ROME AND AMERICA
Romans 1:21-25
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.
1. When We Begin to Neglect God, We Area Headed Toward a Slippery Slope
* v. 21 -- we don't have a knowledge problem -- we have an acknowledge problem
* 80 percent of Rustonites don't go to church, which is important only if you believe the Bible
2. We Fail To Honor Him -- We're not grateful; we feel entitled; we should recognize that we are too blessed to complain.
3. Our Mindset and Hearts Become Cloudy -- "they're thinking became futile" .... our hearts, our spiritual center, can be darkened ..... v. 22, they became morons, academic wise guys but actually fools.
4. We Begin to Worship Other Things (v 23-25)
5. God Lets Us Go Our Own Way (v 24) -- the diseased condition of the soul, our sinful desires ...."God gave them over," a type of judicial abandonment/tough love. He does this not to abandon us, but to cause us to TURN...
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