In the song of Moses, Deut 32:4-5 says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.” To hear the companion message to this sermon, go to A Perverse Generation, Lk 9:41.
According to Job 33:27, when a person sins, he perverts that which is right. Perverse is, literally, turned aside; hence distorted from the right. So, there is “that which is right.” And then there is perversion, which is the distorting of right; the turning from truth. Therefore, something perverse is wrong, though, you may believe it to be right. You can see the devil’s clever way of perverting the truth in his temptation of Eve in Gen 3:1-6.
If we can see what’s right, then we can tell what’s perverted. Here’s what is right:
The words of the Lord are right. Prov 8:8, “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.” Deut 32:4 says that God is “a God of truth.”
The ways of the Lord are right. Acts 13:10, “wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Deut 32:4 says, “his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment.”
The judgments of the Lord are right. Job 34:12, “Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment.” Deut 32:4 says that God is “just and right.”
So, when you read the words of the Lord, when you observe the ways of the Lord, and when you hear the judgments of the Lord, they are always absolutely right. God has never said anything wrong, he has never done anything wrong, and he has never judged incorrectly. He is always right.
In a perverse generation, men simply quit believing that God is right. In Matt 17:17 and Lk 9:41 Jesus called his generation a “faithless and perverse generation.” Notice, they were faithless. When Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast the unclean spirit out of a boy, Jesus said, “Because of your unbelief.”
Do you want to know why the heart [Prov 12:8], the spirit [Is 19:14], the wisdom and knowledge [Is 47:10], and the mouth [Prov 4:24] of this generation is so perverse? I can sum it up on one word: Unbelief. Here’s what is perverted.
They have perverted the words of the Lord. Jer 23:36 says, “ye have perverted the words of the living God.” The most obvious perversion of God’s words is found in the modern translations of the Bible. This is a world wide problem. Once God’s words have been perverted then it is impossible to know what God really said. In our country, the Bible was taken out of school in 1964 and look at the consequence in subsequent generations.
They have perverted the ways of the Lord. Prov 14:2, “He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.” God’s ways are always right. But a perverse generation accuses God of wrongdoing and will not follow his ways.
They have perverted the judgments of the Lord. Deut 24:17; 1 Sam 8:3. As an example of perverted judgment, consider that our Supreme Court has usurped legislative authority by some of its perverted judgments. Two profound examples are abortion and same sex marriage. These are gross perversions of God’s judgment.
Therefore, when you believe man’s words, man’s ways, and man’s judgments rather than God’s words, God’s ways, and God’s judgments, your life becomes perverse, just like the generation in which we live. Sin takes hold and distorts the reality of God.
For us, to keep from being perverse, we must believe that God’s words are right, God’s ways are right, and God’s judgments are right. Then you will be upright and not perverse. Prov 11:3, “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”
Conclusion: Read and believe God’s words daily. They will keep you upright and keep you from becoming perverted by this generation. Your life should portray the uprightness of God’s words so that the difference between God’s people and this perverse generation is immediately recognizable.