ROMANS 1:24 GOD GAVE THEM UP Depravity is only a word it is true, but it describes best how far away from the virtue God intended for men to display we have gone as human beings. There is an inward corruption, a demoralization of a society when immorality goes unchecked. It knows no bounds as a whole generation of degenerate people abandon restraints and live shameless lives that lead to hardened people who have no fear of God.
When God-given restraints are ignored, the unclean hearts of men plunge them into the cesspool of bodily uncleanness and vileness. A society that lifts the restraints of God-given laws and defines and interprets the restrictions of moral law according to mans' own will, will soon fall into all forms of sexual sin and claim it to be "natural." There have been and still are, those who say society is in a "developmental stage," and we are progressing in our climb from the bog of our original evolution.
Instead of more happiness and peace, we have in society alarming increases of suicide, murder and war all over this world. Some of the forms of entertainment exalt immorality and mock those who believe in purity, integrity and virtue. The lusts of the hearts of men goes far beyond the practice of homosexuality or other sexual sins. Flesh has desires that may be yielded to or not. The lusts of the heart is in the human being even after the body has decayed and turned to dust. Lust springs from within the soul and will never cease in the lost soul. It will never be satisfied nor can it be controlled in the unregenerate person. The conscious condition of the damned will never be able to overcome the lusts of the heart. Those lusts will never cease to exist. When God gives people over to their own desires for impurity and the degrading of one's own body, that condition does not change. Man makes his choice and must exist with the consequences of his choices.
"Is there no relief from this insatiable desire," the lustful sinner cries. He opened his mind, his heart and his body to those latent desires that lie Just beneath the surface of an unregenerate mind, just waiting for release. When that person chooses uncleanness, from then on, he finds no peace.
Each lustful thought forms an image defined, but only a fantasy. From then on, the gate of restraint is opened to pollute everything he sees. There is no rest to the wicked, like a troubled sea he tosses - And through life and to its very end he has nothing to show but losses.
The laws of the nation can say what they will, but God's laws will surely stand. They have only increased the downward speed sin is taking in this favored land. What was once our strength has become a weakness, we have become an immoral nation. The laws that preserved us have changed, hastening our national condemnation.
When the foundations are destroyed, "what shall the righteous do," is not just a plaintive wish. There are choices to make that are very unpopular when we refuse to go along with this. Those who live by faith will have to stand out, even our silence defines our position. We will not succumb to the pressure or compromise; we must maintain our righteous vision.
The testing times will come when people say, "Everyone does it," what are we to do. The laws we live by are indelibly imprinted on our hearts and to them we maintain true. In spite of the majority, by God's grace we will stand, for what we know is just and right. We may not be many but with divine strength imparted we will continue to shed some light.
The person who stands with God alone will often be an object of reproach. But better to be persecuted for righteousness' sake, then live a life that does not count. So no matter what the crowd around may do, with God we will take our stand. And people around will know, a few still have love for this favored land.
"Holy, Righteous, Almighty God, I ask that we who are saved will continue to maintain a standard of righteousness that is not compromised by the changing laws of our courts. By Thy great strength, use our weakness to impress those around that there are still some who believe God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."