Romans chapter 1. As we continue our series through the book of Romans, we've been through the greeting, the introduction. We spent three weeks in Romans 1, 16 to 17. And by the way, any of those sermons that you have missed are on our website. You can find them at ProvidenceCasagrande.com. Click on the Sermons tab, and you can find a list there, not just of the sermons that have been preached on Sunday morning, but things that have been taught on Sunday evening as well. Today we are going to look at a section that's going to go from verses 18 through 32. We're going to look at all of this together even though we're going to spend a few weeks in this section. So today is kind of going to be an overview of the section and I'll detail that for you here in just a moment. Found a quote this morning from William Whitaker, who was a 16th century Protestant theologian. He said the following, count all things best that give you desire to wait upon God, as we've sung about this morning, and account those the worst which estrange you from Christ. So as we read of the things that we're going to see here in Romans 1, let us desire those things that draw us near to the Lord and hate those things that would drive us away from him. In honor of the word of the King, would you please stand? As we read Romans chapter 1, I'm gonna read from verses 18 through verse 25. Hear the word of the Lord. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. 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 that they are without excuse. 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. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. You may be seated as we pray. Heavenly Father, as we come into this passage today, I pray that you guide us into all truth, but especially that we may see what all people should be able to see. There are some things that have been stated in this section that we've read so far and even the verses that follow. that demonstrate a general revelation. What anybody can perceive from within ourselves and even the world around us, certain truths that God has made clear to everyone. What are we to learn from this? How are we to understand what the rest of the world knows about God? Because God has made it plain to them. And what is it that the world does not have? That we may go to them with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they will turn to faith in Jesus and be forgiven their sins and have everlasting life. It is because of our ingratitude toward God that foolish hearts would be darkened. So Lord, today fill us with thanksgiving. Help us to be grateful and appreciative of all that you've done for us in Christ our Savior. And it's in his name that we pray, amen. Saw an interview recently with a fellow by the name of Chris Langan. And it turns out that at one point in time, Chris Langan had the highest IQ of anybody on the planet. He joined this elite high IQ club, and this was back in the time when IQ was actually relevant to people. It's been since about 1990 or so that it was decided that IQ really isn't a trustworthy test of someone's brilliance. But at one point, Chris was thought of as one of the smartest people on the planet. What's interesting about Chris though is that he never made it big. He didn't invest his intellect into some sort of business venture or proposition. He didn't become some great philosopher publishing these great books. No, on the contrary, Chris just became a rancher. He loved working with animals. He loved the outdoors. And so that's what he spent his life doing. There was even a best-selling author that followed Chris around for a little while and wanted to know, like, well, what does the guy who was once considered the smartest man in the world do with his time? And why didn't he become rich and famous, though he at one point had one of the highest IQs that anyone has ever had? Well, in this interview that I recently saw, the person that was interviewing him sat down with him and said, what would you say that we should do in the midst of these times? Like whether you could say that times are good or times are bad. What would you say would be incumbent upon everybody to invest their time in doing right now? And Chris said, seek God. But he went on to say, See, every single one of us has a soul. We're all material people, we're just made up of cell structures and those things that make us a part of nature, but that is gonna die. Your body's gonna die, it's gonna waste away, and it's gonna become as nothing. If you've not united your soul to God, well then nothing happens for you after that. You've missed your chance, you've missed your opportunity to be united with the divine because you squandered that in your life. So seek God that you may unite your soul to God and essentially live forever. What's lacking in Chris's comment? There's no Christ. So as smart as this man is, he recognizes every man's need to unite his soul with the divine. But he doesn't realize the only way you can do that is by believing in Jesus Christ. What did Chris demonstrate in that advice that he would give to everybody to say, seek God? One of the things that he demonstrated in that council is what we might call general revelation or natural revelation. There are things that Chris knew, though he's not a Christian, though he doesn't know Christ, yet by deductive reasoning, he realized we're more than just Adams. We're more than just stuff. We're not just flesh bags with chemical processes happening in our brains and in our bodies, and we're governed, therefore, by those processes. There's actually something beyond this. And whatever spiritualness that we are made up of needs to be united with the great spiritualness, and that is the God who's created all things and has given us all life and breath and everything. He recognized that. through natural revelation, but he lacked the special revelation to know that it is Jesus Christ who unites us with the Creator, who makes us right again with God, and indeed gives us eternal life beyond these material bodies that, indeed, Chris was right, are wasting away and are eventually going to die. How is it that we get beyond our death problem? And the answer is the one who conquered death, and that's Jesus Christ. So I hope that someday, maybe I'll even write him a letter, but Chris will hear the message of the gospel so that he will know the only way that we can find a solution to exactly your proposal is to believe in Jesus. And then we will indeed be united with our creator forever. What we see here in the section that we've looked at today, what we've read so far this morning, we have seen various points where Paul has pointed toward natural revelation. Let me finish reading the passage. I'm gonna pick up in verse 26 and go to the end, and then I'm gonna tell you how this is gonna break down and what we're gonna be looking at specifically this morning. In verse 26, Paul goes on to say, for this reason, because they rejected and denied God who has made himself known, for this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Verse 32, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give hearty approval to those who practice them. We have from verse 18 to 32, five places where Paul has said, every person knows these things about God. You've probably encountered some agnostic that has said, well, God is so above and beyond us. I mean, there's no way to know whether he exists or not. It's always gonna be a mystery. You have atheists that are absolutely certain there is no God, and they will testify, you cannot give me any proof that there is existence of God. Well, Paul has stated in five places here in this particular section that there are things everybody knows about God. They have suppressed the truth with unrighteousness, but God has revealed himself naturally in these five ways. Number one, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. We had that said in verse 18. Number two, he is both divine and eternal. That's said in verses 19 and 20. Number three, he has revealed what is natural and what is unnatural. Everyone knows that, according to verses 21 to 27. Number four, everyone can know, and it has been revealed in nature, that the wages of sin is death. That's verses 28 to 32. And then finally, number five, it has even been revealed naturally to people that God's word is true. Now, we're gonna spend several weeks basically looking at each one of those points. We will go week by week looking at a few verses at a time. This message today is doing an overview of this section, verses 18 to 32, and we're gonna look at each one of those five points that Paul draws out and also do some application at the end. What do we do then with this information in knowing that God has revealed these things to all people? But let's come back first to verse 18 where Paul says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Hold on to that thought. what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. 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 that they are without excuse." So first of all, what is the first revelation that has been given here in this passage. Verse 18 says that the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven. Essentially, we know by looking at everything that it's all in decay. It is all coming to waste. We know that these bodies are not going to last forever. In fact, you probably had a reminder of that when you got out of bed this morning. Some joint creaked or caused pain when you swung it out of bed and touched the floor. Amen. I got bad news for you. You're going to be in these bodies a really, really long time. Good news though is God is going to transform it into a new body. So for those of us who believe in Christ, we will have a change in this body that will not be susceptible any longer to the curse that has been placed upon creation because of man's rebellion against God. We know just by feeling it in our bodies that things are gradually coming into decline. And the wrath of God in this way is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. There are consequences for our behavior. There are results that come from the things that we do. And if you behave in an upright and a moral way, good things will come to you. People will praise you. You will be at peace with others. You might even have a longer life. But if you do evil and wicked things to other people, what's the result of that? You might be in trouble with the law. will be penalties and consequences because of the wickedness that you've done towards somebody else. People won't like you as much. And it could even be that you submit yourself and make yourself susceptible to substance abuse or destructive behavior that would otherwise result in a much shorter life. And so the very fact that we have an understanding of good and bad and of positive consequences and negative consequences reveals to us in the very things that have been made that the wrath of God has come against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. We're going to see how this connects also with the fifth point of knowing that God's word is true when we get to verse 32. So verse 18 and 32 kind of have a bookend with one another on this particular section. We read last week that in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith and for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. And now we have this sort of contrast here in verse 18 that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Those who know Christ will live in uprightness and those who reject Christ will live in a manner that will make them susceptible to the judgment of God in the end. Because there are laws that govern our universe, then we can know that there is ultimately a law giver who has given those laws and who will likewise judge us by those laws. In Psalm 1, the very way that the Psalms themselves begin, We have the contrast between those who do righteously and those who do unrighteously. Psalm 1 beginning in verse 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree that is planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Now there is natural revelation in the sense that we know that there are consequences for bad behavior. There is special revelation in the sense that we know that it is God who governs over all of this and he is the one who will reward the good and will punish the evil. To know God, to actually be in fellowship with God, to know what his word says and be able to keep it and follow it takes the special revelation of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ in the gospel that has been proclaimed to us. But anybody can look at the world and see that everything has been subjected to futility. And in this way, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. Has been revealed from heaven even against nature because of the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men that wicked men do in opposition to God, in rebellion against God. And so, as will be said later on in Romans chapter eight, all things have been subjected to futility. All of the universe has been subjected to this curse, this state of decay, this chaos that everything is in because man sinned against God. And my friends, sin is very serious. It's the very fact that we see that in the world and even in the universe all around us that should scream to us how serious sin is. Because man rebelled against God, it caused the entire universe to go into upheaval. Sin is the very reason we die. And it's a concept that we're going to come back to again here in a moment. So first of all, it can be known amongst natural people, naturally-minded people, that the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. There are consequences for our actions just as we see the world in a general state of decay. But people choose not to see what God has revealed because of the next statement that's said there in verse 18, because of their unrighteousness, they suppress the truth. They don't want to acknowledge. that there are consequences for bad behavior. Surely you have known somebody in your life that keeps repeating these bad habits that are incredibly destructive, and they destroy themselves and their lives, and they're destroying the relationships of the people that are around them as well, a relationship they may have with you, a relationship with their friends or with the rest of the family, yet they continue to go back to the thing that is destroying themselves and the people around them. Why do they do that? The answer is there. because they love their sin. And by their unrighteousness, they suppress the truth, even if it means their very destruction. We've seen story after story of movie star and rock star that take all of the fame and fortune that they have collected and gathered and blow it all on sex, drugs, and rock and roll. And they live incredibly short lives as a result. Many of these musicians, strangely enough, there seems to be this phenomenon of dying at the age of 27. There's a number of them that have died at exactly that age. They live young, fast, and die young. And it's because they love their sin that they suppress the truth to go after that which would even destroy themselves. Verses 19 and 20 go on to say, Now this brings us to our second one. So first of all, the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven. But secondly, it has also been shown to all people. And this can be naturally perceived. This can be perceived in nature. that God is both divine and eternal. That's said in verse 20, His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in all that has been made. Now, this verse and that statement is often used to say that The proof of the existence of God is in everything that is all around us. And that's true, certainly. I mean, we should be able to walk out the door of this church and look at the mountain across the street and go, somebody put that there. It didn't just pop up in there by accident. Just like this building that we're sitting in right now, we did not, nobody in their right mind would believe that this just grew up out of the ground right here, that it came about by accident. Or that there was even a tornado that blew through this area and assembled a building in its wake. Nobody would believe such a thing. I came from Kansas, so tornado, not many tornadoes around here, but it was all over the place in Kansas. So the tornado in a junkyard metaphor is one that we liked a lot. Tornado doesn't blow through a junkyard and assemble a 747. Tornadoes destroy, they don't create things. And it's absurd to think that at some point in the distant past, millions and millions and billions of years ago, that non-life spontaneously became life and became the complexity of the cell that we're made up of now. It's an absurd conclusion. But these are the absurdities that man would go to to explain our own existence just so we don't have to give glory to God. So oftentimes, verse 20 is used to say that the proof of God's existence is in all that has been made. And we only go as far as existence. That's true. But verse 20 says more than that. Verse 20 says that his invisible attributes, even his eternal power and divine nature, are clearly seen in all that has been made. So it's more than just proof of the existence of God. Like this is creation, so it must have a creator. But it even goes as far as declaring that we can know, even in all that has been made around us, invisible attributes about God, specifically His eternal power and His divine nature. So coming back again to the understanding that everything is in decay and everything is falling apart and everything's gradually coming into a non-existence. We can perceive by the fact that we live in a linear timeline with a definite beginning and a definite end. We can perceive that there must be something outside of time that has caused all of this. Something exists that is not bound to the laws of time. And so, even in observing all that has been made, we can perceive that there is an eternal power that is beyond this. And to prove it, all you have to do is listen to an atheist. Because you will hear in their philosophy and their explanation of the existence of the universe, you hear eternal concepts come into their explanations. Lawrence Krauss, one of such atheists that has said that we live in an infinite number of universes. So this is one universe that we live in, but there may be any number of universes. If you've watched Marvel movies, you've seen the multiverse. And it's OK if we kill this character off, because we can just draw him from another universe and bring him into ours. There are no real stakes in this movie universe that has been created, because no one really dies. We'll just find the guy that exists in the other universe and bring him into ours. But it's science fiction. It's not reality. And we know that. We know that there's no such thing as infinite universes, but these people who do not want to acknowledge God, they do not want to worship God, so they won't attribute eternality to Him. They want another explanation for the eternal. So, we're going to say that there are eternal universes. There's an eternal number of universes. Or you might hear from somebody like Richard Dawkins who says, matter is eternal. So the stuff that we're made of has always existed, it just eventually at some point coalesced into the stardust that we're made up of now. So you hear in their very explanations these concepts of eternity, though they don't want to acknowledge that God is the eternal one, not the stuff that we're made of, not these other universes that it's impossible to perceive of anyway, even if they did exist. So how is it that they keep going to the eternal? Well, the book of Ecclesiastes tells us that God has placed eternity in the hearts of man. So that even atheists who want to deny the existence of God can't escape the reality of eternity. because it's been placed in our hearts. They clearly perceive that there is something eternal outside of the realm in which we exist, but they don't want to acknowledge that it's God who is the eternal one. So, even His eternal power can be clearly perceived in the things that have been made. What is the other one that's listed there? His eternal power and the second aspect or second attribute is His divine nature. The very fact that he's God. We are limited, finite people. We can't live beyond our bodies. We can't do more than we are capable of. We are not all-powerful. We are not all-present. We are not all-knowing. But the very fact that we make such statements like that also puts into our heads the contrast that there is a being that exists who is all-powerful. He is always present and he is always knowing. So the fact that we know these things about us puts into our minds an understanding that there is a being that exists that is eternal when we are not. So we can know his eternal power and we can even know his divine nature. in the things that have been made. They are clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. And then this statement at the end of verse 20, so that they are without excuse. No one will be able to stand before God and say, I didn't know you existed. Yes, you did. the atheist Bertrand Russell of the 20th century, he was asked, if God does exist, okay, hear me out now. If God does exist and you appear before him one day, what question are you going to ask him? And Bertrand Russell said, why did you take such great pains to remain so hidden? But Bertrand Russell actually knows in his heart how foolish a question that actually is. He knows that God does exist and more than that, that he is eternally powerful and he is by his nature divine God when we are not. Russell knows that. But he suppresses the truth with his unrighteousness. He would rather have his sin than have God. And that's why he continues in the foolishness, or continued in the foolishness. He's come to stand before God, and I can tell you that every atheist who stands before God doesn't say a word. There is no argument with God. There is no, finally we get to have this big debate. They are shut up. and tremble before the holy, mighty creator of the universe. Verse 21 goes on to elaborate. 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. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." Isn't it interesting how many civilizations that exist in the world that are worshipping something. No matter how primitive, no matter how advanced, you will find a people who are worshipping. Herman Bavinck said, all creatures, all human beings, by nature, recognize the supernatural. Naturalism, like atheism, is an invention of philosophy, but has no support in human nature. Human beings are, by their nature, more than natural. But there's even a clamoring for the supernatural. Millard Erickson, who is a theologian, lives in Minnesota. He says the following, in all cultures at all times and places, humans have believed in the existence of a higher reality than themselves, a universal tendency toward worship of the holy. Even in these primitive cultures, the gods that they worship, they will regard those gods, those entities, the demigods or whatever else, they will consider them as holy. They are set apart. They are other than. There is an understanding even within human nature of the existence of a holy one. But because we are ungrateful toward God, because man in his natural disposition doesn't give glory to God, we become futile in our thinking and man's foolish heart is darkened. He claims to be wise, but he becomes a fool and exchanges the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. It's probably absurd to see somebody bow down to an image of a snake. Is that absurd? It is absurd. You know why? Because sin makes us do stupid things. And instead of wanting to give glory to God and worship him, In the futility of our minds, man debases himself by worshiping creatures rather than the Creator. So far we have an understanding that the wrath of God has been revealed from heaven and that he is both eternal and divine. Thirdly, it has been shown to everybody what is natural and what is unnatural. Look at verses 24 and 25. Therefore God gave them up to the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever, amen. Going on, for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. There was a talk show that Kirk Cameron was on a few years ago in which he drew a lot of heat because the host had asked him about his thoughts regarding gay marriage and homosexuality. And Kirk Cameron said very simply, it's unnatural. Why is it that so many people got mad when Cameron said that? Because he was exposing the sin that they loved so much, but exposing it in a way that everybody was already aware of this. Everybody knows what is natural and what is unnatural. If we were to walk outside the church today and we were to go out of the parking lot and there are pigs out there in the parking lot and the pigs are standing around having a conversation in English, what would we think about that? That's unnatural. We would know right away. This isn't how nature works. These are things that we write about in children's storybooks and we put in cartoons. Nobody actually expects to see animals talk because animals by their nature cannot speak human languages. They don't have souls. They cannot communicate with people. They don't love you like they think you do, or like you think they do, right? That's the way to put it. Your cat does not love you. You are your cat's employee, not your cat's friend. Sorry to crush some of you in that. There was a video I saw recently of a man who's standing in a pond and he's got an alligator. He's holding an alligator, a full grown alligator that can bite his head off in a moment if that alligator wanted to. And as he's holding the alligator, he's like, now you see me holding this gator and you might be thinking, oh, that's so sweet. That's his pet gator. And look at the way he nuzzles up to his face. That gator loves him. And he even put his cheek down and right to the nose of the gator. And the man looks in the camera and he says, no, this alligator does not love me. This alligator would snap my hand off in an instant. Let me show you. and he reaches his finger around and just grazes the side of his mouth like really quickly. And in just as fast as he touched the gator, that gator's mouth went wide open and snapped at the guy's hand, but he had pulled it out of the way too quick before the gator could get it. He said, see, see how fast that was? So how is it that the gator is not biting off my hand? Because I know how to handle the animal. And even though I can make it look like he's nuzzling up to my cheek and you might think, oh, that gator loves you. No, he's an apex predator and he wants to eat me. I just know how to handle the animal in a proper way. We know what is natural and we know what is unnatural. And people pursue unnatural things because they're wicked. When you will hear political activists make statements about how animals are people. So you shouldn't be eating chickens. They are every bit as much valuable, a valued life as you are, you know, PETA and their whole thing. I don't know if you've seen the billboard where they've got like a bunch of animals on the billboard and it's got, you know, horses and dogs and animals that you love on one side and on the other side. There's cows and chickens and everything else. And the caption to the billboard is, where do you draw the line? Somebody took that billboard and put it online and they drew a line. It's like right there. You can eat these and these ones are your pets. That's where you draw the line. But we know it's absurd whenever those animal activists will make those statements about how this animal's life is every bit as much valuable as yours. We know that's absurd. that there is something about human life that is much more valuable than the life of an animal. Naturally, we understand that. And for a person to make a statement like an animal has more value or equal value to a person is to suppress the truth of unrighteousness. It's because they hate God and they love their sin and really hate people as well. So we can know, everybody knows The difference between what is natural and what is unnatural. But it's because of a love for sin that a person would continue to pursue those unnatural things. What is a fourth thing that God has naturally revealed or has revealed in nature about himself and about us? Number four, we see in verses 28 to 32 that the wages of sin is death. Look again at verse 28, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Now we have this list of vices that happen here. We're going to focus on those in a later sermon. Let me just focus mainly on verses 28 and 32. So they don't acknowledge God. God gives them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. What do we have in verse 32? Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but they give approval to those who practice them. So people know that the wages of sin, we can perceive and understand naturally that the wages of our sin is death. Once again, by destructive behavior and by the way that we treat other people, if we are evil toward others, there are going to be consequences for that. And the result of the evil that we do is going to eventually be our demise. Even a people who do not acknowledge God's law, can see that a good consequence for murder would be to kill the person who murdered. Capital punishment. Life for a life. Let's do that. There are civilizations on planet Earth that are not Christian civilizations, that don't use God's moral law or the Ten Commandments to determine their laws, and yet they can just even by their nature recognize if a person kills somebody, well, then he deserves to have his life taken too. We know that by nature. Life for a life, just scales, equal weights and measures. We can come to that conclusion even without the law of God. And so, therefore, to shift the balance in the scales, to go beyond justice, to do that which is unjust, what is deserving of a person who would do injustice in a society and in a culture. What he's deserving of is death. He should be removed from that society because he's disrupting everything. So we can perceive even naturally in the things that have been made that the wages of sin, that the consequence for evil is even death itself. And that a person who lives their lives destructively will eventually meet that end earlier than most. Number five, the fifth thing that God has revealed, and we see this also in verse 32, it is known by every person, though the truth is suppressed with unrighteousness, that God's word is true. Every single person can know and come to this conclusion, that God has made a righteous decree that those who practice such evil things deserve to die. They know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. But they not only do them, they give approval to those who practice them. And there's our bookend verses again, because that goes right back to verse 18, that by their unrighteousness, they suppress the truth. Though they know this, they continue to pursue those things that will result in death. Why? Because they love their sin. And they suppress the truth with their unrighteousness. They know God's righteous decree. Now this is not to say, Romans 1.32 is not to say that a person knows the Bible is God's word and therefore they ignore what the Bible says because they love their sin and so they're not gonna listen to the Bible. It's not saying that by nature we know that the Bible is God's word. What it is saying is that by nature we know that God's Word is true. So all these other statements that have been said here about understanding the existence of God, namely verse 20, that His eternal power and divine nature have clearly been are clearly perceived in all that has been made. So if everybody knows of the existence of God, if He is divine, if He is eternal, if He sits above everything, He is outside of the time and space in which we live. We decay, we die, but He does not. He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. Then whatever He has decreed, whatever He has said, must be true. And it governs everything else. and they know his word is righteous. His word is right and ours is not. They know his righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. So a person may not be willing to acknowledge that the Bible is God's word, but it still can be naturally perceived by even a wicked person that God has spoken and wherever he's spoken and whatever it is that he said, that word is true. Now, how do you get a person to understand that it's God's Word, the Bible, that is the Word that He has spoken and therefore is the Word that is authoritative over every one of us and governs our lives and will be the Word by which we will be judged whether you acknowledge it's God's Word or not? So we've looked at these five things. Let's do some application of that sense. We've looked at how the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, that he is both divine and eternal. We understand what is natural and unnatural in what has been made. We understand that the wages of sin is death. And number five, we understand that God has spoken and that his word is true. So now, how do you do some application with regards to this? Well, let me tell you one thing that you don't do. When you go out and you evangelize to somebody who says that they don't believe in God, don't go, yeah, you do. That's not going to get anywhere. It's perfectly fine to make arguments and help them to see that God really does exist. But you can do this with confidence, knowing, according to what God's Word says, that naturally they can perceive this. even when they are unwilling to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died on the cross, who rose again from the dead, and whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life. They're not even ready to acknowledge that yet, but you can help them to see those things that are natural and those things that are unnatural. You can help them to see that God really does exist. R.C. Sproul, by the way, does this incredibly well and has some great books on this, on how you can help somebody see or prove the existence of God. I don't have time to go into all of those arguments, but you can find some really good arguments out there. Francis Schaeffer used to refer to this as taking the roof off of a person. What does that mean? Well, they built this house up around themselves in which their ideology and their ideas live. and they're convinced that their ideas are true. Even when they say foolish things like, there is no such thing as truth. Is that statement true? Then there's such a thing as truth. But they've built this house for themselves in which their foolish, ridiculous ideologies can't exist. And Schaefer said, you need to ask them questions or say certain things to them to such a degree that you take the roof off of this house that they've built. And suddenly they're looking up and realizing there's a whole other world out there that I've been refusing to acknowledge in the wicked ideologies that I've propped up for myself. Voddie Bauckham is a great apologist and he has talked about how it's good to have these conversations and discussions with a person who wants to deny God's existence. You can give these proofs, you can give certain truths and help them to see that God really exists. But in their heart of hearts, they know he exists. So don't wait around in those waters for too long. Get to the gospel. Vodie gives this particular illustration. You as a Christian are going to do combat with an unbeliever and you're going to bring with you the Word of God, the Bible, Scripture, which Hebrews describes as being sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces through the bone and marrow of the person to their very heart. We have the most powerful weapon that could ever be given to us and that's the Word of God itself. Now they're going to come with weapons of their own, all of their philosophies and ideas, maybe even false religions that they believe. And so you line up with your sword and that person lines up with their sword. And if you start quoting scripture and they say, I don't believe in thine sword, now what do you do with it? Bodhi says, well, you have one of two options. You can go, oh, I'm sorry, but you don't believe in my sword and you sheathe it and now you've disarmed yourself and made yourself susceptible to their ideology and foolish arguments. Or you can take your sword and you can cut them with it. Now, there are occasions in which I've had disputes with atheists in which the atheist will say to me, I know the Bible better than you do. So you better stop quoting it to me. I'm like, oh, okay. So I'll continue quoting it and just not giving the references. And he won't even realize that's what it is that I'm saying because he doesn't actually know the Bible as much as he says that he does. But we need to come armed with this word. whenever we have conversations with people and want to lead them to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Because it's only the word of God that will bring them to saving faith. Later on, we get to Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. You have to share the word. And it will be the word of God that will ultimately tear down The foolish arguments and ideas that they have built up around themselves, believing that they have a house made of rock and not realizing that their house is made of straw. And it will burn up in the judgment when God returns, if they continue in the foolish ideologies that they are in. We understand these things about people so that we can help them to see the truth, and they will turn from their sin to Jesus Christ. and it is only by Christ that they can be saved. It is not enough to believe as Chris Langan believes, that we have a soul and God is an eternal being and I need to seek God to try to unite my soul with his. That's not enough. Because the only way to be united again with God is to believe in Jesus Christ. And though the world can naturally perceive these things about God, even His eternal power and divine nature that are clearly perceived in all that has been made, if we just let them remain in that idea, they're still going to go to hell because they don't know Jesus Christ. It is not enough for us to be spiritual, whatever that even means. We have to believe in Jesus. We have to know the gospel. We have to follow Christ. And it's only when we acknowledge him and worship God through his son that we have come into communion with the divine. An actual relationship with God that delivers us from our sin and delivers us into eternal life. From this passage that we've looked at today, there are things that we can know naturally about God. In his book on Reform Systematic Theology, Joel Beakey said the following, that this is the universal knowledge that is granted through general revelation. And through these five things, there are even six more things that we can understand regarding this. Number one, God exists and he created all things. Number two, atheism is folly. Number three, God has a unique nature as God. Number four, idolatry is wicked. Number five, God holds man accountable to his moral law. And number six, sinners are under God's wrath and without excuse. And it's for that reason, my friends, that we have to be out there with the gospel, sharing it with people so that they may come to faith in Christ and believe and live and escape the wrath of God that has been revealed from heaven against all the unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. As we sing today, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning, my song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. And God has brought us into fellowship with him in that. through the person and work of Jesus Christ. We remember the work that Christ accomplished on the cross