I.  The World Conspiracy (vss. 1-3)

      A. Collective thinking without meeting–“How can there be a ‘conspiracy’ without everyone getting together and planning?”

          1.  All men have the same sinful nature.

          2.  All men serve the same god. (II Cor. 4:4, Jn. 8:44)

          3.  The “world system” is the same in all countries.  They all follow the way of Romans 1–pro-evolution, pro-fornication, pro-sodomy, anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Bible.

     C.  Collective thinking with meetings (“take counsel together”)

          1.  The “elite” of the world do meet and plan. (U.N., CFR, Trilateral Commission, Bilderburg Group, Club of Rome, Bohemian Grove, etc.)

          2.  These “elite” are influenced by spiritual forces (Eph. 6:12).

               a.  Some of these people openly acknowledge their anti-scriptural beliefs and rituals.

               b.  Much of this spiritual influence is unkown to us, and would likely shock us.

                    1)  The “princes” behind nations (Dan. 10:13, 20).  It appears that the nations of the earth have something akin to “guardian angels.”  Some are obedient to God and others are not.

                     2)  Every angel in scripture looks like a young man.  Could there be angelic beings meeting with and guiding world leaders?  (Heb. 13:2) 

II.  God’s Response to World Conspiracy (vss. 4-12)

     A.  The nations of the earth are little more than a joke to God (Isa. 40:17).

     B.  Jerusalem is for Jesus

          1.  The U.N. Security Council has passed at least 6 resolutions against Israel for occupying Jerusalem.

          2.  Most, if not all, foreign embassies are located in Tel Aviv.  The community of nations, including the U. S., do not recognize Jerusalem as the legitamite captial of Israel alone.

          3.  Israeli Prime Minsiter Netanyahu said, “Jerusalem belongs to the Jewish people and will remain under Israeli sovereignty for eternity.”  He is close to being right.  God did promise this to Abraham, however, Jerusalem actually belongs to God.  He has punished Israel in the past by sending them out of His land.

     C.  Verse 7 speaks of the first coming of Jesus Christ.

     D.   Verses 8-12 speak of the millenial reign of Jesus Christ.

           1.  He will rule as a military dictator.

           2.  Absolute worship of Jesus Christ will be required of all nations.

                a.  The Feast of the Tabernacles will be celebrated or rain will be witheld. (Zech. 14:16-19)

                 b.  At His second coming, you can either choose to kiss the antichrist or Jesus Christ.  This idea of “kiss the Son” is an act of worship, like kissing a ring or feet.  (Rev. 14:9-11)

I.  The Righteous Man (verses 1-3)

     A. He is blessed.  “Blessed” means “happy.”  (Gen. 30:13)

     B.  The way to happiness (negative).

           1.  Don’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly.

                  a.  Whose advice do you follow about life? (TV, celebreties, etc.)

                  b.  Who are your influences on what and how you think, how you talk, how you dress, etc.?

                  c.  As a Christian you should be walking in the Spirit and not the flesh.

            2. Don’t stand in the way of sinners.

                  a.  Are you out milling around were the world is?

                  b.  A bad environment can, and most often will, affect you.

                  c.  As Christians we should be standing in the power of His might equipped with the whole armour of God.

           3. Don’t sit in the seat of the scornful.

                 a.  Now the progression of sin has led you to become comfortably entrenched with the wicked.

                 b.  “Scorn” means to deride, or show contempt.  The literal meaning from the Hebrew gives the idea of moving your mouth–like a mocker.

                 c.  These scorners abound today sitting around mocking and making light of God, His word, His people, etc.  Even many Christians find themselves seated here making fun of the things of God.

                 d.  As Christians we are to be seated in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).  We should be soaring like eagles up on that higher plane rather than squawking on the ground with all the turkeys.

     C.  The way of happiness (positive).

           1. He delights (loves, enjoys) God’s word.

                  a.  He doesn’t ignore it.

                  b.  He doesn’t correct it.

                  c.  He doesn’t try to explain it away.

            2.  He meditates on God’s word through the day.

                   a.  This is not the meditation of yoga and Eastern mysticism which instruct you to empty your mind.  Such practices can be dangerous and are meant to fill your mind with spritiual influences (not the Holy Spirit).

                    b.  To meditate on God’s word means to constantly think it over, to chew on it.

     D.  How is this righteous man blessed?

           1.  “Tree planted by the rivers of water”

                    a.  He is made strong and stable.

                    b. He has a constant supply of what’s needed.  We have the promise of God’s provision of our needs in Phillipians 4.

            2.  “Bringeth forth its fruit in its season”

                    a.  Fruit naturally comes from fruit trees.  We also produce fruit when we are by the water.  (Metaphorically–the fruit of the Spirit and the “water” of God’s word)

                    b.  Fruit does have its seasons.  You may not show fruit at all times.

            3.  “Leaf shall not wither”

                   a.  The righteous man has life.

                   b.  Christians ought to be lively and not appear to be dead.

            4.  Prosperity

                   a.  Don’t think that prosperity is the same thing as money.  It may include money, but it is so much more.

                   b.  To be prosperous, means that good comes from everything in life.  Romans 8:28 also gives us this promise.

II.  The Ungodly Man (vss. 4-6)

       A.  “Not so”

            1.   All of the characteristics and blessings just given for the righteous man do not apply to the ungodly.

            2.  The ungodly man may appear to have it all, and he may for a relatively short time.   There is pleasure in sin for a season, but in the end there is no blessing.

     B.  He is like chaff.

            1.   There is no strength or stability in the throw away husk of wheat kernels.

            2.  He is spiritually dead.

            3.   There is no real prosperity.

     C.  The end of the ungodly.

             1.  They will continue to be outcast from God for eternity.

             2.  They will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne judgment and give an account of their lives.

      Other than its length, what else do you know about the book?  Do you consider it simply a place to find devotional material?

     A.  The Profitability of the Book (II Tim. 3:16-17)

            1. Comfort–the devotional material (ex. Psa. 42:1-5)

            2. Praise–God gave us the words with which we could praise Him.  (ex. Psa. 34:1-3)

            3. Doctrine–The Crucifixion, the Tribultion, the Second Coming, and the Millenial Reign are all found in the Psalms.  (ex. Psa. 22 & 45)

     B. The Programming of the Book 

          1. Spiritual benefit (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16)

          2. Spiritual and physical benefits (Jas. 5:13)

Program your mind (brainwash) by meditating on the Psalms.

II.  The Placement of the Book of Psalms

     A.  Physically in the middle of the Bible.

           1.  A place of importance–the “heart” of the Bible.

           2.  A place of purpose

                 a.  Middle verses of the Bible (Psa. 103:1-2; verses 15,551 and 15,552 respectively)

                 b.  The verses are composed of 28 (7 x 4) words total.  Study the recurring pattern of  ”sevens” throughout scripture.

                  c.  If you read 12 words into the verses and count 12 words from the end of the verses, you would find the middle phrase of the middle verses of the Bible–”Bless His holy name.”

     B.  Job-Song of Solomon outline

          1. Job–the Unhappy Man

          2. Psalms–the Happy Man (“blessed”)

          3. Proverbs–the Wise Man

          4. Ecclesiastes–the Worldy Man

          5.  Song of Solomon–the Heavenly Man (the Bridgroom coming for His bride from Heaven)

     C.  Ezra–Psalms

         1.  Ezra–the Jews Regathered (1918 Jewish Homeland Agreement)

         2.  Nehemiah–the Jews Rebuilding  (1948 Israel becomes a nation)

         3.  Esther–the Gentile bride is out and the Jewish bride is in  (the N..T. church, the bride of Christ,  is raptured and God’s bride, Israel, is in focus again)

         4.  Job–the Jews in Great Tribulation (Job has 42 chapters, just as the “time of Jacob’s trouble” will have 42 months)

         5.  Psalms–the Blessings that accompany the King

III.  The Divisions of the Book of Psalms

     A.  The 150 Psalms were written over a period of several hundred years and by several known and unkown writers by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

     B.  Their are 5 different books that make up the Psalms.  Some point to a correlation between these 5 books and the 5 books of Moses.

          1.  Book 1 (Psa. 1-41)/Genesis–man’s fall and Jehovah’s redemption of man

          2.  Book 2 (Psa. 42-72)/Exodus–a ruined nation calling for deliverence

          3.  Book 4 (Psa. 73-89)/Leviticus–written by the temple priests for worship

          4.  Book 4 (Psa. 90-106)/Numbers–the Kingdom of Israel is supreme; the Kingdom of God is supreme

          5.  Book 5 (Psa. 107-150)/Deuteronomy–new beginning in the promised land

     A.  Man judges others against his own goodness (Rom. 2:1).

           1.  Ask any lost man if Hitler or Charles Manson deserves judgment; most will say yes.

            2.  The lost man doesn’t see his unbelief as sin.

      B.  The lost man condemns himself (Rom. 2:3).  See the list in Rom. 1:29-32.

             1.  By saying that some things are wrong, he admits that there is a difference between right and wrong and that he understands the difference.

              2.  Some people claim that there is no natural law of absolute right and wrong.

Note:  A Christian is not really judging the lost man when he points to his sin.  A lost man is actually condemned already and is awaiting his sentence to be read and executed.

II.  God’s Judgment

        A.  It is based on truth (Rom. 2:2).  God’s truth is an unchanging standard; unlike men’s opinions.

         B.  It is longsuffering (Rom. 2:4).

               1.  Man say’s that for God to be good, he wouldn’t judge harshly a man who does good.

                2.  God will allow a man to continue living his life without judgment coming immediately.

                 3.  All the blessings God grants to the lost are meant to point him to Christ (Matt. 5:45, Acts 14:16-17).

                  4.  Even the bad things that happen to the lost are the result of God’s grace, and these events, too, are meant to point him to Christ.

III.  Rejected Light vs. Recieved Light

         A.  Received light leads men to God (Rom. 2:7).

              1.  Gentiles have the light of conscience (Rom. 2:14-15) and nature (Rom. 1:19-20, Psa. 19:1-5).

              2.  This light answers the age old question, “How are the heathen saved who have never heard of Christ?”

                   a.  It seems like a paradox, but the grace of God accounts for the high infant mortality rate of third world countries.  Those children die in innocence.

                    b.  One can read of seemingly miraculous ways that the gospel has gotten to benighted bushmen throughout the years.

                     c.  One can also hear of seemingly miraculous ways that American heathen have been brought to a knowledge of Jesus Christ.  There are many accounts of adults who have lived as atheists, drunkards, Catholics, etc. who have been saved after hearing the gospel.

          B.  Rejected light lays up “treasures” of God’s wrath (Rom. 2:5,-6,9).

Note:  The witness of the conscience can be seared and defiled through repeated sin (I Tim. 4:2, Titus 1:15).

            C.  The Jews have three witnesses (conscience, nature, the Law) (Rom. 2:12). 

                   1.  Paul directs sarcastic remarks toward Jewish “guides” (Rom. 2:17-24).

                    2.  Circumcision without keeping the Law is worthless (Rom. 2:25). 

Note:  Gen. 17:1 states that if the Jews don’t keep the Law they have broken the Abrahamic Covenant.

                     3.  A Gentile who follows the Law in his conscience is as good as a circumcised Jew.

     A.  They knew God, but went their own way (Rom. 1:21).

           1.  All races and nationalities come from Noah’s three sons (Gen. 10).

           2.  The story of the flood and God’s judgment was passed down by these sons to their children.  Everyone knew about this worldwide catastrophe.  (This can be seen in the various Flood stories throughout the ancient world.)

            3.  Man rebelled against God’s command to spread out and replenish the earth (Gen. 9:1).  They instead tried to become one people (Gen. 11:6).

             4.  The Gentile nations quickly became idolatrous (Rom. 1:23).  We see how idolatrous Abraham’s family was (Josh. 24:2; Gen. 31:19, 30,32).

      B.  They were given up to uncleaness and vile affections (Rom. 1:24-26).

             1.  As we follow the history in Genesis, we now see the first recorded war (Gen. 14:1-4).  Gentile history is nothing but killing and warfare.

              2.  The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezek. 16:49-50)

                   a.  Pride

                   b.  Pleasure

                    c.  Selfishness

Note:  The sin of “sodomy” is not listed.  That was just a natural outgrowth of thier unrestrained sinful lives.  We can see all of these sins repeated by other Gentile nations like the Greeks, Romans, and Americans.  Once they get proud, fat, lazy, and self-centered, see how sodomy increases.

       C.  They didn’t want to retain God in their knowledge (Rom. 1:28).

             1.  God didn’t measure up to man’s standards; so, they got rid of Him.

             2.  The more education you have, the more you seek to get get rid of God.  The scientist studies to prove God didn’t create life, the psychologist studies to prove that conviction of sin is simply a “guilt complex”,  the Bible scholar studies to prove that no Bible is reliable and that he must tell you what God said; and on and on it goes.

      D.  God gives them up to a reprobate mind.

            1.  A reprobate is one who does not measure up after being judged.  This is similar to a machined part be judged by a gauge, if it doesn’t pass inspection it is scrap.

             2.   As a whole, God tested the Gentile nations and they failed.  He stopped dealing with these nations as a group, although some individuals are called out.

              3.  Paul lists the sins of the reprobate (Rom. 1:29-32).  We are all guilty of many of them.

                    a.  Can a reprobate be saved or is he forever to be left on the scrap heap?

                    b.  Sodomy is a definite mark of a reprobate mind.  Can they be saved?

                         1)  I Corinthians 6:9-10 lists the effeminate and abusers with mankind.  These are both references to sodomites.

                          2)  I Corinthians 6:11 says that such were some of you before you were saved.  One may be given over to a reprobate mind, one may be on the road to destruction, but they are not without hope.  Like Ninevah, repentance and belief can change the course.

II.  The Gentiles from Jesus to Today (Acts 17:30)

       A.  The Book of Romans was written to inform these Gentiles (and the Gentiles of today) of the hopeless mess they were/are in, and the good news that repentance and faith are now available to them.

        B.   Up until Calvary, God winked at the wickedness of the Gentiles.  They were given up on.  Now, He commands all men everywhere to repent.

     A.  It is revealed in the gospel of Christ (I Cor. 15:3-8).  Notice the word “therein” in verse 17.

            1. The gospel is the power of God in salvation.  The power is not in our new ideas, gimmicks, or methods.  There is no need to try and improve upon on the pure gospel message–just preach it!

             2.  We are not to be ashamed of the gospel.  It is easy to become ashamed when handling such power (dunamis-dynamite).  You’ll stand out when using such power.

             3.  One must believe in order to be saved.  Don’t wait for some special event or feeling.  If you realize your sinful, hopeless estate, repent and believe on Jesus Christ now!

      B.  How is God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel?

              1.  In order to be saved, you must put your faith in the fact that only the righteousness of Christ in your stead will save you (II Cor. 5:21, Phil. 3:9).

               2.  Old Testament faith versus New Testament faith

                    a.  The Old Testament verse quoted (Hab. 2:4) actually says, “The just shall live by his faith.”  In the Old Testament, “faith” (only mentioned twice in the O.T.) is a man’s personal faith to do what God told him to do.

                     b.  In the New Testament, faith is a gift of God (Rom. 3:3, 3:22; Eph. 2:8-9).  Faith is given to believe by God in this dispensation, that is why the word “his” was dropped by the Holy Spirit.

                          1)  Faith is given by hearing (Rom. 10:8, 17).

                           2)  We are to preach the gospel (Rom. 10:14), God gives the hearer faith to believe, and it is the sinner’s responsibility to believe.

Note:  In the New Testament (through the gospel, salvation, and faith) we see God’s righteousness revealed.

II.  The Wrath of God Revealed (vs. 18)

       A.  Holding the truth in unrighteousness

             1.  God reveals Himself to man (vss. 19-20).  Man is given a witness by creation (Psa. 19:1-5), his conscience (Rom. 2:15), and of course scripture.  Every element in our 3 dimensional world points to the Godhead (Trinity).  Length, width, and height are all separate entities, and yet you cannot remove any of them for a 3 dimensional object to still exist.

              2.  Man, in spite of these revelations, doesn’t glorify God (vs. 21), but rather he glories in himself and his created idols (vs. 23).  This applies to educated and uneducated pagans alike.  One man worships a carved image of an animal, and the other worships at the altar of the Theory of Evolution.

               3.  Man, in spite of these revelations, is unthankful (vs. 21).  Man, naturally, has no regard for God. 

               4.  Man changes the truth into a lie (vs. 25).  Man always likes to create his own “truth.”

       B.  The form of God’s wrath.

               1.  God gave them up to uncleaness (vs. 24).

               2.  God gave them up to vile affections (vs. 26).  It seems that the sin of Sodomy discussed in these verses (“men with men”, etc.) is not necessarily the sin being punished, but is rather the natural, vile depths of the flesh.  It is the result of God letting someone alone to live as their wicked flesh desires without any spiritual restraint.  If you want to see how “righteous” your flesh really is, view the goings on at a San Fransisco “Gay Pride” parade.

                3.  God gave them over to a reprobate mind (vs. 28).  God does this after man gives himself over to his sinful desires and rejects God.

Note:  One of the worst judgments God can pronounce upon an individual, institution, or country is to leave them alone to let them do as they please in their wicked imaginations.