Dear Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing upon these studies, dear Lord. We ask the blessing of Augustine, the blessing of Calvin, the blessing of Luther. the blessing of Charles Spurgeon, of Charles Hodge. We'd ask the blessing, dear Lord, that you've blessed the saints with throughout the centuries, dear Heavenly Father. That you would absolutely revolutionize this congregation, dear Lord, through the teachings of the Book of Romans, dear Lord. We'd ask, dear Heavenly Father, for your glory to descend upon these studies, dear Lord. That it would absolutely revolutionize us, dear Lord. And we'd ask, dear Lord, for you to cause your face to shine upon these studies. And we'd ask you these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Turn to Romans 6, verse 1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? The sixth chapter of Romans is dealing with the first and most logical objection that anyone might bring against the gospel after just reading chapter 5. Chapter 5, verses 20 and 21 had said, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The objection would be namely that that leads to antinomianism or to sinful conduct. I will be following the approach to Romans chapter 5 through 8 used by Martin Lloyd-Jones and James Boyce. The most common outline The traditional division of Romans is chapters 1-4, justification. Chapters 5-8, sanctification. Chapters 9-11, the problem with Israel. Chapters 12-16, practical matters. The first four chapters deal with justification, the next touches on sanctification, then the issue with Israel, and lastly practical applications. That is the traditional outline of Romans. Martin Lloyd-Jones and Dr. Boyce point out, though, if you approach Romans in four segregated compartments is to misunderstand it. Some people approach Romans 5 as if it is listing the results of justification, a sort of wrap-up of the previous four chapters, after which Paul supposedly launches into his second most important theme, which is sanctification. That's the traditional teaching of Romans. What Paul is concerned to show in chapter 5, though, is that our justification is permanent. His concern is not with the results of justification, though some results are mentioned, but with the assurance, the assurance of our justification. This is why it says in Romans 5, verse 2, Through Him also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. See, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, our assurance. This is a reference to our future glorification, the ultimate and inevitable outcome of God's work in you. Look at 5.9. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved. You see here, Shulman? We shall be saved. Now look at how chapter 8 ends. Romans 5 is, we shall be saved. Romans 8, the last two verses of Romans 8. For I am persuaded, are you persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, see, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, are you a created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. See chapter 5, we shall be saved, the end of chapter 8, nothing shall separate us from the love of God. You see your assurance there? In Romans 5 as well as in Romans 8, Paul passes directly from justification to glorification. Not because he's unaware that sanctification fits into the middle of this sequence, but because he wants to stress the permanent nature of our justification. Turn to Romans 8.30. The permanent nature of our justification. Not so much sanctification. Sanctification is really stressed in 5, 6, 7, and 8. It's our assurance. Look at 830. Moreover, whom he predestined, he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified." He also glorified. This description is as if it has already happened. It is an indicative, a statement of fact that's in the Aorist tense, an action that has taken place once in the past. See? The Scripture is saying he has glorified. You have been glorified already. That's why it's an impossibility to lose your salvation. The Bible says you have been glorified. Romans 5, 12, 21 dealt with the Christian's union with Christ. Back to chapter 5. Verses 12 to 21 deals with our union with Christ showing that just as we were united to Adam So that if his fall was our fall and we were condemned in him so also Christians have now been united to Christ Before you were united to Adam in his condemnation now you united to Christ You will be glorified so that his death for sin became our death to sin and his triumph is our triumph This, too, is permanent. It is assured. Assured as Christ was risen from the dead. It says He was raised for our justification. He was raised from the dead because you are justified. If you wasn't justified, He'd still be laying in the tomb. When Paul gets to the end of chapter 5 and speaks of the reign of grace, the reign of grace, 521, "...so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." His point is that nothing is going to defeat God's great plan for us. Nothing. Including you. Especially you. But if this is so, if in the middle chapters of Romans, if it's dealing chiefly with assurance, Then why is chapter 6 here and why in the world is chapter 7 here? Chapter 5 assurance. Chapter 8 assurance. So what's 6 and 7 doing here? Why does Paul interrupt the flow of thought of the letter at this point? Paul interrupts the flow of the letter to deal with two problems. Two problems that would have arisen from chapter 5 verses 20 and 21. In verse 21, he spoke of the triumph of God's grace in us. The two problems. If grace is to triumph, doesn't this inevitably lead to loose living? Doesn't this even suggest, doesn't it even suggest that we should sin more so that grace can have more space to be triumphant? What does it say? Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." Seems logical, but you know that can't be right. The second problem concerns the law. The law must have a purpose, or God would not have given the law. But how can that fit into Paul's teaching? If you retain the law, you destroy the gospel of salvation by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, if you retain the law. But on the other hand, if you retain the gospel, the law is exceeding what is needful. These are valid questions. Rather than ignore them and pass on directly to what Paul said in Romans 8, Paul stops at this point and answers them. Basically, Romans 6 and 7 is a parenthesis in Paul's flow of thought. He deals with antinomianism. You're hearing that word quite a bit tonight. Anti, against, nomous, law. That's what the word antinomian means. Against the law. He deals with antinomianism in chapter six, and with the problem of the law in chapter seven. Antinomianism, chapter six. What are we going to do with the law in chapter seven? He deals with these topics in the midst of insurance. That's why it's called the parenthesis. Five to eight assurance, a parenthesis in between five and eight of antinomianism and what are we going to do with the law. That's why it's called the parenthesis. As we begin chapter six, the chapter begins with a question that immediately turns back to chapter five. Six one. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? In other words, where does the doctrine of the triumph of God's grace lead us? Where is it going to lead us? There's only two possibilities. It could lead to sinful conduct, which is the antinomian objection, or if sin is going to be conquered by grace, let us keep on sinning. Sin doesn't matter. On the other hand, either it's going to teach us less good and far gone than sin, or on the other hand, the triumph of grace would lead to righteousness, the position that Paul upholds. It doesn't lead to sinful conduct, it leads to righteousness. One way or another, the entire sixth chapter is going to answer this question. Let us first look at three of the objectives argument. What shall we say then? His first argument is that it is logical. It's a reasonable question to ask after one has understood the gospel. If we're saved by grace, well, let's keep on sinning. That's a logical question. If works are not the basis of our salvation, why do we have to worry about works at all? This is the test. This is the test of whether you are preaching Paul's gospel or not. If you're preaching the gospel that Paul preached, People are going to say, Jimmy, what you're talking about leads to loose living. It leads to sin. It leads to sinful conduct. You cannot tell people that they are saved by grace, apart from which, because then people are going to do whatever they want to do. If you're preaching what Paul preached, you will be accused of encouraging people to sin. And if you're not, what you're not, what you're preaching, if you're not being accused of that, you're not preaching Paul's gospel. If you're preaching, you are saved by grace apart from works, you will be accused of what for? They're going to say to you, what are you saying then, Bill, shall we sin then? If I'm saved by grace, then I don't need no works. Well, let's send off a storm. That's a logical argument. If you are preaching a works righteousness, you'll never be accused of preaching the gospel of that forfeits. But if you teach that a person is saved apart from works, this is the first question that's going to come to someone's mind. Okay? That's the logical question from the objector. The second argument is, it's a natural conclusion that says, a natural conclusion of your flesh that says, okay, sin is fun, and now we like to do it, and God likes to forgive. So that's sin. That's the logical conclusion. If you read 520, right? Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. Okay, Lord, we'll give you the opportunity for grace to abound. Let me just sin. I like to sin. You like to forgive. Good deal, right? That's a natural conclusion. The third argument of the deobjector is the pious one. This only occurs within the religious setting. This is where you get your nice pharisees from. The nice, pious setting. Among those who are at least somewhat concerned with righteousness. The Jews had the law, and Judaism was chiefly concerned with right conduct. Therefore, when Paul came along teaching that salvation could not be achieved by moral living, but had to be a gift of God apart from good works, the Jews seen this as an attack on practical righteousness. Their whole system was a works righteousness. And here comes Paul, who was a Pharisee of Pharisees, telling them, your works mean nothing. You are not saved by your works. Matter of fact, Paul says they're on the negative. He found out that they were dung to him. The Jews seen this as a personal attack on all of Judaism. If you do not see or care about the problem Paul raises at the start of Romans 6, you're missing something. If this doesn't concern you, where it says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? Either you have not understood the gospel yet, you're a works righteousness person, Or you're blind to your own sinfulness. You're deceived by your own wickedness. You think it's some outside thing. Whereas your heart is desperately wicked. Or you're not really concerned about religion. If you don't care about that question. On the other hand, if any of these things are true with you, you will not only see the problem, you'll be troubled by it. What shall we say then, Paul? You're saying with sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. Something is wrong here. You will see the inference that we should go on sinning is unthinkable. It's absurd. We have poor response to the question how. Look at Romans 6 verse 2. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. We have the same expression in Romans 3, verse 4. But what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not, by no means, for God forbid in the King James. This expression is brought out most forcefully in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the word is kalila, which means profane, a curse on it, away with it. Kalila is Hebrew's most intense word for negation. We have God forbid, certainly not. For the Jew to say Kalila, profane, curse it, don't even let that thought enter your mind that we should continue in sin, that grace should abound. Paul uses this word Kalila ten times in Romans. It comes from the Old Testament, translated over into the Greek. Paul repudiates this question most forcefully in verse 2 of chapter 6. Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Why was the people's question so absurd? Why was it so absurd? First, it overlooks God's purpose in the plan of salvation. What is God's purpose in the plan of salvation? Matthew 1 21 And she will bring forth the son and you will call his name Jesus Yeshua for he will save his people from their sins The purpose of God in salvation is to save us from sin Does it mean to save us only from the punishment do it because of sin? What does it say in Romans 6, 23? For the wages of sin is death. So God's purpose in salvation is first to save us from our sin. Secondly, is to save us from the punishment due our sin. Yes, we are justified by God in order that what? Romans 5, 9. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath. We're saved from our sin. We're saved from the punishment of sin. We're saved from wrath. But that is only one part of God's plan. Does salvation mean that God is saving us from sin's guilt? It saves us from guilt also. Hebrews 9.14. You is not supposed to be walking around with a guilty conscience. Hebrews 9.14. And how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, to purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Saves you from your sins, saves you from the punishment of sin, saves you from the wrath of God due to your sin, saves you from guilt, from sin's guilt. You still have a clear conscience now. What about deliverance from sin's presence? Revelation 21. This is all part of the plan of His salvation, Revelation 21, 3 and 4. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. You will be delivered from sin's presence, saved from sin, saved from wrath, saved from a guilty conscience, saved from the presence of sin. Of course, but again, that only happens at the end, when we're glorified. Each of these matters are important that I just mentioned. But the one thing that has not been mentioned is salvation. from the practice of sin now. God not only saved you from your sins, from the penalty, do your sins, from your guilty conscience, he will deliver you from the presence of sin, but he has delivered you from the practice of sin now. And that is clearly part of God's purpose. No one part of our deliverance came from sin can be separated from the other. You cannot rip asunder the garment of Jesus Christ. His garment is one. It's all part of one thing. You cannot rip one out and say, I'm delivered from the penalty of sin. I'm delivered from a guilty conscience. I'll be delivered from the presence of sin. But I haven't been delivered from the practice of sin. There's no way. That's a part of it. That's his plan of salvation. So if we go on practicing sin now, we are contradicting the very purpose of God in our salvation. Second, the antinomian objection is absurd because it overlooks God's means of saving sinners. His means. First, his purpose of delivering his people from sin. Secondly, the antinomian disregards God's means of saving sinners. If there's a cause and an effect, there's a means. We've seen in earlier chapters of Romans, God justifying us, putting us in a right standing before His justice due to the death of Jesus Christ. God justifies. Christ redeems. God forgives, but the Holy Spirit also makes us alive spiritually. What does it say in Ephesians 2.1? And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. You were dead in trespasses and sins. So part of this salvation is that we can perceive and by faith embrace that forgiveness. What has Paul been talking about in Romans 5? for those that I was in the studies of Romans 5. He's been talking about the believer's union with Christ. That's the means that God uses. It's our union with Christ. What is that union like? It's like a vine and its branches. You can't sever the branches from the vine. Or the relationship between a head and a person's body. If you sever the head, the body's going to die. Therefore if we are saved we are in Christ That's why Paul the number is I think a hundred and seventy three times It says in Christ or in Christ Jesus It's talking about your union with Jesus Christ as a branch in a vine as a body with the head If we are in Christ he is in us and his life is with us within us look at Romans 8 verses 9 and 10 and This is why sanctification and justification go hand-in-hand together. Romans 8, 9, and 10. Why you can't rent asunder the garment of Christ. Romans 8, 9, and 10. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. The spirit of Christ is in you. That's why the antinomian objection is absurd. Jesus Christ himself lives in every regenerated Christian. That's why, God forbid, Kalilah, Paul said, how could you even think such a thing that we could keep on going on sinning when the Holy One of Israel dwells inside you? He will lead you to righteousness. That's why grace will triumph. It will inevitably turn us from sin to righteousness. That's why Romans has changed so many people's lives because they found out what they are in Jesus Christ. Religion is a bunch of blue laws. Romans teaches you, you have Jesus Christ dwelling in you from beginning to the end. Jesus Christ is not going back to the tomb. He's not going back to Calvary. He's not going back into Mary's womb and doing this thing all over again. You are united to Christ from now to eternity. Our union with Christ is the only, only source of holiness. That's it. Me putting all these blue laws up here, boy, even the Torah, it will not cause holiness. It will cause either suicide tendencies or it will cause you to become a Pharisee. Oh yeah, I'm doing it. Yeah, I'm doing it. You're not doing it for five minutes. Don't deceive yourself. You didn't wake up today and do it. You're not doing it right now. You're not going to do it tomorrow. If we find it possible to go on sinning so that grace may increase, we only prove by our actions that we are not saved. It is as simple and as strong as that. It's very strong, what I just said. We died to sin. How can we live in it? Live in it. Not that we don't sin, but that we live in it. That there's no repentance. Third, it is crazy to think that we can go on sinning so that grace may increase. Because if we think that way, we've never understood the grace of God. You've never understood the grace of God. In Romans 5, you would have seen how grace is not diminished or withdrawn because of sin. His grace is not diminished towards you, nor is it withdrawn. His grace is 100%. there's not 80% grace and you 20% you kick it in or 90% grace 10% you kick it in he gives you 30% grace and you give it 70% you know this extra portion that gets added on you're justified by the grace of God and that will and it will triumph God does not cease to be gracious to us because we fall in sin like I just said you're going to sin every day but you're going to repent of your sin every day That's what's so deadly of the altar call. It's a thought of one-time repentance, and that's it. Your life is to be a daily repentance. Every day that you get on your knees at six o'clock, first thing you better do is, Lord, forgive me. Lord, forgive me for getting here. Just because grace is not diminished by sin does not mean that it is ever defeated by it. It's not diminished, nor is it defeated. In fact, the opposite is true. Romans 5, 20, 21. It's not defeated, nor diminished. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. The law entered that the offense might abound. You see? The law... God gave the law to make them sin more. That's why I'm telling you about blue laws and everything. I'd get you to sin more. Don't look at that light. First thing you want to do is look at that light. You wasn't even thinking of that light until I said, don't look at that light. That's why God gave the law to show the Jew he was a sinner. That was the purpose of the law. So what is the business of this grace? Asks Martin Lloyd-Jones. Is it to allow us to continue in sin? Is that the business of grace? No. It is to deliver us from the bondage and the reign of sin, the rule of sin. A reigning monarch is a triumphant monarch. Either sin is reigning, or grace is reigning. If grace is reigning in us, grace is advancing its conquest over sin. Sin is not ruling, but grace is ruling. Christians sin, but they are not defeated by sin. And they do not continue in it. Do you understand the absurdity of the objective question now? What shall we say then? Shall we keep on sinning? That grace may abound? If you understand the nature of grace, you will understand that for grace to increase, sin must decrease. That's how grace increases, by sin decreasing. Not increasing. The goal of grace is to destroy sin and to vanquish sin. That is the goal of grace. Therefore if a person goes on sinning as the objection suggests, what shall we say then? It shows that he or she actually has no part of grace and is not saved. Two warnings that I would close with. The first is obvious from what has been said. And the second is a deduction from it. The first is to religious people. You have had knowledge about doctrine. You think That you give mental assent to these doctrines that is well with your soul. Just because you give mental assent. Oh yeah. I believe that. I believe that. You think you are saved, but that is not necessarily the case. I need to warn you, it is not enough for you only to believe these things. Salvation is not mere head knowledge. It is new life. It is union with Jesus Christ. Churches are full of people with head knowledge. Unless you are turning from sin. Turning from sin. That's what repentance is. You're going the other way. Unless you are turning from sin and going on and growing in righteousness. Notice what I said. Turning. Growing. Growing. In the process, there is a movement there. It's not static. It's not just sitting there. A dead head nods. There has to be a turning from sin, a growing, and a going. That's signs of a regenerated heart. Okay, where people just give mental assent and they're the same today as they was 15, 20 years ago, there's a problem there. That's not, if you go outside and look at a vine and a branch, in the summertime anyway, you're gonna see it growing. If you see a baby with a head and a body, sooner or later that baby's gonna be a teenager and then an adult. Because there's life there. Same in the Christian life. Now, like I said, you're going to sin every day. But are you turning from your sin every day? Are you going on in your salvation? Are you growing in righteousness? Do the things years ago that you accepted now are repulsive to you? Years ago it was okay to fornicate and now is it repulsive to you? Or maybe you was a drug addict or an alcoholic or a thief or a liar. Are the works of the flesh being destroyed day by day by day? I'm not saying how much destroyed. All I'm saying is, is there something there? Is there a movement there? If it's not, you're not saved. Don't be presumptuous. Look at Galatians 5, 19-21. And now remember, I'm going through this in the context of teaching about your assurance. Alright? And what I'm telling you to, the book of Galatians is, you're saved by grace apart from works. Okay? So, Where I'm teaching from is on assurance. The course reference I'm going to now is in the book of Galatians, which is about you're saved by grace apart from works. But the warning in here is for the people with head knowledge, for the religious crowd, that practice, notice the key word, practice, before we're going to read this, and it upsets people's faith. Okay? True believers are not to be troubled by what we're going to read right now. But if you are being presumptuous and you're not saved, this should terrify you. Chapter 5, 19 through 21. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, Selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now remember, this is the same Paul that's speaking in Galatians, that's assuring you of your salvation in the Book of Romans. Paul doesn't have one thought in Galatians and another thought of the Romans. He's saying, if you practice these works of the flesh, do not be deceived. You are not a child of God. But now, if you are turning from those sins, if you are fleeing from those sins, if you can just sin those sins and practice them, Paul would warn you. Don't be presumptuous. Peter also tells us in 2 Peter 1.10. And remember, this is all in the context of assurance. But these verses are also the means that the Lord uses in sanctification, that you would flee from your sins for those that are justified. second Peter 2 1 verse 10 therefore brethren be even more notice he says brethren therefore brethren be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure don't be presumptuous make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you will never what stumble You're probably stumbling, you probably got a guilty conscience because you are not turning and growing in your Christian life. You think that it's okay to keep going on sinning. And Paul says, God forbid. But yet at the time, at the same time, we find ourselves wrestling with sin every day. But that's the point. Are you wrestling with sin? Or are you just, whatever your flesh wants to do, you do it. The doctrines of justification, grace, and sanctification teach that we should flee from sin. The other warning is to all Christians. The first warning was, make sure you're Christian. The second warning is for those that are Christians. If there is anyone here who by his conduct gives occasion to this objection, what shall we say then? Keep answering. Is your life so careless and so sinful that an unsaved person looking on might say, you see where the doctrine of grace leads you Christians? Is your life so careless and so sinful that your family members, your co-workers, your neighbors say, that's where the doctrine of grace leads you. One person who dishonors the gospel of grace by an unholy walk, does more injury to the souls of men than ten holy ones could ever do. One unrighteous quote-unquote Christian would do more harm than ten godly men and women. So the exhortation today would be that you would be part of the solution, not a part of the problem. The church today is basically no different than the world. People give a mental assent. Oh yeah, you know, I keep these blue walls, you know, I don't do this and that and this and that and this and that. And yeah, we hate, we're unforgiving, we're not loving, we're unmerciful. The church basically today, and I don't want it to change, to change, to change, looks like Romans 1, where Paul says, this is what a pagan looks like. I didn't even want to end with this, but I'm going to end with this anyway. Turn to Romans 1. This is what your life should have been, and this is what your life should be opposite of now. In Romans 1, when we had started the series in Romans, we had seen in verses 29 through 32. Now, if you are a believer, this is what you should be fleeing from. This is what you should be repenting from. Okay? Verses 29 through 32. Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, they are whisperers. Did you hear about this? Backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud. Is there any proud? Boasters. Oh, I'm missing on that. Inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, Unloving. Unforgiving. Unforgiving. Any of that today? Unmerciful. How about that? Verse 32. And who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are what? Worthy of death. Not only do the same, but also approve of those who what? Once again, who practice them. That's your lifestyle. And this is, they're so wicked there, they are not even doing those sins there. Giving the hearty approval to your wickedness. So the question is this. Are you bringing the pagan, the ammunition to shoot down the Christian faith? Is your Christian walk marked by the sins that Paul says, this is what you want? Your life should now be marked by righteousness, because grace is reigning. And you're struggling with sin. See? But you're repenting of sin. Sin is now repulsive to you. Whereas before, when you were pagan, you gave hearty approval. May our lives shut the mouth of the pagan. May he not be able to say, well, what about so-and-so's sin? Is that the way a Christian acts? What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Kalila, God forbid, may it never be. And, dear Heavenly Father, we would ask, dear Lord, that you would grant us repentance, dear Heavenly Father. We'd ask, dear Lord, that there would be a running after righteousness, a running for holiness, dear Heavenly Father. That people would see, yes, that grace does reign in our life, dear Lord. That grace is triumphant. Dear Lord, we ask, dear Heavenly Father, that you would forgive us for all the times we just presumed upon your grace, dear Lord. We ask, dear Lord, that you would convict us of our sin, Lord. Not our keeping of blue laws, but the real law. The real law of God. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? God forbid. How should those who Christ dwells in, pursue sin any longer? We'd ask that you would grant us, dear Lord, a repentant heart, a repentant spirit, dear Lord, that we would not give occasion to the pagan, that they would say, that's where the grace of God leads you. but that the grace of God would lead us to holiness, dear Lord. And we'd ask that you would revive us, dear Lord. That you would use us mightily in the field of the harvest, dear Lord. That the field is white. Salvation is all around us. Those neighbors, those co-workers, those family members, we pray, dear Lord, that you would open our mouths. That we would have a boldness in proclaiming the grace of God. the good news that we will not proclaim a bunch of religious rules and regulations but that we will proclaim to people that the wages of sin is death but but but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus and we thank you dear Lord for that eternal life in Jesus precious name