The Court Proceeding
The Charge 
HIGH TREASON! You are charged with High Treason against God. A very serious charge… not against your country but against God! The Savior will be the judge.
It’s the Creator against His creatures. (Sinful) The defendants are the humans that God made and God the creator is the prosecution.
Jesus is the judge. Not the Father, but the Lord Jesus. The Father entrusts Jesus to judge. Whom He hath ordained & raised from the dead.
The defendants:
Moral man- the heathen, they enthrone human reasoning and dethrone divine revelation. Becoming consciously irreligious and consequently irrational. Basically it’s their darkened heart. He becomes conceited and foolish, or rather- very stupid.
Pagan man- the hypocrite, thinks other people’s sins are worse than their own. They compare themselves to others and think they are high and mighty. They flatter themselves but foolishly are measuring themselves to the wrong standard. God’s standard of measurement is the Law and the sin of the hypocrite is that of being indignant at the shortcomings of others while being indulgent of his own. The hypocrite places himself on very thin ice. He faces the judgement of God himself. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds.” (Romans 2: 5-6)
Religious man- the Hebrew, False religious systems enslave people both sensually and spiritually. All were charged with High Treason. This is the man with a powerless religion. Mere orthodoxy in religion does not make a person more acceptable to God. Having access to an open Bible will greatly increase a person’s responsibility in the sight of God. A persons access to the truth will increase their accountability to the truth. “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” (V.13) “The Truth shall set you free!”
Let’s review the detailed indictments: (V. 21-32)
First Indictment – (V.21) Ingratitude, not thankful for creation or redemption. And Pride, they had a heart problem. Thankful people are not prideful and a lack of thanks leads to Apostacy. Self-will and Pride both seem to be severe sins in the Bible. Lucifer and Adam had those traits. The Antidote for Pride is Thanksgiving.
Second Indictment– (V.22) An unsanctified philosophy, insolent fools- professing themselves as wise they became fools- morons. It’s a fool that says in his heart, there is no God. Let’s face it folks people are right now further away from God now than ever before. Man is self-sufficient. God is dead they say. But there is a reckoning coming.
Third Indictment– (V.23) They turned away from God and preferred idols. Man, birds, beasts and creeping things. They made God like man. They thought of God in terms of man. They sought to bring God down to man’s level. It was man seeking to corrupt God.
Fourth Indictment– (V.24-27) Sexual Perversions, homosexuality, lesbianism, vile affections, everything under imagination… “God also gave them up to uncleanness [or filthiness] through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: for they changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” (Rom 1:24-25).
Fifth Indictment– (V.28-32) Incorrigibility, a reprobate mind, not convenient, depraved. “For this cause God gave them up to unnatural affections: for even their women did exchange the natural use for that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men doing that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was necessary. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are [unspeakable,] not convenient, [not proper]” (Rom 1:26-28)
- Fornication
- Wickedness- (Mentioned 360 times in the Bible.)
- Covetousness- (the one of the 10 Commandments impossible to keep)
- Maliciousness- (unusual cruelty)
- Envy- (unlawful desire of something or someone)
- Murder- (the only sin that can never be forgiven by the victim)
- Debate- (contention or strife)
- Deceit- (bait or snare)
- Malignity- (harbored hatred)
- Whisperers- (secret slander- “devil” means “to slander”
- Back Biters- (open slander)
- God haters.
- Despiteful- (insolence and insulting)
- Proud- (with a swagger)
- Boasters- (in word)
- Inventors of Evil- (torture and evil intentions)
- Disobedient to Parents- (The beginning of Anarchy)
- Without understanding- (Blindness of the heart and “darkened” Eph 4:18-19)
- Covenant breakers- (their word is worthless)
- Without natural affection- (without love)
- Implacable – (2 Tim. 3) (unforgiving, unsparing and unappeasable)
- Unmerciful
No one has an excuse. All are guilty before God. As John said, man is “condemned already”, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)
The Jury
Conscience of man (1:19) – Conscience is a goad but not always a guide. The conscience must be educated and monitored by the Word of God.
“Because that which may be known of God is manifested in them; for God hath shown it unto them.” (Rom 1:19) God has inscribed certain things into our hearts. We know what is right and we know what is wrong. God has shown it unto us. That’s what the word manifested means. We have Intellect- we know whether an action is right or wrong. We have Sensibility – what would I like to do about it?
We have a Conscience- what should I do about it? The question is what shape is your conscience in?
An evil conscience, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb. 10:22)
A defiled conscience, “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” (Titus 1:15) – “guilty”
A weak conscience, ” Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” (1 Cor. 8) A bit immature- don’t have all the facts.
A good conscience, ” And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” (Acts 23:1) – This is what we want.
A seared conscience, “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Tim. 4:2) This is the worst.
What a devastating day it will be when God calls into the light all the hidden works of darkness. We all have guilty secrets, things we have done which we should not have done and things we didn’t do that we should have done. Those secrets will not be overlooked or forgotten by God. One day it will all be exposed. “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” (Romans 2:16)
The Will– what I am going to do about it.
The deeds of man- good deeds cannot save anyone. “Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom 2:6)
“But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment”. (Matt. 12:36)
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 11-15)
The Works of God. The invisible God is revealed through His creation and the Heavens declare the Glory of God. (Rom. 1:19-20
The Law of God. “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.” (Rom. 2: 12-14)
We have seen the charge, looked at the defendants, the indictments and the jury.
Join me next time as we look at the defense and continue in
the Trial of the Ages.
God bless you all,
The Tubthumper.