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Romans 1:18-26 - Corps - January 9,1979

3rdburglar by Wordburglar
Topic: Rom 1:18-26,logospedia,lp
Format: mp3,
Publication Date: January 9, 1079

On Ephesians 4:25 where I want to begin tonight, or where we will begin tonight , the first part of what the Research Team gave me is the work that Walter Cummins published in our wonderful Way Magazine on "The Spoken Word." Also, as we cover Ephesians 4:28 tonight, I had all the information in front of me from another article that Walter Cummins has in the... has had in the Magazine. The first article on Ephesians 4:25 is entitled "The Spoken Word." The one on Ephesians 4:28 is "Workers for God." Both of these pieces of work by Walter are absolutely superb. And I believe that they should appear and will appear in our research journal GMIR whenever we begin publishing that. {GMIR Aramaic word meaning ' to perfect, accomplish , mature, complete, arithmetically to be divisible without any remainder.}

And I noticed again that some of the things that were stated are just so beautifully and logically presented, I'm truly thankful for, not only Walter, but the whole Research Department. I think our Biblical Research Department is just second to none. And it' s even going to be better by God' s mercy and grace next year and in years to come than it is at this time. And right now I do not believe that our Biblical Research Department needs to take a back seat for any academic institution or work in the world.

And I thought today, I have never... I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity than to be my assistant. I know Vince Finnegan, you know, on the books is my assistant. And that' s great. But I've never thought of Walter Cummins in any other capacity for so many years as always being my assistant. And I think he' s just the most wonderful person that any president could have as his assistant. And also to be chairmen of the Department of Greek, and then the coordinator of the Biblical research of The Way International. For any one man to have that position and that responsibility is an awesome reality and I'm real proud of Walter and real thankful for him. But I am also thankful for the rest of our wonderful men and women in the Research Department.

I would like for the Corps all over the country to go to the Magazine and find "The Spoken_Word," that's the title of it, dealing with Ephesians 4:25 and other scriptures, and before the next Corps meeting next week, you endeavor to master that great piece of work by Walter Cummins. It's just, you know, the spoken Word. Over fifty Greek words are used in the New Testament in connection with the faculties of utterance. Over fifty. And then he takes the most important ones and he lists them and it' s just. .. it' s just a piece of research work that you should really as a Corps master in your heart and in your life.

Ephesians 4:25 in the King James reads, Wherefore put away lyin g, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

The ' putting away' was interesting to me again because of the Greek word aniko, a-n-i-k-o.

And this word is ' the putting away,' this word ' put away,' aniko, is the same root word as in 4:22, where we use the word ' rest,' meaning ' to rest.' Is that right? Yep, that is right. I taught you that,

didn't I? Did I or didn't I? Doesn't look right to me. It is the same root. What chapter am I missing? Am I missing anything? I don't know. Right now I'm screwed up, ha ha. First time today. You check the word again and I'll do that, too and see what I'm missing here.

But a-n-i-k-o is the word for ' putting away from you. ' To put away. And it' s the same root as the word ' rest.' I don't know where the word appears, but it's got to be in there.

Now, that word ' speak,' every man speak. That word ' speak ' is from the Greek word

laleo, l-a-l-e-long-o. And that' s where Walter' s article on "The Spoken Word"_c omes in because that is.. .he uses that word laleo in here, which I teach in Corinthians when I teach the Foundational Class. And he says the word is employed 24 times in I Corinthians chapter 14. I had forgotten that.

This word is truly significant. I couldn' t quite understand it Research Department, what  you said on page 26B 16, where you defined it ' to make vocal utterance,' ' to babble,' 'to talk,'  'to  exercise the faculty of speech without reference to the words spoken.' I just wondered if there might not be another word that could be substituted or utilized at this point. I know that Zachariah 8:16 is the quotation that is used here, or spoken of. And that Zachariah 8:16 adds force to what is said by using a quote, a quotation. That' s why my question to the Research Department is, How can it be without reference to what is spoken if it is truth plus the quotation of the Word of God that's given. It doesn't quite fit for me.

'With his neighbor' has to be a believing neighbor. This 'speak truth with his neighbor' is a figure of speech gnome, g-n-o-m-e, which simply is a citation. And that' s a citation from Zachariah 8:16.

There are a series of figures of speech, Corps, in chapter four which just put the 00mph, the highlight, to the particular things that are set whereby you put off the old man. This phrase here 'speak every man truth with his neighbor'  is one of them. The other one appears in verse 26, 'be  angry and sin not.' ' Steal no more' is another one. 'Corrupt communication' is the fourth one.  'Grieve not the  holy spirit' is the fifth one. ' All bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking' is  the sixth. And  then  ' be kind' and so forth, is the seventh.

You see, the last phrase in that verse, in King James, For we' re members one of what? [Another] And it' s relative to the neighbor. Now you just look at that. Wherefore put away  lying, speak  every  man truth with his what? [Neighbor] For we are members  one of  another.  That  doesn't  mean just  a neighbor who lives next door, but it has to be a believing neighbor because  we are members  one of what? [Another]. You could not be a member ' one of another' ifhe  was an  unbeliever.  That's how I know this is going to  work. This tells me that the neighbor  is  a  believer.  And  this  ' we' re members one of another' continues the imagery of the Body of Christ.

The literal  according  to  usage of this verse is as follows:   Wherefore  put away the  lie... and I believe in my heart, before I go on with the literal that until man is born again, it's all a lie anyways. And that' s why I believe that this translation will fit in the light of that knowledge. Because when  a man is not born again, his whole  life is just a  lie. Now you're  born again,  and that ' s  why  I think the text states it ' wherefore put away the lie,' the life you' ve been living , the screwed up life you have lived outside of God. It' s been just a life of a lie. It' s not truth. It' s just the opposite of truth and that's my reason for translating it this way... Wherefore put away the lie.

You've got to go with that translation. You have no other text to go by both from Aramaic and Greek it's 'lie.' Not 'lying.' If the Research Department has anything to share in the light of that, I'd be blessed to hear, but you' ve heard my reasons for translating it, Research Department, this way.

Now since they're born again, their whole life is changed, so the life of lying, and living a lie, and being a lie, and being false, is to be put away.

And every man... this is the translation ... and everyone, everyone. The word ' man' you could use because it's an inclusive noun, but I prefer to use the word ' one.'

Wherefore put away the lie and everyone speak the truth with his neighbor for we are members one of another. That is literal according to usage.

Now for the expanded according to understanding. It's not bad. Because of this... What we coughing for? Everybody sick?...Because of this... and the reason I went in the expanded along this line is because verse 24 last week told us that we are created by God in righteousness and in true purity, through holiness. Twenty four.

That's why 25, Wherefore ... 'wherefore' can be translated 'because of this.' Because of this what? Being created in righteousness and truly pure. See it's an inside job.

Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure by the grace and the love of

God.. .Because of this being created in righteousness and truly pure, you put away, completely lay to rest the lie that you have been and were living and each one of you speak the truth using a quotation from the Word with his believing neighbor for we are members one of another in the Body of the Church.

Robinson {Edward} said, he translated, 'speak every man truth with his neighbor' and he said it's from Zachariah 8:16 which adds force to what is said by using a quote. That's why I translated that. I think that' s great. It adds force to what is said. If you're speaking to someone, it adds force to what you say by using a quote, a quotation from God's Word. In other words, ' you share the Word with them.' That' s why I went with that translation. I want to give it to you again in this sense.

Speak the truth using a quotation from the Word, which means 'share the Word.' Quote the Word to them. Tell them what the Word says, with his believing neighbor. Why? For we are members one of another in the Body of the Church. This verse is just mind blowing.

Here, you have a born-again believer neighbor who needs to grow up a little more. So what do you do? Each one speak the truth to that neighbor, that believer, using the Word, quoting the Word because we' re members one of another in the Body of the Church. It's a real positive thing to do.

Verse 26 in King James reads, Be angry.. .ha ha... we like that one, don't we. Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath.

Here is a verse of Scripture that' s very, very difficult for most people. And it' s not too easy for us either. But I think we are able to share the truth of the greatness of this and it's been burning in my heart for a long time to do this with our people.

Everybody has problems with ' how can you be angry and not sin?' You know, how can raise hell with something and not be sinful in doing it? Teed off and not be sinful. And how can you go... and what does it mean 'don't let the sun go down upon your wrath?' See.

In the context, here, verses 26 and 27 deal with your believing neighbor, specifically. Then the Greek word for ' anger' which is from the root orge, o-r-g-long-e means 'anger together with the desire of revenge .' That' s bad. That' s a heavy. The Hebrew word means ' to kill, and all the tumults of passion that terminate in killing.' So it's a real heavy word when it said ' be angry.'

And the way I believe it's used in God' s Word, ' be ye angry' means ' it's a long time anger with your believing neighbor until a change has ensued.' The desire to... of revenge is a change. And I, knowing the Word in the light of the new birth, it's where a change finally comes about. Until that time, you just, long-term, you just stay put witnessing the Word, sharing the Word. You do not dislike the believing neighbor; you simply dislike that he is not fully accepting the Word and walking on it. So it' s a long-term anger until a change has ensued. You just stay faithful.

I don't know what else to do with those words. It is a righteous anger. Yet it is a righteous anger without sin.

Among the scholars, there is a disagreement on these words. Well, I don't know about my being a scholar; that I don' t anything about being about. But it's simple to me because righteous anger is commanded by God's Word when it says ' be ye angry.' Well, the scholars can fight about it. I don' t care. It' s a command. Not just permitted to get teed once in a while when somebody' s off of God' s Word, a believer is off of God's Word. You' re always teed off righteously at any believer, born-again believer, who is off of God' s Word. And for those of us in the Way Ministry, it' s been a lifetime.

Get into it with them on... Oh what subject do you want to talk about? Baptism? Food? One God? See. All that stuff.

The Aramaic is accurate in the words ' and sin not.' It literally translates ' and you will not sin.' Again, this ' be angry and sin not' is that figure gnome. Quotation. A citation from the Old Testament. It' s from Psalm 4:4. But in King James, Psalm 4:4, it's translated 'stand in awe.' The real sense of the Hebrew is ' one of admonition;' sin not. Where we' re admonished to not sin. Sin not.

' Let not the sun go down on your wrath. ' Ha ha. That again is beautiful. People went to bed when the sun went down, when it got dark. That's when they went to bed. So what that simply is saying, ha ha, ' don't go to bed teed off.' Don' t let the sun go down on your wrath. In other words, go to bed; don' t go to bed mad. ' When you go to bed' is what it means. Let not the sun go down when you go to bed. And they went to bed when the sun went down. When it got dark, they went to bed, see.

' Upon your wrath.' And the word ' wrath' here is basically ' irritation.' Ha ha. Previously when I taught Ephesians, I made mention of this fact, ' don' t let righteous anger shake you, wondering if it was right on. When you go to bed, go to sleep.'

Now, this is what we have done with it in the literal, ha ha, according to usage. I got more papers up here than Carter has liver pills, or something. Then, I can' t find my... whatever it is I take off of it.

Okay, verse 26. You be righteously angry.. .this is literal according to usage.. .and you will not be sinning. Don't go to bed even with a momentary irritation, ha ha.

I don't think you get nearly as much fun out of this as I do. It's neat. It's absolutely scrumptious, see. At the opening, is that heavy word, remember? Anger. So it's a real heavy time. So what he is saying, in the heavy time, when your standing on God' s Word  and sharing that with the  believing  neighbor, you' re righteously angry... you're not sinning. And  you don't  even go to  bed with a momentary irritation. In other Words, when you go to bed, thank God the day is over. Say your last prayer and start snoring.

Boy, that would save a lot of sleeping pills, wouldn' t it? Practicing that principle. Boy, oh boy, what a tremendous Word. And hardly anybody understands verse 26. They argue about it, but they don' t get the understanding.

Now this is the expanded one according to understanding, I hope. And again, I would like to just lay some things before the Corps, and especially before the Research Department. I translated the first part of verse 26, You always stay angry with an all-out desire to have them to change which anger will not be sin on your part.

Then I have another translation of that first part of it: You be righteously angry, 'teed off' with sin... 'Teed off' I put in quotes. But don't  you sin  by acting  ' holier than thou'  vaunting  yourself  by acting so righteously like you never sin.

I do not know which one of those two the Research Department feels would be the better. The last part of the phrase that I translated which would go with both of these that I have given you here on the expanded one for understanding. This, the last part, goes with that first one and with the second ... also.. .even if it is only a momentary irritation.  When you go to  bed, go to sleep. That's what I did with it.

Now, verse 27. King James says, Neither (or neither) give place to the Devil. The word 'place' is simply a portion, a part. No believer will give full place to the Devil, but he may be giving a part, a portion. He' ll mark off a spot, ' this is Devil' s permission over here, over here, no permission, you know. And you really give the Devil a portion or a spot if you stew about it after you go to bed and you toss and you tum and can' t sleep.

This word 'the Devil,' ' the Devil' in the Aramaic is a very interesting and exciting Word to me and it blesses my heart. It' s a compound word where the first part means ' to eat' or ' to devour.' The latter

' to slander' or ' to accuse. '  So when I got to translating  this, literally according  to usage, verse 27 reads: Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil. So I used those three words synonymously: portion, space, opportunity. Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil.

The expanded according to understanding: And you will not give a toehold, an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. Ha ha. I get more fun than you ever will out of working this stuff, huh.

You see, and to me, that communicates to my understanding. John 10:10. The thief cometh not but for to what? [Steal, kill, and destroy] Right. To eat you out. To beat you. And that's why that Aramaic word, on the word ' Devil' really thrilled me.

And that ' s why I put it into the expanded translation: And you will not give a ' toehold.' Now, at L.E.A.D., you know how important it is to get a what? [Toehold] Ha ha. And when you' re really climbing in, you' re blessed for a toehold. How thankful you are when you get a foothold. Now the adversary can never get a foothold in a believer' s life until he first has a toehold. That's why I translated it that way.

Do not give... and you will not give a toehold ... shave all the rocks off... an opportunity or an occasion for the Devil to eat you. And that' s exactly what he likes to do to believers.

Now we go to verse 28. King James says, Let him that stole steal not more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. And here again, is another great work that I believe should be in our research journal GMIR, Walter' s work on " Workers for God."

It' s just tremendous where he... you know... he just goes into God' s men are called many things in the Word. They' re called: fellow workers, ministers, or servants, slaves, fellow slaves, partners, messengers, soldiers, fellow soldiers, athletes, fellow athletes, stewards, ambassadors, witnesses, all of those. And he covers them so beautifully. And I love very much how he covered the word ' slave,' because it' s a much stronger word than to be a minister, or to be a servant. It is to be one who is branded, marked out, sold out. And baby, from that day on, there are no ifs, and' s, or but' s. You never budge on it. You are branded. Most believers are never branded. They may be servants, they may be ministers, but they are not branded. When you' re branded, you stay faithful. You do not budge. You do not change. You stay put. If all hell breaks loose, you still live the believing Word.

I think the prophet once said, If I was in the midst of hell, God I know you' d be there. (Psalm 139:8) He' d be there. That' s the doulos. That, of course, is just a tremendous piece of work.

And the other great part that I think... and this is a second piece that I want the Corps to master before next Wednesday night, " Workers for God," the work on ' witness.' You see, it's the same word basically that's translated ' martyr,' see. And we got a lot of those canonized. That's not at all what a witness is. A witness is a living example, not a dead one. The word 'martyr' simply means that you lay down your life in witnessing. And boy, when you put the doulos together with ' witness,' then you' ve got power for abundant living. It's just a fantastic work by Walter and I' m real grateful that it was published. Because once it' s in print, people can take a look at it if they want to.

I'd like a cup of coffee, please.

Now, we are in verse 28. The Aramaic translation is ' and he who was stealing.' I understand it from the English, ' let him that stole,' past tense. The Aramaic is real simple, real strong. ' And he, the one who is born again, who was, past tense, stealing.'

Thank you.

His whole life was one of those before he was born again.

Whenever you bring a cup of coffee to a right-hand man, you put the handle to the right. When you serve a cup of coffee to a left-hand man, you put it on the left-hand side and put the handle to the left. Corps principle number seven or something, ha ha. Mrs. Wierwille would say, Well, be thankful you even get a cup of coffee. [Laughter] Ah, you're wonderful.

See, ' let him who stole, steal no more.' 'Stole and steal,' that' s a figure of speech and is polyptoton p-o-l-y-p-t-o-t-o-n. It' s a repetition of the same root word in different parts of speech or reflections. But, that's not earth shaking right now in my heart.

You see, in some Eastern culture, it was not considered a sin or a shame to steal because that's the way they lived, the only way they lived. Somebody told me... or not only told me, one of our people, but it was in a national magazine, that the basic culture of Russia today is to steal. And in some respects I can understand this. If you don't have anything and you're starving to death and there' s a loaf of bread you can get a hold of... steal the dam thing. I understand that.

So this verse is really sharp, really sharp. Let him who stole, even though that man previously considered it the way to live and there was no shame in it, no sin in it. He said, Well, let that fellow who stole, steal no more. Something has happened on the inside of that man. Something that happened, where He is able to meet all of our need according to His riches in glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. More than conquerors.

A record in the Old Testament, I forget where it is, but it's in there, that it' s never, you never need to borrow or steal bread or... what is that in the Old Testament? Begging bread. One person stand and tell me. {Psalm 37:25, I have been young and now am old; yet have I seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread.} Psalm 27:25 who? {Psalm 37:25} 37:25. All the years, he's never seen the righteous to have to do what? {Beg bread} Beg bread.

First of all, I wish the Christian world could hear this. Secondly, I wish our government in the United States could understand it. The Word says, If you don't work, you don' t eat. A lot of that stuff. Well, what we've been doing is stealing from the people who are willing to work to give to the people who don' t want to work. That's a bunch of crap. That's stealing. That's why this verse is so hot in my soul tonight. Let him who stole, quit stealing, dang it. See.

Many years ago I was really knocked for a loop along some of this line in India, from Dr. Williams. I think he loved India maybe like I love the United States, I don' t know. Because only a man knows how much he loves his own country, I guess.

But... as we were traveling together, he said to me, Dr. Wierwille, I hear you have whores in the United States.

You know, I never had given it a thought. I just took it for granted. [Laughter] And I said, yeah. He said, Why does a rich country like the United States have whores?

And I said, I don't know.

And he said, I can't understand it. Cannot your women make enough money to live? Yeah, but they figure that' s cheaper and more pleasurable or something, I don' t know. And he said, Well, I think it's sinful that the United States has whores.

And I said, What do you mean?

And he said to me, why, I can understand India. He said we don' t enough food, we don' t have enough of anything hardly for a lot of people. And we have whores because that' s the only way they can continue to live physically.

And I thought to myself, well boy, that' s slapping me in the face good. And I took it as a wonderful lesson. There is no excuse in the United States for any women being a whore because she doesn' t need to get screwed and paid for it in order to get money so she can live. There's plenty of work available and if there isn' t she ought to get born again, then there' s a guarantee of work. ..other work, available. I tell you, when you' re honest, some of these men in other countries have some real logic behind their thinking. How would you have liked to have handled that? I just simply admitted, Well, I think we' re wrong in the United States. But I said, I think you' re wrong in India, too, because no reason to have whores here if you get them born again.

So I don' t know. But this verse today as I worked the final working on this verse 28 is when my heart really went back and burned with that truth that Dr. Williams had stated. Because in many Eastern cultures, it was not considered as sin or as shame to steal, if it was a matter of livelihood. You sometimes wonder who will live in the greatest condemnation before God and justice and judgment when the time comes.

For in most of what are called poor countries even, there is sufficient money, food, and other things for the people to live if those in positions of authority were not so selfish and egotistical, and want it for themselves , and let the rest of the world die... or a country die.

The word ' labor' in verse 28 is the word which literally means ' hard work resulting in fatigue.' That's how I felt coming from the woods last night. And I didn' t do anything. It was just hard work being there with the rest of you. Today I got so tired of being with some, I came home. Ah, you' re wonderful.

' Working with his hands' is an Eastern cultural type of thing. Today in our culture, you could have it, you know, the truth is working with your mind or working with your hand, whatever you' re working at. But in Eastern culture, every son was to be trained to work with his hands, even if he was the son of a king. Had to learn a trade, a profession of business.

Jesus Christ was a saddle maker. He made them to ride, I guess, what do you want? Tennessee Walkers , or? See. I think not only did he do that, Paul did it, too, you know. Someday I'm going to find a...or Walter, or some of those, are going to find me a manuscript to prove it. .. and a wonderful carpenter by trade. Many times doing carpentry work and being a saddle maker were sort of in the same household, because building carpentry and having saddles to use for their business and carrying on, were very, very closely aligned. Well, I won' t argue the point, but I wish we' d keep looking.

II Thessalonians.. .Do your hands ever get so dry you can hardly hold anything? Golly, mine are so dry tonight, I wonder why? II Thessalonians, chapter 3:10... this we commanded you that if any would not work, neither should he what? [Eat] Right. Even unemployment is no excuse for stealing. He just doesn' t eat. Goes and gets work. Boy, when I first saw the greatness of these principles many years ago, and then of course, I uniquely by God' s grace, inculcated that into our W.O.W. program and very dynamically in the Corps leadership.

ROMANS 1:18-26
January 9, 1979
We’re still in Chapter One of Romans. We finished verse 18 last time, so we’ll begin with
a review and then move into same of the other verses in Romans 1. I believe the people
who gather here with us tonight at The Day in the Word will greatly appreciate this
particular section that we are dealing with in the Corps, because of what I taught you in the
session this morning on John 1:1 and John 1:2.
Romans 1:18
That’s the nature of wrath. The nature of the wrath of God is against all ungodliness and all
unrighteousness, who suppress the truth. The day of wrath is referred to in Romans 2:5.
Romans 2:5
There’s a day earning, and it’s referred to as the day of wrath, which is the apocalypse, the
appearing, when God through Jesus Christ will do the judging. It’s a righteous judgment of
God. The first time Jesus came, man did the judging. It was they who condemned him; it
was they who crucified him, God’s only begotten son. But when the Lord returns, the
apocalypse, he’s coming back not as a child to be born in a stable or manger, not as one
whom they will spit in his face and curse him, not as one that they’ll say ye are of
Beelzebub. But he’s coming back as king of king and lord of lords. He’s coming back in
righteous judgment. A man who does not break the law never needs to fear the police
siren. It’s when you’ve broken the law, when you’re living contrary to what you know
you’re supposed to live, then when you hear the siren and see the police, then you freak.
People are like that regarding God. There is nothing to fear regarding the return of Christ
unless you are going to be in the day of wrath and be in that judgment when he cones as
king of kings and lord of lords, because you did not accept him as your lord and savior
while you had the privilege.
The word “wrath,” and “God’s wrath,,”and “the judgment of God,” falls particularly on
Babylon. Babylon is used figuratively at times as the great city of all wickedness.
Revelation 16:19
That’s the day of the judgment of God, particularly on Babylon. Why Babylon? Because of
idolatry, which is extreme uncleanness.
Revelation 14:8-11
Fornication – immorality; the immorality was idolatry.
The nature of wrath bringing in the day of wrath when it conies is Biblically against
idolatry. Idolatry is extreme uncleanness.
Romans 1:18-32 capsulizes for us the idolatry of the satanic system in all its naked horror,
indicating that they are worthy of death, having pleasure in the deeds of evil.
Romans 1:32
Why?
Romans 1:19
Because of this, turning to other gods, worshipping other gods than the one true God.
Because of this, that’s why you have the wrath of God against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men in Verse 18. Because of this, that they turned to other gods.
“Because of this” is used five times in this chapter: Verse. 19, Verse 21, Verse 24 –
“Wherefore” is “because of this,” Verse 26, and Verse 28 –”Even as” is “because of this.”
Five times in the immediate context you have the result indicated because of this,
worshipping of idols, worshipping more than the one true God. Because of the
unrighteousness of men, because they rejected the truth of the one God. Because of this,
you have it five times.
II Thessalonians 1:7
Romans 1:21
Romans 1:28
II Thessalonians 1:8
That’s the wrath we talked about in Romans 1:18.
Romans 1:25
You have to work at II Thessalonians 2:10, 11.
II Thessalonians 2:10, 11
The lie is the great truth that the Bible states about Babylon, the religious whore, the
spiritual whore, the great wicked city.
Romans 1:32
You have to look at II Thessalonians 2:12
II Thessalonians 2:12
I Thessalonians 1:9
“True” is one God. When the ministry of the Word came to the Thessalonians, they turned
the people from idols to the true God.
That’s why when I put all this wrath of God together for you and work this thing in
Romans, you will see that the basic thing God is dealing with is idolatry.
I Thessalonians 1:10
We’ve been delivered, because we’re not worshipping idols.
I Thessalonians 4:5
Romans 1:19
Because that which may be known – The text reads, “Because that which is known.” Not
nay be, it is known of God. The Greek word en autois. These words do not mean among
them, but in them as a habit pattern because of their believing. It’s an internal
manifestation. They had it.
For God showed it unto them.
Because of this, turning to other gods, which is known of God, was manifested to them, for
God showed (same word in text as manifested), God manifested, showed it, unto them.
People, ignorance of the true God is willful sin, because light is available. Therefore, all
ungodliness is without excuse.
Romans 1:18-26 83
Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of him – Him who? God, Who is Spirit.
From the creation of the world are clearly seen – Those words, “clearly seen,” really have
an impact. It’s the Greek word horae plus kata, meaning down. It literally means to look
down upon and see clearly. It’s like standing on top of something and you scrutinize that
below it minutely. That’s that word, “clearly seen.”
Being understood by the things that are made. Scratch “even.”
His eternal power and Godhead – His eternal – “Eternal” is the Greek word aidios.
“Power” is dunamis. “Godhead” is the Greek word theiotēs.
Even his eternal dunamis and Godhead, one God, head God.
Colossians 2:9
God is the head of Christ. It says so in the Word. He’s the head God.
The head is divine. Head God. How many heads do you have? One. There is one God.
He’s the Godhead. Most people, when they think of Godhead, they think of God the son,
God the holy spirit, God the Jesus Christ, and God the Virgin Mary or something. No! One
head. He is the one God, head God. He’s the head of Christ. Christ is the head of the
church.
That’s the integrity and accuracy of the Word. His eternal power and Godhead, head God.
Eternal dunamis of the head God.
So that they are without excuse. You have no excuse for your unrighteousness. Light is
available. The only answer you can possibly have is what the scripture says, you’d rather
walk in darkness than the light. You make the decision yourself. You would rather walk in
unrighteousness than righteousness. You’d rather walk in darkness than in light, the Word
says. Light is available. Every man is without excuse.
The words, “so that they are,” literally translated according to usage are “to the end of their
being” without excuse.
“Excuse” is the Greek word anapologētos. Just take a look at that word. Drop the an. What
English word would you come up with? Apologies. That’s what the word comes from. He
is without any apology. He has no excuse. It’s all over with. You can’t pray to God that
you’re sorry you screwed up the works. No apologies. You talk about the accuracy and
depth of the Word.
That’s fantastic.
Colossians 1:8
Thought I looked this up. It’s not there.
Ephesians 1:22
Colossians 1:18
God is the head of Christ. He is the head God. Christ is the head of the church. What do
you run your physical body by – your tootsies or your head? You head makes your tootsies
run. Your physical body is entirely under the operation and the control of your head. The
church of the body is entirely under the direction of the head, who is Christ. God’s only
begotten son. Not V.P. Wierwille, not the president of a denomination, not the president of
The Way. The church of the body has only one head, Christ. Who do you take orders
from? The head. That’s right. That’s why we study to show ourselves approved unto God,
the head, God, not a man.
Every man is without excuse. God has removed every possible excuse for man to be
ignorant of Him. No man needs to walk in darkness unless he wants to. The light is
available. Therefore, don’t let anybody ever tell you what about the poor people in Africa.
What about those poor heathens who have never heard? I’ve found that most of the poor
heathens live right next door to you in the United States.
Psalm 8:1-9
Fits in beautifully with Romans 1:20.
They are without excuse because the invisible things of God can be clearly seen and
understood. How? By the things that are visible, that are made.
Romans 1:21
Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.
“Glorified” is the word doxazō. It’s a verb form. To glorify means to set in a position of
highest honor, highest praise, highest esteem. Because when they knew God, they did not
continue to set Him in that position of highest honor, highest praise, highest esteem. That’s
the word glorified.
Glorified and worship are interrelated. If you glorify God, you’ll worship Him. If you
worship God, you’ll glorify Him. They are real closely aligned. That’s why I gave you the
literal of it, to set in a position of highest honor. If God is in the position of highest honor,
who do you worship? Who do you glorify? God. Understand?
Romans 15:6
One God. That is righteousness. It is the righteous judgment of God to worship one God.
Glorify God, worship God.
Romans 15:9
The noun form of this verb is the word glory. Glory is in the Greek doxa.
I was going to read you all these verses, but my hour is gone, and I’ve got other things to
teach. So I’m going to give you the references. You can check them for yourself and put
together the greatness of what I’m sharing with you.
Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. They did not continue to
give Him the’ position of worship. I am the Lord thy God. I’m a jealous God. Remember
that one? Jealous doesn’t mean jealousy as the green-eyed monster. God desires to be
worshipped. The god of this world, the Adversary, desires to be worshipped. They knew
the true God, so they are without excuse. Light was there, but they chose to not glorify,
which is to worship.
In Luke 14:10 this same word is translated “worship” in the King James.
The word glory, doxa, is used the following times in Romans: 1:23; 2:7,10; 3:7,23; 4:20;
5:2; 6:4; 8:18,21; 9:4,23; 11:36; 15:7; 16:27.
Romans 1:21
Two things – They glorified Him not as God, nor were they thankful. Thankful for what?
Romans 1:18-26 85
For God’s goodness to them. When people do not glorify the true God, when they do not
worship the true God, they will not be thankful for God’s goodness. They’ll think they did
it all. I am the savior of my soul, they will think. That’s what that verse is talking about.
They do exactly what Genesis 3:5 says when the Adversary said to Eve, Ye shall be as
God. When men quit worshipping the true God and are not thankful, they always make
themselves God. Science has been a god for most people.
Matthew 19:17
There’s only one good, and that’s God.
Acts 14:8-15
There’s only one God. Neither were thankful for God’s goodness. Paul wasn’t God. The
true God whom they served and worshipped, He is good. That’s why Paul and those boys
told them to cool it,
I Thessalonians 5:18
Neither were thankful is what Romans says. Thessalonians says in all things give thanks.
There’s only one good, God. They had just forgotten this. They had suppressed it. They
had suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. They pushed it down. Light was available but
they didn’t want it. The knowledge of the true God was available, but they refused to
accept it or believe it.
Romans 1:21
But became vain in their imaginations. “Vain” is the Greek word mataioōmai. It means
literally “useless to God and themselves..” They became vain, useless to God and to
themselves. People, when you reach that stage in life, you might as well commit Hara-kiri
and have it over with, because you are useless to God and yourself. It’s interesting that in
the Hebrew the word is habal. In the Old Testament this word is used regarding idols.
“Neither were thankful; but became useless to God and themselves.”
There are two words in the Greek also for vain. One word is kenōs, which is the content.
The word mataios is the result. The result when you don’t glorify God nor are thankful, the
result is uselessness to God and yourself. Ignorance of God is willful sin, because light and
truth are available, so that every man is without excuse.
Vain in imaginations, or reasonings. The old boy can no longer add two plus two and cone
up with four. He no longer can handle three days and three nights, except he come up with
good Friday, good Saturday and bright and early Sunday morning. His reasonings are vain.
In plain language the Bible says he is mentally deranged, nuts. He is insane. That’s what it
says if you have eyes to see and earballs to hear.
The Greek word is very defining. It is the word diologismos. Drop the “o” and you have
dialogue. We get our English word dialogue from this. Imagination is a dialogue of self.
It’s ego reasoning.
And their foolish heart was darkened. Foolish is undiscerning heart. He no longer can
make a proper discernment, because he is senseless.
Romans 1:31
Without understanding is the same word as “foolish.”
Romans 1:21
And their foolish heart. Without any understanding. They are darkened. They are living in
the night time of life. “Darkened” is spiritually dark. Their foolish heart was spiritually
dark. Their senseless heart, without understanding, was spiritually dark.
Optomologist’s tell me that the human eye looses its power of seeing when deprived of
light. I’ve always thought that man really looses his power of seeing when he does not
glorify the true God and be thankful.
Psalm 36:9
Psalm 106:19-21, 23, 28, 29
In Verse 29, inventions were what they set up, phallic symbols they worshipped, etc.
Romans 1:22
They became senseless. The ability to reason logically and truthfully became impaired
when the true God is or was abused. The ability of man to reason logically and truthfully
becomes impaired when the true God is abused.
Psalm 111:10
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. The Word of God says the fear, the
reverence, the awe, the respect of the Lord, that’s the beginning of wisdom.
Proverbs 2:6In Romans the people professed themselves as the wise ones, the men with
all the wisdom. Reminds me of Job saying to his three miserable comforters, I guess you
fellows have the cornerstone and seal up all the wisdom.
Romans 1:23
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible, which is incorruptible, Old English. When
they changed from glorifying the true God and being thankful, they exchanged one for
another. See, the incorruptible God cannot be changed. He’s still incorruptible no matter
what man does. Man takes that incorruptible God and he builds himself an idol. When they
do not worship the true God or remain thankful to the true God, they change from the true
God and in His place they exchange something, because every man, every woman, is
basically spiritual. He has a heart. He needs something. He’ll either worship the true God
or he’ll worship himself, or he’ll worship the state. He has to have something. That’s the
way he’s made, just like you’re made to have physical food. Your body will have to have
physical food.
Changed the glory. Would be beautiful if you read, “And exchanged the glory of the
incorruptible God,,” which it is.
Into an image made like – Exchanged one for the other. The incorruptible God they
exchanged for an image. The text reads, in the likeness of an image to corruptible man.
And to birds, hawks, and fourfooted beasts, bulls and cows that are worshipped. Even to
this day a cow is sacred in India. You can slug your wife, but don’t slug a cow. When a
cow walks on the street you put your hand on his butt and gently go along it. The cow is
the mother of life, sacred. You talk about this verse. Take a look at it.
You have a polysyndeton here, many ands. Corruptible man, AND birds, AND fourfooted
beasts, AND creeping things.
Creeping things, the asp, the serpent, also discarbious eagle, which is the emblem of the
devil spirit world. The serpent, the emblem I think of the AMA [American Medical
Romans 1:18-26 87
Association].
Let’s compare II Timothy. Boy, this is just fantastic.
II Timothy 3:1-7
Romans 1:24
“Wherefore” – Because of this Scratch “also.”
Because of this God gave them up. Why? Because they willfully gave Him up. God gave
them up. The second usage is in Verse 26, because of this God gave them up. Its third
usage is in Verse 28.
The Greek word is paradidōmi, which literally means hand over to the power of another.
God gave them up to uncleanness. God gave them up because they willfully gave Him up.
They were serving other gods. Hand it over to the power of another, to uncleanness.
Through – remaining within, continuous. They deliberately continued in the lusts of their
own hearts.
This is not an irretrievable condition. In Romans 1:16 it says it’s the power of God unto
salvation unto everyone that believes. Therefore, this condition is not an irretrievable one.
But I want to tell you, it’s on pretty skinny ground.
Through the lusts of their own hearts.
To dishonor their own bodies between themselves. “Between” is en. With a collective
noun it must be translated “among.” Dishonoring their own bodies among, not between
two people, but among a whole bunch of people. That’s how accurate that Romans is.
Romans 1:25
Since they changed. Why? For they had exchanged the truth of God, worshipped, glorify
and be thankful of Verse 21, into a lie. They had exchanged the truth of God worshipped
for the lie, is the text. They exchanged it for Satan, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).
And they worshipped him. They worshipped and served the creature, that which was
created, the Adversary, Lucifer. They worshipped and served the creature, that which was
created, the Adversary.
To worship is to hold in reverence or in praise, to glorify. They worshipped and served the
creature more than, instead of, the Creator, the true God, who is the blessed one forever.
“Forever” means throughout all ages.
Then comes “Amen.” When man uses it, it means “so let it be.” When God uses it, it
means “it is and shall be.”
Romans 1:26
Because of this God gave them up. Because they worshipped idols and not the true God.
They worshipped the creature, the Adversary, Lucifer, and everything along with it, more
than the Creator. God gave them up. Same as Verse 24.
Unto vile affections – passions of infamy, lusts. Lust is lust when need ceases. Lust begins
where need ceases. They didn’t worship the true God. They began lusting after other gods.
They worshipped other gods, and God gave them up, because they gave Him up.
To passions of lusts, infamy.
For even their women did change the natural use into. “Into” is the word eis, meaning for.
It’s the accusative case here, and means reaching out unto. They gave up their natural use
and they reached out unto that lesbian, homo quality, that which is against…
“Against” is para, meaning beside, or beyond, nature, the natural use of the woman.
That’s all we’re going to do on this tonight. But you can sure see where we are. And they
want me to stand with the homos and lesbians, give them freedom to teach in our schools,
to take our kids home. I don’t know. All I know is the Word. I know that when you serve
man and man is the idol, he starts downgrade, he is senseless, he is useless, his mind
fashions all kinds of evil inventions. And in action, the lowest man can go is homo,
lesbian, which is Romans Chapter 1.
A man was made to have intercourse with a woman, and vice versa. No woman was ever
made to have intercourse with a woman. No man was ever made to mess with a man. The
woman was made for the man, and the man for the woman. I wish I could teach you the
rest of Romans tonight, but I’m tired and we’re going to close. There it is. If you want to
live in darkness you have the same privilege. But you are without excuse. The light is
available. That, I know, is the right dividing of Romans Chapter 1 as far as we’ve gone.