Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

24. “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto impurity to dishonor their
bodies among themselves,
25. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, worshipped and served the creature more than the
Creator, who is blessed for evermore. Amen.” Here we see the fatal downward trend of humanity,
alienated from God; like a ship loosed from her moorings, adrift on the sea, the sport of the billows
and the caprice of the storm, till wounded or wrecked. Hence when people get away from the
personal indwelling Holy Spirit, they float on hellwardly whether through churches or outside.
Creature worship is idolatry, whether it be a fine house, a pipe-organ, an old creed, water baptism
or an elegant, learned preacher. It is creature worship instead of the heart cry after God.
26. “Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of dishonor.” . . . .
27. These two verses describe a horrible state of humanity, cohabitation with animals, and other
abominations unmentionable, peculiar to the inhabitants of Sodom and in the hell dens of many other
cities in all ages. When I was in that country I went to the site of Sodom and Gomorra and found it
all covered by the Dead Sea. Not only is the sea utterly desolate, no fish competent to live in its
poisonous waters, but the surrounding country is all a burning desert waste without a drop of rain,
whereas in the days of Abraham and Lot it was “well watered,” God having sent the withering
desolation because of their wickedness. As this wicked age fast ripens for destruction, the horrors
of Sodom are fast multiplying with the inventions of the age utilized by Satan. I write these pages
in New York. A sanctified man, saved out of the horrors of slumdom, tells me that we need not leave
the American metropolis to find all the horrors of ancient Sodom.
28. “And so as they did not approve to hold God in perfect knowledge, he gave them up to a
reprobate mind to do the things which are abominable.” Here we see how people become
reprobated. They first reprobate God and then He reprobates them, as He saves none against their
will. So if you want to be elected to glory, heaven and immortality, you go ahead at once and elect
God, and be true to God and it will turn out that He has elected you. Here we have a picture, like the
brutality in verses 26 and 27, too black for description.
29. “Is filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, vice and covetousness.” Those who go to
heaven must have the fullness of grace in entire sanctification, while in a similar manner Satan ripens
his people for hell, by filling them with the very diabolical attributes which congenialize them for
the society of hell. “Full of envy, murder, deceitfulness, strife, and evil affections.” These black
vices are germinally born in humanity by the fall. Afterward they reach maturity by practice, ripening
the soul for hell. In this probation all people are fast rushing to dramatically opposite destinies,
diverging incessantly either from another; the one class in due time getting full salvation and
ripening for heaven, and the other class, full deterioration and maturing for hell. There is no medium;
we must all go one way or the other. So you have your choice between full salvation and full
damnation. Which will you have?
30. “Secret maligners,” i.e., eaves-droppers clandestinely stirring up a hell-fire to burn you
forever, meanwhile they flatter you with their lips, and claim to be your best friends. “These
slanderers.” How frequently does murder follow slander! These remorseless liars, whether