We would pray in Jesus' name and for His sake. And all God's people said, Amen. Well, as I commented in those words of introduction, we've now come to the practical application of what Paul has been setting before us. We've been engaged in a study of the book of Romans now for a number of months. And in places it may have been somewhat heavy going and we're thankful for the observation that Peter makes in his epistle that Paul sometimes says things that are hard to understand. And if Peter found some of the writings of Paul somewhat of a struggle, then we find ourselves in good company. That doesn't give us an out, it doesn't say that's okay for you just to turn the page of scripture and move on to something that's easier. Rather, we are engaged to struggle through the harder passages so that we come to a better understanding. And if we're reading not only with our heads, but with our hearts, what Paul has to say at this particular point, he's telling us that we should live holy and acceptable lives, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship, not to be conformed, not to be conformed to this world. So we come to it, we recognize that, what has Paul been doing? He's been setting out the way of salvation. And now he comes to one of those, and he does it very frequently, especially in the book of Romans. Therefore, on the basis of everything that I've been telling you, everything that you have read thus far in this epistle, now we're gonna make some applications. I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, Paul has, even from the first chapter, brought to our attention that there are differences between Jews and Gentiles. And if we're following along with what Paul has to say, it's not that we would really align ourselves so much with with the Gentiles because the sort of things that Paul is speaking about in connection with the Jews is actually more fitting for us who are regularly found in the place of worship. And if you take a look around and you see, well, I know that I have been sitting next to this person now, perhaps in this very place for years. And most of the fellowship are well known to you. immediately speak to them, address them as a friend and better still a brother or sister in Christ. You know their name, you may even know some of the things that they struggle with and have made that a matter of prayer. And I trust that we as a fellowship bring the needs of those who are afflicted before the throne of grace and as a congregation pray for their needs. So Paul, right from the very beginning, he's talking about the Gentiles and the way in which he describes the Gentiles in chapter one, makes the hair stand on end. You can always imagine the first reading of the epistle when it arrives in Rome and it's read before the congregation of the saints addressed to them in particular by extension also to us tonight. You can imagine some of the things that Paul is speaking about And the congregation, as they hear of the things which they see every day around them, the sort of things which, honestly, I would blush to mention from the pulpit, and yet commonplace. And perhaps at points, as Paul brings home the message of Scripture, and as the Holy Spirit lays it upon their hearts, there may even have been those within the congregation that themselves may have blushed as they think, that's where I was. He's talking about me. I am that sinner, that sinner engaged in gross and reckless sin. And everybody around me knows that it's me. Well, perhaps there are sins which are known to particular individuals and they feel embarrassed even at the mention of those sins because it still weighs upon their hearts. And yet there'll be others in the pew which are relieved that their particular sins are not mentioned in the epistle to Paul by Paul to the Roman church. And a sigh of relief that their sins have not been mentioned in particular. But let me assure you of this. There is no sin but that is common to man. And though a particular sin may manifest itself in a particular way with a particular individual, do not think that those around you have not had issues with sins and that somehow they walk above this earth and don't contaminate their feet in the grime of living in this world. It may be that their sins are not so readily known to other people, but they are sinners And I'm a sinner too. So don't think that in the course of preaching, whether it be tonight or at some point in the future, that you've been singled out for some particular attention and made to feel awkward because your sins are mentioned as though perhaps you would think that they are made particular mention because they are mentioned from the pulpit and that everybody around about you has no particular sins to worry about. Far from it. If at times the spirit of God places his finger upon your heart and you become convicted by the preaching or even just the reading of God's word that you are a sinner, then thank God for that. But recognize that there are others, every other person in this room. If they are breathing the air of heaven, And know and love the Lord Jesus, though their sins may not have been mentioned out aloud, their sinners too. And so each day, morning and evening, as the elders and deacons gather for prayer before the morning worship and the evening prayer, it is habitually the prayer that the minister should not fear the face of men. that preach the Word of God. By that I am serving notice, and there may be things said tonight which will cause you to squirm in your seat. I hope so. I hope the Spirit of God will indeed speak to you of the needs of your soul. I do not think the sermon is framed in order just to meet you personally and you alone, squirm in your seat, but to recognize that those who seemingly are staring at the minister, trying not to show that this has touched their heart too, do not think that those around you are guiltless. It may just be that that which is mentioned afflicts you in particular, but that every other person in this room, without exception, is guilty, if not in the particular, is guilty of the same sin. And I, as a preacher, do not exempt myself from that. So what is Paul saying? There are those who have engaged in reckless sin and they're sort of comprehended under a general term of Gentiles and he speaks about some of the things that they've been engaged in. They're horrific things indeed. But as he draws attention to the sins of the Gentiles, he then turns his attention to the Jews. And they are, as it were, at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Gentiles were outright and unrepentant sinners. They would do all manner of evil and then boast about it. But the Jews, no, they knew the law of God. And, of course, they not only tried to keep it, but boasted that they had kept the law of God. And of a truth, perhaps we would have been more comfortable in the company of the strict Jew in Paul's day than we would have been in the company of the godless heathens of Rome. So as we reflect upon these things and see how Paul continues to weave these two ends of the spectrum throughout the the book of Romans and then brings both together Jew and Gentile and in the wonderful climax of the first part, the theological part of the book of Romans he declares, for God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all. It doesn't matter which end of the spectrum you are in, whether you are the sort of person who has abandoned himself or herself to outrageous sin, or in your own self-righteousness declared, I have nothing to ask God for forgiveness. No, says Paul, wherever you are on that spectrum, If you are to enter into eternal bliss, it is only by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, I exhort you, I beseech you, by the mercies of God, by that mercy which he has just been explaining, and is the high point of the gospel that God will have mercy on all Gentile and Jew. By that very mercy, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Well, there is an expression, and I may have been told what the American equivalent is, but I'm afraid it's difficult to teach an old dog new expressions. What is Paul saying? We can't run with a hare and hunt with a hound. Well, what does that mean? One of those strange things that they say 4,000 miles away on the other side of the pond. Well, if you're hunting down here, you go out with your hounds, and you set the hounds to chasing the hare, and when it's exhausted, you catch up with the hare, and you kill it, because that's what you do when you're out hunting. Well, there are those who want to run with the hare, as though they were belonged amongst the hares. They also want to hunt with the hounds. They want to be on both sides. And if we're honest, that can so often be a description of our Christianity in this world. We want to appear to be just like the world. And yet when we come to church, we want to appear as though we are the faithful followers of the Lord Jesus. And what Paul is saying is that being a Christian has to make a difference in the way in which we conduct ourselves. Whether we have come from a background where we have given ourselves with great abandon to every sin and lasciviousness of the world, and then God has graciously converted us and brought us to a knowledge of his son. or whether we have been brought up in the place where the word of God is read, where scripture is held in high regard, where every meal is introduced by a prayer of thanksgiving to the gracious God who provides every good gift. But at either end of the spectrum, or somewhere in between, being a Christian has to make a difference in our lives. Neither the Jew nor the Gentile, as Paul describes them in the opening chapters of the book of Romans, had anything to boast of. The only thing that either had to boast of, and all who may lie in the middle ground in between, is that there is a righteousness that is apart from the law. the righteousness that is granted to us in Christ Jesus. And there's only one way to enter into heaven, and that is to trust in Christ Jesus. Therefore, says Paul, chapter five, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. So we do often sing, and for good reason, the vilest offender who truly believes that moment, and I forget how the rest goes. That moment, well, you know it. You know the thing. If the highest office in the land can get away with it, then a lowly preacher can get away with it from time to time. the vilest offender who truly believes. Well, we know who he's talking about there, don't we? It's not me. I'm not the vilest offender. Well, you probably are not. You're probably not the vilest offender. So what is Paul saying? He's saying you may have been brought up in a sewer and lived a life steeped in sin and rejoiced in it, You may have hated Christ and all that he stood for. You may have hated the saints and their unspoken rebuke of you by the way in which you live your life. Well, just go out on a life change Sunday and you will know that if you are standing for the sanctity of life, There will be those who will slow in their vehicles and shout all manner of obscenities towards you. I don't think they are ever charged with a hate crime. It's all right to shout obscenities at Christians for standing up for what they believe in. Got off in a sewer? No! I was brought up in a Christian home. Does that mean that you are guaranteed a place in heaven? So Paul is talking about both ends of the spectrum, and he wants to bring it much closer to home. I appeal to you, brothers. He's appealing to Christians, to you who know and love that lovely name of Jesus Christ, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Don't be conformed to this world. Well, we know how to behave. We know how to behave in church. We're not out of place. We know the dress code when we enter in. We know how we should look and appear to others. We know what to do. We know when to stand up. We know when to sit down. We know what to say to other believers. We have our special vocabulary, which will be unknown to those who are on the outside. So does that mean everything is fine with us? We can now skip ahead and continue in later chapters of the Book of Romans because we have nothing to be taught by these verses. Do not be conformed to this world. Why do we want to be conformed to this world? Because we all want a sense of we belong. In one sense, an unbeliever has something of an advantage. He knows that he isn't a Christian, and he doesn't pretend to be. But me? Well, let me tell you about my upbringing. We had morning worship, and that often included Sunday school. We had evening worship back again in the same place. Does that sound familiar? Well, of course, I can be a Pharisee of the Pharisee, Hebrew of the Hebrews. There was a brethren Sunday school held in the afternoon and for whatever reason my mother thought it would be good if morning and evening in a Sunday school wasn't sufficient, then I should go to the brethren Sunday school in the afternoon. She was probably right. I needed every ounce of grace that might be pushed my way. And so many of us can say something similar. Here you are in the evening worship service. And the vast majority, perhaps even every single one of you were in worship this morning, probably here. So Paul is bringing Jew and Gentile together. It doesn't matter whether you come from one end of the spectrum or the other. It is so that God can have mercy on all. So he starts to, having explained the gospel, that it's only by trusting in Christ, wherever we come from on that spectrum, that being a Christian has to make a difference. So Paul is starting to explain to us what does a Christian look like. What does that mean to say, I am a Christian, I am a believer? And if we contemplate it even for a moment, we will begin to realize just how difficult it is to avoid conforming to the world. We live in the world. We see much of what the world does or read of it in our papers or nowadays perhaps more commonly on the internet or wherever else. We know that there is much wickedness in this world. And we begin to understand how difficult it is to avoid being influenced by the world. We want to fit in. We don't want the world to look at us and say, well, there goes an oddball, there goes a strange individual. If that's what a Christian looks like, I'm not sure that I want to have anything to do with that. We want to appear normal to the world. And if the world wants to accept homosexuality as merely an alternative lifestyle, you'll find plenty of preachers, perhaps the best known preachers, who are only too willing to make all sorts of exceptions and all sorts of arguments to say it's not really quite what it seems to be, not what the church has taught for the last 2,000 years anyway. And sermons, even those that might in some manner speak against homosexuality, introduced with all sorts of caveats. Some of my best friends are homosexual. I love the homosexual community. I do this, I do that. Oh, and by the way, sotto voce, there might be something wrong with it. That's not loving those who are caught up in an abomination. to tell them that doing something which is contrary to the word of God, and unless you repent of it, you'll go to a lost eternity. But that's not the message of the gospel. we would preach and declare to those who were caught up in that dreadful sin, that Paul makes clear in his letter to the church in Corinth, as he lists out all manner of heinous sin. And what is it that Paul says? And such were some of you. So what's he saying? He says there are sins and I'm not going to gloss it over. I'm not going to pretend it doesn't matter. I'm not going to say this is an acceptable lifestyle and you can continue in your fornication and in your homosexuality and any other abomination and be a member in good and regular standing in the church of Jesus Christ. I'm going to tell you what it is. It's a sin that needs to be repented of. And I would urge you with every fiber of my being to turn to Christ while it is still the day of grace. And such were some of you. Well, perhaps we have no particular need to worry about homosexuality or Transgenderism or abortion. We know what the answer are to these things. These are not matters which are in debate in our fellowship. We know what the word of God says. These are not issues for us. Can't really say they're much of a temptation. Does that mean we are immune Is the temptation to conform something which only afflicts a few? Or is it something that is laid bare upon the pages of Scripture? Well, I think we can see quite clearly that it is the latter. Do you remember how the people of God came to Samuel? And they said, we want to have a king. And they gave their reason. We want to be like the other nations round about. We want to be just like them. And we're putting it in terms that Paul is using here in his letters to the Roman church. They're coming to Samuel to say we want to conform to the world. We want to be just like them. Well, let me begin to stand on some tomes. It's easy to preach for sins that are not plaguing us. Easy for a preacher to condemn those things that we see in the world, whether it's homosexuality, transgenderism, or abortion, when these are not things which we can say are really alive for us as a fellowship. But what if the preacher starts to preach on things which we do find to be a temptation, which are conforming to this world, Well, if the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then a tattoo is the graffiti on the wall. And why? Well, growing up, I only knew of one person who had a tattoo. He was a sailor that served in the same ship that I served on. And he went ashore. And as a sailor, of course, he wasn't content until he had made himself completely drunk. And he woke up the next day on board ship with a tattoo on. He didn't know how he'd got it, didn't know how much he'd paid for it. He didn't know why he had chosen that particular tattoo. That was the only contact that I ever had growing up with someone who had a tattoo. Now, of course, far more common. In case you think that this is just, oh yes, you'll remember the date. It's been like 20 years when I made a comment about keeping to the speed limit and it's still known as a sermon about keeping to the speed limit and nobody remembers what the rest of the sermon was about. I run the risk of dealing with this issue. Oh yes, the pastor doesn't like tattoos. Well, let me tell you what I did to conform to the world when I was a youngster. I did what everybody else did when I was a youngster. I didn't get a tattoo because nobody else was getting a tattoo. You see, we're contempted to conform to the world and everybody else is doing it. Why not me? Why is it a temptation now when it wasn't a temptation when, well, when I was a teenager or when I was in my twenties? It wasn't a temptation for me then because nobody else was doing it. So should I break my arm patting myself on the back that I didn't do something that somebody else has done? Certainly not. It wasn't because I was some brave individual standing for Christ in an otherwise godless world. Well, we conform to this world. And perhaps I have trodden too harshly on the toes of some. So let me try and deal with the older members of the congregation, those who perhaps even now are saying, yes, pastor, preach it, it's a piece of nonsense that these youngsters are getting tattoos. Let me ask you about the ways in which you have conformed to the world. When my children, or at least the older children now, were being homeschooled, we went to a homeschool band, or orchestra I suppose really. And because my son was actually in the orchestra, he had to be there early. And so we sat in a particular church where they had a platform large enough to accommodate an orchestra. And with nothing better to do, I picked out the hymn book that was in the pews, as you have hymn books in the pews before you. And I had a section of patriotic hymns. And no doubt you will know a lot of those hymns, probably have them Tattooed on your arm. And I remember coming to what? My country tis of thee. Anybody here not know that? It's a hymn of praise to the country. God gets a mention only in verse four. That's the only place he's mentioned. And it's almost as though they're bringing God on to win the best supporting actor award. But what's God there to do? God, bless our country. And then next verse we're back into the wonderful fields and open spaces and the beautiful rivers and everything that's wonderful and magical about the country. No, I'm not saying that the song is in and of itself is wrong, but it does not belong in worship. We can't bring our love for country into worship and put it alongside praise to the living God. And so you will probably find plenty. I would be willing to hazard a guess that most of the churches in North America will probably have the flag of the United States displayed somewhere. there alongside the so-called Christian flag? Why is the representation of the world, even such a wonderful country, and don't think that I'm knocking... You are, if not all, probably most of you, if not all of you, you're all American citizens by birth. I'm an American citizen. by choice. So you have it by accident. I have it because I sought it out. So do not think that I'm speaking about the United States. And we do not put the flag of the country on the same platform and elevate it as though this was something that we would worship alongside. of God. Do not be conformed to this world. If this generation, the younger people, are tempted by tattoos, I think the previous generation was tempted to make a god of its nation. Now have I offended everybody? Because I'm an equal opportunity offender. I will offend everyone if it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't be conformed to this world. And if it's a choice between graffiti on the wall or bringing a foreign idol into the temple then I would say get the tattoo. Do you see the point that I'm making brethren? We're not to be conformed to the world. We're not to think to ourselves, how can I be more like the world? Or this is what the world is doing, can I do that? Because I want to fit in. Don't be conformed to this world. And as a Christian, my desire is not to be conformed, but be transformed. Well, our time has passed, and I did have in mind to speak to you about what it means to be transformed by the Word of God, but that will need to wait until next Lord's Day. If you have been offended by elements in this sermon, then by all means, speak to me. that as God is my witness, I desire only that you should not be conformed to this world. And I would beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God examine heart and mind actions and your desires of the heart and ask yourself this question, do I desire this because it will make me more acceptable in the world? Help me fit into the world. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds Let's pray. Our gracious God and our heavenly Father, there is no temptation but that is common to man, and if one should succumb to the temptation to be like the rest of the world in one way, then we have no grounds, Father, before Thee to exempt ourselves, for we want to be conformed to this world no less than our neighbor. But we would ask of thee this night, that thou wouldst reveal to us even by thy word the ways in which the world has its place in our hearts to our shame. Help us, O God, to turn away from the world, not to be like the world, not to desire to fit in with the world or to have their praise. But may we, O Lord, day by day have this as our only desire, to be pleasing to Thee, to fit in amongst the people of God and those who live holy lives. So, Father, forgive us all our sins. all the ways in which we are tempted to fit in with the world. Renew us, O God. Transform us through Thy Word. For this we would ask in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. That is a response to the preaching of God's word. Hymn 585.