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Sermon #3030

Their Foolish Heart was Darkened

A Sermon on Romans 1:18-20

Originally preached May 18, 1956

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Scripture

Romans 1:18-20 ESV KJV
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 …

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Sermon Description

God will punish sin. Sin never escapes His notice and He will pour out His wrath on it. In this sermon titled “Their Foolish Heart was Darkened,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd- Jones furthers the study of God’s wrath in this sermon on Romans 1:18–20 and shows the inexcusability of sin. Dr. Lloyd-Jones warns that humanity cannot plead ignorance since God put in the heart a universal knowledge of right and wrong, His existence, and His holy standard. In what ways has this knowledge been revealed? It is in both general and special revelation. In great detail, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains what these two types of revelation look like and how unbelievers suppress the truth and fight against it. The fundamental cause of rebellion is pride and overall wickedness. Atheists claim there is no God, but are only denying what He put both in their hearts and in all of creation. The next step after pride is for the Lord to lead hearts out of darkness. The Bible says that without Christ, there is darkness, but because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, there is now light with the Lord.

Sermon Breakdown

  1. The wrath of God is revealed against sin for two main reasons:
  2. The character of sin: ungodliness and unrighteousness

  3. The utter inexcusability of sin: mankind cannot plead ignorance

  4. Mankind cannot plead ignorance because:

  5. The truth was known to them but they deliberately suppressed it
  6. The knowledge of God is available to them through creation, providence, and history

  7. There is a universal sense of God and conscience in all of mankind

  8. The knowledge of God available through creation, providence, and history is enough to render men inexcusable but not enough to save them. It reveals:

  9. God's eternal power and divinity (excellence, attributes, abilities)

  10. Not the whole truth about God or the way of salvation

  11. Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness:

  12. They restrain, hold down, and fight against the truth

  13. They do so deliberately through their unrighteousness and sin

  14. The reasons men suppress the truth:

  15. Pride and pride of intellect: they think themselves wise but became fools
  16. Wickedness: instead of accepting revelation, they relied on their own foolish and wicked reasonings

  17. Their foolish heart was darkened: they lost spiritual understanding and insight

  18. The only hope for those in darkness is the gospel - the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Romans

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.