The Unchanging Truth

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher, lead pastor of Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. Through the living and active word of God, the Unchanging Truth exists to encourage your soul, transform your life, and help you trust and treasure Christ as redeemer, savior, and king. Now, opening the scriptures and proclaiming the truth that never changes, here is Dr. Jerod Gilcher.

Dr. Jerod Gilcher: I want to begin by saying that it was on June 26, 2015 when I realized that everything had changed. Everything had changed. The reason why is because that was the day that the rainbow colors of the homosexual community were brightly displayed on the front of the White House. Do you remember that day? The reason why they were is because the day before, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples were now legally permitted to marry nationwide, thus making same-sex marriage a civil right.

The reason why I say that everything had changed in that moment is because those rainbow colors on the front of the White House were not so much a celebration as they were a threat. They were a threat, and the threat to me was loud and clear. The threat was: you oppose this and you oppose the highest political authorities on the planet. You accept and celebrate this without question or you will suffer the repercussions. That was the message and that has been followed through and carried out ever since.

This is also the day that I realized that the church was about to face a new stage of difficulty and challenge and maybe even persecution, which has been true. You understand that throughout most of Western history, things have played out in a fairly non-threatening way for the church. So long as the general moral judgments of the culture sort of match the judgments of the church, things were fine and stable and there was no conflict between those two. Yet you and I both know that those days are now over. It's over.

In America, we face nothing less than a comprehensive redefinition of life and love and liberty and the very meaning of right and wrong. The church in America now faces a new and unprecedented challenge: either we bow the knee and celebrate the claims of the new revolution or we will suffer the consequences. My point is that shift, that change, that revolution of homosexuality is exactly what we see in Romans chapter one. Paul predicted it. He revealed in the text that this is going to happen eventually in every society.

The thing about Romans one is it's not just about the sin of man. It's not just about the evils of humanity. It's that the stages in which people plunge themselves into ruin and destruction follow four stages, or even better, revolutions, in which people and cultures go insane and come unraveled. You remember it all begins with a theological revolution in which God is traded for idols. This leads then to a sexual revolution because when God is gone, you do what you please.

That leads to a homosexual revolution, number three, which is where people are willing to go in their rejection of God. The last is number four: a cultural revolution where everything in the culture is upside down, when evil is good and good is evil, and people pursue the rejection of God to the furthest logical implication. That is how cultures go insane and come unraveled. Just so you know, just so we're clear about this, number one has come and gone. Number two happened in the sixties. Number three reached a fever pitch in 2015. I believe we are right now in the middle of revolution number four.

This is a stage four culture war headed towards oblivion, which means this is right now, beloved, a nation under wrath, a people under judgment, a culture that is condemned. It is just like at the flood, just like at the Tower of Babel, just like Sodom and Gomorrah, just like the book of Judges. It is exactly like that. Yet what that means, church, what that means for us is that puts us as the church in an incredibly strategic position, does it not? That little space just before the gates of hell. That thin little ledge on the brink of eternity.

What I'm saying is it's no mistake that we live in the times that we do. God ordained that we would be his people in such a time as this. He chose us to be salt and light in a culture of darkness. What that means, beloved, is that training day is over and the game has begun. We've been waiting for this moment our entire lives, and it's here. We've been training for this moment our entire lives, and it's here. We're not going to just stand by and watch the world burn, are we?

Do we not owe it to perishing people the same opportunity afforded to us, namely to hear and believe the gospel of Christ? This is our chance. This is our chance to put our money where our theological mouth is. Either we believe the gospel is the power of God or we don't. Either we believe that heaven and hell are real and that people go there or we don't. Either we believe that hope in Christ is exactly what they need or we don't.

Now is not the time to escape from the world, but to engage the world. Now is not the time to run from the world, but to reach the world. Now is not the time to panic, but to preach. To preach a message which has the power to save a soul from destruction is exactly why Paul wrote the letter to the Romans. You understand why this letter is here in your Bibles is to grip these people with the riches of the gospel. Gospel means good news. We have good news for the world.

Paul wrote this letter to make these people fluent in the gospel and familiar with the gospel and riveted by the gospel and more effective in the proclamation of the gospel. Yet what we have to remember is that part of the gospel includes knowing what sin is and knowing what we need to be saved from. What people need to be saved from is the wrath of God himself, which is Romans one. So here we go.

If you have those little half-sheets, they're always located in between those two sets of double doors. Here's where we're going this morning. I want you to see four revolutions. Four revolutions that reveal the wrath of God and display the urgent need for the gospel. One and two we've already seen, but let's review. Revolution number one is a theological revolution. This is where it all begins, doesn't it? Not in a mere shift or tweak of God, but a fundamental rejection and denial of God. For that reason, God is angry. Look at verse 18.

Paul says the anger of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. There it is. God is angry. He's not just angry, but in verse 18, his anger is revealed from heaven, meaning you can see it. It is evident. It is real. It is public. It is displayed. Notice the anger of God is on the human race who suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, meaning they bury the truth. They hide the truth. They pretend it isn't real.

More and more sin is piled on top of sin to strangle the truth that cannot be denied. Yet the truth about what? The truth about who? Verse 19: the truth about God. Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. Which means even if buried under an ocean of lies to try to suppress the truth, all people know, no matter what they claim, that God is real and he deserves our allegiance.

How do they know? Verse 20: "For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly seen, both his eternal power and divine nature, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse." You look at the world, you look at the cosmos and the endless stretches of space, and the only logical implication is that God is real and he made that. He's worthy of our worship and he's worthy of our allegiance. Yet the problem is man doesn't do that. Look at verses 21 through 23. Here's the revolution.

This is still review: "Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but they were made futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they were made fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God with the likeness of the image of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." There is the revolution. God is traded for idols. This is where it all begins.

When a culture comes unraveled and plunges into madness, which is the fourth and final revolution, it all began with this: with a rejection of God and a replacement of God and a reverence for something in the place of God. That is why God is angry. Even more than that, that is why all people need the gospel. Which leads to number two: a sexual revolution. Because when the cat is gone, the mice come out to play. When God is gone, sin comes out to play, and in particular sexual sin.

Look at verses 24 and 25: "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies would be dishonored among them, who exchanged the truth of God with a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." You see it, don't you? You see the sexual revolution. A mass of people plunging into lust, indulging in uncleanness, living in open shame, dishonoring their bodies and violating one another with sexual sin.

That is exactly what Paul describes here. In America, that's exactly what went down. You can listen to the previous two messages in Romans that describe that scenario, but this revolution has come and gone and has only gotten worse and digressed. Yet the question is, how did this happen? Really the question is, how did this happen so quickly? How was there an entire cultural shift where a massive part of society united together in sex-crazed solidarity and the rampant embrace of immorality?

Paul gave the answer in verse 24. Look what he said: "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies would be dishonored among them." Do you see the answer? What is the answer? God did that. God did that. He gave them what they wanted. Do you see Paul's point? The revolution is his wrath. Their very rebellion is his punishment. That's what Paul means when he says God gave them over.

He didn't allow them to go. He didn't permit them to go. He didn't hands-off passively walk away and let them plunge themselves into lust. No. God actively hands them over to the very sins that will lead to their destruction. This, Paul says, is the wrath of God revealed. Yet the thing about sin, and especially sexual sin, is that it can't stay put. It festers and grows and consumes and destroys, which brings us to revolution number three: a homosexual revolution.

A homosexual revolution sounds crazy, but Paul is about to reveal that when a culture pursues its rejection of God to the furthest logical degree, it always eventually reaches the sin of homosexuality. Why? Listen carefully. Not because it is the worst sin ever committed necessarily, but because this is where sinners are willing to go in their rejection of God. Look at verse 26 and notice very carefully the logic: "For this reason God gave them over." Hold on. What reason? What reason, Paul? The reason of verse 25.

When a culture trades the truth of God for a lie and worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator, that right there, that is the worst crime that can be committed by a human being. That is it. God can't let that slide, and he doesn't let that slide. In fact, he intervenes in judgment, and the judgment is in verse 26. Look very carefully: "For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for even their females exchanged the natural function for what is unnatural."

And likewise also the male, after abandoning the natural function of the female, were literally inflamed in their lust or passion for one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. And there it is again, beloved. God gave them over. That's the judgment. That is the wrath. Yet "them" meaning who? Who does he mean by the "them"?

He doesn't merely mean a few isolated individuals. He means the culture at large, the society as a whole, both those who commit those sins and then those who support those who commit those sins. You have to understand that God punishes nations and cultures and societies by giving them over to the very sins that they desire. This is terrifying. Because sometimes the wrath of God takes the form of fire falling from heaven, destroying entire cities like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Sometimes the wrath of God takes the form of a global flood that kills everybody except for eight people. Sometimes the wrath of God takes the form of hail from heaven or the ground opening up and swallowing people whole—Numbers chapter 16. And sometimes, sometimes the wrath of God is when he removes his gracious restraints that keep a culture intact and gives people over to the very passions that will lead to their destruction.

That is the wrath of God. It's exactly what Paul is saying. That's what he means when he says God gave them over. He hardens the heart. He sears the soul. He cauterizes the conscience and hands people over to the very lusts that will destroy them. Which looks like what exactly? What would this look like if this happened to us? Well, for instance, you know that it would happen to us when a culture pursues open homosexual sin as a societal norm.

When sin like homosexuality becomes a civil right, when it becomes a cultural value to be honored and celebrated, when that sin becomes sanctioned by the authorities, when it becomes a national holiday, when people are punished if they oppose or speak out against that particular sin, you understand that is not the sign of a culture falling apart. That is the sign of God tearing it apart in the fury of his wrath.

In 2009, when the president declared June to be Pride Month, in 2015 when same-sex marriage became a civil right, and when laws start getting passed that say that pastors and counselors are not allowed to try to sway people away from homosexuality, what you have on your hands is a revolution, and in particular a homosexual revolution, and it is the wrath of God himself. And let's be clear about this: Paul is not vilifying people who are born with same-sex struggles.

We are all born with various sins for which we did not ask and we do not want. I have particular bents and proclivities I wish I did not have, and there are some people whose bents and proclivities are towards same-sex attraction. You are not the enemy. You are not the villain here. There is the power of Christ available to change and transform. Life is war. Welcome to the war that is sanctification. Nor is Paul ranking homosexuality as the worst sin ever committed. That's not his point.

We have to understand that. Rather, what we have to say is that this sin, like all sins—and this is very important, don't miss this—that sin, like all sins, is a symptom of a deeper issue lurking beneath the surface, namely idolatry, that God has been exchanged. That's the greatest atrocity. That's the greatest outrage. If you look at the text, the worst sin on the page is verse 23 and verse 25 where sinners take what is not God and they love it and they worship it and they try to be satisfied in it as if it were God.

That's the outrage. All other sins are but symptoms and manifestations of that. And yet listen very carefully, don't miss this. Having said that, it cannot be denied that not only is homosexual sin not just on the list, but it's being singled out as a particular variety of sin that reveals something absolutely tragic. Namely, this is where sinners are willing to go in their rejection of God. That's the point. It's that people are willing to do what is biologically and anatomically unthinkable in their efforts to try to find satisfaction apart from God.

That's Paul's point, and that's why this sin in particular comes in for discussion. It is and it is not like other sins all at the same time. It can be forgiven like any other sin, but it also reveals how far the heart is willing to go in the suppression of the truth. Notice how Paul describes the sin of homosexuality. Look at verse 26. He calls it dishonorable passions. The word "passion" there is really interesting because it's a stronger word than the word for "lust" in verse 24.

This is a stronger word. This one's more consuming. This one's more enveloping. It's a passion that controls, it overtakes and dominates the life and overwhelms all self-control. Notice that Paul calls these dishonorable passions, meaning they bring dishonor to God and dishonor to people in the image of God. These passions dishonor God because they violate his good design. These passions dishonor people in the image of God and they ravage their lives and their bodies with disease and absolute destruction.

You would not believe it if I told you of the physical devastation that occurs in the homosexual community. No one is going to tell you the truth about that, but it's real. And that's part of what Paul means by dishonorable passions. Notice verse 26, Paul unfolds exactly what these passions are. And it is same-sex sin. He begins first with the women, verse 26: "For their females exchanged the natural function for what is unnatural," or against nature, or even contrary to nature.

And there it is again. If you remember the past sermons, there's the other exchange. God is exchanged for idols, verse 23. Truth is traded for lies, verse 25. And here what is natural is changed for what is unnatural. What does this mean? Well, if you look at verse 27, it's clear: it is same-sex sin. It is homosexual sin. You have to understand this is very important, is that in this revolution both men and women reject the biological facts of marriage and family and procreation and anatomy and embrace a sexual union that ignores all of those facts. That's the issue.

The word "use" or "function" there in Greek is the ancient clinical word for intercourse. You understand there is a natural way to do that that makes biological sense, honors God's design for marriage, produces children in the image of God. And there is an unnatural way that doesn't make sense, that violates God's design, that doesn't make children and tears the fabric of society apart at the most basic fundamental level. That's what Paul's describing. What that means very simply, beloved, is that contrary to the claims of the culture, not all love is actually love.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for the Unchanging Truth, the verse-by-verse Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Jerod Gilcher and Christ Community Bible Church in Arlington, Texas. At Christ Community Bible Church, we exist to prize, portray, and proclaim the supremacy of Christ as we trust in his word and wait for his return. We hope today's teaching has encouraged your soul and helped you trust and treasure Christ as your redeemer, savior, and king. If you're in the DFW area and looking for a church home, join us for worship Sunday mornings at 10:30.

To learn more about the mission of the church, meet the pastoral staff, or plan a visit, go to ccbiblechurch.com. You'll find ministry services and additional teachings there as well. Just click on the resources tab to get started. That's ccbiblechurch.com. Join us again next time as we open the scriptures together and proclaim the truth that never changes. This has been the Unchanging Truth.