 The title of our sermon this morning is A Rejection of Revelation, our text, Romans chapter 1, verses 20 and 21, Rejection of Revelation. In Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through 25, we have now begun to unpack a section of text wherein Paul now intends to explain the devastating and universal dilemma that is addressed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel has been revealed, the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. That righteousness of God, a gift of God by faith in Jesus Christ, and Paul is now going to address the problem that that gospel addresses. He's going to take now his place in the courtroom of heaven, so to speak, in the place of God's prosecuting attorney. And Paul now stands before the bar of God's justice, as it were, and he begins to lay out what is an airtight, undeniable case against the accused. The evidence against the accused is absolutely overwhelming. It is unassailable, it is unquestionable, it is undeniable. There are boxes of evidence stacked up in the courtroom, all over the courtroom. Boxes of evidence that have been entered into evidence, and Paul can walk over to any box, flip the lid, and build a case from that box that would lead to an undeniable verdict of guilty, and in response to an undeniable verdict of guilty, a sentence of everlasting death. And although there are several places, several boxes from which Paul could begin his prosecution, Paul chooses to begin at the very root of the problem. Paul lays his prosecuting acts, as it were, to the root of the tree, and Paul strikes first at the very foundation of man's rebellion against God, the foundation upon which the rotten edifice of man's sin is erected, and that is, within the heart of man, at man's universal rejection of revelation, at the root of man's ungodliness, at the root of man's pattern of unrighteousness, first is man's rejection of God's gracious revelation of himself, and so Paul begins there, at the foundation, so to speak. Paul begins to lay the groundwork for his case in verse 18, all men are guilty before God, all men deserve his wrath because, verse 18, all men are guilty of laboring, striving to suppress the truth of God in their unrighteousness, because, verse 19, what is known of God is manifest in them, for God himself has shown it to them. We have the truth, we know the truth, all men know the truth, they've been given the truth, they have an abundant source of sufficient revelation, and what do we do with it, right? Rather than respond to that truth by glorifying God, by expressing their gratitude for God, rather than responding to that truth in worship, men suppress that truth in their unrighteousness, they respond with a pattern in their life of ungodliness and unrighteousness, and men continue in the course of this world, rejecting the revelation of God, the revelation that God has graciously made of himself to men for their redemption, for their salvation, for their good. Apart from a sovereign work of salvation, we don't even want to retain God in our knowledge, that's what the scriptures say, right? Apart from a sovereign work of redemption, we want God out of our heads, we want God out of our lives, we want God out of our mind, out of our heart, and so we suppress what God has graciously shown us, we suppress it in our unrighteousness, and that rejection of revelation renders us guilty without excuse before the bar of God's judgment. Paul's going to begin to prosecute a case here. He's laying out the evidence, he's working his case, and that case working to the point where in Romans chapter three, Paul is going to level a devastating verdict. Chapter three, verse 10, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. They were worthless, right? There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. Their tongues have practiced deceit. The poison of serpents is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift as shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. The way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. We know that whatever the law says to those who are under the law, every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Paul is going to build a case that will inevitably, inexorably lead to that verdict. And for everyone who does not turn from their sin to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that verdict leads to a sentence of death, leads to a sentence of hell and torment. There is none righteous, no, not one. Paul is going to reach that verdict in chapter 3, building upon this case that he begins here in Romans chapter 1, verse 18, 19, 20. Now, Paul begins the prosecution of his case in verse 20 this morning with the sufficiency of revelation. The sufficiency of revelation. An exhibit A in Paul's case is the gracious and sufficient revelation of God given through creation. Given through creation. What is, what revelation is it that God has shown to all men that is sufficient enough to render them without excuse, without defense in the day of God's judgment and deserving of his eternal wrath? That's the question we're answering this morning from the revelation of God. What revelation is it that God has given that is sufficient enough to render men without excuse, without defense? It is the revelation of God of himself in creation, in creation. Verse 20. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, so that their mouths are stopped. They have no defense. They have nothing to do but delay their hand over their mouth and proclaim themselves guilty in the sight of God. They are without excuse. They are indefensible. Paul makes the assertion in verse 20 that God has clearly revealed himself in creation. Not only has God revealed himself clearly in creation, he's revealed himself in creation to such an obvious and to such a sufficient degree that men who reject God, rejecting that revelation, are guilty of suppressing that truth in their unrighteousness. In other words, what Paul is essentially saying is that by the time you get to this point, there has been so much sufficient revelation given to us through creation that the only reasonable explanation that we have for why men do not turn at that revelation of God, give it in creation, and worship and glorify him is because they are actively working, laboring, striving to suppress that truth of God in their own unrighteousness. That's the only reasonable, rational explanation that we have for what's going on. Why do not all men take a look at this world? Take a look at what God has done. Why do they not look at creation and on the basis of creation alone, fall on their faces and worship and praise his eternal power in Godhead? It's because they are laboring in their sinfulness, laboring in an ungodly and unrighteous lifestyle to suppress that truth in their unrighteousness, thereby rejecting the God of that revelation. Paul makes the assertion that creation, the revelation given to us in creation, is sufficient to render men guilty. In this, in building his case this way, Paul vindicates the justice of God, showing the sufficiency of God's revelation, and in doing so, he substantiates the charge that men suppress the truth of God in their unrighteousness. In this, Paul is a genius attorney. He is an excellent attorney. He's going to build an excellent case, an incontrovertible case. Now notice with me, Paul asserts the sufficiency of God's revelation of himself in creation in four fundamental ways, in four ways. How is it that this revelation of God is sufficient enough for all people universally to know it such that they are in the end without excuse? First, there's been a sufficient time for God's revelation in creation. Notice verse 20, since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. Literally since the cosmos, since the creation of the cosmos, the created order, since the creation of the known universe, since everything that we know and see has been brought forth by God, literally ex nihilo, out of nothing by the word of God, by the breath of God. Since the very beginning, God through that creation has provided a continuous, clear, and sufficient revelation of himself. It's not that it's mysterious or hidden. It's not that the revelation is insufficient. Through all that God has made, God has provided an abundantly clear and abundantly sufficient revelation of himself. The charge of Paul here is that all mankind are under a condemnation of wrath, and so in evidence, in support of that charge that all men are without excuse, all men are under the wrath of God, Paul makes clear at the outset that this revelation of God must have been readily evident to all men of all times and at all places. You see the connection between the two, okay? Paul's laying out a case that all men are guilty. That revelation on which the case is based then must have been readily evident to all men of all places at all times, and so Paul begins his argument, verse 20, this revelation has been given since the creation of the world, from Adam to you and I, okay? It is in that general revelation, in the sense of that general revelation that Paul now renders equally every person from every time period without excuse. In Romans chapter three, verse nine, Paul has charged all people, both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under the condemnation of sin. So first, there's been a sufficient time for God's revelation in creation. Secondly, there is sufficient clarity to God's revelation in creation. There's a sufficient clarity to what God has revealed to render all men without excuse, okay? Verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen. You can track with me, right? As we're working through the text, this is laid out for us in the text itself. In other words, the knowledge of God attained from the revelation that God gives of himself in creation is not obscure. The knowledge of God attained from the revelation that God gives of himself in creation is not vague. We often think to ourselves, right, if you look at your hand, wow, what an amazing thing that is that God has created. We contemplate the eye and the mysteries of the eye and the complexities of the eye or we look at, now we have microscopes, we can look at the cell and the complexities of a living cell. We can look at the DNA strain and what a marvelous, magnificent piece of mastery that is. It's been created by God. We can look at those things and think to ourselves, my God is wondrous. God is amazing. But that revelation is not meant in and of itself for us to wonder at. It's to provoke in us a response to the God who gave it. That revelation is not obscure. That revelation is not vague. It's not hidden. It's not mysterious. It's not even subjective. It's not reserved only for those who will search long and hard to find it. You don't have to uncover every rock to mysteriously find it. It's not restricted currency of those who will with some kind of special knowledge. You don't need a team of code breakers to understand the revelation that God has given them, given of himself in creation. You don't need a secret decoder ring. God isn't merely leaving breadcrumbs to lead you to the truth. God is putting the truth of himself in front of your face all the time. Reminded of the example of Scientology, for example, when I first started looking at Scientology and what an absurd piece of false religion that is and the claims of Scientology that you have to give more and more money to go up further each consecutive level and they don't tell you what's in the next level. You've got to attain to that level before you apprehend the mysteries that are there at that level. So you have to keep giving more, keep giving more, keep giving more before you finally reach a higher and a higher level of revelation. God hands it to you, but he hands it to you with responsibility. We have a responsibility to know it, responsibility to search it and we know it. We know what we're to know of God from creation and God has given us abundant revelation of himself in creation. It's interesting to me how Scientology in that respect relates to health, wealth, prosperity, gospel that more and more and more faith exhibited by sowing your seeds of faith leads to more and more favor right? Absurd. Paul says in verse 19, that which and remember when we discuss verse 19, it's that which is the known of God, right? That which is the known of God is a manifest. It has made clear in them for God has manifest same root word, made it clear to them. God has made it clear in them and God has made it clear to them and it is clearly known because God has clearly shown it to them. His invisible attributes are clearly seen. The revelation which God has graciously given of himself in creation has the inherent quality of being clear or plain. Again, it is inarguable. It's not mysterious. It's not hidden. It's not even subjective. It is clear and plain. The word clearly seen in verse 20 translates the Greek word, katharao. Katharao doesn't mean merely viewable. Doesn't mean merely seeable. It means clearly discerned or clearly perceived. There's a mental capacity behind the site, so to speak, not just clearly visible, but clearly perceived plainly recognized, plainly acknowledged. The nature of the revelation that God has given of himself in creation is such that all people clearly discern, clearly perceive what it is that God is revealing of himself. It's not that you look at something. It's like I wonder who created that. It must have been, there must have been an intelligent designer. No, it's not merely an intelligent designer. It is God Almighty. God Almighty created everything that we see in this cosmos. The nature of that revelation that God has given of himself in creation is such that all people clearly discern, clearly perceive what it is that God is revealing of himself. It makes any rejection of that sufficient and abundant and clear and merciful and gracious revelation. It makes any rejection of that indefensible, inexcusable. His invisible attributes are clearly seen. Number three, this revelation of God in creation includes sufficient content, sufficient content. What is it that God has clearly revealed? Verse 20, for since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, you notice attributes there in italics, if you're reading the New King James, that were supplied by the translators. It's His invisible things, literally the invisible things of His. The invisible things of His are clearly seen being understood by the means of, or through the means of the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead. That word Godhead, better translated Godhood or deity referring to His divinity. We'll talk about that in a moment. Invisible attributes or invisible qualities essential to God, get this, are clearly seen. I love that little paradox that play on words here of Paul. He is the invisible God. We know that clearly from Scripture, right? To the King, eternal, immortal, invisible to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Means that God is not directly accessible through my sense of sight. God is not directly accessible through human senses. He mediates His accessibility. We'll talk about that as well. The Lord told the woman at the well in John chapter 4 that God is spirit. He told Moses, take heed to yourself, Moses, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you. And God told him, you cannot see my face for no man shall see me and live. First Timothy chapter 6 verse 16. He dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see. We can't access the divine through the sense of sight. So then, we see God in Scripture mediating then the revelation of Himself through various means. He speaks to Moses out of the burning bush, doesn't He? He mediates His presence with Moses through the burning bush. He manifests Himself to Israel in the Shekinah cloud filling the tabernacle. Sometimes that cloud filling the temple such that they could not enter it, right? Most evidently, we see God in the manifestation of His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is described as the brightness, the radiance of His glory, right? The outshining of the glory of God, the express image of His person. Colossians chapter 1 verse 15, the image of the invisible God. And here in Romans chapter 1 verse 20, the invisible things of God aren't merely seen, but they are clearly seen, meaning clearly perceived, clearly understood. Now often, theologically, to see God, when we use that kind of language, even when Scripture uses language like that, to see God is to comprehend or to understand something of the nature of God through His revelation. To see God is to understand something about which that which He has revealed of Himself through revelation. In chapter 1 verse 20, the revelation of God is clearly seen or clearly understood specifically through the medium of the things that are made, in other words, through creation. This revelation given through creation. So God stoopes. God condescends. God doesn't have to reveal Himself to us. God didn't have to reveal Himself to us through creation. God determines to do that, and He determines to do that according to the good pleasure of His own will with a purpose or with an intention in mind, and for our good so that we may know or understand or perceive something about Him. Now God doesn't have to reveal Himself to us. God stoopes. God condescends to accommodate our weakness, and He reveals Himself through the medium of creation. Through the medium of creation, we see, we perceive, we understand something of our transcendent God. Creation was made in large part so that we might know Him. If you think of that way from John Calvin, talked about the creation as a theater filled with numberless wonders. What was the theater of creation revealing? The main actor on the stage, God Almighty, right? Revealing the majesty of God, the power of God, the wonder of who God is and what God has done. It's a theater of numberless wonders. That creation of God given to us in the way that it's been given so that we might know more and more and more of Him. You think about the way that God has laid out the universe, right? What does the expanse of this universe tell us about God? What does the size, the unimaginable, unfathomable size of the heavenly spheres tell us about our God who created those things? That wondrous ball of gas that we can't even contemplate? What does that tell us? What does that communicate about God who created that from that great expanse of space down to the most miniscule particles that we can barely see with the most powerful telescope? There's what appears to be an infinite stretch in both directions that all serves to communicate to us, the more and more that we learn of these things, all serves to communicate to us more and more and more about the God who created these things. It would render us indefensible if we take a look at the magnificence of that work and then turn in rejection of God and worship idols instead of the one who made those things, right? We are without excuse in turning and rejecting the revelation of God that he has made of himself in creation. In particular, in particular, the text says that we perceive something of his essence through creation, namely his eternal power. And we also perceive something of his person through creation, namely his Godhood or his deity. Now Peter uses those same two words, power and deity or divine power. God uses those same two words together. And second Peter chapter one verse three referring to his divine power. If you remember that text, his divine power, same two words, his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. His divine power is what is being revealed here in Romans one by the things that are made. Creation reveals the divinity and the power of God. And that's not all that creation reveals, right? This is a summary list, if you will, a representative list, and it's a good summary, a good representation. That's not all that creation reveals. We can imagine many things that creation reveals, can't we? Creation reveals the wisdom of God. Creation in many places in the Old Testament is seen to reveal the faithfulness of God, the sovereign care of God. Certainly creation reveals the eternal power of God and the person of God, his deity. We perceive those realities through their effects as evidenced in creation. God's power, God's eternal power, his Godhead, that revelation is mediated to us through the effects that we see in creation. Creation reveals that there is a God and creation reveals that he is almighty. Now God revealed himself to Job in this way for one example. Turn back with me to Job and look at Job chapter 42. Job 42, God reveals himself or expresses this revelation of himself throughout Scripture. And we see that given to us by example in Job chapter 42. Job comes to perceive or understand that which is clearly revealed by God here. That revelation on the part of God to Job really begins in chapter 38 where God with just crushing power reveals all that God has done. Some of what God has done in creation to Job and it leaves Job absolutely speechless, right? God basically tells Job, gird yourself up, prepare yourself. I am about to unleash a revelation of myself upon you that will render your complaints meaningless, will leave you in dust and ashes and that's exactly what God does. Chapter 38, for example, verse two, who is this who darkens counsel? He says to Job, by words without knowledge, prepare yourself like a man and I will question you, you shall answer me. Where were you, Job when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. In other words, God is revealing himself as the one who's done all these wondrous things, right? That fills these chapters 38, 39, 40, 41. This fills the understanding of Job as he comes more clearly to see the awesomeness of our God and the works of our God to the point where in Job, chapter 42, verse one, Job replies, Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked back in chapter 38, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, let me speak, you said, I will question you, you shall answer me. I have heard of you, verse five, by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. What Job is referring to there is his perception now of who God is and Job's perception of who God is has been informed, hasn't it, through revelation. That revelation that God has given of himself has informed Job's understanding to the point where Job says now my eye sees you. I perceive you, Job says, I perceive something about you. I've discerned something of your greatness. I've understood something of your eternal power and your divine person. What God is in himself, though not readily or directly discernible through our sense of sight is however revealed through the things that are made, so that when our senses, when our sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell are focused upon the things that are made, when our thoughts, our imaginations, when our minds are focused upon the things that are made. And when we consider with the mind the content or the substance of what is being communicated to us through that means, what would otherwise be invisible to our senses is clearly received and clearly perceived through our understanding. Do you see? One said that the invisible attributes of God are clearly perceived by the human mind in the exercise of reason stimulated into activity by the notices of the senses. John Murray, what is sensuously imperceptible is nevertheless clearly apprehended in mental conception. That's what's going on here. Robert Martin, though we cannot see him with the eyes, we come to have a view of him through our understanding by virtue of the evidence presented to our senses in the things that are made. We come to see him, so to speak, with the seeing of eyes that are informed as our mind contemplates his greatness, contemplates his divine purpose, person through the revelation that he is made of himself in creation. Think about the reality of that for a moment. From those greatest objects in our universe, in the great expanse of space, I think it took that Mars rover eight months to get to the nearest planet in our own solar system. From that expanse of space to the smallest particles, the functions that go on in ourselves for the argument against evolution of reducible complexity, which there is no defense for on the part of evolutionists. But the wonder of the human cell and the little machines at work in order for that cell to operate into function. DNA. Think of anything. Think of anything in creation that fills you with wonder. And what does it tell you? At the very least, it tells you that there is a God and that he is almighty. Do you see? Every effect has a cause. There is a great uncaused cause. That's not all that's communicated, but it certainly is a good summary, isn't it? Creation also reveals something of God's wisdom, God's faithfulness, his care. So prevalent, so pervasive, so clear is this revelation of God in creation that all who rejects such revelation of God are without excuse. There simply is no defense for their rejection. The fool is the one who is said in his heart that there is no God. The only one who rejects that reality is the one who has suppressed that truth in abject unrighteousness. That's the only explanation for it. How does Job respond to that revelation? How does Job respond? Verse 6, Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. A revelation of our God. We see that similar reaction, don't we? To the majesty of God, the wonder of God, the person of God, the excellence of God, the divinity of God, the power of God. We see that reaction that way throughout Scripture. I'm reminded of Peter in Luke chapter five. They fished all night. They've caught nothing. Jesus is standing on the shore. He shouts out to Peter, Peter, throw the net on the other side of the boat. Peter is very experienced fisherman. He knows there are no more fish on that side of the boat than there are on this side of the boat. They haven't caught anything all night. Nevertheless, at your word, Lord, I'll throw the net. So he lugs the net, throws it off the boat on the other side. And there is this huge catch of fish. What's Peter's reaction? Peter perceives something, doesn't he? Of the majesty and of the power and of the divine person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He may not be able to put his mind around it, wrap his understanding around it, but he perceives something that he can't quite explain and what does he do? He falls on his face at the knees of the Lord Jesus Christ and says, depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. Right? What does Job do? I repent, Lord, I abhor myself. I repent in dust and ashes. That is sinful, wretched man coming into contact, as it were, through a mediated revelation with the divine God of creation. And that is us with an appropriate response of humility and of worship in his presence. This is incidentally where Paul begins his preaching of the gospel to pagans. Where does Paul begin when he preaches the gospel to lost people? Let's look at that. Turn with me to Acts chapter 14. Acts chapter 14. This is where Paul begins in his preaching of the gospel to pagans, those who have no Jewish heritage, Jewish background, they've not been given the scriptures. What do pagans have that render them without excuse even though they've not been given the very oracles of God? Even though they don't have the Hebrew scriptures, what do pagans have? They have the revelation of God in creation such that they are without excuse. And so where does Paul begin his preaching? He begins his preaching with the revelation of God in creation. Here they're in Lystra and Paul heals a man who was born lame from his birth. He couldn't walk. And they turn then to worship Paul. And Paul corrects them. Look at verse eight. In Lystra, a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting a cripple from his mother's womb who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. Paul observing him intently and seeing there that he had faith to be healed said with a loud voice, stand up straight on your feet. And he leaped and walked. Now that is a true New Testament healing. The soreness in my knee is I think gone. No. Now when the people saw what Paul had done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they raised their voices saying in like Lyconian language, the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men. And Barnabas, they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. In the priest of Zeus whose temple was in front of their city brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes, ran in among the multitude crying out and saying, men, why are you doing these things? We are also men with the same nature as you. That's an interesting statement. They believed that because Paul had done this wonderful thing that he was a God. What does Paul say? We have a nature just like you. In other words, our God is something entirely different from what you and I together are. You have no business worshiping me, worship him who is entirely transcendent, his divine person and his eternal Godhead, right? We're men with the same nature as you and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God. Where did he begin? Who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the things that are in them? Listen, you pagans, you know who God is. He's the one who created all this stuff, right? Everything you see, God has created it. He has created all the things that are in them. Who, verse 16, in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, he did not leave himself without witness. What is the witness that God left in this world of himself to pagans? It is the witness of himself in creation. Do you see? We're to know him through the things that are made. He mediates a revelation of himself through the things that are made such that men, all men, pagan, Gentile, Jewelike are without excuse. That's the case that Paul is making. And he gave us rain from heaven, fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness. Where do those things come from? I wonder who gave me all this food and gladness. You should turn in gratitude to God, who is the one who gave them to you and worship him. And with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. What do men do in the face of that revelation of God? They suppress it in their unrighteousness and they turn and worship the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. They do that right here in Acts chapter 14. We must respond with Job. I abhor myself. I praise you God for Jesus Christ who saved my wretched soul. I repent in dust and ashes and worship and praise you who are worthy of all worship and praise. All this points us to number four. Number four, directly associated back in Romans one, directly associated with this revelation, there has been then a sufficient comprehension. A sufficient comprehension. Verse 20, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, not only are they clearly seen, right, they're being understood by or through the means of the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. It's not just that they saw those things. Those things were displayed before their eyes. No, no, no, no. They get it. They see it. They perceive it. They understand it. The very reason that they so brazenly reject it is because they get it. They see it. They perceive it. They understand it. Do you see? The reason that all men must labor then to suppress that truth of God in their unrighteousness is because they clearly understand what it is. Do men reject God in their ignorance? No. Men are ignorant for rejecting God. They do not reject God in ignorance, right? People reject God with full knowledge of their rejection. They don't want him in their knowledge. They don't want them in him in their minds. They don't like to retain God in their knowledge. And they'll stand before the judgment bar, the judgment seat of Christ, give an account of their lives, give an account of what they've done, and they will stand there without defense before a holy God who will give evidence of their judgment and then give them their sentence. They are without excuse. This revelation is a deliberate act of a gracious and merciful God, and they reject it out of hand, having understood it. Our prosecuting attorney has laid out a strong case indeed, hasn't he? And that is one verse. One verse. We're going to go all the way through chapter three. Paul lays out an inarguable case. He's just getting started. Paul asserts the sufficiency of God's revelation in creation in four ways. This revelation of God has been continuously given over sufficient time. This revelation of God is sufficiently clear. It is given with sufficient content and received with sufficient comprehension, such that Paul's case then is already, from verse 20, a sufficient basis for judgment. For since the creation of the world, verse 20, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. So is Paul then speaking of God's revelation of himself in creation, speaking in terms of a knowledge of God that is merely potential? You know, the truth of God is there to be seen if only people would turn and look. If only you would look hard enough or if only you would look in the right places, you can know the truth of God if you care to look. Is that what this is communicating? No. No. All people know the truth. This revelation that's being communicated through creation, all people know it. All people understand it. All people get it. Every person, they see it. And what are they doing with it? What are they doing with it? They're suppressing it. They're laboring to suppress it. When you go to witness to them, where does the hostility come from? They're laboring to suppress something that you're laboring to reveal. Why would they be hostile? I don't want that revealed. I don't want that back up in my mind anymore. I've been trying to work him out of my mind. You keep bringing him up. You know, sometimes Christians, this passage in particular, act as though they're a little embarrassed by this charge. Sometimes don't quite know how to explain it. You mean to tell me that the aboriginal in the back country of Australia who's never heard the gospel, never even heard the name Jesus Christ, you mean that one is going to hell? That's exactly the case that Paul's making. That's exactly the case that Paul's making. How can he be guilty? How can he be responsible for his sin? He knows. He knows. There's been a sufficient revelation. You can't blame the lack of revelation. There's sufficient revelation given. He clearly understood. What is he doing? He's suppressing the truth of God in a pattern of unrighteousness, in a pattern of ungodliness. He's laboring to do so. He knows. That's an emotional argument. Simply isn't true, right? That God couldn't possibly judge him for not turning to Jesus Christ. This lost world, you hear this morning, if you've never turned from sin to trust Christ alone, you cannot possibly claim that there's been insufficient revelation for you to do so. You know, if God would write it with a pen across the sky, the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows his handiwork. God has declared it. You know. You know full well, and yet you refuse. Why do you refuse? Because you're in a pattern in your life of ungodliness and unrighteousness, and you would rather continue to labor to suppress that truth of God in your own unrighteousness rather than turn to him to be saved. You know the implications of that. You stop living life for yourself, right? The truth is manifest in them. God has shown it to them. His person and power are clearly seen. They understand it. They are without excuse. We often just simply underestimate the depth of our depravity in suppressing that truth and not understanding, not acknowledging that truth. All people are charged with knowing God, at least to the degree that God has revealed himself in creation. And yet what do all people do? Live lives marked by ungodliness and unrighteousness suppressing that truth. This rejection of revelation implicates man then in a brazen moral failure. We're not talking about simply acknowledging the existence of God. We're not talking about simply connecting creation to an intelligent designer, whoever that may be. This implicates man in a brazen moral failure. It's not neutral. Revelation of God necessitates a response on the part of man. Revelation of God. It's interesting that when Paul begins to preach to the pagans on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17, Paul begins in the same place that he did in Acts 14. He begins with creation. And then he says to those pagans on Mars Hill in Acts chapter 17, these times of ignorance, God is overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent. This revelation requires a response on the part of man. This revelation of God doesn't merely anticipate acknowledgement. God's revelation calls forth a responsibility. A responsibility that all people outside of Jesus Christ reject with impunity. So Paul's first point is established. There is sufficient revelation. Paul's second point then is that man responds with a shameless rejection. All this is adding to man's verdict, sentence of guilty, verdict of death. Man responds with a shameless rejection. They are without excuse, like in verse 21. They're without excuse because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor were they thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened. So having received this clear and sufficient revelation from God in creation, Paul says all people know God. Verse 21, although they knew God, meaning they have an actual knowledge of God, well all people know about God. That's not what Paul is saying. It's not that all people know about God. All people know God and although they knew God, meaning they have an actual knowledge of God, not some vague reference to who God is, they know him, not in the saving way, mind you, right? That knowledge comes only through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul says though they know him and what do they do with that knowledge? What is the response that they give? What is the response that is expected? The text implies in the language that's there in the verse that there is an obligation on the part of the one who knows God through that revelation to glorify him as God and to pour out their heart in thanksgiving to God. Look at verse 25. In addition to glorifying him as God and pouring ourselves out in thanksgiving to God, verse 25, we're to hold to the truth of God. We're not to push that out of our understanding, to push that out of our knowledge, right? We're to hold to the truth of God and we're to worship and serve the Creator who is blessed forever. By virtue of the revelation, you and I are placed under obligation, right? We're placed under obligation. What does man do, right? That's what is expected of man. We're to glorify him as God. We're to be thankful. We're to hold to the truth. We're to worship and to serve the Creator. That's what we do in response to this revelation of God of himself in creation. That's how we're to respond, but how does man respond? Although they know him, they do not glorify him nor are they thankful, right? Verse 25. They exchange the truth they know of God for a lie. They swap it out for a lie and they worship and serve something else. They worship and serve idols of their own making. The worship and service do only the God who made them and has made everything that they see. The God who has abundantly revealed himself in creation is instead given to idols. They turn and they serve the creature rather than the Creator. So what does that say? Well, they were in possession of sufficient knowledge of God. In such possession of a sufficient knowledge of God that that knowledge should have compelled them, constrained them to offer the worship and render the service to God that is commensurate with what is revealed about him and yet what do they do? They rather turn and worship idols instead. Not knowing what may be knowable is one thing. That's not what's going on here. To be guilty of suppressing truth which is given to you by God is quite another. And to be guilty of this kind of brazen rejection of God's revelation is yet another. Another level altogether. They saw it, they understood it, they knew what it meant, they knew what the implications were, they knew what they were supposed to do, and they said, no thanks. I'm not going to give it. Make the connection, right? They saw it, they perceived it, they understood it, they knew, they know what they are to do in response to that revelation and they say, no way, not me. I'll not have that one to rule over me. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. Do you see? That's inexcusable, indefensible. That kind of brazen rebellion will be brought up in their face on the day of judgment. They are without excuse. I'm not going to give it is what man says to God in response to his gracious revelation of himself. There are none righteous, no not one. They have all together turned aside. They have become worthless. All the world, their mouth stopped. All the world is guilty before God. All of this is absolutely inexcusable in light of the clarity of the revelation, in light of the sufficiency of the revelation that we've been given of God. Merely in creation. We haven't even gotten to the Bible. Merely in creation. Given this revelation, men are compelled to move beyond mere acknowledgement of God's existence, which is evident, and ask, what does God require of me? What does God require? Can you see, thinking about it in that way, how that brazen rejection represents a moral failure on the part of man? It's not merely a refusal to acknowledge God. It is a moral failure. It is the fruit of ungodliness and unrighteousness, and it leads to ungodliness and unrighteousness. It is evidence, that brazen rebellion evidenced in ungodliness and unrighteousness. Why does the world look like it does today? Ungodliness and unrighteousness. Men suppressing the truth of God in their unrighteousness. The revelation that holds this world accountable does not merely involve the truth of God's existence, but also a revelation of his holy character, his divine person, his perfect will. All men understand the responsibility and the accountability that this truth implies. It has been manifest in them within their person. We have the work of the law written on our hearts. It has been manifest in them because God has shown it to them. Why do you think it is that they labor so diligently to suppress it? And why do you think they're so hostile often when you bring it up? This also goes without saying, brothers and sisters, that knowledge of God must have an impact on the way that you live your life. God reveals himself to man. The more that we understand, comprehend, apprehend what God has revealed to us, the more that that should have an impact on the way that we think and believe and live to the degree that we reject what God has revealed of himself to us is to the degree that we behave just like these pagans. How we know God, what we know of God, what we know of his divine person, what we know of his divine attributes should dramatically shape, dramatically form, dramatically inform our thoughts, our affections, our desires, our imaginations, our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations, should impact our worship, should impact how we live our lives. Belief leads to life. Knowledge, belief leads to how we live our lives. We see that connection all through Scripture. And brothers and sisters, that's what we're doing here today. We inform our understanding through God's word that God by his spirit might work through that means to transform our lives. It's not just information, it's information for transformation, right? What do men do? They did not glorify him as God. It means they did not offer him the glory that was commensurate with who he is. They did not render to him in due proportion the thought, the affection, the devotion, the zeal that he is worthy of. They did not offer to him the worship, the service, the devotion that he is worthy of. Nor were they thankful. God has given all to us. Reigns on the just and on the unjust alike. He's giving you the breath in your lungs. In him, you live and move and have your being. And yet, apart from work of redemption, we are ungrateful rebels. Clearly, if you're here today, you've never turned from your sin to trust in Jesus Christ. You should be overwhelmingly grateful for God's patience with you. And we know, as Peter says, that the patience of our God is salvation. Turn from your sin. Trust in Christ. God has given you abundant revelation of his goodness to you, of his grace and his mercy. Turn from your sin and trust yourself to him. Why will you die? God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his evil way and live in Jesus Christ. Why will you persist in your sin? Why will you continue to reject God's gracious revelation of himself in your unrighteousness? Stop the madness! You are without excuse. You will find yourself standing before the God of the universe, the one who has made the ineffable spheres, the one who is all-powerful, the one whose power is revealed in the very creation that we observe. You'll stand before that omnipotence to give an account for your life and you'll be found guilty. You'll be found judged. You'll be found sentenced. Why would you persist until that day under that cloud of condemnation? Turn from your sin. What Paul asserts here is true of all people and Paul is building his case to that point. They reject the revelation that God has given of himself and the things which he has made and it is true that all those who reject that revelation do not turn in grateful worship to the one true and living God. They do not glorify him as God. Whether that person is a pagan or that person is grown up in the church, whether that person is responsible for wicked deplorable scandalous sins, or whether that person is of the polite socially acceptable sort, all are guilty of suppressing the truth. In particular that truth of God revealed in creation, all are guilty of suppressing that truth in their unrighteousness. Their life has been lived in sin despite this revelation and what Paul says is that you living that way are simply without excuse. You are indefensible. He's going to draw those universal conclusions in chapter three. It's only against the backdrop of this revelation that the revelation of the righteousness of God in the gospel can be adequately or clearly understood and perceived by sinful man. We understand this black backdrop we more revel in and glory in and love the Lord for that revelation of his righteousness that we see in the gospel. Our only hope is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that is revealed in the gospel, the power of God to salvation. So you and I brothers and sisters let's continue our meditation upon the goodness of God in the gospel. If you're not in in Christ turn from your sin and trust him and we will praise and worship our God in eternity for all those things that he's made. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, Lord we love you, we worship you, we praise you. We do not want to be as the heathen as the pagan who do not know you. We don't want to in any way Lord to any degree reject you, reject the revelation of yourself which you have given to us certainly that revelation that we see in creation but also extending to and including the revelation that we have of you and your word and extending even further to the wondrous and glorious revelation that you've given of yourself in your own son. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness, the radiance of your glory, the expressed image of your person. Lord we worship you and we praise you. Help us Lord by your spirit to see you to perceive you to understand you to apprehend the revelation that you've given to us to comprehend there what you intend for us to comprehend that we might believe appropriately that we might think rightly think and understand those things that we which you have intended for us to think and understand that we might live for you as we should that we might respond in repentance and faith that we might respond to you with the glory that is your due with the worship and the service and the devotion and the gratitude that is your due is our graciously heavenly Father. We thank you Lord for the time that we've had to consider these things, please keep them in the forefront of our hearts and minds as we go and may you for your glory for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ transform us as you make his bride ready. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen.