In the 18th verse, for the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which may be known of God is manifested in them, 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 of 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 the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man
and to birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore,
God also gave them help to uncleanness through the lust of their own
heart, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. I will tell you that I
believe what we have here is the birth of paganism, the beginning
of paganism, and how it came about. Let me read another text
that we used last Lord's Day, Leviticus chapter 26 and verse
1. You shall make no idols, nor
grave an image, neither rear up a standing image, neither
shall you set up an image of stone in your land, to bow down
unto it, for I am the Lord thy God." Moses gives them good instruction
in Deuteronomy chapter 4, 15 through verse 19, which we will
not take time to read this evening. Now, it might be well if we restate
two or three points made at the beginning of our last study on
the subject of idolatry, not only for those who might not
have been here, but also that our minds might be refreshed
and put again in the same channel. First of all, the notion of a
God to be worshipped is written in dark ink, we said, in the
hearts and the nature of men. So innately is it there that
atheism is the exception rather than the rule. As a result, man
will have Him a God of some kind. even if it is one that he makes
with his hand or carves it out of his vain imagination. Secondly, we said that concerning
idolatry, it can only be defined by the premise that there is
one true and living God. Otherwise, there is no definition
of idolatry. If there is no one true and living
God, then one God is as good as the next one, and so there
can be, therefore, no such thing as idolatry. If idolatry is,
by definition, the worship of false God in contrast to the
one true and living God. Now, for this particular study,
we come to examine the birth of the birth of pagan idolatry,
the origin of false worship, when men turned away from that
which God had revealed of Himself and began to make gods after
their own notion and imagination, to become worshippers of false
deity. Because it is clear in verse
25, they worshipped and served the creature, not the creator,
but the creature that which had been created. Herman Bevinck,
I mentioned him to you from time to time, who wrote and lived
in Holland in the last half of the 1800s said this, and I copied
it down, quote, generally speaking, heathen people characterize themselves
by the fact that knowing God not, they glorify Him not as
God, but change the glory of God into the likeness of an image
of the creature." And that is exactly what Paul has said to
us here. But first let us see how it is
that Paul brings us in to this particular discussion of the
origin of paganism and of idolatry. Because back in verse 14 through
verse 17, he extols the glory of the gospel and what is revealed
there. That therein is revealed the
righteousness of God that saved. Then in verse 18 through chapter
3 and verse 20, Paul declares and proves by explicit example
the universalness of sin, universal unrighteousness of the human
family. And he deals specifically with
the Gentiles in chapter 1 of Romans and with the Jews particularly
in the second chapter. So, in chapter 3 then, And verse
9 through verse 20, Paul proves the universal righteousness,
unrighteousness of both the Jew and the Gentile and of all men. Now Paul shows two things concerning
the Gentile. Number one, their gross idolatry,
for they have exchanged the glory of God for the corruptible image
of creatures. And secondly, their indescribable
immorality. And these go hand in hand. If one does not know, one does
not worship and honor the true and the living God, they are
bound to sink down in unrighteousness, ungodliness, and idolatry. And there's an inseparable connection
between these. There can be no practice of righteousness
apart from a knowledge of the true and the living God. Hence,
the Gentiles, being idolaters, were not only irreligious, they
were impious, they were ungodly, but they were very immoral in
their personal and in their practical life and character. Wherefore,
Paul sets forth the revelation of righteousness in the gospel
in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only means to be restored to
the worship of the one true and living God. Now, he says here
that the heathen worshiped and served the creature. The Christian
worships and serves God through the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
only. But then, let's look at this
passage and see how it is that men came to be idolaters. came to idolatry in spite of
the credible revelation that God had given unto himself to
all people in the wonder of creation. You can see that in Psalms chapter
19 and verses 1 through 6. There is a great passage of scripture
there. how creation speaks to all people
in all places. Now, also, in spite of the work
of the law written in the hearts of men, their conscience is bearing
witness, yet they went and became idolaters. It is important that
we understand this, because the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness, all impiety, all unrighteousness
of men. Focus upon that word ungodliness
there in verse 18. This word is six times, I think,
unless I miscounted, in our New Testament. Of course, here in
Romans 1 and verse 18. You'll find it again used by
Paul in Romans chapter 11 and verse 26. And all Israel shall
be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer,
and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. You'll find it again
in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 16. Shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase into more ungodliness. There's that word
again. Titus 2 and verse 12, you'll
find it one more time. Denying ungodliness and worldly
lust. You'll find it in Jude verse
15, again in verse 18, where the word is rendered in both
of those verses ungodly. Now thus ungodliness is, as John
Murray described it, a perversion that has a religious character
and nature about it. It is impiety, it is irreligion. It is from an old word that simply
means lack of reverence for God. To say that one is living in
ungodliness is to say that he is living with a lack of reverence
toward and for God. Paul soon illustrates that to
be the case by their being idolaters. Now, their unrighteousness, in
verse 18, he links or ties or connects to their moral depravity. Notice what charge Paul lays
against them also in verse 18. This is an interesting phrase
in the Scripture. Who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now that sounds like an oxymoron
when we first read it, to hold the truth and to hold it in unrighteousness. Now this raises two questions
that we need to consider. Number one, what truth does Paul
refer to in this particular place. Is it the same truth, down in
verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie? Then secondly, how is it that
they hold truth in unrighteousness? I've already said this seems
like an oxymoron, that is a contradiction in terms. For truth must be a
companion of righteousness, must it not? Truth must not be a companion
of unrighteousness. Now as to the first question,
it is the same Greek word in both 18 and verse 25 of Romans
chapter 1. The truth here referred to is
not the truth of the gospel of Christ our Lord, not even the
truth of the written word of our God. But contextually, that
is here in this text, this holding of truth is done in the realm
of unrighteousness. Unrighteousness is instrumental
in the holding of truth in the way that Paul is describing. Now, the truth that Paul has
reference to is that described in verse 19 through verse 21
here in Romans. What is that? Well, it is the
observable, handy work of God in the creation of all things
that He has made. The truth is what God has shown
them in verse 19. It is what was clearly seen in
verse 20. In verse 25, it is called the
truth of God. The truth intended, therefore,
is that truth which is connected to the creation of the world. In the 20th verse, as we notice,
Paul writing that. Wherein, that is, in the creation
that God has made, there is a visible display of the invisible power
of the Godhead. Notice. They, their, them, themselves. You see that again and again. That's in verse 19, in verse
20, 21, 22, and verse 24 again. They, them, themselves. Being
personal pronouns. But who are these referring to? Well, there must be an identity
of such who experience God's wrath. Well, in verse 18 we have
it. Men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Men who? Of men. Who do that? It refers to men,
not to angels. It refers to humanity. But what segment of humanity? What race or sort of segment
of humanity? Well, the answer is those who
hold the truth in unrighteousness, and are impious and immoral in
their condition. Amen who? In this context is
a reference to pagan Gentile. or as Robert Haldane applied
it to, quote, the whole Gentile or heathen world. He is referring
to pagan idolaters and once identified them as men who are impious and
immoral, who hold the truth in unrighteousness," unquote. And then, and hereafter, notice,
he refers to such as they and them and their and themselves,
personal pronoun. But to the second question, how
they hold the truth in unrighteousness. We must consider the word hold
here, its meaning, and how Paul is using it. first remembering
the truth is what God has revealed about Himself in creation. That there is an observable of
the power of God and of the Godhead as Paul says it. The truth is
what they have known. They knew it and when they knew
it. And that is God's power in creation. They hold, H-O-L-D,
in unrighteousness. Now, the word hold here is the
word that means, said Robert Haldane, to withhold a thing supposed to be valuable. And it has the meaning of to
suppress, or to restrain, or to hinder, or to hold under,
or to conceal, or to detain, or to repress. And in all of
those senses, they hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now it's
always helpful to see how a certain word appears and is used in the
other places in the Scripture. The word hold is the one in 2
Thessalonians 2 and verse 6 where Paul is talking about that which withholdeth, that
which holds back or restrain, to suppress or to hinder. In II Thessalonians 2 and 7,
it is translated letteth, letteth, the same word. in Romans 1.18,
appears in a few other New Testament passages to help us understand
its meaning. In Matthew 21 and 38, the same
word is translated, seize. Let us seize the inheritant. In John chapter 5 and verse 4,
he had a disease in which he was held. We see it again in
Romans 7 and verse 6, "...being dead wherein ye were held." We
see it in Philemon verse 13, "...retained." Paul says, "...whom
I would have retained with me." So in the context there, in Romans
chapter 1, the idea is this, God made a revelation of Himself
in creation, Gentile paganism suppressed, they hindered, they
held back in unrighteousness the truth of God that was revealed
there. What He has revealed has made
known of Himself invisible creation. Verse 19, Because that which
may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shown it
unto them. God did not hide this particular
truth from men. Instead, in creation, He made
a clear, visible display of it before all. Wherever they are
of whatever race or nation or tongue, it is visible unto them,
clearly visible, day in and day out. But in their unrighteousness,
they suppressed or held under this truth, they restrained it. This they did that this truth
would not be an operative influence upon them and their worship. But the suppression of truth,
especially truth concerning God, always has its dire consequences. And in the case here that is
before us, the suppression and the hindering of truth gave birth
to a lie in verse 25. For truth was held under Truth
was restrained, truth was suppressed, and a horrendous lie then was
born. Let's illustrate the evil of
suppressing truth in any realm. If you permit me to go off on
a rabbit trail just for a minute, I promise we'll catch him, get
him, skin him and put him in the pot and be on our way in
less than a minute. All about us truth is suppressed
and is hindered. On every side, in church, in
government, wherever it might be, in society at large, in the
media, many places. Truth is held under and suppressed. Now, we know that there are preachers
and there are churches who suppress the truth because they all know
the truth will have an altogether different effect upon people
than they desire them to have. Therefore, A lie serves them
better. Now in Romans 1, if the truth
stands, the truth which God has revealed of Himself even to the
pagan world, then they must worship and serve the God who has made
all things in that revelation. And they are without excuse. for worshipping a false god or
a man-made deity. On the other hand, with this
truth suppressed, a lie emerges and they begin the worship of
idols and imaginary deities and false gods of all sorts. Paul says they have done two
things to the truth. That is, to quote Murray, the
truth derived from the observable handiwork of God in the work
of creation. Number one, they suppressed it
in unrighteousness. They hold it down or hold it
under, in verse 18. Secondly, in verse 25, they changed
the truth of God into a lie. This is said another way, back
in verse 23 of Romans chapter 1, saying, and changed the glory
of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man, to birds and quadrupeds and creeping things and such
like. Now the two words in verse 23
and in verse 25, changed, C-H-A-N-G-E-D, have the sense of exchange, they
exchange, for they cannot in fact change the glory of God
or the truth of God, but what Paul says, they have exchanged,
that is, they have traded glory for corruption and truth for
a lie. They cast aside the one, they
embraced the other. They substituted one in the place
of the other. One called this a, quote, religious
monstrosity, unquote. That men would worship what God
had actually created. Now the folly and the monstrosity
appears in this. For the truth of God they substituted
a lie, that's in verse 25. For the glory of God they substituted
the likeness of some other created creature, that's in verse 23.
And they substituted the creature for the creator. They substituted
wisdom for ignorance and monotheism for idolatry. And so they came
to be worshippers of false God. Thus Paul traces the downward
spiral of pagan Gentile-ism. Embrace their imagery. even downward
it goes, in successive steps to moral degradation until they
became this monstrosity that, as Wordsworth said, ending in
the transmutation of the living God of heaven into the likeness
of an unclean reptile crawling upon the face of the earth."
Representing God with images, making gods of such things as
birds, and beasts, and creeping things, and things that fly,
and things that swim, and oxes, and bulls, even the heavenly
bodies, the stars, the moon, the planets, and such like. But
now if we look at the part of verse 25 that says, "...and worshiped
and served the creature more than," and again here the word
is instead of, not more than, but instead of the creator. The creator more than the one,
rather the creature more than the one having created. The two
words worship and serve deserve our attention here. Worship This
is the only time for this word in the New Testament. It means
to venerate. It means to adore, hence to worship
and to give credence. For this word described the inward
feeling by which an object is venerated and is given and viewed
as in possession of deity. Only God has that. They are not
viewed merely as inanimate or common object. They are worshipped
according to the apostle. They're not merely birds, reptiles,
fishes and such like. They are deities or have been
elevated to deity in the mind of these pagan. Secondly, we
look at the word served here. They worship and then they serve. This is in addition to external
worship of them. They serve by rituals, by ceremony,
by sacrifice and by gift, and they render service to those
objects which they have declared to be these thy gods, O Israel,
whether sacrificing, or praying, or chanting, or in whatever way
it might be, they render service unto them." This is the same
word that is used in some places in the New Testament to denote
serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 9.14 1228, Luke 4 and
8, and Romans 1 and verse 9. It means to give homage. It means
to do service, to serve them, to worship acts of deed and deeds
of service unto the God. Thus the idolaters were both
worshiping and serving these false gods and their idol. And notice Paul says more. more
than the one having created. Our English word more might convey
the sense of beyond or in addition more than, as if God were worshipped
in a lesser degree and these things in a further degree. But the meaning and the idea
in the Greek word is instead of. Instead of God. Rather than. Beside. Against God. So it is not that
they worshiped God some and idols more. They completely ceased
the worship of God and took up instead the worship of created
things that God had made by His own hand. And instead of worshiping
the one who created the things, and worshiping the God who created
them, they worship those things that are created by God. Paul, you know, speaks of God
as the Creator, the One having created. Christians hold God
to be the one and only Creator of all things in heaven and in
earth, the only Creator, the Maker of all things in heaven
and in earth, so that to worship any other is to worship an inferior
thing or an inferior being. Now, notice one final thing.
Paul's mention of the Creator catches Paul up in a state or
spirit of ecstasy where in he writes a doxological praise here
unto God. Notice the Creator who is blessed
forever. literally blessed unto the ages
or the aeon, the ages after the ages, which Paul confirms the
right of God to his worship and expresses his rejection of the
heathen worship and objects which they worship as gods and deity. It is his repudiation of the
insult and the deep disgrace done to God by the pagan Gentiles
in bowing down to things they've made, or looking up to the stars,
or whatever it might be. And Paul says, Amen, in that
doxology by which the apostle puts his agreement His stamp
of approval upon the statement, who is blessed forever. Amen is a word which is a transliterated
Hebrew word meaning truth or verity. Truly, truly did the
Lord Jesus, verily, verily, amen and amen. It attests to Paul's
agreement to God being blessed unto the ages as creator of all
things and only to be worshipped and none other. No matter what
they say, to worship any besides God, or in the place of God,
or instead of God, is raw pagan idolatry. Only God is a proper
object of our worship. And the Christian knows that.
And the paganism set up their multitudinal gods that they worship. God's many, Lord's many, Paul
said in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. But he said to us, there is
one Lord God and one Lord Jesus Christ, and that is God the Father
and Christ the Son of the Father, the eternal Son of the Father. We know who we worship. John's last sentence. In the epistle of 1 John, little
children, keep yourselves from idols. Last thing John wrote
in that book.