THE KING’S BUSINESS
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know at some time in their lives that there is a God, but they do not glorify Him as God and render thanks to Him; therefore they fall into empty, senseless reasonings and their hearts are darkened. It is serious and solemn business not to act upon all the light one has, especially all the light one has about God. It may be that you have but a single ray of light, but follow that single ray and you will soon get more.« Be untrue to that ray and you will lose even that. Sunday, June 3 . Rom. 1 : 22 - 25 . The one who thus refuses to act upon the light wjiich he has about God and who therefore does not glorify Him as God and give thanks to Him, becomes possessed of the strange hallucinations that he is wise above others, but “professing himself to be wise he becomes a fool” (cf. Prov. 26:12). From this point Paul goes on to tell what occured in the history of his times and what, in a more disguised form, occurs in our time, they “changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of, cor ruptible man, etc.” Man > is in our day being exalted to the place of God by those who refuse to acknowledge and glorify God Himself. The deification of man is the chief characteristic of the philosophy of our times. Following upon this corrup tion of men’s thought proceeding out of his failure to glorify God and to return thanks, there comes a corruption of his conduct. The moral result of this God forgetting philosophy, of this turning away from God, is that “God gives them up in the lusts of their flesh unto uncleanness.” All men who turn away from God sooner or later sink into unspeakable vileness. The history of heathenism demonstrates this and so does the history of modern atheism and agnos ticism. If any agnostic wishes to know what he is surely coming to, morally, let him read verses 24-32. It is just as true today as it was in Paul’s day, that men are exchanging the “truth of God” “for a lie,” the lie of men’s empty philosophy, and it is just as true today as it was in Paul’s day
man, He has an infinite hatred of sin. Thus it comes about that the “wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodli ness and unrighteousness of men.” God cannot and does not look upon any sin with the least degree of allowance. His wrath therefore is revealed from heaven not merely against some, ungodljness and some unrighteousness but against “all ungodli ness, and all unrighteousness.” The word “wrath” is a very strong word, it is a word that glows, but, nevertheless, there is “wrath,” burning, intense indignation for “all ungodliness” and “all unrighteousness.” We ought to rejoice that it is so. If we ourselves are holy and hate sin, we will rejoice that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and all unrighteous ness. Men “hold down” .(R. V.) or rather “hinder” the truth by their unrighteous ness. Something about God every man may know, whether he has seen the Bible or not, for the eternal invisible verities about Himself are'declared in His handi work which all can see (cf. Ps. 19:1-6). It may be said that the revelation made of God in the works of His hands is very incomplete and inadequate (and that is true), but if a man will live up to that revelation of God; and this much may be known from the works of His hands, “His everlasting power and Diety.” That which may be known of God by the works of His hands is enough for men to act upon, but men have not acted upon what they do know about God, or what they might know about God, so they are “without excuse.” That we do not know more about God is ho excuse for not living up to what we do know. By not living up to what they know, men lose even that knowledge: “because knowing God. they glorified Him not as God, neither gave thanks,” they “became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.” These words give the history of the genesis of atheism, agnosticism and all forms of infi delity and spiritual darkness. The expla nation of all these things is the failure of men to act upon the light given. All men
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