to be this way. I think the universe ought to run this way. I think God ought to be this way. It's just speculation and it's futile. And because they shunned the light, their foolish heart was darkened. And Paul continues then saying, professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image. in the form of corruptible man and the birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. This descent into futility and darkened minds is the result of rejecting what God has put on plain display in nature. The truth that we reject changes us just like the truth we accept changes us. And I was thinking this week of different ways to picture the state of humanity. And I've often thought of the gospel like a a warning, the warning aspect of the gospel. Like if you know a bridge is out, maybe there's been a storm, a flood, and the bridge has been washed away, and you decide, I need to tell people, I need to warn people, they're on this road heading for the bridge and they're gonna drive off the edge of it and they'll die because the bridge has been washed away. And maybe you even make a sign, bridge is out, warning. And maybe someone in your group is waving their arms, trying to get the attention of drivers, some of whom honk and speed up on their way to that washed out bridge, an oblivion. Maybe you could catch the attention of some and explain, no, you have to turn around, you have to find a different way, the bridge is gone. Maybe one or two might heed your advice. But someone might even say, how dare you tell me my choice of road is bad. And maybe they even give you an unseemly gesture on their way to their doom. But what God has done in Christ is stand in front of the car and allowed himself to be run over trying to save people from themselves. and save them from certain doom in his wrath. Sometimes people will claim, well, Christianity can't be true. There can't just be one way to God because there are aborigines in Africa or somewhere And rarely does that person know of the tribes they speak of, but they surmise there must be someone who's never heard of Christ. And could it be just, could it be righteous of God to condemn them simply because they didn't have a radio, they didn't have a Bible? And yet this passage tells us that every person And in some ways, perhaps even more in a primitive culture where they don't have lights obscuring their view of the stars and the creation, they see something of God in creation. And yet, because we all come from Adam and Eve, we have all inherited this innate rejection of God. And so there is no innocent person who's never heard the gospel. Creation, again, is enough to condemn us, but not enough to redeem us. And we want to take the gospel to every corner of the earth. Christ told us, make disciples of all the nations. The gospel of Mark, preach the gospel All creation, that is our assignment. But God is just in his condemnation of all who reject his truth. But praise God, this descent into futility of mind and trading off, oh yeah, I'll trade off the infinite, perfectly holy, righteous God for that bird statue there. I'll take one of those, maybe two. I'll have them in different rooms. How did that happen? It happened because their minds were darkened. And we can't claim, well, our society, we're so much more sophisticated. No, our idols are just different. Our idols are tied to our ambitions and our possessions, but they are idols, none the less. But praise God, we are rescued in Christ. Only the gospel is powerful enough to break through the settled resistance of fallen humanity. And this doctrine that we've been considering this morning is called total depravity. And the idea is this sin impulse within us has affected every part of our being. And it has implications for us as believers in why we present the gospel and how we present the gospel. Why we present the gospel, the implication is it is the power of God for salvation. We are not trusting in our own persuasiveness, our own winsomeness, the quality of our argumentation, It's not wrong to work on those things, but ultimately, we're confident that the gospel itself is the power of God, and it is what is powerful enough to break through. And we're transformed, as every person in Christ is, by the renewing of our minds. If we didn't have this promise from the New Testament, we would be left with a ruined, futile mind, darkened in its understanding. But God in his grace is renewing our minds through the scriptures, through the truth of his word. Why we present the gospel is because it is the power of God, it is what can break through, and it is what can change us, every one of us, and those who have not trusted Christ yet. And there are implications for how we present the gospel. We appeal to what people already know. Now, it is great If you have memorized eight different proofs of the existence of God and 25 facts about the failures of evolution and a number of other things, fantastic. But ultimately, we're appealing to something that is down deep, held down, pushed down, suppressed. We wanna just nudge that beach ball so it pops up and people realize Yes, in an honest moment, I do believe in God, and I'm terrified. And they have good reason to be terrified until they understand the forgiveness in Christ. We depend upon the Holy Spirit to break through. It is not my winsomeness, not my persuasiveness, not my emotion, intensity that does the work of God, it is the Holy Spirit using his word. That is what does the work of the gospel in spite of this darkness that surrounds us. God's wrath is being revealed against all those who have rejected his being and his claims upon them. leading to humanity being ruined spiritually but rescued in Christ.