Good morning, friends. My name is Tony Miano. I attend Faith Community Church up in the Santa Clarita Valley, here with the prayerful support of my pastor and my elders. And I'm here to bring to you the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My friends, there is only one Jesus, fully God and fully man and without sin, who was with the Father in creation. All things were made through Him and by Him and for Him. He is the ruler of all things. Nothing was created that He did not create. He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among people 2,000 years ago. He is the One who died a death on the cross He did not deserve to take upon Himself the punishment we rightly deserve for our sins against God. He is the only One who is risen from the dead. He is alone God. Jesus Christ is God. He is not an incarnation of Michael the Archangel. He is not the spirit brother of Lucifer. He is not a prophet second to Muhammad. He is God. Jesus Christ is the Lord. There is only one God. And that God is Triune. Father God, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. One God. One God. In three persons. There is only one. And He has made Himself known through the person and the Word of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I'm going to begin this morning by reading out of Ephesians chapter 5, beginning in verse 1. The Word of God tells us this. Therefore be imitators of God, His beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity, or covetousness, must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints." Now again, that word saints in the Bible, that does not refer to some person who lived a long time ago that the Catholic Church decided to make a saint, decided to build churches to represent, or icons, or things like that. That is not a saint. In the Bible, a saint is merely a follower of Jesus Christ. Mankind does not make saints. Popes do not make saints. Cardinals do not make saints. Only God makes saints. And anyone who follows Jesus Christ, anyone who knows Jesus Christ as their Lord and their Savior is a saint, a follower of Christ. Not to be revered, not to be prayed to, not to be worshipped, like the false saints of the Catholic religion, but are saints of God, followers of Jesus Christ. That's what a saint is. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral, or impure, or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them. For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret, but when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light, Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. My friends, the Word of God is true. The Word of God says, for it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. Many people actually believe that they do things in secret. That they can actually do things, or think things, or believe things that God does not see. Well, my friends, God is omnipresent. He is everywhere all the time. God is omniscient. He knows everything. all the time. You have no secrets from Almighty God. There is nothing about you that is hidden from God. He knows all things. He sees all things. He discerns all things. He knows the darkest thoughts in the darkest recesses of your mind. The places where you think no one else can go. And no one else will ever know. The things you hide from your spouse, the things you hide from your parents, the things you hide from your friends are exposed in the presence of Almighty God. The Word of God says, but sexual immorality in all impurity or in covetousness must not even be named among you. These are sins against God. Sexual immorality is a sin against God. Sex outside of marriage is a sin against God and His fornication. Adultery is a sin against God. And adultery is not merely cheating on a spouse. Jesus said whoever looks at a person to lust after them has already committed adultery with that person in their heart. My friends, there is no such thing as gay marriage. There is only that which is an abomination before the Lord when people who do what is sexually perverse, sexually evil, and call it something that God has made holy, which is marriage. Marriage is one man married to one woman for life. There is no gay marriage. There is only debauchery. There is only sinfulness. There is only sexual immorality. God will not look upon what you see as good as good. He will see it as evil. And no one who practices sexual immorality will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Does that mean that person is outside of God's forgiveness? No. But if they continue practicing that sin, if they drink that iniquity like water, if they blaspheme God by asserting that that sin is good before Almighty God, they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They will not enter the Kingdom of God. God's Word makes it clear. He will not allow those who practices sexual immorality into His Kingdom. God also says that no one who covets No one who covets will enter into the kingdom of God. What is coveting? Coveting is being less than satisfied with what God has given you in this life. Coveting is worshipping things other than the one who gives you those things. Worshipping creatures rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. That is coveting. And that is also idolatry in the eyes of God. God's Word also says to let nothing impure, nothing sinful, nothing depraved, nothing sexually explicit or immoral come out of your mouth. Jesus even said it's not what goes into a man who defiles him, but it's what comes out of his mouth that defiles him. Jesus said it's the words that come out of our mouth that reveal the true condition of our heart. And if you say that you love God out of one side of your mouth, and you blaspheme Him out of the other, or if you say you love God out of one side of your mouth, and you talk with filthy talk out of the other, you're a hypocrite. You do not know God. And you will not enter into the Kingdom of God. You will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Is that true because I say so? Absolutely not. Nothing's true because I say so. The Word of God is true. The Word of God is true. The Word of God says, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. There is one work of darkness that is prevalent here in the United States, and it is the wholesale murder of unborn children. The wholesale premeditated murder of unborn children through the crime of abortion. Almost 55 million children have been murdered in the United States in the last 30 to 40 years. One child is murdered every 1.5 seconds in the world every day. More than 42 million children will be murdered through abortion in this world this year. But yet, we try to sanitize that by calling it a choice. I spoke to a young man this week on the campus of Boise State University up in Idaho. And he insisted that it was a woman's right to choose to kill her baby. That no one should be able to tell her what to do. That no one should be able to tell her it's wrong to murder her baby. So I looked him in the eye and I said, his name was Tom. I looked him in the eye and I said, well then Tom, I choose to kill you. I choose to murder you. And there's nothing wrong with it. Of course he took a step back and I assured him I had no plans to kill him. But it showed him the foolishness of his position. If it is truly a choice for a woman to murder her unborn baby, that any one of us can choose to murder anybody we want. But none of us live that way. None of us believe that. No one believes that. Only the most depraved, the most diabolical, the most hateful person would believe something like that. But yet it just shows the utter inconsistency of most people's worldview. They say that it's a choice to murder children, but we can't have the choice to murder each other. That's foolishness and hypocrisy. And God sees abortion as murder. And the Word of God says that all murderers will have their part in the lake of fire. And my friends, if you even condone the murder of the unborn by voting for candidates who condoned the murder of the unborn. You are an accessory to that murder. And the wrath of God abides on you. Doesn't matter whether you like it. It doesn't matter whether or not you believe it. What matters is it's true. Abortion is not a choice. Abortion is a murder. And you might say, well, what about in the case of a woman who was raped? Well, obviously rape is a vicious crime. No woman should ever be subjugated to such a vicious and horrible crime. And I think rapists should be executed. I don't think they should be fed and housed for 20 or 30 or 40 years at taxpayer's expense. I think they should be executed for doing that to a woman. But it still doesn't justify abortion. Why would you murder a child for the crime of the father? Why would you murder the child for the crime of the father? Then the argument becomes, well, when the woman who was raped, she has that baby, and as she's carrying that baby, she's going to be reminded of her rapist, she's going to be reminded of that horrible act, and so she shouldn't have to live with that. Well, if we take that rationale, and we follow it to its logical conclusion, what if the woman does decide to have the baby? And many women do. Many women decide to have their babies even though that baby is created as a result of a vicious and ugly and horrible crime. Well, what if at the age of 18 months, that baby begins to look like the rapist? That baby begins to look like its father? If it's okay to murder an unborn child, in the case of a rape, that it should be okay for the woman to murder her 18-month-year-old when she decides that the baby looks too much like the rapist, that she can't deal with it anymore, that she can't look into that baby's eyes anymore without seeing that horrible act. But who among us would say that it would be okay for any mother to take her 18-month-old child and cut it to pieces? Like a doctor does when he aborts a baby. He cuts it to pieces. No one would agree that we should be able to do that to an 18-month-old, or a 6-month-old, or a 2-week-old. What's the difference? Only the age of the child. And my friends, God sees abortion as a deed done in darkness. It's a deed of wickedness. It is murder. Does that mean that someone who has an abortion cannot be forgiven? No, it doesn't mean that. It doesn't mean that at all. Because what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross, the shedding of His blood, is powerful enough, is efficacious enough to cover any kind of sin. But God is not going to simply turn a blind eye to sin and let the murderer, and the rapist, and the fornicator, and the homosexual, and the blasphemer, and the adulterer, and the person who practices false religion. He's not going to turn a blind eye to that sin and simply allow you into heaven. God would be unjust if He did that. God must punish sin. Because God is holy, and righteous, and just, and good. But at the same time, God is also loving, and merciful, and gracious, and kind. So there's a dilemma. How can God, and there is only one, how can God at the same time be holy, and righteous, and just, and punish sin? And at the same time, be loving and merciful and kind, and forgive sin. It happened at the cross. That is where justice and mercy kiss. At the cross. God the Father made Him, God the Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin on our behalf, so that through Him we might receive, we might become the righteousness of God. How did that happen? Two thousand years ago, God the Father sent His Son to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. Fully God and fully man and without sin. Unlike you and unlike me, my friends, He never once violated the law of God. He could not. He was and He is the sinless Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. He lived a perfect life that you are utterly incapable of living. And about 33 years into that earthly existence, he voluntarily went to the cross. He suffered and died a horrible, bloody death. He did not deserve taking upon himself the punishment we rightly deserve for our sins against God. And then three days later, he forever defeated sin and death when he rose from the grave. He is alive today. and He will return at a time of the Father's choosing. And the only God who can save you is the only God who is alive, and that is Jesus Christ, the Lord. My friends, Mohammed cannot save you. Mohammed is dead. Buddha cannot save you, my friends. Buddha is dead. The millions of false gods of Hinduism, the false gods of Catholicism and Mormonism and every other kind of ism, cannot save you because they do not exist. The only God who can save you is the only God who is alive, and that is Jesus Christ the Lord, my friends. And God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Can God forgive the woman who has an abortion? Yes, He can. Can God forgive the person who is living a homosexual lifestyle? Yes, He can. Can God forgive the liar, the thief, the fornicator, the adulterer, the blasphemer? Yes, He can. And He has done it millions of times over. But my friends, you must come to God on His terms. You must come to God on His terms, not your own. For God does not negotiate with sinners. Hear that again, my friends. God does not negotiate with sinners. The Word of God says, a broken and contrite heart He will not despise. He's opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. and your only hope of salvation is through Jesus Christ the Lord. And so my friends, I beg of you, I plead with you, and God commands you this day to repent, to turn from your sins, and by faith and by faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. You cannot save yourself. Only God can save you. Wearing crosses will not save you. Going to church will not save you. Creating a god in your imagination to suit yourself will not save you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. For only Jesus Christ has the power to save. So humble yourself before the mighty hand of God, turn from your sin, and by faith and by faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. And my friends, as I have said often already this morning, if you do not hear this as a message of love, there are three reasons. You love yourself more than you love God. You love your sin more than you love God. And in some way you have deluded yourself into thinking that you are God. You need to turn from your sin. What's your name young man? I'm Tony. I'm sorry? Achilles? Is that how you say it? Achilles? Good to meet you, Achilles. Good to meet you, man. Turn from your sin, my friends, and by faith and by faith alone receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. My friends, You will die and you will stand before God to give an account for your life. There's no way around it. You can't click your heels together and say there is no God. The Word of God says that only the fool has said in his heart there is no God. There are no atheists. There are no agnostics. There are no skeptics. There are only those who suppress the truth that they already know about God because of their love for their sin. Because of their love for self-righteousness. They suppress the truth that they know because they hate God. It always amazes me how many atheists assert that there is no God and they're angry with Him. I mean, that is actually delusional. It seems like a form of mental illness to say God doesn't exist and I'm angry with Him. But you see, my friends, there are no atheists. There are no atheists. There's no one who believes that God does not exist. There are only people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. They know God exists, and they hate Him. They know God exists, and they believe they will not have to submit to Him. They know God exists, and so they create a religion in their mind to suit themselves, and it's called atheism. It's just one of many isms. The Bibles are free, my friends. I have Bibles here on top of the news rack. They are absolutely free. I've run out of Spanish Bibles, but I still have Bibles in English. Please help yourself. They are free. So my friends, when we stand before God, we will be without excuse. We will be without excuse. You will not be able to say, I didn't know. You will not be able to say, I didn't hear. You will not be able to say, well, I thought homosexuality was okay with you because religious people told me that homosexuality is okay with God. You will have no excuse because God has already written his law in your heart. You already know it is a sin against God to practice homosexuality. You already know in your heart, in your mind, that it's wrong to commit an abortion or to condone abortion. You already know that it's wrong to worship other gods but the one true God. God has already written this reality on your heart. But there is forgiveness. There is forgiveness, but it's only through Jesus Christ. And it is only if you come to God on His terms. God does not see you as good. God does not see me as good. He sees us all for what we are. We are sinners. We have fallen short of God's glory. None of us will ever be good enough to be made right in God's eyes, to be made right in the eyes and the sight of God. But there is one who can make us right, and there is only one, and that is Jesus Christ the Lord, my friends. Yes, abortion is a sin. Yes, homosexuality is a sin. Yes, the worship of false gods is a sin. Yes, adultery is a sin. Yes, lying and stealing and coveting and everything else like it is a sin. But God forgives sinners. He does. But it is only through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. And God says in His Word, that if we turn from our sin and put our faith in Jesus Christ alone, He will remove our sin as far as the east is from the west, and He will remember it no more. So turn from your sin, and by faith and by faith alone, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. He will give you a new heart with new desires. The sin you once loved, you will now hate. The sin you once loved, you will now hate. And my friends, if you are not at war with your sins while asserting that you believe in Jesus, then you don't know Jesus. If you continue to practice your sins and love your sins while saying you love Jesus, you do not love Jesus. and Jesus commands you to count the cost. Yes, we are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation, but you must count the cost. Unlike a false teacher by the name of Joel Osteen, who has the biggest church in the United States, God has not promised you your best life now. God has not promised you that every day will feel like Friday. What Jesus promises in this life, if you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, is that you will likely experience persecution. You will likely experience tribulation and sorrow and hardship. My friends, if all you're looking for is a better life here, then this is as good as it's ever going to get. And all you have to look forward to is hell. But what Jesus Christ promises those who deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him. What Jesus Christ promises to those who repent and believe the gospel is not your best life now. It is a future hope. It is an eternal hope with Jesus Christ the Lord. He is God to prepare a place for those who repent and believe. He is God to prepare a place for those who humble themselves. And with a broken and contrite heart, turn from their sin and turn to Jesus Christ for salvation. And that's what makes life bearable in this sin-stained, falling and dying world. Is that this is not the Christian's home. This is not all there is. The promise for those who are born again, the promise for those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and their Savior isn't a new house, isn't a better wife, isn't behaving kids, isn't a new car, isn't a bank account full of money. God hasn't promised any of those things. What God has promised is life, and life abundantly. Not here on earth, but in heaven with Him for all eternity. So turn to Christ and live, my friends. Turn to Christ and live. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. Turn to Christ and live. And thank you for listening.