WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.820 We are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:11.519 So, upon completing this statement, in Paul's very logical way, 00:00:11.519 --> 00:00:18.920 ! He loops back to the beginning to help us understand mankind's need of salvation. 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:21.920 Our need to be justified. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.940 Our need to avoid the wrath of God. 00:00:25.940 --> 00:00:32.359 This gospel he's not ashamed of, because it's the power of God for salvation. 00:00:32.359 --> 00:00:38.000 He wants us to be very clear what we need to be saved from. 00:00:39.060 --> 00:00:43.460 Now, we're going to speed up our study a bit and spend today and the next Lord's Day 00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:46.880 finishing up chapter 1, Lord willing. 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:54.480 But I do not want the lessons of verses 18 through 32 to be lost on us. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:01.659 At the conclusion of our study of this chapter, you ought to either feel a great condemnation for your lost state, 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:07.060 and, I pray, will flee from the wrath to come to the mercy of Christ, 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:12.179 or you ought to feel an abundant, overflowing gratefulness, 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:17.120 having already received Christ's mercy in the salvation of your soul. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:21.880 So, Romans chapter 1, verse 18 through 23. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:26.200 Let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us. 00:01:26.820 --> 00:01:31.320 It was written for his glory and our good, and so we would do well to listen to it 00:01:31.320 --> 00:01:34.980 in order to believe its promises and obey its commands. 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:37.620 And Paul goes on, 00:01:37.620 --> 00:01:56.100 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 00:01:56.099 --> 00:02:01.059 For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:08.400 have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. 00:02:09.019 --> 00:02:10.719 So they are without excuse. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:15.740 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:20.759 but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:24.379 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:33.819 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 00:02:35.739 --> 00:02:40.959 Some weeks ago, I pointed out the logical progression of Paul's writing. 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:49.639 Paul's writing is full of fours and therefores, one assertion building on the next. 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:53.639 I like preaching Paul because I'm a very linear thinker. 00:02:54.500 --> 00:02:59.139 I don't like making lots of loops, so I enjoy this kind of writing. 00:02:59.779 --> 00:03:05.359 We saw one four at the beginning of verse 16 and another at the beginning of verse 17. 00:03:06.139 --> 00:03:12.219 And here we see one at the beginning of verse 18, 19, 20, and 21. 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:19.860 As we proceed through chapter 1, we see a therefore at the beginning of verse 24 and two fours in verse 26. 00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:26.579 All of these are just the fours and therefores that begin in verse 16 through the end of the chapter. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:33.219 I'm just pointing this out to you simply to show you the logical progression of Paul's case. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:36.039 Don't miss the fours. 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:43.699 This is the way he most regularly wrote, and it's the way he most regularly preached the gospel. 00:03:44.579 --> 00:03:48.019 We can read in Acts chapter 17, verse 2 and following. 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:56.479 And Paul went in as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:02.739 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, 00:04:02.859 --> 00:04:07.439 and saying, this Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. 00:04:07.799 --> 00:04:11.000 Now, Paul wasn't exerting his own ideas, right? 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:16.500 He was reasoning specifically from the scriptures, from the Old Testament text. 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:23.839 He was taking up the word, and he was clearly, with some logical progression, explaining the need, right, 00:04:23.939 --> 00:04:27.879 for Jesus to suffer and to rise from the dead. 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:30.620 Why did he do it in this way? 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:36.879 He spoke to their minds with the scripture with the intent of getting through their minds 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:39.939 by the power of the Spirit to their hearts. 00:04:39.939 --> 00:04:48.199 He was just simply using ordinary means that God might do something miraculous in the lives of his hearers. 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:50.500 And we see this to be the case. 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:53.079 In fact, Luke records it for us in verse 4 in this way, 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:57.360 and some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:02.839 as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 00:05:03.939 --> 00:05:06.680 So why take the time to do such a thing? 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:10.800 I'm just trying to say to you that it is good for us to engage our minds, 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:13.519 whether you find yourself in Christ or not this morning, 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.000 whether you want to be here or somehow got drug here, 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:22.899 it is good for you to engage your mind in the argument that Paul here is making. 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:31.000 It is our prayer that he might do something miraculous, the Lord, in your life as you think about these things. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.100 Paul progresses neatly from one assertion to the next, 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:38.800 which is why for today I don't have points for the sermon. 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:44.640 I'm just going to follow his four format throughout the text, 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:48.000 beginning in, of course, verse 18. 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:49.480 He says, 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:54.480 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.840 who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:04.899 In verses 16 and 17, remember that Paul states that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:10.199 For in it, verse 17, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:14.839 As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:22.619 So in verse 18, he begins his explanation of why anyone would care that the gospel is the power of God. 00:06:23.119 --> 00:06:31.399 He begins telling us why we need the righteousness of God that comes through faith. 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.259 He doesn't just assume that we know it. 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:37.559 Power of God for salvation, right? 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:40.699 The righteous shall live by faith. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:46.560 He begins to rewind and begin to make the case that we are not righteous by ourselves 00:06:47.139 --> 00:06:51.259 and we need a righteousness that comes from God. 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:53.740 God's righteousness. 00:06:53.740 --> 00:07:06.000 The reason, he tells us, is the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. 00:07:06.460 --> 00:07:09.519 It's something to be afraid of. 00:07:10.699 --> 00:07:16.060 God's wrath seems to be a very unpopular idea in modern evangelicalism. 00:07:16.900 --> 00:07:22.500 But Paul's inspired writing offers up as the very first reason someone would receive the truth of the gospel 00:07:22.500 --> 00:07:25.300 is the fear of God's wrath. 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:27.319 He begins there. 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:35.019 Now, God's wrath is not the same as the kind of uncontrolled venting of anger that we are likely to exhibit. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.720 Rather, it is a determined indignation. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:46.459 God justly feels angry at sin as it is an offense to him. 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:49.000 It's an offense against him. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:54.420 It is bad for us and it wreaks havoc for others. 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:57.459 It is objectively wrong. 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:05.579 And so, therefore, God has a determined indignation against sin of every variety. 00:08:06.660 --> 00:08:10.000 God's wrath is righteous wrath. 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:13.779 And it does not detract from his loving kindness. 00:08:13.779 --> 00:08:22.639 Rather, it magnifies his mercy and grace as all of his divine attributes are held in perfect balance. 00:08:23.539 --> 00:08:30.959 We have to be careful as we open up the word and look at our God that we don't over-inflate one aspect over another. 00:08:31.059 --> 00:08:33.240 They're all held in perfect balance. 00:08:33.339 --> 00:08:38.819 This is the doctrine known as the simplicity of God, although it may be a bit misleading of a term. 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:42.400 It means he's always who he is all the time. 00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:44.820 All things at all times. 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:48.920 He's not given to fits of emotion like we are. 00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:51.820 He is not swayed by whims. 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:57.520 Listen to just a few texts that speak of God's wrath. 00:08:58.420 --> 00:09:01.240 Psalm 90 in verse 7 through 9. 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:26.600 Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 19. 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:31.700 Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the land is scorched. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.420 And the people are like fuel for fire. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.920 No one spares another. 00:09:38.300 --> 00:09:40.240 Jeremiah chapter 7 and verse 20. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:48.700 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place upon man and beast, 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:51.540 upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground. 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:54.840 It will burn and not be quenched. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:10:00.160 Unless you think that this was only an Old Testament reality, 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:07.360 maybe fall victim to the error to think that our God has changed from Old Testament to new. 00:10:08.180 --> 00:10:11.300 God's wrath was a major part of Paul's theology. 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:16.600 We see it here just in chapter 1 of this tome of Paul's writing. 00:10:17.280 --> 00:10:20.680 Here are two other texts that proceed from Paul's hand. 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:23.120 Ephesians 5 and verse 6. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:25.679 Let no one deceive you with empty words. 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:32.539 For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:35.539 In Colossians chapter 3, verse 5 and 6. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:41.340 Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:43.259 which is idolatry. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:48.899 On account of these things, the wrath of God is coming. 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:55.939 God's wrath is a settled reality against sin. 00:10:56.620 --> 00:11:03.159 He is a just God and He justly does and will punish sin. 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:09.620 Whether or not you realize it, you want God's wrath to exist. 00:11:10.079 --> 00:11:13.500 You want justice to be served. 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:26.919 It is proper that Kim Il-sung and Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Lenin and Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.940 If you don't know who these people are, you need to know who these people are. 00:11:30.940 --> 00:11:35.520 Many of them are socialists, as a note. 00:11:36.540 --> 00:11:44.080 It's proper that they're punished for the heinous crimes that were carried out by their commands and at their hands. 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:48.040 We want justice to be done, right? 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:54.120 Beyond our power and beyond our control, we want justice to be established. 00:11:55.040 --> 00:11:58.860 We want a God that sets these atrocities right. 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:04.639 But if we understand the nature of our sin, 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:10.639 if we get that our sin is the rejection of God as creator and king, 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:14.560 that our sin as just as grievous, 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:20.300 then we will understand the deserved wrath against all sin. 00:12:21.300 --> 00:12:26.779 God, because He's just, must punish sin. 00:12:26.779 --> 00:12:29.220 He is perfectly just, right? 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.639 He's not like any judge that has ever lived, right? 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:34.919 He doesn't dismiss some things and punish other things. 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:36.480 He is perfectly just. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:40.259 He always rightly judges sin. 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:44.240 He must do it or He ceases to be God. 00:12:44.379 --> 00:12:47.819 And this is a good, good thing. 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:53.220 If you haven't placed saving faith in the personal work of Jesus Christ, 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.680 then you will pay the penalty for your sin. 00:12:57.560 --> 00:13:00.500 You will endure God's wrath forever. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.879 And this is just. 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:04.960 Think it not unfair. 00:13:05.160 --> 00:13:08.520 It is the good and proper thing for our God to do. 00:13:08.519 --> 00:13:13.379 If you have placed saving faith in the personal work of Jesus Christ, 00:13:13.939 --> 00:13:18.059 then He, Jesus Christ, paid the penalty for your sin. 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:24.179 God maintained His justice in punishing your sin in Christ, 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.819 that you would be set free from its penalty and its power. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:34.539 This is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. 00:13:34.539 --> 00:13:38.559 And it is the core of the gospel, right? 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:43.419 Astoundingly in our age, there's debate amongst, I will say, 00:13:43.599 --> 00:13:46.299 in quotation fingers, Christian circles about this doctrine. 00:13:47.259 --> 00:13:49.879 If you dismiss penal substitutionary atonement, 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:54.459 Christ died in our stead in order to satisfy the wrath of God 00:13:54.459 --> 00:13:56.379 that was aimed at us, 00:13:56.699 --> 00:13:59.019 then you're denying the gospel altogether. 00:13:59.019 --> 00:14:04.600 Each and every one of us deserves God's wrath. 00:14:04.980 --> 00:14:06.919 If God were to be entirely fair, 00:14:07.699 --> 00:14:11.500 we would all be consumed in a moment and then punished forever. 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:16.259 This would be the right thing for Him to do. 00:14:17.199 --> 00:14:20.980 But because of His loving kindness toward us, 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:24.079 He sent His own Son, 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.240 that His Son might live the life that He expected of us 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:29.740 and die the death that we deserved. 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.860 So that in that gospel belief, 00:14:34.300 --> 00:14:35.920 all who believe in that gospel, 00:14:36.040 --> 00:14:36.520 the power of God, 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:39.720 we would be granted the righteousness of God, right? 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:40.980 That we would be justified, 00:14:41.160 --> 00:14:44.220 that we could stand before God forgiven. 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:50.520 And note that God's wrath does not discriminate, right? 00:14:50.519 --> 00:14:52.759 As I've made the point already, 00:14:52.919 --> 00:14:59.439 it is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:03.279 These two words, ungodliness and unrighteousness, 00:15:03.319 --> 00:15:06.399 are very similar in the Greek language. 00:15:06.759 --> 00:15:10.460 They are almost but not quite synonyms. 00:15:11.439 --> 00:15:15.840 The first stresses a severed relationship with God. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:22.420 The second focuses on the activity that proceeds from that severed relationship. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.580 The one on whom God's wrath is revealed 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:30.160 is not living as an image bearer of God, 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.200 but in contradiction to that created purpose. 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:39.040 And in so doing, suppresses the truth. 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:42.840 Presses down the truth. 00:15:42.840 --> 00:15:47.240 Now, Paul is going to continue to develop our understanding 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:48.820 of the fallen nature of man 00:15:48.820 --> 00:15:51.540 and the deserved wrath for those apart from Christ 00:15:51.540 --> 00:15:54.980 until halfway through chapter 3. 00:15:56.300 --> 00:15:58.120 But before we move on from this verse, 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.500 we need to note something that will have bearing on our study 00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:03.220 in coming weeks. 00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:07.019 This will be important and increasingly important. 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:09.080 Paul states, 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:22.900 The article before reveal, 00:16:23.060 --> 00:16:24.340 the article is, 00:16:24.920 --> 00:16:26.740 it's not in the original language, 00:16:26.900 --> 00:16:29.040 but it's properly added into our text 00:16:29.040 --> 00:16:31.879 as the verb translated revealed 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:33.500 is in the present form, 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:37.700 which means that not only will God's wrath be revealed, 00:16:37.899 --> 00:16:41.399 but it is currently being revealed. 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:47.539 That the unrighteousness are presently under the judgment of God 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:49.759 and will, apart from saving faith, 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:52.519 be under the judgment of God forever. 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:58.199 It's currently playing out in the world in which we live. 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:02.199 We will need to understand the profundity of this verb, 00:17:02.319 --> 00:17:04.619 understand the rest of the chapter 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:07.680 and, frankly, the world that we live in 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:10.599 and into the rest of our text. 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.339 The wrath of God revealed from heaven 00:17:14.339 --> 00:17:18.480 against ungodliness and unrighteousness. 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:21.920 He goes on in verse 19, right? 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:26.839 The for here is referring to the suppression of truth. 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:30.779 For what could be known about God is plain to them 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:34.400 because God has shown it to them, right? 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:37.660 Here's the truth suppression happening. 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:42.359 Sinful man denies the truth that God has revealed to them 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:44.859 and so, he'll go on to say in verse 20, 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.180 they are without excuse. 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:52.960 Now, I like the translation that we preach from. 00:17:53.100 --> 00:17:54.720 This is the English Standard Version. 00:17:55.340 --> 00:17:56.279 Many, many years ago, 00:17:56.360 --> 00:17:58.779 we decided to pick a translation to preach from 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:00.480 in the hopes that others would have the same. 00:18:00.600 --> 00:18:02.940 And if you don't, that's entirely okay. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:05.860 There are many good translations out there. 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:08.180 But I'll tell you, when we made that decision, 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:11.440 it was hard for me because I had an NASB 95 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:13.620 that I really enjoyed a lot. 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:15.179 And it was difficult to give it up 00:18:15.179 --> 00:18:17.419 as the primary preaching text. 00:18:17.539 --> 00:18:23.219 And so I'm always eager to confer with my NASB 95 00:18:23.219 --> 00:18:27.159 and see the way those translators rendered some of these texts. 00:18:27.239 --> 00:18:28.059 And it's not always helpful, 00:18:28.159 --> 00:18:30.659 but in this case, I thought it was particularly helpful. 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:33.500 Listen to the way they rendered these Greek phrases. 00:18:33.979 --> 00:18:34.939 They say, verse 19, 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:46.900 That's fascinating. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:50.080 Those Greek phrases can also be translated in that way. 00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:53.420 ESV says about God is plain to them, right? 00:18:53.799 --> 00:18:56.240 Here, they root it with the evidence 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.200 that's actually put within us. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:04.420 And Paul's going to develop this idea later in chapter 2, I believe. 00:19:05.539 --> 00:19:08.160 So what could be known about God is plain to them 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.259 or is evident within them, 00:19:10.360 --> 00:19:15.080 for God has shown it or made it evident to them. 00:19:15.820 --> 00:19:17.340 For, verse 20, right? 00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:18.799 He's developing this even further. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:22.460 For God's invisible attributes, 00:19:23.019 --> 00:19:27.059 namely His eternal power and divine nature, 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:31.279 have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:33.580 in the things that have been made. 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:37.679 So, they are without excuse. 00:19:38.639 --> 00:19:43.139 Two things can be clearly observed in the natural world. 00:19:43.500 --> 00:19:48.299 One, Paul says there is a creator God. 00:19:48.419 --> 00:19:51.939 Whether we know exactly who that creator God is 00:19:51.939 --> 00:19:53.379 as revealed in Jesus Christ or not, 00:19:53.439 --> 00:19:57.859 we know by looking at nature that there is a creator God. 00:19:57.859 --> 00:20:02.519 And two, that He is eternally powerful. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:07.519 And everybody seems to know this in our age, 00:20:07.779 --> 00:20:11.699 which is a suppression of the truth. 00:20:11.700 --> 00:20:14.539 So, let me read to you just a bit. 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:17.240 This is from John MacArthur's commentary on this text. 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:22.140 He gathers a lot of stats together in just a way that I don't have time for. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.080 So, I'm going to read what he gathered together. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:26.679 I'm not sure he had time for it either, 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:30.899 but I don't want to suggest I'm busier than John MacArthur, 00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:35.439 but I'm going to lean on him and the commentary here at this point. 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:36.659 Listen to some of the things, right? 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:39.480 There's just some examples of things that can be observed, 00:20:39.619 --> 00:20:42.939 things that display our God as a creator God 00:20:42.939 --> 00:20:45.339 and eternally powerful. 00:20:45.339 --> 00:20:47.619 At any given time, 00:20:47.919 --> 00:20:51.879 there are an average of 1,800 storms in operation in the world. 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:55.319 The energy needed to generate those storms 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:59.720 amounts to the incredible figure of 1.3 billion horsepower. 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:05.000 By comparison, a large earth-moving machine has 420 horsepower 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.740 and requires 100 gallons of fuel a day to operate. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.099 Just one of those storms, 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:14.439 producing a rain of 4 inches over an area of 10,000 square miles, 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:19.539 would require energy equivalent to the burning of 640 million tons of coal 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:22.460 to evaporate enough water for such a rain. 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:25.640 And to cool those vapors and collect them in clouds 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.440 would take another 800 million horsepower of refrigeration 00:21:29.019 --> 00:21:32.299 working night and day for 100 days. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:34.740 I don't know how he figured that out. 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:35.620 It's pretty incredible. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:38.700 Agricultural studies have determined 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:40.180 that the average farmer in Minnesota 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:44.640 gets 400,700,000 gallons of rainwater per acre per year, 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.080 free of charge, of course, 00:21:47.340 --> 00:21:48.660 and my addition is for now. 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:52.600 The state of Missouri has some 70,000 square miles 00:21:52.600 --> 00:21:55.680 and averages 38 inches of rain a year. 00:21:55.960 --> 00:21:57.340 That amount of water is equal to a lake 00:21:57.340 --> 00:21:59.580 250 miles long, 60 miles wide, 00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:00.920 and 22 feet deep. 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:03.620 God blesses with rain, 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:04.720 is the point. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:07.440 The U.S. Natural Museum has determined 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:09.500 that there are at least 10 million species of insects, 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:11.980 including some 2,500 varieties of ants. 00:22:12.860 --> 00:22:15.259 There are about 5 billion birds in the United States, 00:22:15.360 --> 00:22:17.079 among which some species are able to fly 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.920 500 miles nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:22.559 Those are hummingbirds, by the way, 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:23.220 that can do that. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:26.200 Mallard ducks can fly 60 miles an hour, 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:28.299 eagles 100 miles an hour, 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:31.759 and falcons can dive at speeds of 180 miles an hour. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:36.299 The Earth is 25,000 miles in circumference, 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:38.799 weighs, I don't, this is an astounding number, 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:40.000 how we figure this out. 00:22:40.819 --> 00:22:41.960 Let's say approximately, 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:46.319 6 septillion, 588 sextillion tons, 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:47.400 I don't even know what those numbers mean, 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:50.339 and hangs unsupported in space. 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:52.700 It spins at 1,000 miles per hour 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:53.640 with absolute precision 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:55.240 and careens through space around the sun 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:57.180 at the speed of 1,000 miles per minute 00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:00.259 in an orbit 580 million miles long. 00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:06.160 We get our seasons from that astounding reality. 00:23:07.339 --> 00:23:08.319 The head of a comet may be 00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:11.319 from 10,000 to 1,000,000 miles long, 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:14.400 having a tail 100,000,000,000 miles long, 00:23:14.599 --> 00:23:17.859 and travel at a speed of 350 miles per second. 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:20.319 If the sun's radiated energy 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:21.720 could be converted into horsepower, 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:22.500 it would be the equivalent 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:25.420 of 500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 horsepower. 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:27.960 Each second, it consumes 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:30.340 some 4 million tons of matter. 00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:33.200 To travel at the speed of light 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.259 across the Milky Way, 00:23:34.340 --> 00:23:36.279 the galaxy in which our solar system is located, 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:39.140 would take 125,000 years. 00:23:39.779 --> 00:23:42.320 And our galaxy is but one of millions. 00:23:43.860 --> 00:23:45.400 The human heart is about the size 00:23:45.400 --> 00:23:46.600 of its owner's fist. 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:49.620 An adult heart weighs less than half a pound, 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:51.620 yet can do enough work in 12 hours 00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:56.039 to lift 65 tons one inch off the ground. 00:23:56.639 --> 00:23:59.639 I think he's talking about the... 00:23:59.639 --> 00:24:00.199 Never mind. 00:24:02.939 --> 00:24:04.099 I'll make that more confusing 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:05.239 if I say what I think he means. 00:24:06.199 --> 00:24:07.379 A water molecule... 00:24:07.379 --> 00:24:08.039 I love this one. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:09.339 A water molecule is composed 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:10.599 of only three atoms, 00:24:11.179 --> 00:24:12.479 but if all the molecules 00:24:12.479 --> 00:24:13.859 in one drop of water 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:15.679 were the size of a grain of sand, 00:24:16.159 --> 00:24:17.079 they can make a road 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:19.359 one foot thick and a half mile wide 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:20.939 and would stretch from Los Angeles 00:24:20.939 --> 00:24:21.779 to New York. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:24.059 Amazingly, however, 00:24:24.159 --> 00:24:26.899 the atom itself is largely space, 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:29.079 its actual matter taking up 00:24:29.079 --> 00:24:31.619 only one trillionth of its volume. 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:34.559 Except to a mind 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:36.740 willfully closed to the obvious, 00:24:37.339 --> 00:24:38.939 it is inconceivable 00:24:38.939 --> 00:24:41.819 that such power, intricacy, and harmony 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:44.099 could have developed by any means 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:46.579 but that of a master designer 00:24:46.579 --> 00:24:49.179 who rules the universe. 00:24:50.219 --> 00:24:52.039 It would be infinitely more reasonable 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:53.639 to think that the separate pieces 00:24:53.639 --> 00:24:55.259 of a watch could be shaken in a bag 00:24:55.259 --> 00:24:56.139 and eventually become 00:24:56.139 --> 00:24:57.399 a dependable timepiece 00:24:57.399 --> 00:24:59.119 than to think that the world 00:24:59.119 --> 00:24:59.979 could have evolved 00:24:59.979 --> 00:25:01.179 into its present state 00:25:01.179 --> 00:25:03.359 by blind chance. 00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:07.099 It is just statistically impossible 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:09.379 that we exist 00:25:09.379 --> 00:25:11.199 apart from a creator God 00:25:11.199 --> 00:25:12.899 and there's so much 00:25:12.899 --> 00:25:13.939 to be observed 00:25:13.939 --> 00:25:16.000 in the world around us. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:19.480 If we are not suppressing the truth, 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:21.240 we will realize 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:23.119 there is a creator God 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:24.140 and you can call that God 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:25.539 whoever you want that God to be. 00:25:25.859 --> 00:25:26.539 I'm telling you, 00:25:26.619 --> 00:25:27.460 it's the God of the scripture. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:28.960 And so we should listen 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.420 to what he says 00:25:30.420 --> 00:25:32.440 because he's eternally powerful 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:34.559 and he's either going to pour out 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:35.759 his wrath on you 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:37.000 or he's going to grant you 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:38.599 the power of God 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:39.900 for salvation. 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:40.660 Right? 00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:42.780 No one, 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:44.840 the end of verse 20 tells us, 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:46.560 will have an excuse. 00:25:47.780 --> 00:25:49.840 No one can now plead ignorance 00:25:49.840 --> 00:25:51.860 or will be able to plead ignorance 00:25:51.860 --> 00:25:53.560 on the day of judgment. 00:25:54.259 --> 00:25:55.500 It will be impossible. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:57.620 God will say, 00:25:58.180 --> 00:25:58.820 I showed you 00:25:58.820 --> 00:25:59.980 what you needed to know, 00:26:00.600 --> 00:26:01.759 that I existed. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:05.579 Donald Gray Barnhouse, 00:26:05.640 --> 00:26:07.279 this is the quotation 00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:08.279 on your bulletin this morning, 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:09.420 said, 00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:10.640 will God give man brains 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:11.440 to see things 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:12.920 and will man then fail 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:14.140 to exercise his will 00:26:14.140 --> 00:26:15.079 toward that God? 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:16.740 The sorrowful answer 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:18.599 is that both of these things 00:26:18.599 --> 00:26:20.160 are true. 00:26:21.319 --> 00:26:22.379 He goes on to say, 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:23.640 this wouldn't fit 00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:24.980 on your bulletin today, 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:27.440 God will give man brains 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:28.400 to smelt iron 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:29.519 and make a hammerhead 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:30.299 and nails. 00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:32.259 God will grow a tree 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:33.440 and give man strength 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:34.220 to cut it down 00:26:34.220 --> 00:26:35.339 and brains to fashion 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:36.200 a hammer handle 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:37.399 from its wood. 00:26:38.319 --> 00:26:39.659 And when man has the hammer 00:26:39.659 --> 00:26:40.419 and the nails, 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:42.180 God will put out his hand 00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:43.480 and let man drive nails 00:26:43.480 --> 00:26:43.859 through it 00:26:43.859 --> 00:26:45.059 and place him on a cross 00:26:45.059 --> 00:26:46.839 in the supreme demonstration 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:50.240 that men are without excuse. 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:53.659 Paul goes on to develop 00:26:53.659 --> 00:26:54.579 the sinful thoughts 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:55.579 and how they lead 00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:57.519 to sinful behavior in man. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:00.500 And as I note the time, 00:27:00.680 --> 00:27:01.680 I think we're going to pick up 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:02.879 these last verses 00:27:02.879 --> 00:27:03.960 in more detail 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:05.680 next week. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.119 Yeah, we are. 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:11.700 Right. 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:13.519 For although they knew God, 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:15.619 they did not honor him as God 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:16.619 or give thanks to him, 00:27:16.660 --> 00:27:17.519 but they became futile 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:18.940 in their thinking 00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:20.539 and their foolish hearts 00:27:20.539 --> 00:27:22.119 were darkened. 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:23.639 Claiming to be wise, 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:24.339 they became fools 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:25.420 and exchanged the glory 00:27:25.420 --> 00:27:26.320 of the immortal God 00:27:26.320 --> 00:27:27.560 for images resembling 00:27:27.560 --> 00:27:28.300 mortal man 00:27:28.300 --> 00:27:29.740 and birds and animals 00:27:29.740 --> 00:27:32.320 and creeping things. 00:27:33.700 --> 00:27:35.200 So just briefly note 00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:37.200 these last three verses 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:37.980 and then we'll look at them 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:39.700 at greater length next week. 00:27:40.560 --> 00:27:41.600 Note the progression. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:44.320 The worship of God neglected, 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:46.519 the futility of their thinking, 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:49.080 the foolishness of their hearts, 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.400 the idolatry of their actions. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:55.280 The worship of God neglected, 00:27:55.380 --> 00:27:56.820 the futility of their thinking, 00:27:57.620 --> 00:28:00.019 the foolishness of their hearts, 00:28:00.560 --> 00:28:01.960 and the idolatry, 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:03.320 misplaced worship 00:28:03.320 --> 00:28:05.800 of their actions. 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:08.580 Dear listener, 00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:11.480 have your part in this text 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.220 to be only who you once were. 00:28:15.860 --> 00:28:17.380 We all have to identify this 00:28:17.380 --> 00:28:19.360 with this text in some way. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:22.159 My hope is that it'll only be 00:28:22.159 --> 00:28:22.939 to identify it 00:28:22.939 --> 00:28:25.339 in who you once were. 00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:28.679 Do not let it be said of you today 00:28:28.679 --> 00:28:31.759 that you are a futile thinker, 00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:33.519 a foolish-hearted idolater 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.419 upon whom the wrath of God lies. 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:40.339 The one who made you 00:28:40.339 --> 00:28:42.799 offers to you salvation this day 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:45.019 if you would simply come to him 00:28:45.019 --> 00:28:46.559 for mercy. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:52.379 Ezekiel 33, 11 says, 00:28:52.539 --> 00:28:55.059 As I live, declares the Lord God, 00:28:55.480 --> 00:28:56.940 I have no pleasure 00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:58.399 in the death of the wicked, 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:00.159 but that the wicked 00:29:00.159 --> 00:29:02.139 would turn from his way 00:29:02.139 --> 00:29:03.099 and live. 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:05.599 Turn back, turn back 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:06.759 from your evil ways, 00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:09.859 for why will you die? 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:13.679 If you only find yourself 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:14.860 in this text 00:29:14.860 --> 00:29:16.539 to be who you once were, 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:18.539 then don't we have 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:19.840 great reason this day 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:21.560 to rejoice in the saving work 00:29:21.560 --> 00:29:22.440 of Jesus Christ 00:29:22.440 --> 00:29:24.080 on our behalf? 00:29:24.320 --> 00:29:25.640 As we meditate on that 00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:27.019 who we once were, 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:28.720 we know that it is only 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:30.740 by grace alone, 00:29:31.299 --> 00:29:32.360 through faith alone, 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:33.820 in Christ alone 00:29:33.820 --> 00:29:34.560 that we are not 00:29:34.560 --> 00:29:35.980 the very worst 00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:37.220 of sinners. 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:37.339 sinners. 00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:39.900 So until next week, 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:41.180 let's pray that these verses 00:29:41.180 --> 00:29:42.980 will rightly affect 00:29:42.980 --> 00:29:43.880 our understanding 00:29:43.880 --> 00:29:44.940 of the good news 00:29:44.940 --> 00:29:46.019 as it is the power 00:29:46.019 --> 00:29:46.960 of God for salvation 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:49.059 to everyone who believes. 00:29:49.620 --> 00:29:50.440 Let's pray together. 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:50.500 Let's pray together.