Darkened Hearts (Rom 1:21-23) Nick Kennicott

Can intelligence exist without wisdom? Join us as we embark on a thought-provoking exploration of this complex relationship in our latest episode, "The Folly of Rejecting God." We scrutinize the striking example of Eric Pianca, whose radical views on population control ignite a crucial discussion on the difference between mere knowledge and true wisdom. Through the lens of Romans 1:21-23, we argue that genuine wisdom is rooted in the fear of the Lord and adherence to His truth, critiquing the tendency to prioritize environmental concerns over human life from a Christian perspective.

Next, we recount King Nebuchadnezzar's dramatic fall and rise as narrated in Daniel 4, underscoring the futility of human achievements without honoring God. Discover the powerful lessons from Nebuchadnezzar's transformation and how historical Christian scientists like Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal exemplified using intellect for God's glory. Reflecting on Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians, we stress the need to take every thought captive to obey Christ, warning that neglecting to honor God results in futile thinking and darkened hearts.

In our final chapters, we delve into the folly of idolatry and the foolishness of rejecting Christ. From worshipping man-made idols to suppressing truth in unrighteousness, we illustrate the emptiness that follows when God's truth is dismissed. Contemporary examples, including the controversial views of Richard Dawkins, highlight the perils of such a worldview. We conclude with a heartfelt prayer for divine guidance, asking God to reveal His truth to non-believers and to empower believers to glorify Him daily. Join us for this enlightening conversation as we uncover the true wisdom found in Christ.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

You join me in your Bibles. Romans, chapter 1. Romans, chapter 1. This morning, we are going to focus on verses 21 through 23.

Speaker 1: 0:30

A man named Eric Pianca was a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and his research focused on empirical and theoretical components of natural history, systematics, community and landscape ecology. Pianca's work focused on lizard communities in Australia. He was nicknamed the Lizard man. He was a very well-known ecologist. He often spoke at conferences. He was widely published in his field. In 2006, he was the Texas Distinguished Scientist. He was the Texas Distinguished Scientist.

Speaker 1: 1:09

Now being an ecologist, you might assume that Professor Pianca had some very strong views pertaining to the planet and questions involving the ecology of the world and populations, and preservation and sustainability. This is what he believed. He said in a lecture to the Texas Academy of Science that the earth as we know it will not survive without drastic measures. How long have we been hearing that? He asserted that the only feasible solution to saving the earth is to reduce the population to 10% of the present number. Said another way, he believed we should eliminate and not replace 90% of the human population. In his lecture, pianca provided various scenarios that could all lead to eliminating vast numbers of people, but he settled on his favorite option, the Ebola virus. After praising the Ebola virus for its efficiency at killing, he looked at the audience and said we've got an airborne 90% mortality in humans, killing humans. Think about that Now. At the heart of his claim is that in order for the world to survive, we must recognize that a global population of over 7 billion people is just too many. He said it will control the scourge of humanity. We're looking forward to a huge collapse. Well, pianca died in 2022. I couldn't find how he died. I assumed maybe it was COVID. Now, hopefully, you hear that and you hear the musings of a crazy person. But the difference between Pianca and many of the people who live and work all around us is that he is simply saying the quiet part out loud.

Speaker 1: 3:40

After Pianca gave his initial lecture, he was invited to do so elsewhere. After Pianca gave his initial lecture, he was invited to do so elsewhere. He gained a growing support base of people who began advocating for the saving of the world by killing off humans as rapidly as possible. So there are at least two things here I want to point out about his thinking. First, we have a man who was highly educated and could almost certainly tell you more than most people about the earth and plant life and animal life and the ecological balance and how it's all affected by weather and gravity, and on and on and on. I am thankful in God's kind providence that he allows all kinds of people to learn all kinds of things and develop interests and dedicate themselves to research and writing and publishing to help the people of the world to understand everything around us more and more.

Speaker 1: 4:35

But what we see so often and Pianka is just one example of many I could give is that it is possible to be a very, very, very smart fool. Intelligence and wisdom are not the same thing. Secondly, I want to point out his primary concern. It's always interesting to me that people who advocate things like Darwin's idea of the survival of the fittest only the strong survive are also people who seem far more concerned about plants and air and water and animals than they care about human beings. But I thought this was the aim I thought we were supposed to acknowledge and be content with the strongest and most powerful among us rising to the top and everything else eventually dying off. It's just nature. So what's the big deal? And yet men like Pianca think we are better off saving the earth and preserving all of the planet as opposed to human life and providing mankind with the benefits of the earth and its bounty. They care more about the planet than the people on the planet, and Pianca made that very clear that he was just as happy to see the people all go away.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Now, ideas like Pianca's are patently ridiculous, but it shouldn't surprise us. Ridiculous, but it shouldn't surprise us. The world is filled with smart fools who spout off all kinds of nonsensical ideas about all kinds of different things. But remember what the Proverbs teach us Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge. Those who have suppressed the truth of God, the truth of God's word, the truth of God that is abundantly clear to them, as Paul writes in the verses just prior to the passage we're going to look at this morning, will always find ridiculous, nonsensical things to say and believe. I'm sure Pianca was much smarter than I am, but I am also 100% sure that he was a foolish man who despised truth and wisdom. The Bible provides an abundance of statements like this, reminding us over and over again that the only source of true wisdom is the Lord himself and the result of not seeking the wisdom of God is that we show ourselves to be fools and we become idolaters. So this morning we're going to look at verses 21 through 23 in Romans 1.

Speaker 1: 7:18

In verses 18 through 21, paul reveals that the wrath of God is coming against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness, and our hearts are naturally inclined towards scamming ourselves and scamming others when it comes to the truth that has been revealed to all of us. The truth is abundantly clear. It is revealed to all of us in nature itself. The divine attributes of God's power and creativity and sovereignty, and even his very law, are made known to mankind in all places, everywhere, at all times. And yet, apart from the saving work of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, we suppress the truth of God in our unrighteousness and seek to go our own way.

Speaker 1: 8:07

So, for the sake of context, to understand more about smart fools like Pianca, we're going to begin by reading in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them, for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Now again, paul is in the middle here of an extended argument about man's natural instinct, apart from Christ, to suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness, even though the truth of God has been revealed since the creation of the world in all that is made. And so it leaves us without excuse. On the day of judgment, no one can say I didn't know. And Paul begins verse 20, pressing further into the argument that although they knew God, they did not honor God, they did not give thanks to God. In other words, it's abundantly clear they knew God's existence. They see the blessings of God in the world all around them. It is abundantly clear to all mankind that God is at work, he is providing, he is sustaining all creation around us, creation around us.

Speaker 1: 10:21

And yet man, in his sinfulness, neither acknowledges his existence or his power, nor give thanks to him for all that he is and all that he does. This is the greatest of sins to not glorify God. What is our chief end? What is our purpose in this life? Why did God create us? Ultimately to glorify him and enjoy him forever. That is our aim. So what is our greatest sin? To not acknowledge God as God, but to go our own way.

Speaker 1: 11:00

The consequence of not acknowledging God and the consequences of not glorifying God are grave, and so Paul shows us at least four things that happen when we fail to honor and give thanks to God. And the first thing he shows us is that when we fail to honor God, our thinking becomes empty. You see, in verse 21,. They became futile in their thinking, in other words, their minds. Their thoughts were empty. They were vain and useless. One of the greatest blessings of God is that he's given us minds to develop and to learn and to grow and to be educated and to think and be creative and imaginative. It's from our minds that all of the wonderful gifts of God that are produced through man originate Our art and music and poetry and literature, sports and recreation, new foods and drinks and the beautiful ways they're prepared and plated for us.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Have you ever wondered about something as simple as a wonderful cup of coffee? Someone had to come to the conclusion that they were going to pick this small red berry from a tree and they were going to peel it and get the green bean out from inside of it and then they were going to roast it not too much or it would burn, but enough so that it was fully roasted and then grind it and then run water through it so that you can taste the elixir from heaven. And that's a naturally occurring gift from God. But someone had to think about that and work through that and have the understanding of what that might be like. And just think of all of the other things God has used man to invent and create. Think of all of our advances, even in the last 10 to 20 years, in technology and science and medicine. You're all carrying supercomputers in your pockets now. I remember when one of my old neighbors had two heart attacks and he showed me a scar from getting his surgery to clear a blockage and install a stint and he had this tiny little quarter inch incision on his right wrist and they did it all with a robot to ensure its accuracy Perfectly fine. It's incredible that God has given us the ability to discover and to understand and develop. But, more important than all of these things, god has given us these minds that are capable of reasoning and creating and developing and problem solving and analyzing and speculating and pondering and meditating so that, ultimately, we might use them to know and glorify God and to think about God and to praise God and to pray to God and to devise things in this world that will honor God.

Speaker 1: 14:30

Do you remember what happened with King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4? Remember he looked out on Babylon and he said is this not the great Babylon which I have built by my mighty power? This was Nebuchadnezzar's thought. My mighty power, this was Nebuchadnezzar's thought, this was his sinful assumption, and God was so displeased with Nebuchadnezzar's unwillingness to acknowledge the work and power and provision of God that the Bible tells us. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagle's feathers and his nails were like bird's claws. In other words, nebuchadnezzar, you don't want to fulfill your calling, your purpose, my design for you to honor and glorify me, created in my image, that's fine. I will make you to be like one of the animals instead.

Speaker 1: 15:28

So then, what happened? And this is the key to this point At the end of the days, I, nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, that is, to God, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him, who lives forever. So notice what happened Nebuchadnezzar did not recognize God as God or the work of God as God's work, and so he was brought to the very end of himself, where he would be forced to look upwards. And it was only then, when he looked to God, that his reason was restored. Why? Because our minds and our hearts and our thinking and our imaginations are made for God first and foremost. And what does the text say? Nebuchadnezzar did as soon as his reason returned? He blessed and praised and glorified the one who lives forever.

Speaker 1: 16:27

Based on that verse, I wanted to name my son Nebuchadnezzar. My wife didn't like that, so she said let's name him after another king. If you know my son's name, you understand that. If you know my son's name, you understand that. So you see, you can be a world-famous ecologist. You can be the most revered military strategist. You can be the CEO of the best company in the world. You can be the richest woman on the planet. You can have all the power that brings presidents and kings and princes from the world to your doorstep, but in the end, if you refuse to know God and love God and treasure and honor God, none of these things will have ultimate purpose. Everything you do with your mind minus God is futile and empty and vain.

Speaker 1: 17:27

Remember, paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3, 20,. The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are useless. Bill Gates, one of the richest men alive, the founder of Microsoft, the creator of one of the first computer systems ever, once said this. He said just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more. I could be doing on a Sunday morning. Now I would comment on how that's affected his product, because Windows is trash. But Steve Jobs was nowhere close to being a godly man either.

Speaker 1: 18:08

But that's just the point Paul is making here, isn't it? These brilliant men can do more than most any of us could ever think to do, and yet their thinking in their amazing minds has proven to be futile because they fail. They refuse to acknowledge God. In the end, no one's going to stand before God and say you know, lord, the one thing I wish is that I was I live my life on the earth as smart as Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. No, we will stand before God and say, for my pardon, this I plea For my cleansing. This. I plea. Nothing can for sin atone, not for good that I have done. This is all my hope and peace. This is all my righteousness. Now, by this, I'll overcome. Now, by this I'll reach my home. Glory, glory, this. I sing All my praise for this. I bring Nothing, nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Speaker 1: 19:16

Brothers and sisters, our minds matter to God and let's not be flippant about this. This doesn't mean we shouldn't put our minds to creating and developing and designing and thinking and analyzing new things, better things, more useful things. We should, and in fact we should do it better than anyone else, because, as Christians, we acknowledge not only that we have insight and we have understanding, but that the insight and understanding that has been given to us by God is there for this purpose, so we can give thanks to him and acknowledge him and use our developments and designs and plans and creativity for God's glory and for the building of the church among the nations. Some of the greatest scientists and mathematicians throughout history have been Christians Isaac Newton, blaise Pascal, galileo, kepler, francis Collins, florence Nightingale all of these faithful Christian people who have done wonderful, amazing things that we can know more about the world that God has created.

Speaker 1: 20:27

But think about what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. You see, the apostle Paul says here that our job in this battle is to destroy strongholds. You know what a stronghold is? Paul's talking about pretensions and arguments set up against the knowledge of God. This is a mental battle. He says we must destroy these strongholds. These strongholds are all sorts of things, but most especially their various worldviews, things like atheism and agnosticism and Darwinism and secularism, any kind of stronghold that people set up against the knowledge of God. And so what are we to do instead? Take every thought captive to obey Christ. Take captive every thought in your mind. Bring every thought into submission. Make every thought obedient to Christ. Our thinking becomes futile. It's empty when we fail to honor God in this way. The second thing Paul shows us is that when we fail to honor God, our hearts are darkened. Look again the end of verse 21,. Their foolish hearts were darkened. Now, this is significant because heart in the Bible is a comprehensive term for all of man's faculties. So not only do their minds and their thinking become futile and worthless, but their moral judgment is darkened as well.

Speaker 1: 22:13

How does an ecologist conclude that 90% of the human population needs to be eliminated? Well, in the same way that a tyrannical maniac thinks that the Holocaust was justified. In the same way that a tyrannical maniac thinks that the Holocaust was justified In the same way that our nation can legally applaud and support over 60 million abortions since 1973. In the same way that terrorists can take down buildings with airplanes with thousands of people inside, in the same way a man can go inside of a church and start shooting as many people as he can as they worship. In the same way that you and I can have all kinds of angry, lustful, idolatrous, covetous thoughts and desires in our hearts, because only the glory of God can give light to our sinful hearts, you and I have the capacity to do monstrous evil. And if you think otherwise, you don't understand the reality of the human heart or our depravity.

Speaker 1: 23:17

We tend to think of ourselves as good people, as people who would never do anything too terrible, too sinful or too awful. We see all sorts of tragedies, things that people do, evil things that people do, and we think how could they ever do that? I would never do such a thing. We see school shootings and terrorist bombings and genocide, and on and on and on. And that's our question how could anyone do that? And that's our question. How could anyone do that? I would never do that. But here's the reality. You would. You would, were it not for God's restraining hand, were it not for God mercifully keeping you from acting out that murderous desire in your heart, you would do it.

Speaker 1: 24:02

Speaking of smart fools, frederick Nietzsche, he wrote I have often laughed at the weaklings who thought themselves good because they had no cause. He's right. Oftentimes people mistake their weakness for unwillingness. But given the right amount of power and influence in the hand of God's restraint lifted from us, we all have the capacity to be a Stalin or a Pol Pot or Mao or Lenin in our hearts. Any of us could be a Bernie Madoff or a Jeffrey Epstein or a Charles Manson, or a Jeffrey Epstein or a Charles Manson.

Speaker 1: 24:50

Don't mistake your lack of clause or your lack of evil intention apart from Christ. You see how our depravity, you see how our darkened hearts make it so abundantly clear of our absolute need for the Lord Jesus Christ. So doctrinally, let's be clear Total depravity is not the same thing as utter depravity. Utter depravity would mean that we always sin to the greatest extent possible in whatever we do. Now, thank God, we are not as evil as we could be, for God's law is on our consciences and it holds back even the worst among us from descending into their vilest actions. But listen, that's not a very high bar that humanity is clearing, is it?

Speaker 1: 25:39

Ultimately, total depravity still means that we are as bad off as we could be in our standing in this world, because it means we're at enmity with God, because sin taints everything we do and are. We have fallen short of the glory of God and we cannot merit eternal life on our own. We're cut off from the Lord and we cannot save ourselves because of our darkened hearts. Think of what happens we fail to honor God, we suppress the truth of God, we fail to glorify and acknowledge God and we have no heart for the Lord, jesus, christ. So what happens? The void must be filled. If Christ doesn't fill my heart, something else will. Think of playing at the beach in the sand and you're digging a hole as the tide goes out with your hands. You dig and dig and dig as deep as you want, but if you don't fill that hole with something else, as soon as the tide comes back in, the hole will fill with water and eventually it would all go back to the sand. And so it is.

Speaker 1: 26:50

With our hearts and our own efforts we can try to dispel the darkness, we can dig it out, we can try to offload evil, we can try to throw off our sinfulness, but if we don't replace the darkness with the light, it will only be filled with darkness again. And the problem is that we will try in our own self-will, we will try in our own self-effort to replace this darkness, but we cannot do it, because only Christ can serve to produce spiritual light within us and through us. There's no light-producing element in the heart. All light has to come to the heart from the outside, and that light is the glory of God. How does the light of God's glory enter into a sinful heart? Think of everything we know to be true from the scriptures Jesus is the light of the world because Jesus is the glory as the only begotten from the father.

Speaker 1: 27:49

In 2 Corinthians 4, 6, paul writes God, who said light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. So you see, the only escape from a darkened heart because of the failure to honor God is to embrace the only true light of the world, who is Jesus Christ. And we shouldn't be surprised when we see evil men doing evil things. We should be surprised that we don't see it happen more often. Thirdly, paul shows us that when we fail to honor God, we prove that we are fools. We've been talking about this all along. Paul writes in verse 22,. All along Paul writes in verse 22,.

Speaker 1: 28:45

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. In Romans 12, you can see the same kind of thing, but it's reversed as wisdom from God. And Paul writes never be wise in your own sight. In other words, don't trust your own wisdom or your own intellect, your feelings that are sometimes wonderful. And you get to this place where you think well, the world really needs me and maybe I don't actually need them. Or think of what Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians, as he draws this constant contrast between the gospel and the wisdom of the wise. What were they trusting? In? Their own intellect, their own understanding? The Greek philosophers?

Speaker 1: 29:36

Many were dismissing the gospel as foolishness. Likewise, luke wrote of the Pharisees that they trusted in themselves and that they thought they were righteous. You see, it's the same attitude. I don't need any help. It's just not a good allocation of my time. I have better things to do. I have more money to make. I have more things to create. They resented the teaching of the gospel. They regarded Christ as nothing.

Speaker 1: 30:07

Men and women are proud of themselves. They're proud of their intellect and their supposed wisdom. They think they're superior to everyone who's ever lived before them. And yet you start to peel back the layers of their lives. You see their misery. You recognize their emptiness. You see their confusion about reality. It all becomes very plain. Behind the natural man and all of his bravado and pride actually hides uncertainty and fear. The wiser a man or a woman, the more humble they are.

Speaker 1: 30:55

It is always the ones who have a little bit of knowledge about a few things that are the absolute worst. You ever try to have a serious discussion about an important but controversial issue with a 22-year-old young man who's armed with a 10-minute Google search to destroy your argument, even though you've worked and studied this thing for many, many years. People who really know things know what they don't know, but those who only know a little think they know it all. There's nothing more dangerous than a young man with a little bit of money, a little bit of education, no wife and no trials. He will tell you how to parent your children, how to treat your wife, how to do your job and how to worship God. Lord, help him. If he's not a Christian, there's no end in sight to his foolishness, and the Bible uses many terms in the description of the sinner, and this is the attitude of the sinner, but fool is one of the most frequent.

Speaker 1: 32:01

Think of Jesus' parable of the rich fool A boasting young man who thought he was so clever, so wise, but the Lord exposed him as nothing more than a fool. I'm all right. I'm good to go. I'm smarter than all the others. I have all my grain saved up for the future. I've used my mind. I'm a smart man. I've planned ahead. I have prepared. What did the Lord call him? He called him a fool. He said on this very night, your life will be taken from you. Then, what will happen with all of your grain and all of your money and all of your pride? What will you have left to show? You see, those who are wise in their own eyes are condemned because they condemn themselves. They're living a lie. They claim to be wise, but how do they live? Arrogantly and proudly.

Speaker 1: 33:00

I remember an interview with Richard Dawkins many years ago, the man who's become famous for being a supposed atheist. He was asked about God's existence and if he was so certain there was no God, what did he believe about the origins of mankind? An important question. Well, he said he was not so certain that the Big Bang Theory was entirely plausible. He said this is ridiculous. He said that he finds the idea of life coming from molecules that can be found on the backs of crystals. This is beyond idiotic. This is madness. This is madness. He's saying God cannot exist, because I said so. But I will tell you what is true Complex human life evolved off the backs of crystals. I mean, I have to give him credit. At least he has the guts to risk his reputation with such a claim in the first place. But you see, the world, full of darkened hearts, hears that and says you know what that sounds plausible, plausible. Does that sound plausible? For our next act? We will find the plausibility of the idea that we're all just brains in vats in some far-off laboratory. Nothing is real in life, but we're only guided by extraterrestrial beings. Does that sound plausible?

Speaker 1: 34:40

It takes the mind of a fool to suggest that God doesn't exist and I hate him and we all came from crystals, and I hate him and we all came from crystals. So you see, true wisdom is judged not merely by the number of books we have read or can quote and recite, or the Google searches we can perform or the insane ideas we can concoct about our origins, but rather by the way that we live, the way that we use our knowledge and, ultimately, whether or not it is for the benefit of knowing and glorifying our God. What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world of knowledge and loses his soul? So how does this foolishness ultimately translate into action? Paul shows us that when we fail to honor God, we are idolaters To the natural man, apart from grace and darkened in heart. Nothing seems more obvious than that it is more wise to design your own God than to take the one that you have been given. What could be more obvious and supposedly wise to the smart fool than to make your own God? Think of the advantages it shows your resourcefulness, your creativity, your intelligence, your moral superiority.

Speaker 1: 36:13

I love when the prophets mock the people for their idolatry. He says you'll take a stick and you'll cut it in half and fashion one half of it into a God to worship, and the other you'll just throw in the fire to keep you warm. What foolishness. Or Elijah, the prophets of Baal, where's your God? Call on him, do whatever it takes. They cut themselves, they stayed up for days, they starved themselves, and on and on and on, and no God. And what does Elijah say? Maybe he's sleeping, maybe he's in the bathroom. Where's your God? Where is he Right? They mock the foolishness of it all.

Speaker 1: 37:02

But in the foolish, darkened mind, the insane idea is that we can create our own God and everything will be okay. This is the way to live, this is the way to use knowledge, this is the way to go about doing this thing. But I'll tell you what? Nobody's creating a God with 10 commandments. Nobody's creating a God that demands perfection that we cannot live up to. Nobody's creating a God that tells you to die to yourself and live for the advantage of others. You to die to yourself and live for the advantage of others. Nobody's creating a God that insists if you follow your heart it's not only bad counsel, it will lead you to suffering and everlasting torment.

Speaker 1: 37:49

In the end, making your own God means what it means. You are God, and what could be wiser than the choice to be a God? Remember what Satan said to Eve in the garden. God knows that in the day you eat from the forbidden tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw the tree and it was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. You see, this is the way from the very beginning, and it still is. If you want to assume the role of God in governing your life, you will believe ultimately that idolatry is the wisest thing in the world and the idol you worship will ultimately be the person you see in the mirror.

Speaker 1: 38:50

But Paul is showing us very clearly that it is foolish to create your own God. It is foolish to be your own God. It is foolish to lean on your own understanding. It is foolish to be your own God. It is foolish to lean on your own understanding. It is foolish to be led by your sinful passions and fleshly desires. It is foolish to exchange God for the glory of the immortal God, for the images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Think of the foolishness. God, now you can keep him. I have the birds and the reptiles and the amphibians and the fish. You see, paul emphasizes the infinite difference between what we are trading away in the all all powerful, all knowing God of the universe, for birds, for trees, for crystals.

Speaker 1: 39:47

Notice something. I think this is a fascinating insight in what Paul is showing us here. Notice man himself. Already we know, according to Genesis 1.27, man is an image of God and not God. We're made in the image of God. But that is not what the exchange of God gets, is it? That's not what Paul says. We don't get man when we exchange God. No, we get images resembling mortal man. No, we get images resembling mortal man. It is an image of man, right? Well, no, not even that. Look, he says it's an image resembling a mortal man who is himself an image of God. So what is Paul doing? Well, he's doing something he always does he's piling on the description here.

Speaker 1: 40:37

And so Paul is showing us that what we trade, when we trade God away, is a copy of a copy of a copy of God. Do you see it, when you exchange the glory of God, even for man, not to mention the animals, you are exchanging him for a copy of a copy of a copy. If you've ever worked around a copy machine, you know, after a while you start copying copies. They don't turn out so well, right, they get dark and blurry and hard to read, but that's what we get. And so you can have the original Mona Lisa. But you think, you know, I don't really want that. I'll just get a postcard of it in the gift shop on the way out. No, you know what? In fact, I'll just have my kids draw a picture of it for me. That will be good enough.

Speaker 1: 41:34

It's foolishness. It's foolish that we would ever trade God away for a copy of a copy of a copy. And it brings us to the place where we start to worship birds and reptiles and fish and we fail to acknowledge the God that we know, everyone knows exists, everyone knows exists. Now, friends, I know that some of you you hear all of this and you think I'm going overboard or maybe I've jumped ship. Here I'm just coming down on hard on people who don't believe in Christ, but I'm merely reminding all of us of what we know is true and yet suppress in unrighteousness. It's exactly what the Bible tells us Without God, there would be no atheist, because there would be no God to conceive of or discuss.

Speaker 1: 42:33

And so I hope, at the very least, you can recognize our inherent tendency to suppress what is true, to attempt to trick ourselves, to attempt to make ourselves look to us and to others as something other than what we are. But be warned, my friend, to not honor Christ is to become futile in your thinking, friend. To not honor Christ is to become futile in your thinking, to have a darkened heart, to claim to be wise but only prove yourself to be a fool, and to become an idolater, ultimately an idolater of yourself. But, friend, I want you to know that there is a way to set your mind on what matters in this world to have the light of your creator shine brightly in your heart, to know true wisdom which, and to worship not yourself and and not the things of this world. And not a copy of a copy of a copy, but the one who you know exists and the one who you know created you and the one who you know sustains, the one who you know created you and the one who you know sustains you.

Speaker 1: 43:39

Do not settle for copies. Look to Christ and live. Look to Christ, the Christ who made a covenant with the Father to do all that was necessary that we might be saved, to do all that was necessary that we might be saved Saved from ourselves, but saved ultimately from the wrath of God. Look to Christ, the one who, in that covenant, said I will go into this sin, sick, fallen world and I will live a perfect life, fulfilling the law that none of these people can fulfill because their hearts are evil and corrupt from the moment of conception. I will live that life in their place and then I will die the death that they deserve on a Roman cross, enduring all of the pain and humiliation, and I will take on myself the full penalty of the wrath of my father that is owed to all of us. It's what we deserve. But Jesus said I'll do it. I will take it in their place, I will shed my blood, I will go to the grave and for three days lay in that grave until three days later he was raised by God from the dead to conquer sin and death forever and ever. And now he sits in heaven and reigns and rules over everything in this world, including the foolish minds and hearts of men.

Speaker 1: 45:21

Will you worship this God? He calls on you to trust in him, to believe him, to have faith in him that he and he alone can do what you've tried to do your whole life, and that is to make yourself to be one who thinks with true wisdom, to be one who has true knowledge, to be one who fulfills the purpose that you've been given in this life. We might all do all kinds of things. We have all sorts of gifts and talents. We all have different careers and paths in life, but we all have the same purpose to glorify our God and to enjoy him forever and ever. My friend, fulfill your purpose. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ today. Amen, let's pray together. Amen, let's pray together.

Speaker 1: 46:17

Father, we are so very grateful for our Lord, jesus Christ. We're thankful, god, that you have done everything that is necessary that we might have everlasting life. And, lord, it's easy for us to look at the foolishness of the world and to scoff and to mock and to ridicule. And in many ways, lord, we acknowledge, as we look to your word, that some ideas are so opposed to you and so ludicrous that that is the only right response. But let us never be proud in thinking that were it not for you, by your grace and by the work of Christ, that we ourselves would not be right there, lord, were it not for your grace, every single one of us would be murderous idolaters living for our own selves, caring nothing for you or anyone else around us.

Speaker 1: 47:20

And so may it be, dear God, that for those here this morning who do not know Christ, lord, that you would make it so evident to them that you are right and true and you have revealed yourself to them in the world around them and in your very word today, lord, work in their heart by the power of your spirit to give them new and everlasting life. Shine the light into the darkness. But, lord, for those of us who are believers. I pray that anything that we have that is of any worth we acknowledge is from your hand. May it be that every day, our hearts are filled not with pride but with thankfulness that we have been given the opportunity to glorify you with all that we are because of the Lord, jesus Christ. And so, lord, work in all of our hearts to do what only you can do by the power of your spirit, for your glory, for the good of your church forevermore, and we pray this in Jesus name, amen.