As we return this evening to the second part of the message that I preached this morning concerning God's wrath, let's once again pray and ask the Lord's blessings on our time. Dear friends, let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the tremendous blessing that is given to us, your people, whereby we can approach you through your Holy Son. As we have considered your holiness this evening in the scripture reading there in the book of Exodus, oh God, we do tremble and quake for the thought that if it were not for Christ, our mediator, yes, our righteousness, we would be destroyed before you. So we are thankful, therefore, God, that we are clothed in the righteous garments of Christ. We are thankful that we are accepted in the Beloved. We are grateful, Lord, that according to the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for us who are in Jesus. And so we bless you, O wonderful Messiah, for shedding your blood for us, for canceling out our guilt before your heavenly Father. Therefore, we could be received as friends. We could be received as the beloved of the Lord. Lord, we thank you again for your word. Indeed, it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. And so, God, we pray that you would come and take this word before us tonight and bless us through it. Lord, that you would send the Spirit to us to animate and anoint all that would be said and done. O God, that you would fill us with your Spirit and break open the word of life to our needy souls. O God, feed us with your heavenly manna. We ask, pray, and plead all of these things in that wonderful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. It has been said that as peace is a Bible truth which is widely loved, the topic of the wrath of God is one which is widely loathed. Yes, dear brothers and sisters here this evening, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, the theme of God's wrath toward sin and sinners is not only a topic which most people in our day can't stand, but sadly, It's also a topic which many professing Christians can't stand either. As a matter of fact, if you check church history, you will see that there were even those in the second century, like the well-known heretic named Marcion, who so hated this topic that he sought to remove it altogether from his so-called edition of the scriptures. And then in recent days, the same is true with a modern-day heretic named Rob Bell, whose book Love Wins says that God's wrath and God's love are incompatible. And so, of course, For Mr. Rob Bell, the wrath of God is a loathsome concept. Well, even though this is the case, dear friends, note it down. People, whether they be Christians or not, will never ever be able to escape the fact that such a theme as the wrath of God is thoroughly interwoven in Holy Scripture. Dear friends, I say that God's wrath, which is the response of His holiness toward moral evil, is that which we find throughout the pages of Scripture from cover to cover. What is then? to this topic that we come to once again for this evening as it finds itself in our passage under consideration for tonight in Romans chapter 1, verses 24 to 32. And I ask you please to turn with me there in your Bibles. Romans chapter 1, picking up at verse 24. Now, as most of you will recall from this morning, As we took up our topic, we took up the matter of the reason for God's wrath as it is set forth in verses 19 to 23 of this chapter. Here is Paul is speaking specifically to pagan Gentiles. He says that God's anger is revealed from heaven against them, and this is because they have rejected what may be known of God in them through the voice of conscience and what may be known of God to them through the voice of creation. Well, I trust you all remember that I ended the message this morning by asking the simple question, which is, how does God feel about all of this? In other words, when he, for example, sees the very creatures that he made saying that he does not exist, what is the result that comes forth from his holy being. Well, this is what we're going to consider this evening in our time together. Tonight, we're going to consider and see the reaction of the holy God of the Bible who holds his creatures accountable to himself for their actions toward him. Now, remember again, dear ones here this evening, that all that we're considering tonight concerning God's wrath is connected to the words of verses 16 to 18 of Romans chapter 1 where Paul is explaining to us why it is that each and every one of us desperately need the gospel of Christ. Now dear friends, here Paul's explaining to us why it is that we all need the righteousness of God which is contained in the gospel in order to cover our unrighteousness. And the answer is, as he tells us in verse 18 of this chapter, is that the wrath of God is presently being revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Now this present-day manifestation of the wrath of God against sinners who reject him should be understood, if you're taking notes, in terms of God's divine abandonment of them as we will see tonight. A dear one simply stated, the point is Because people will not have this God, yes, the God of the Bible, the only true and living God, to be their God, His present day judgment against them is that He withdraws the restraining influences of His common grace toward them, and He lets them go headlong into their sins in order to experience the horrible consequences thereof. My dear ones, let me state it another way and say in somewhat of poetic justice, as R.C. Sproul says, because people don't want God in this life, in judgment He punishes them in kind and lets them go their own way in this life. You don't want me, God says, then in this sense, He says, well go ahead and live your life without me. Now of course, Of course, such a judicial judgment by God as this really is a terrifying thing. I mean, when God takes his hand off an individual, who refuses to have Him as their God. That person, listen, will eventually sink deeper and deeper into a wicked and depraved lifestyle, one which will not only bring great harm to them, but to others also. Oh yes, Church, I say it will permit them, God removing His hand, it will allow them to follow the darkness, yes, the blackness of their own hearts. And when this happens with an individual or a society, great problems will come just as we are seeing happening in our very day. just as we're seeing today, brethren, in our own day. And so, dear friends, be clear, listen. Instead of us thinking as the world does that the promiscuity and the looseness of life that we're seeing being set forth all over the place, in the movies, on the TV, in the internet, etc. That instead of thinking that these things are the marks of an evolving society or moral awareness, etc., brethren, mark it down. The truth of the matter is that according to our text tonight, such things are evidences of God's divine abandonment against us. That's what these things are evidences of. Now such divine judicial abandonment as this is mentioned three times in our text before us this evening. Three times so that not only in verse 24 of this chapter are we told that God gave up such people to do such things, but this matter is also mentioned in verse 26 of this chapter and then in verse 28 of this chapter as well. And so although this material for this evening is not the most glorious to consider as it sets forth man's guilt and shame and sin in great detail. Dear ones, nonetheless, this material is absolutely vital for us to consider. It's crucial that we do this for many reasons. But perhaps most of all, because if we would ever come to understand why it is that we need the saving mercy of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and why it is that we should greatly appreciate it if we have it by God's grace, then listen, we must first understand what we deserve from God. And so as we come then to our text for tonight, I ask you to please note with me first in verses 24 and 25 of this chapter, the essence of God's divine abandonment toward sinful humanity. Here in speaking about God's response to those who discard him, Paul writes first in verse 24 of Romans chapter one, note it with me in your Bibles, he says, therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves. Now I'm right in calling this a first heading. The essence of God's divine abandonment towards sinful humanity. And this is because verse 24 is kind of a catch-all verse in this regard. Here is the apostle begins to take up this whole subject in summary form. He says that of the consequences of people not acknowledging him as God and following him according to his ways is that he gives them up to the penalties of that which they sought out for themselves. Here he says it because they did not want the Holy God of the Bible, but rather they turned to false idols, as we're told in verse 23 of this chapter. The result is, as Paul says here in verse 24, noted again, he writes, therefore, or for this reason, God gave them up, that is, he as it were, handed them over as a judge hands over a criminal to the judicial system. Paul says he delivered them over to uncleanness. Now, of course, the uncleanness that is being spoken of in our verse here, is being used in the moral sense of a sexually impure life. Here the language is about being given over to do that which is shameful with oneself, which no doubt will be regretted later. So we ask then, what was the means through which this judgment of God came about? What was it? Well, Paul gives us the answer to the question when he says next that God gave them up to uncleanness. in the lust of or more literally in the sinful cravings and longings of their hearts which is to say the sinful cravings and longings of their hearts which were already Now, of course, in highlighting these sinful cravings that are in all of our hearts by nature, dear friends, we see straightaway why it is that each and every one of us need new hearts, spiritually speaking, right? Brethren, to be sure, our hearts, that is to say, our inward disposition, who we are really inside by nature, They are desperately wicked, even as the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah said. Oh yes, beloved, spiritually speaking, our hearts, our inner man, our inner woman, are polluted and poisoned. Spiritually speaking, they are depraved and fallen. And so this is why, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, in speaking about this matter, could say in Mark 7, Verse 21 and following, that from within, Jesus said. Not from without, not because of society or the world that we live in. No, Jesus says from within, of course. Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, And then Jesus says, all of these things come from within a man and defile him. Again, not that he or she was just born in a bad part of town, or they had bad influences in their lives. Yes, those things can affect us, negatively speaking. But ultimately, Jesus says, the problem is the heart. The problem is the heart. Now friends, note it down. The heart of the problem for humanity is always the problem of the heart. It's the problem, as we're told in verse 21 of this chapter, that we're spiritually darkened in our hearts. And of course, this is why if people are ever truly going to be changed, they don't need mere reformation of life, no, rather they need the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit to make them new people in Jesus. That's what they need. A reformation of life can never change a man, can never change a woman. They don't need religion in this sense. No, rather they need regeneration. Religion can't change a person truly in the inward sense. Oh yes, maybe they'll stop cursing and doing some of the external bad things that they used to do. But friends, we need new hearts. if we're ever going to be the type of people that God calls us to be. We need to be born from above. We need to receive new hearts from above. We need to be quickened by the power of the gospel so that we can be changed from the inside out. Well, thanks be to God, then, that the God of the Bible is in the business of doing this towards sinners, amen? Dear friends, thanks be to God that it is He and He alone who has the power, the might, the strength to take out hearts of stone and give hearts of flesh just as He has done for many in this room. Praise be to His name. But back to the point. Here is Paul speaking about God's judicial judgment against the ungodly. He says that because they wouldn't have him to be their gracious, loving, heavenly father, he actively hands them over to live according to the unclean disposition of their hearts. A church, this is what his judgment on them was all about, and this is what it currently is about, even in our own day. And so we ask them, what is the ultimate end or design in view concerning this judgment? What is it? Paul tells us through the use of the infinitive verb, when he writes, that it is, look at the language, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. What's it about? What's the end, the purpose, we could say, of the judgment? To dishonor their bodies among themselves. Now, it's striking here to consider that as Paul has spoken earlier about people not glorifying God or honoring him, we could say, that now he says here that in judgment, God responds. by allowing them to dishonor their bodies among themselves. It's just striking. And so what then does this word dishonor here mean? Well, the word means to degrade. It means to treat with contempt. It means to insult. This word here is the same Greek word that's used in Luke 20 and verse 11. When we read in the parable of the wicked vinedresser, of the servant who was treated shamefully. That's what the word means. To treat with contempt, to insult, to degrade, to treat shamefully. And so friends, this is what the heart of this divine abandonment of God toward wicked men and women who would not have him is all about. I hear the apostles telling us that when people persistently abandon God, by not following Him as true believers in His Son, He will abandon them so that instead of them honoring and preserving their bodies, they dishonor them through the means of sexual immorality. Dear ones, let me state it another way and say, as God takes His hand of moral restraint off such people, They get into things that destroy themselves. And beloved, I say to you this evening as a side note, listen, any sexual behavior that deviates from God's design for men and women in the context of marriage is the very thing that will do this. Oh brethren, I say that such things as fornication, adultery, homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, and all the rest are all things which do not honor our bodies, rather they ruin them. They treat our bodies less than what they were made for. And so may God help all of us in this regard. May God help you, my dear young single friend or married person in this place tonight, to understand that anything outside of relations in the marriage covenant is that which will rob you of your dignity. Well, as Paul continues to speak about God's judgment on the ungodly and handing them over to this terrible cycle of ever-increasing sin, he says next in verse 25, look at it with me in your Bibles, he writes, concerning such people who, who change the truth of God for the lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen. Now, of course, in speaking here about such individuals, exchanging or swapping out or trading the truth of God for the lie, the lie that seems to be in view here is the lie of false religion, right? Here in this setting it seems to be, as we saw this morning, the lie of idolatry. or giving our heart's affections and devotion to something above or other than God, thinking that perhaps in doing this we will find true meaning and purpose in life. Brethren, as you know, I'm sure from your own painful experience, that this could never be the case. Could never be the case. And why is this? Well, it is because God has made us for himself. And until we become his worshipers through Christ, we will never ultimately find what we're looking for. The old song says, looking for love in all the wrong places. That's exactly the case when it comes to us. If we are seeking to find true love, true meaning, true purpose, forgiveness in life, other than forgiveness with God. Now it's noteworthy here to see. the connection in our verse between idolatry with that of the previous verse concerning the whole matter of sexual uncleanness, right? And so what's the point, friends? Well, the point is this. When people don't worship the true and living God of the Bible, who, as Paul says here in verse 25, is blessed forever, amen, listen, friends, their lives will reflect this. Again, think about it. Verse 24, they are given over to uncleanness. Verse 25 speaks about idolatry. What's the point? What you worship is what you'll become. The point is, we are what we worship. What our hearts want will always be seen through how we live. If our hearts have God, we will live. as moral people. If they're captivated with his beauty and glory, we will live holy lives. But if we follow the false gods of this age, we will find ourselves in gross immorality. And so having seen firstly the essence of God's divine abandonment toward sinful humanity. Come with me now secondly to note in verses 26 and 27 of this chapter the expression of God's divine abandonment from sinful humanity. humanity, having left rebellious people to live in the cesspool of their own sins as judgment against them. Notice with me now how the situation continues to progress negatively as every vestige of God's ordained moral behavior is abandoned. Here, because people wouldn't have God, Paul says in these two verses, note it with me in your Bibles, he writes, for this reason, Again, there's that language. God gave them up, not to a good and healthy or normal lifestyle, which he approves of and which we should accept, no. But he says, look at it again, for this reason, God gave them up to vile, literally base and degrading passions. He says that God gave them up to great wickedness. And then in explaining how this was so, he says, for, here's the explanation, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, or in the same way also, the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned or were inflamed in their lust for one another. Just like in the days of old in Sodom and Gomorrah, they were inflamed in their lust for one another. Look at what he says, men with men, or more literally as it is in the Greek text, men in men, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error, which was due. Now, obviously, the two sins, again, which are being spoken of here, are the sins of homosexuality and lesbianism. And this is what's in view. And for our time together for tonight, there were just five things that I want to say about these matters summarily. Three are negative and two are positive. And so the first is, friends, mark it down, According to the Bible, these two sins are absolutely an abomination to the Lord. This is where we must start. Let's just begin here. These two sins and the like are absolutely an abomination to the Lord. You see, Church, despite what some tell us in our day, such as Matthew Vines, in his very popular YouTube video, where he says that being gay is not a sin because the Bible does not condemn a loving, committed same-sex relationship. Church, I say that our friend Matthew Vines is in great error. He's in great error. You see, try as people will, and they will, to twist the scriptures according to their own perversions. The universal testimony of the Bible, both in the New and the Old Testament, is that you shall not lie with a male as with a woman, for it is an abomination to the Lord, and that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, Leviticus 18.22 and 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 9. A dear friend, so serious, so gross, so heinous, so immoral is this sin of homosexuality in God's eyes that according to Leviticus 20 and verse 13, it was punishable by death. Secondly, note with me that while many homosexuals laud and rejoice in their practices, even having so-called gay parades, the Bible here calls it shameful. shameful. The word literally means disgraceful. The point is, such practices are that which are without honor, men in men. Without honor, according to God's Word, and friends, it will never be with honor. For as Paul says here, it's against nature. That is to say, it is in contrast to the common function of our bodies. for sexual relations. Third, note with me that homosexuality and lesbianism are, according to our text tonight, the result of a person denying and disobeying God. Got to keep that in its context. To state the matter another way, when people continue in sin and unbelief as a pattern of life, God gives them over to even greater depths of depravity, that depravity which is in their hearts, and these are such sins. Fourth, note with me now, positively speaking, that homosexuality and lesbianism and the like are not to be viewed as the most wicked sins in all the world that people can ever commit, for while surely they are among the grosser sins that people get involved in, we see here that they are listed as just one of the many sins that people get into. Same thing with 1 Corinthians, that passage there. It's listed among many sins, not the only sin. among the most wicked sins that people can commit." Well, fifthly and finally then in this regard, again, positively speaking, you must note that while Paul says in verse 27 of this chapter that homosexuality and lesbianism are wicked in God's eyes, and many who practice such things do receive in themselves the penalty of their error, which is their due. That is to say, among other things, the horrible diseases that are very frequently connected with such a lifestyle, such as syphilis and STDs and AIDS, et cetera. Dear friends, while all of these things are so, listen, this absolutely does not mean that there's no hope for such people. Note it down. Beloved, be clear with me when I say that homosexuality and lesbianism are not the unpardonable sins. Be clear with me when I say that these are not sins which cannot be forgiven. No, not at all. And why is this? Well, because in speaking to this very matter, in writing to the church at Corinth, Paul could say there in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 11, to that church and such were some of you. That's what Paul said. And so you see, brethren, before some of the members of the church there at Corinth were converted, some of them were homosexuals. Some of them, no doubt, were temple prostitutes, which was a thing that was very popular throughout the Roman world in which Paul lived. And so here, then, we have, in that passage in 1 Corinthians, a 2,000-year-old record that tells us that God saves such people. We have a 2,000-year-old record which tells us that there is hope for such people. And this is why, therefore, Paul could go on in that very section of Scripture that I just quoted to you and say, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Praise be to his name. Such were formerly some of you who are now Christians in the church and make up the membership of this very body. You were those things. But you've been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of our God. And so what then are some practical applications growing out of this point? Well, there are many that could be said, I'm sure. However, there's just one that I want to highlight tonight. And it is, dear friends, in this place as a church, we must always welcome such individuals. Such were some of you. And may it be one day that this place is full of people that we can say, and such were some of you. Now notice, friends, I did not say that we are to welcome their lifestyles as that which is acceptable. I didn't say that at all. However, I'm saying we must welcome them in this place so that they might hear the preaching and teaching of the word of God and be saved. You see, dear ones, listen, since God is no homophobe, we shouldn't be either. No, God has. and will continue to save such people until Christ returns. And so if any show up in this place, let's welcome them, not with a bias, but with open hearts desiring their salvation. I had a member of the church tell me some months ago, Pastor, I've got a guy coming who's turning himself into a girl. I work with him. I don't even know what to call him. You know how we're getting into those problems these days. He or she, do I call him Jim or Roberta? I don't know what to do. confusing, but this member of this church said to me, this guy, you know, and he's turning himself into a girl through the whole, you know, process and medication, of course, the DNA will never change, etc. But he comes as a she to my job and visits me, and you can see, of course, the Adam's apple, and you can't, you know, quite get rid of that, and the hands still look like a man. So this member said to me, so if they come to this church, would they be welcomed? And I said, sister, you better believe it. As a matter of fact, it's a fellowship Sunday. When they come, I want to sit with them at the table. I want to sit right next to them and tell them about the love of Jesus Christ, who can free sinners from their sins. I want to sit with that person, and I want to tell them about Christ, and as another note could be sounded here, friends, for any who come into this place, who may not actually be practicing the wicked sin of homosexuality, but may be wrestling with similar things, such as same-sex attraction. Oh, friends, let's not think them weird or oddballs. No, rather, let's remember that sin has marred each and every one of us in different ways. However, by the power of the Spirit, we can be saved and live in ways that glorify God's name. I mean, God forbid someone comes in here, a non-Christian, and happens to share with a member in this church, oh yes, I struggle with same-sex attraction. And we say, really? How could that be? Because it is. We all struggle with stuff. And again, one sin is not to be viewed as worse than another in this category. Whether it's fornication or adultery or whatever it might be. And so let's not think such people as oddballs or weird. Let's just see them as sinners who need to be saved by the grace of God. Brethren, I say that through the transforming power of the gospel, men and women have been can and will continue to be new people in Jesus. For although we're told here in our passage tonight, listen closely, that God gave some up to the sin of homosexuality and lesbianism, note it down and never forget it, our passage does not say that God gave up on those in the sins of homosexuality and lesbianism. He gave them up too, but he didn't give up on them while they were in their sins. What a great God. What a merciful, wonderful, long-suffering God, and so having seen them. The essence of God's divine abandonment toward sinful humanity and the expression of God's divine abandonment from sinful humanity come with me now thirdly for tonight to note the extent of God's divine abandonment through sinful humanity in verses 28 to 32 of this chapter now. For the sake of time. I will be briefer at this point. But again, remember, as I said in the outset of this message, verse 28 is the third place in this chapter where we're told that as judgment toward the ungodly, God gave them up. There's the language again to their sinful ways. Now, strikingly here, we're told in this verse that because people did not want to retain or keep, verse 28, or hold onto the knowledge of God, the knowledge of God in their thinking, that in wrath, we could say, with poetic justice, they wouldn't retain God's knowledge in their mind. So we read in this verse that God gave them over to futile thinking. You won't have the knowledge of me in your mind? Good, I will give you over to futile thinking. That is to say a debased mind or a mind that lacks sound judgment. Here the Greek text literally reads that God gave them over to a reprobate mind, a dachmos, that is a mind which is worthless, a garbage mind, a mind which is useless spiritually speaking. Now in verses 29 to 31 of this chapter, we have Paul essentially shifting now from the consequences of idolatry and sin for ourselves to its consequences for society at large. Here in his longest list of sins, found in all of his letters, he sets forth 21 terms in the Greek text, which although they do not furnish an exhaustive list of the sins that people commit, certainly they convey to us the horrifying impression of those sins which enslave the heathen world in moral chaos. It conveys what Paul says in 28b of this chapter, those things which are not fitting to do. And so what then are some of these sins? Well, since each one of them is really self-explanatory, I'll just read them with brief comment until we get to verse 32. And so Paul writes in verse 29 and following, that such individuals are filled. They are being filled, being saturated. not just with some unrighteousness, but all unrighteousness or injustice. And then he says that they're being filled with sexual immorality, or perhaps better translated, fornication or pornography. He says they're being filled with wickedness or evil, covetousness or an insatiable desire for more and more, maliciousness or ill will. He says they're being filled with envy, which goes beyond just covetousness to the end that it begrudges the fact that a person has what he has, murder or killing, strife or discord, deceit or craftiness, evil-mindedness or malice. He says that they are whisperers, that is to say, secret slanderers, or those who spread rumors. He says they are backbiters, those who defame others, haters of God, despising all that he is and all that he stands for. He says they are violent, or brutal, proud or conceited, boasters or loudmouths, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving. And then last but not least, he says that they are unmerciful, that is to say, without pity. Well, as though all of these things weren't bad enough, Paul in his final indictment against the Gentile community, Says in verse 32 of this chapter, concerning such individuals, note it with me in your Bibles, he writes, who? The pagan Gentiles. Again, he'll deal with the moralist and he'll deal with the Jew in the following chapters. But concerning these people, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, and this most likely through the inner voice of conscience, which has the law of God stamped upon it, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, or perhaps better understood, punishment from God, or maybe even capital punishment. They know in themselves, they're deserving of punishment. Notice what Paul says, he writes, not only do the same, but approve of those who practice them. Well, here we see that Paul's list of the sins that pagans commit. really reaches the climax in this dreadful verse. Here we see that it's reached its fullest manifestation. For now we see that such people are not only going headlong into sin for themselves, but they're also approving or consenting, or perhaps the Greek word could be translated as taking pleasure. in those who practice such things. Long story short, they're going from bad to worse. And so it is. For when people won't have God to be their God, as I said in the opposite of the message, he allows them to go further and further into sin to experience the horrible consequences thereof. And such people go so far in their sins that instead of calling sin evil, they actually affirm those who practice sin, just as many are doing in our own day. They affirm. They congratulate it. They stand on the sidelines when the parade is going by. Isn't this wonderful, honey? No, it's not. They approve of it when they should be hanging their heads in shame. And so, having taken up this third part of the topic of the wrath of God as we come for tonight to begin to conclude the first chapter of Romans chapter 1, what applications can we take for ourselves, we who are the people of God? As we consider this dark portrait of humanity from the inspired apostle. What does such a text as this call us to? Well, there are three things that I want to say. And brethren, the first is this. Our passage tonight calls us who are true Christians to rejoice in our salvation. And why? Because God has delivered us from such things. I mean, when you look at this list, You should be saying, there I am. That was me. You know, sometimes people rejoice because their names are written in the Bible. My name's Jacob. It's in the Bible. I say, you know what? My name's in the Bible too. It's called sinner. Ungodly. That's who I am. And so as I look at these sins, some of the sins that I used to commit, used to practice, used to be involved in, As I stand back and look at it now as a Christian, what should all of this cause me to do? Well, it should cause me to rejoice and to praise Jesus Christ for so great a salvation. Friends, we are not the people that we used to be. Oh, we still wrestle with remaining sin. We still stumble. I understand. But we are not the people we used to be. Praise be to God, we're not the people that we're gonna be one day either. But as you think about these sins, and how gross they are, and all the wickedness that has aroused the wrath of God against such people, we can say, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Oh, I know I'm not perfect, not close to it. But I no longer live in sin. I do sin, but I do not live in sin. I no longer drink in iniquity like water, as Job says. One time in my life, I used to drink gallons of sin, loving it. But I no longer drink in iniquity like water. Now I say, away with such a cup. Away with such sin. For I am a new creature in Christ Jesus, and if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away, and behold, all things are becoming new. Friends, I say, rejoice. Rejoice for so great a salvation. But not only this, secondly, I believe that our text before us this evening, I believe that our text before us this evening, calls us to humility. And why? For who has made us to differ? Who has made us to differ? Isn't that what Paul says in the book to the Corinthians? Who has made us to differ? Answer, God has made us to differ. God in his electing love and grace, he is the one who has made us to differ. Friends, as we think about what we were in the past and who we are today by God's grace, truly we can say what the hymn writer of old, Robert Murray McShane, when he wrote, why was I made to hear thy voice and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? This is a call to humility. Paul could say, what do you have that you did not receive? It's all of grace, it's all of God's mercy, that we are who we are. A pitiful though at times, stumbling though at times, we are no longer what we used to be and again I say, praise be to God, one day we will be what we are not presently. This is a call to humility because it is God and God alone who has made us who we are. To differ thirdly and finally then for us who are Christians, not only do we have from this text a call to rejoice for so great a salvation, a call to humility. The only reason I am the way that I am is by the grace of God, but we also have a call to tell others our salvation story. Telling them mostly about the Lord Jesus Christ. who came into the world sinners to save. The point is, dear friends, Jesus did not come into the world to call the righteous. Not the righteous, as we sing, not the righteous, sinners Jesus came to call. The righteous, that is to say the self-righteous. Jesus didn't come for them, those who think they're good people, I don't really need to be converted, the Pharisees. the separated ones. No, rather Jesus came into this world to save wicked, depraved, vile, undone, godless sinners and such were some of you. He came into the world to die for unrighteous people and to free them from their sins. And so he says in John 8 in verse 36, if the son of man makes you free, You shall be free indeed. Indeed. And so in view of this, let me close with a word to any non-Christian here tonight. You're here this evening. You're not a Christian. You haven't been born again. Well, perhaps you're here tonight and you have committed these gross sins that are listed. in Romans chapter 1. Or perhaps right now you are presently committing such sins. And maybe by God's doing you want to get freed from such things. You are feeling the horrible burden. of living a life of sin before God, like a pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress, the weight of his guilt upon his back. I've got this burden, evangelist. How can I get it off my back? An evangelist points Pilgrim to the cross, to Jesus Christ, the burden bearer, who there at Calvary was judged in the place of guilty sinners. If you're here tonight, and you say, I want to be freed from this life. You say, I am living just like that. Again, friends, I tell you, the words of Jesus in John 8 and verse 36, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. You see? Perhaps you've tried to free yourself from your own condition, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, change this, change that, turn over another leaf, et cetera. But Jesus says, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. And therefore it is to this Son of God that you must go to. so that you could be freed from the horrible sins and the judgment thereof and the bitter fruit thereof. You go to this Christ as a hell-deserving sinner and say, watch me, Savior, lest I die. You come to Christ to invite sinners to himself. And you say, forgive me and cleanse me based upon your work in my place as the sinner's substitute. You say, as blind Bartimaeus said to our Lord as he was walking past him, son of David, have mercy on me. And you remember the disciples were kind of hushing down this individual, the great master doesn't have time for you. And it says that as Jesus heard him call out to him, he stopped, he stood still. Christ stood still at the cry of a sinner who wanted to be saved, who wanted to be forgiven, who wanted to be healed. And my dear non-Christian friend here this day, you call out to Christ as it were. He will stand still to hear you. He will stop as it were and ask, what would you have me to do for you? As Jesus often said to those in need, And in response, they would say, that I might see, that I might be healed, that I might be forgiven. And Jesus says to them in reply, according to your faith, be it unto you. You believe I can do this? That's good because I can. So my dear non-Christian friend here this evening, believe on Christ and you will be saved. The devil has sold you a bag of goods. He's told you, follow me and I'll make your life better. The devil has lied, he's blinded your eyes, he's darkened your hearts. Christ is the stronger than the strong man Satan. And he's able to set the prisoners free. What does the great hymn say? It says of Jesus, He breaks the power of reigning sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed for me. May it be then, my dear sinner friend here this evening, that you will know the power of Christ, breaking the strength of reigning sin in your own life and setting you free to run in the ways of God's commandments, to serve him with a new heart, to live after him with all your might and all your strength to the glory and praise of his own holy name. Let's pray. O blessed Christ, we thank you that you are the omnipotent God. We thank you that you are able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through you. Rescue some this night, O God. Break the power of reigning sin and set the prisoner free. For indeed, your blood can make the foulest clean. your blood availed for me. Be merciful, we pray. Grant repentance toward God and faith in yourself. We ask it and plead it in your own holy and worthy name.