We will read verse 18 through
verse 23, though later we must take up the rest of the chapter. Romans 1, 18 through verse 23. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now, I want to stop and emphasize
the last part of verse 18. We're going to be focused mainly
on that today. Look at it again. who hold the
truth in unrighteousness. And it's easy to misunderstand
those words. Because that which may be known
of God is manifested in them, that is, to the people, for God
hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Because that, when they knew
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools and changed or exchanged the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man
and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping thing. Now, that's our text for today,
and remember those words who hold the truth in unrighteousness. A bit of review, if we might.
In our first half of this study, last Lord's Day morning, we noted
that there are two revelations that are mentioned by Paul that
God has made under the human family. We also learn that both
of them are from one and the same Greek word. He hath revealed
righteousness, and he hath revealed the wrath of God. And we mentioned
that this revelation of righteousness in verse 16 and verse 17 is the
general theme of the Roman epistle, that he never loses sight of
this subject throughout the Roman epistle. and that such righteousness
is revealed in conjunction with the gospel, and that this righteousness
is really the essence of justification. It is a justifying righteousness
that is revealed in the gospel. Not only that, but we learned
that this righteousness is witnessed by the law and the prophet. We also saw that it is suited
unto all people, to the Jew as well as to the Gentile. We learned furthermore that it
is by grace through faith, that it is through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation,
and that it excludes all boasting, that this method of righteousness
takes away all boasting and all merit from any whatsoever. But then, before Paul develops
this revelation of righteousness, he digresses. I like to call
it that. He digresses a while in order
that he might speak of another revelation. And it actually precedes
that one that is in verse 16 and 17, the revelation of a saving
righteousness which is revealed in conjunction with the gospel,
and is revealed and is experienced by the faith of God's elect. So let's note the connection.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, for therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from heaven. But the wrath of
God is also revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and
all ungodliness of men. And then you notice in verse
19, there is a reason. There is a connection that is
made because, he said in the 19th verse, and et cetera, and
so on. Because righteousness is revealed,
for wrath is revealed, and the particle for that opens that
verse and makes the connection, opens further the reason why
a justifying righteousness is revealed in conjunction with
the preaching of the gospel. Because, as John Owen, the old
Puritan, put it, and I quote, because all have sinned and thereby
rendered God their open and avowed enemy. Because all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God, the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven. Now looking deep here inside
of verse 18. For, or because, or since. The wrath of God. Now, these
words taste bitter in the mouth of many today. People do not
like to hear of the wrath of God. People do not like to hear
that God is a sin-hating God who in righteousness takes vengeance
upon every transgression, that it must receive a just recompense
of reward. But then there's reason. How
often do the scriptures speak of the wrath of God, and yet
most people speak of love and love only, and they exclude wrath
from the combination. Though both of them, the love
of God and the wrath of God, are divine attributes and they
are divine perfection of the eternal God. The wrath of God
is exercised because of his inflexible holiness. Because God is inflexibly
holy, and he cannot look approvingly up on sin. And because he is
inflexibly holy, as a result of that, as A.W. Pink wrote,
of his eternal destination of all unrighteousness, end quote. He detests sin and unrighteousness. He is of too pure eye than to
look approvingly upon evil, and he cannot look at iniquity as
we have in Habakkuk chapter 1 and verse 13. And therefore at his
pleasure, His wrath flames out against the unrighteousness and
the ungodliness of the wicked. And yet perhaps we can say, even
in this world and in this life, it is never let loose to its
full extent or power. The wrath of God has never yet
been let loose to its full culmination in this world. let all be destroyed
and that without remedy. Therefore the admonition in Psalm
chapter 2 and verse 12, kiss the son lest he be angry and
you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. A little measure of the wrath
of God is enough to destroy many. His wrath is his anger against
sin. His wrath is the anger that he
feels and that he manifests towards sin in sinners in this world
and that that is to come. And then let's note something
that is evident in our text. Paul says it is revealed. Then he said it is revealed from
heaven. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven, that is from on high, from the very throne of
God. It is a direct act of God out
of heaven. The just and the holy God who
inhabiteth his throne with eternality is a direct player in the pouring
out of the wrath of God the revealing of it, or can we say the manifestation
of the wrath of God. In Genesis chapter 19 and verse
24, that God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom, quote, out
of heaven, unquote. That fire and brimstone was not
a natural phenomenon of nature, But it was rained from God out
of heaven Deuteronomy 29 and verse 30 which the Lord overthrew
in his anger and in his wrath and you can also see in Isaiah
chapter 13 and verse 19 and notice something else that I verse verse
18 said against all unrighteousness and ungodliness Paul combines
two words there, and we'll look at them. All ungodliness and
all unrighteousness. In other words, all types, all
kinds of sin and sinful behavior. All kinds, all varieties, all
degrees of sin visited by the wrath of God out of heaven. Notice what Paul calls here,
first of all, number one, ungodliness, against the ungodliness of men. They say this is an old Greek
word that means irreligious or impious, people who are not religious,
who do not recognize God. who ignore him altogether and
are impious in their manner of living and in their behavior. In other words, we describe them
as not having a proper regard or reverence for God. They are
irreverent, impious, ungodly. And the second word that he uses
is unrighteousness. not having the right conduct
before God or the right attitude toward God. The second follows
after the first naturally. Irreligion leads to depraved
behavior. If one does not regard God, if
one is impious with regard to God, it will lead to depraved
behavior on their part. For the basis of good conduct
can only issue out of a right view and a right relationship
unto God. To reverence Him, for who he
is, to reverence him for his nature and for his attribute. And I think what we have here
in Romans 1 is a description of the origin or the birth or
the beginning of paganism. of the nations or of the Gentiles. Here is the rising up of paganism
in the world, ungodliness and unrighteousness, and what they
did with what God had revealed of himself, as we shall see soon
by and by. Now, in the end of verse 18,
a charge is brought against them that we want to emphasize. He
said they hold the truth in unrighteousness. And this must be understood for
what it is saying and not be misunderstood or we go astray. The idea is not that they hold
or that they cling to truth that God has made known while acting
in an unrighteous way. That's not what Paul is saying.
He does not say they are holding to the truth though acting unrighteousness. It is not that they hold to the
truth as if they want to know it and as if they want to keep
it. not that they hold to the truth,
yet are chargeable with what Paul is about to lay to their
charge as to their sin and irreverence against God. It is inconsistent
to speak of holding truth in unrighteousness. That's an inconsistent
statement to say that so-and-so holds truth in unrighteousness. That's because, as John Murray,
a writer, put it, truth Truth is coordinate with righteousness,
not with unrighteousness. Truth is coordinate with righteousness. The truth can only be held in
righteousness, that is truly held. And so Paul is not Complimenting
them as holding on the truth, even though they have fallen
into all manner of impiousness and unrighteousness. Not complimenting them at all. But the very opposite is what
he is saying and charging against them. As we will see in verse
25, they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Holding the truth in unrighteousness,
yet have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. So let's look at the word hold.
H-O-L-D in verse 18. Who hold, as it is in the King
James, the truth in unrighteousness. Now, this is the whole basis
and essence of paganism that Paul is describing. And it is even a description,
generally, of the philosophy of the whole world in our day. The guiding principle of all
natural religion is described here, and the seat of all enmity
against God is described in this place. The truth is and must
be suppressed or held down or held under. And the word whole
here in verse 18 can be rendered hindered, and you'll see that
in some version. It can be rendered suppressed
or held under or restrained, as the word is in 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 and verse 8. He that restraineth, or holdeth
back, or undoeth. When confronted with the truth,
when the truth is evidently placarded before their very eyes, They
hold it under, they suppress it, they hinder it, and they
replace it with a lie, as we read in verse 25. And what particular truth, then,
is it that Paul accuses them of holding under and replacing
with a lie? What particular truth does Paul
have here in his mind? It is not the truth of the gospel
of Christ, or the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, or the truth
as it is in the written word. But in the context, Paul is having
reference here He is referencing here in this context the universal
revelation made of the power and the divinity of God in the
creation of the universe and all things. He is speaking of
that knowledge that is written in creation by which they may
know a creator is behind the creation. And the essence of
their suppressing of the truth here in unrighteousness is that
God left a witness of his power and of his godhood, or that word
is divinity, in creation. You have that in verse 19, that
which was and may be known manifest in them. God showed it unto them. Look at verse 20, clearly seen
so that they are without excuse. for acknowledging a creator. Verse 21, they suppressed the
manifestation that God made of himself in creation. And in verse
22, while they considered themselves wise and enlightened and learning
and cultural and advanced, they had become nothing more than
fools. As it is the fool who has said
in his heart there is no God. Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. When did they not glorify God
or were they even thankful? Then in verse 21 and the last
part, they became vain in their imagination. Empty might be the
way that we describe it. Empty reasonings without ground
and without substance. Empty reasoning. Futile in their
speculations about what they saw and what they beheld in the
creation. their foolishness, literally,
their senselessness, and their senseless heart was darkened. Their senseless heart became
darkened when they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. And here's what they did. Number
one, they suppressed the what God had showed them. In creation, they suppressed
it. They held it under, they hindered
it. They would not give it freedom.
They put it under a bushel or under a box, as we might say. They exchanged the truth of God
for a lie, that we read in verse 25. Thirdly, look what they did,
continuing on in their downward spiral, they then worshiped and
they served, they made idols and gods and deities out of the
things that had been created. Sometimes things equal or inferior,
even unto themselves. And here, their plunge into paganism
became complete. And they stupidly worshipped
created things. And they worshipped created beings. equal or inferior even to themselves. In the 23rd verse, images of
corruptible men, birds, four-footed beasts, creeping things, just
to name a few, as Paul does, and they turn from God unto idols. From the worship of him who had
created and left his handiwork and writing upon them, they then
turned unto idols rather than the other way around. Rather
than turning from idols to God, they turned from God unto idols.
Now Paul places much store here in this passage upon the manifestation
that God has made in creation. Much store does Paul give much
strength and much consequence under what God has done in creation. So let's turn, if you want to,
I'm turning, to Psalms chapter 19 and reading a short passage
here found in verses 1 through verse 6, where the psalmist also
speaks and takes delight in the creation. So let's read Psalm
19 and 1 through 6. You ought to hear this, especially
in conjunction with what we're studying today. The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, night unto night showeth knowledge. There
is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard, their
line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to
the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle
for the sun, which is as a bridegroom, coming out of his chamber and
rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is
from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of
it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." A great
description of creation. Let's look back over it again,
singling out a few phrases from this great passage. First of
all, in verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament shows his handiwork. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. Then look at the second verse.
Every day is uttering speech. Every night is showing knowledge. When the day comes, creation
is speaking. When the night comes, knowledge
is being dispensed to those below. In the third verse, what a saying,
for he says here that creation is preaching. Creation is preaching
in every corner of the earth, and it is speaking a universal
language, a language understood by all, so that as Paul says,
they are without excuse, being guilty. and then being subject
to the wrath of God for turning from God and His revelation onto
the idols when God had given them a credible revelation. And they cast it aside, and they
also stamped God also stamped his glory upon his handiwork
and yet they exchanged that for a life whereby God visited them
with acts of his wrath. I was reading Spurgeon and he
wrote on verse 3 of Psalms chapter 19 and I'm quoting sun, moon,
and stars are God's itinerant preachers. They are apostles
confirming those who regard God, condemning those who worship
idols." It is interesting how Paul uses Psalm 19 and verse
4 in his argument in Romans 10 and verse 18, that the gospel
might be preached throughout all of the world, far and wide,
to all, to ills in every place, and without distinction. And
yet Paul makes the point As the heathen did not heed the voice
of God in creation, neither did Israel hearken unto Moses, neither
do natural persons hear the voice of God or the voice of Christ
in the gospel. For only special internal revelation
can bring a sinner to faith in Christ and faith in God. And only faith is able to apprehend
the faith or the righteousness in the gospel that is declared
when it is preached. Now, God, for all purposes, has
given two great major revelations of himself, which I understand
to be natural revelation, as some theologians call them. And
those two revelations that God has made in the natural realm
that leave all without excuse and that have evidences of the
wrath of God as well as the being of God are, number one, creation. which we have already considered
a revelation of His power and of His divinity is made in creation. This is from without. We behold
it from without. And yet it is a powerful witness
as well as a constant and a faithful witness of the handiwork and
the being of God. And the second way that God has
revealed himself, you may have already guessed, is the conscience. Not only in creation, but also
in the conscience. In like text as Romans chapter
2, verse 14 and 15, this is a witness within. It is hard to smother. But people do try to smother
and to bribe and to quiet the conscience and they succeed in
many instances. And I might add to their hurt
when it does not do its proper work. At times it gives strong
evidence of the wrath of God within someone. When we do wrong,
there is God's deputy in the soul that smites us with conviction
that we have done wrong and that the works of the law, Paul said,
are written in the conscience and in the heart. But let's return to those few
words in the end of verse 18 again, who hold, who suppress,
who hinder, who hold under, who hide the truth in unrighteousness,
denying God's hand, and work in creation. And the first application,
of course, is in the context and is to the pagan world. But there are other applications,
secondary applications, that are possible as such that also
suppress the truth of God when it is brought to bear upon them. Now, let me say this. To have
a proper view of God, having a proper view of creation is
necessary to a proper view of God, and I suppose vice versa. To have a proper view of God
in order to have a proper view of creation. Creation supposes
a creator. If there is a creation, there
is a creator. Nothing can give existence to
itself. Nothing can come out of nothing
upon its own. Any that deny creation will soon
deny God to one extent or another. Any that pervert the being of
God will soon turn unto idols and will leave the truth of God
for a lie. For as Romans 1 and verse 20
mentions God's eternal power and Godhead, literally divinity,
evident in creation. The Proverbs mentions some other
attributes of God that are evident in creation. You have them in
Proverbs 3, verse 19 and verse 20. I'm reading. The Lord, by wisdom, hath founded
the earth. By understanding hath he established
the heaven. By his knowledge are the depths
broken up, and the clouds dropped down due. So here you have wisdom,
understanding, and knowledge attached to God's creation. These and other attributes are
operational in the design of creation of the universe and
of the world. The world is hanged upon absolutely
nothing. Isn't that an amazing thing?
that it has no foundation. No, Hercules is not under the
world holding it up as we have sometimes seen in illustration. It is hanged up on nothing. Job chapter 26 and verse 7. And yet it is immovable. It hangs on nothing. It is not
fastened to any tether to hold it. It is hanged upon nothing. The psalmist drew back in wonder
when in Psalm chapter 8 verse 3 and 4 he writes and he is swept
up in admiration, and wonder at creation. He says this, When
I consider the heaven, the works of thy finger, the moon and the
stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful
of him? Some think that man is so great
and is the center of the universe. It is a great insult and an honor
to God to rob him of his glory and his power in creation. And it is just cause for expressions
of His wrath against those who do. Now there is something that
we note in the scripture, which is both scripture and the saints
of God written up in the Holy Word do declare God to be the
preserver and the creator of the universe all things. They
confess that God is the maker of all, not by a process of evolution,
neither organic or theistic, but the creative week of God
described in Genesis chapter 1. This is the firm testimony
of the Word of God that God hath made all things. We read in Hebrews
11 and verse 3, through faith we understand that the world,
literally I believe it is, the aeon or the ages were framed
by the word of God. Same word we have in Hebrews
1 and verse 2. But going back to Romans 1, 18,
and the words in the end of the verse concerning the hindering,
the withholding of the truth in unrighteousness, for which
things sake the wrath of God was visited upon them, and God
took retribution against what they had done. So let's look
in our text what they did and draw out extractions of their
action. Verse 21, having a credible manifestation
of God, they did not glorify Him as God. Verse 23, they exchanged
God's glory into corruptible things. Verse 25, they changed
the truth of God for a lie. Verse 28, they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge. They did not think God fit to
know and to hold in their mind. Then Paul tells us what God did. As Murray put it, the consequences
between the sin committed and the recompense meted out, unquote. Paul traces out each equitable
retribution of the wrath of God against them. Verse 24, look
at it. Because they corrupted knowledge
of God, God gave them up to uncleanliness to let their lust run wild. He abandoned them to immorality. He lay the reins upon the neck. He restrained them not. He left
them to their own desires, Acts 14 and 16, who in time past suffered
all nations to walk in their own way. In Acts 17 and 30, He
winked at the time of their ignorance, and even in Israel, Psalm 81,
verse 11 and 12, my people would not hearken unto my voice, and
Israel would none of me. So I gave them up under their
own hearts' lust, and they walked in their own councils," unquote,
And bad was their situation. This was a judgment from God,
was a manifestation of the wrath of God against their disobedient. But then look at verse 26, for
their corruption. For this cause, God gave them
up unto vile affection. Some render that degrading passion,
and it's a good translation. Some use the word dishonorable
passion or passions of dishonorable with this result that they fell
into sins that were against or contrary to even unto nature
then look at verse 28 as punishment and judgment for their refusal
to Acknowledge God God gave them over to a reprobate mind God
has it or the margin has it a mind void of Judgment, but we finish
out our study by reading that by riding that pony in verse
18 the words of who hold the truth in unrighteousness, as
soon as we say that God is truth, all truth is relative to God,
in him is no lie, in him is truth, thy word is truth. On the other
hand, all that man does And all that he believes is built upon
a lie. Men resist the truth, 2 Timothy
3 and verse 8, who are men of corrupt minds and reprobate concerning
the faith, like those rebels in Moses' time. It is now very
common for Adam's children to suppress the truth. and to exchange
the truth for a lie. It's a very common thing today
to call a lie the truth and the truth a lie. It's a very common
thing to call evil good and good evil. Most people today sadly
say, prefer a lie unto the truth and are so mentally sodded that
a lie sounds to them as if it could be the truth. But Paul's
charge is a vivid picture. They suppress They hinder, they
hold the truth under, they keep it from exerting itself in the
mind, to keeping it from influencing itself on the behavior of men,
and they hold it down in a sphere of unrighteousness. And unrighteousness
is the sphere in which this suppression of truth takes place. So let's
consider, let's broaden a little bit and consider. Number one,
in our day, this is done exactly with the teaching of evolution. In evolution, they go beyond
the pagans, for the Darwinians deny the existence of a god,
of God, and therefore deny any special creation. It's not creation
with them. It is evolution. And they attribute
the existence of the universe unto multi-million years of evolution. And they suppress the truth of
God and creation under a bushel. And in our day, it has been elevated
from a theory to a fact and is now called science. Their minds
are blinded. God calls them fools. They're
under a deadly delusion that there is no God, therefore no
afterlife, no judgment, no heaven and no hell. to be shunned or
avoided. But I'd like to bring another
charge against the Armenian, which is little more than religious
humanism, an old egg of deism at the best. They, too, hinder
and suppress the truth of God's sovereignty. They give up power
to human will and to human decision. They smother the grace of God
under the works of men. They suppress and pervert election
and the glorious truth of the gospel. They hang all things
upon the will and the response of men. They too hold the truth
in unrighteousness and they hinder it and they suppress it and they
deny and they pervert and they corrupted. For God has given
them strong delusion, hardened their hearts, and blinded their
eye, and hidden the things of God from them. And they have
gone apostate from the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
rest the scripture to their own destruction. And the judgment
of God is upon them, ignoring the wrath of God for the love
of God. There is another very present
movement I'd like to mention that hinders and suppresses the
truth again in unrighteousness. And that is something that has
invaded like a vine the whole world of our day. And I speak
of political correctness. Nothing less or more than cultural
communism and cultural Bolshevism is the thing called political
correctness today. It will not tolerate the truth. It will crush it at any cost
and destroy any that stand up and dare tell the truth. They
have rewritten history. They have enshrined political
correctness into federal and local law in the United States. of America. It is the suppression
of truth and the taking away of free speech to sic the thought
police on anybody who dare slap political correctness on its
ugly snout when it arises. We see this again, I believe,
in the environmental movement, which is also a hindering of
truth in unrighteousness. They, for all practical purposes,
worship the earth. It is nature worship with them. And so they deny that any flood
or hurricane or earthquake or judgment or catastrophe has anything
to do with God or the wrath of God. They deny any visitation
of the wrath of God. They owe it to climate change
or to the abuse of the environment. And this movement is grounded
in nature worship and again is a great insult and dishonor to
God and a withholding of the truth as it is in the Bible. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. That when truth is inconvenient,
exchange it for a lie, and pass off the lie as if it were a truth. There's an old saying, if you
tell a lie long enough and often enough, people will start to
believe it. If you tell a lie constantly,
over and over and over, people will come to receive it as the
truth. But that doesn't make it the
truth. It is a lie still.