WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.880 Our reading is from Romans chapter 1 verse 18 to the end. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:23.800 ! The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:24.800 ! 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:31.280 What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. 00:00:31.900 --> 00:00:49.280 For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. 00:00:49.280 --> 00:01:19.280 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:28.560 God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:29.560 Amen! 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:40.500 They exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve created things rather than the creator who is forever praised. 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:41.280 Amen! 00:01:41.280 --> 00:02:11.280 And there are holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:23.340 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind so that they do what ought not to be done. 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:51.939 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents. They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 00:02:51.939 --> 00:03:08.939 Although they know God's righteous degree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them. May God help us to understand this word. 00:03:11.079 --> 00:03:14.840 Amen. Thanks, Lucia. Let's pray together as we come to God's word. Let's pray. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:30.460 Heavenly Father, we require in our hearts before you this morning, we want to ask that you might be gracious to us and speak to us through your word. 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:39.760 Pray that you might save us from those temptations that we have to think we know better than you or better than your word. 00:03:40.640 --> 00:03:45.800 Please help us to submit to what it says, to understand it carefully and thoughtfully. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:54.860 May my words and may the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing to you, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 00:03:54.860 --> 00:04:05.040 Amen. Well, I want you to see with me, just as we start this morning, that our passage makes two very simple claims. 00:04:05.780 --> 00:04:09.460 I grant you that they are controversial claims. We'll get to that in a moment. 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:13.860 They are probably difficult to accept, but all the same, they are very simple. 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:16.740 All of us are going to get this. We're all going to be able to understand them. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:18.319 They're both there in verse 18. 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:20.099 Look down at verse 18. 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:32.300 Here then are the two claims of our passage. 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:38.819 Number one, it should be obvious to us that God is angry with the state of the world. 00:04:39.539 --> 00:04:43.680 That's the first one. That's what it means by the phrase, God's wrath is revealed. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:51.879 His wrath is his settled opposition. We don't need to think of it as a kind of our anger that just kind of flares up in a moment. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.079 We get irritated with others. It's not like that. 00:04:54.139 --> 00:05:00.019 It is his holy and just opposition to all that is evil, his wrath, his judgment. 00:05:01.079 --> 00:05:04.060 And Paul says his judgment against sin is not hidden. 00:05:04.840 --> 00:05:09.379 It is revealed. It's obvious. It's visible. We can see it. 00:05:09.740 --> 00:05:10.600 That's the first claim. 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:20.840 The second claim is that the big problem in the world is not that people don't know God, but that they don't want to know him. 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:21.879 That's the claim. 00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:26.220 We're told as we were looking at with the children, we suppress the truth. 00:05:26.280 --> 00:05:29.939 That is, we squash it down. We deliberately ignore it. 00:05:30.460 --> 00:05:34.060 Like as we were saying, the small child with their fingers in their ears and their eyes closed saying, 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:37.520 I can't hear you. I don't know what you're saying. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:40.479 It's not ignorance. It's willful rejection. 00:05:41.099 --> 00:05:43.459 And that, says our passage, is what humanity does. 00:05:43.819 --> 00:05:46.519 We suppress the truth by our wickedness. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:52.279 Now, those two claims, the obvious anger of God and the suppression of the truth about God, 00:05:52.699 --> 00:05:57.439 those are the big ideas which basically dominate the rest of the chapter that was read to us. 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:02.620 So we're just going to consider them in more detail, and hopefully the passage will open up in front of us as we do. 00:06:02.620 --> 00:06:06.740 We're going to start with the suppression of the truth, which I think is a bit more straightforward. 00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:09.100 It's there in verses 19 to 23. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.060 And then we'll think about the visible wrath of God. 00:06:12.379 --> 00:06:14.180 So let's start with the suppression of the truth. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:20.040 Look down in your Bibles and notice with me all the seeing or knowing type words in these verses. 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:21.360 Verse 19. 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:27.019 What may be known about God is plain to them. 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:30.160 Later on in the same verse, God made it plain to them. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.180 Verse 20. 00:06:31.700 --> 00:06:35.260 Things have been clearly seen and been understood. 00:06:35.520 --> 00:06:36.140 Verse 21. 00:06:36.320 --> 00:06:38.400 We're told they knew God. 00:06:38.960 --> 00:06:45.720 Paul's point, then, is that there is something so obviously true in the universe that it is known and seen by everyone. 00:06:46.640 --> 00:06:47.360 And what is it? 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:48.720 Look down at verse 19. 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:51.860 What may be known about God is plain. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:54.060 God has made it plain. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.440 And then in verse 20, you get more detail. 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:02.920 It is the eternal power and divine nature of God that have been clearly seen. 00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:08.100 Everybody can see God's power and his divine nature. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:11.500 Imagine it like this with me for a moment. 00:07:11.500 --> 00:07:20.240 Imagine that you are pulled over by the police for running the red light at the junction between Salisbury Road and Harvest Road. 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:23.800 And the police officer stops you in the car. 00:07:23.980 --> 00:07:25.939 You've sailed through the red light. 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:30.899 And the police officer pulls you over and says, sir, did you not see the red traffic light? 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.699 And you turn to him and say, what red traffic light? 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:36.399 I didn't see a red traffic light. 00:07:36.919 --> 00:07:40.239 And the police officer is a bit surprised because the traffic lights aren't kind of hidden. 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:40.959 They're kind of prominent. 00:07:41.299 --> 00:07:42.159 They're there by the side of the road. 00:07:42.219 --> 00:07:43.419 They've got lights on them. 00:07:43.479 --> 00:07:44.399 And so you can see them. 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:48.779 And so the police officer says, well, what about the warning signs that came before the traffic lights? 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:50.599 Did you see any of those warning signs? 00:07:52.179 --> 00:07:52.539 No. 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:55.319 No, I didn't see a single one. 00:07:56.340 --> 00:07:57.939 And then even more puzzled. 00:07:58.020 --> 00:08:06.100 They say, well, what about the fact that the car in front of you stopped at the red light and you had to go round him in order to jump the red light? 00:08:06.140 --> 00:08:06.820 Did you notice that? 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:09.420 Oh, no, I never noticed. 00:08:09.700 --> 00:08:10.460 Never saw the car. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:18.320 What about the fact that I, in my police car, was alongside of you at the red light, pointing to the light all the time? 00:08:18.580 --> 00:08:19.020 Did you notice? 00:08:19.020 --> 00:08:21.660 No, no, I never saw you. 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:29.240 Well, what about the fact that your driving license says you live just around the corner and you must pass this junction every single day? 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:35.399 You must at some point have noticed there were traffic lights at this junction because you were here all the time. 00:08:36.920 --> 00:08:38.279 I've never noticed them before. 00:08:38.560 --> 00:08:39.820 Never seen them in my life. 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:51.940 But what about the fact that your father was a road builder and he put these lights in the ground and told you about them as you were growing up? 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:55.579 Oh, no, I don't remember that at all. 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:58.819 Well, what does the police officer conclude? 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:00.919 It's obvious, isn't it? 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:02.240 You're lying. 00:09:02.679 --> 00:09:04.339 You are suppressing the truth. 00:09:04.819 --> 00:09:06.639 You know full well that the lights are there. 00:09:06.719 --> 00:09:07.679 You're just faking it. 00:09:08.099 --> 00:09:09.659 And this is the key, right? 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.679 Why are you faking it? 00:09:12.099 --> 00:09:12.399 Why? 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:16.639 Well, because you hope to get away with jumping the red light. 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:17.819 That's why, right? 00:09:18.199 --> 00:09:20.459 You have a vested interest in the lights not being there. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.340 Because if the lights aren't there, it doesn't matter that you jump them. 00:09:23.919 --> 00:09:26.699 And Paul says that's exactly what we're like with the existence of God. 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:28.879 His power and his nature are clear. 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:30.919 They've been clearly seen in what he has made. 00:09:31.439 --> 00:09:33.039 You know, did these mountains make themselves? 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:34.100 Of course they didn't make themselves. 00:09:35.060 --> 00:09:38.879 Did this moral conscience that I have, did that evolve in me from nowhere? 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:39.920 No, of course it didn't. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:45.500 Is this perfectly balanced universe that supports sophisticated life come about by chance? 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:46.620 Did order come out of chaos? 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:47.680 Did everything come from nothing? 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:48.659 Of course not. 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:49.940 It is self-evident. 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:51.899 But we deny it. 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:56.539 And according to verse 21, we neither glorify him as God nor give thanks to him. 00:09:57.019 --> 00:09:59.740 Instead, we become futile and foolish. 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:05.799 We run the red lights of the universe, hoping that that means that we can live as we please. 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:07.179 We have a vested interest. 00:10:08.679 --> 00:10:10.419 There's more detail to this though as well, isn't there? 00:10:10.459 --> 00:10:11.659 Look down at verse 22. 00:10:11.860 --> 00:10:14.819 Notice Paul tells us here how humanity do this. 00:10:14.820 --> 00:10:28.640 Here it is. 00:10:29.220 --> 00:10:32.320 We deny the God that we should worship. 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:35.320 We deny him the worship that we know he deserves. 00:10:35.760 --> 00:10:38.280 And we do this all the time while claiming to be wise. 00:10:38.280 --> 00:10:40.600 And what is it that we do in our great wisdom? 00:10:41.820 --> 00:10:44.180 We worship other things. 00:10:44.820 --> 00:10:46.320 Things that we've made up. 00:10:47.160 --> 00:10:50.300 Things that are part of creation or things that we have made ourselves. 00:10:50.800 --> 00:10:54.560 So our suppression of the truth is really, if you like, a trade of the truth. 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:58.740 We deny God and we swap him out for someone or something else. 00:10:59.040 --> 00:11:00.820 Something that we can control. 00:11:01.680 --> 00:11:03.740 Something that we are in charge of. 00:11:04.660 --> 00:11:07.100 Something that we call God but is really an idol. 00:11:08.680 --> 00:11:11.300 Go back to the traffic light illustration for a moment. 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:13.800 And the conversation with the police officer is carrying on. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:18.539 And you turn to the police officer and you say, I can see it in your eyes, Mr. Police Officer. 00:11:18.719 --> 00:11:23.039 I know that you think that I'm one of those terrible traffic light deniers. 00:11:23.779 --> 00:11:26.419 But I want you to know that I am not a traffic light atheist. 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:29.399 Please don't put that stamp on me. 00:11:29.459 --> 00:11:30.620 I'm not that kind of person. 00:11:30.620 --> 00:11:34.480 I have here in my car a set of traffic lights. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.899 I have made them myself and I obey them all the time. 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:40.899 I've got a little button here on my dashboard. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.620 When I press it, that light there, it turns red and I always stop. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:46.340 Whenever it does it. 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:49.100 You know, I do believe in traffic lights. 00:11:49.180 --> 00:11:53.980 Just these ones that are inside my car that I've made and that I control with this little button here. 00:11:53.980 --> 00:12:02.659 It's those sort of big outside of me lights that I'm not really very keen on. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:03.960 What does the officer say then? 00:12:04.920 --> 00:12:07.460 Well, I mean, they must conclude by now that you've gone mad. 00:12:07.560 --> 00:12:10.379 But you've gone mad with a particular kind of madness, haven't you? 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:14.320 You've gone mad with this truth-swapping kind of madness. 00:12:15.160 --> 00:12:16.120 You see, it's obvious, isn't it? 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:25.100 If you didn't know that traffic lights existed, how could you possibly have made a set for the inside of your car? 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:25.940 Right? 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:34.419 The very fact that you have some in your car means that you know that objective traffic lights outside of your car, they exist. 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:36.779 Because there's a copy of them inside your car. 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:38.480 And so it is here. 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:44.940 You know, we don't deny his existence by pretending there's no morality, no way to live, no good. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:49.260 Rather, we replace God by pretending that we design those things. 00:12:49.720 --> 00:12:57.200 And the fact that we design something that we worship as God means that we know deep down in our hearts that the God who is there is there. 00:12:58.020 --> 00:13:00.340 Because we've copied him in an idol. 00:13:01.380 --> 00:13:08.600 The very existence of the idol and our need for it shows that deep down we know that we were made for a God who really does exist. 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:11.220 Think about how this works. 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:17.340 Often today, these idols are not crafted in the image of birds, animals and reptiles like they are in verse 23. 00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:20.320 More often than not, idolatry goes on in our minds. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:24.320 You know, God for us is how we think of him. 00:13:25.259 --> 00:13:29.460 You know, we feel for God rather than listen to God in his word. 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:33.460 And we come up with an idea of God that suits our own agenda. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.800 Normally, that is a God who is pretty easygoing about the need for repentance. 00:13:39.379 --> 00:13:44.879 Turning away from sin and turning to him isn't really the sort of thing that the God in our imagination is like. 00:13:45.740 --> 00:13:48.800 Instead, the gods that we come up with are interested in our personal fulfillment. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:55.500 The God that we come up with is his highest good is to fulfill my life and my aspirations and bless my plans. 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:01.459 He's a God who's largely silent about my addictions, my relationships, my integrity, my goals in life. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:03.159 And it's not just us, is it? 00:14:03.219 --> 00:14:06.139 Notice it's the wise people who do this, according to verse 22. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:11.000 These are the people on our TV, the influencers on our social media feeds. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:17.019 These are the guys who are the best at making up gods, selling them to us in exchange for follows and likes, 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:21.360 getting rich out of our desperation for a God who we can control and who does our bidding. 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:25.419 We even do it in dumb ways, don't we? 00:14:25.460 --> 00:14:27.940 Just like the toy traffic lights on the dashboard of the car. 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:33.480 We swap out the powerful God, the God who is there, the God who made us, 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:35.500 the God to whom one day we'll have to give an account. 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:37.720 We swap them out for dumb things like football. 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:42.920 So that our mood, our money, our time, our delights are more shaped around how our team is doing 00:14:42.920 --> 00:14:45.940 than they are about who God is and how he made us. 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:49.600 Or we swap them out for career or family or status, 00:14:50.060 --> 00:14:53.220 thinking that the great good in life is for people to respect us. 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:56.519 For my mates at school to think that I'm awesome and brilliant. 00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:58.860 But it's an attempt to suppress the truth. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.220 We swap God for something less because deep down we know God is real. 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:07.200 We just want one that's under our control who does what we want. 00:15:08.620 --> 00:15:10.300 There's a conclusion to all this, though, isn't there? 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.019 We must not miss. 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:12.379 It's there at the end of verse 20. 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:13.840 Let me just read that to you again. 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.259 For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.220 his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:22.360 being understood from what has been made, 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:26.440 so that people are without excuse. 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:33.120 The reality is the suppression of the truth doesn't really work. 00:15:33.540 --> 00:15:36.600 It leaves us without an excuse. 00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:39.080 Paul's point is shocking, isn't it? 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.160 He says that no one's going to be able to stand before God on that final day. 00:15:42.220 --> 00:15:43.620 I didn't know. 00:15:44.060 --> 00:15:44.780 I didn't know. 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:47.879 No one will be able to say, 00:15:48.079 --> 00:15:50.639 but I thought this was my God. 00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:53.419 Because the truth is self-evident, 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:57.980 and excuses just melt away in the presence of the one for whom we were made. 00:15:57.980 --> 00:16:02.080 I wonder if I can just press this gently for us this morning. 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:08.200 What Paul is saying here is that there is not a single person in this room, 00:16:09.019 --> 00:16:11.420 there's not an individual in our city, 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:17.300 who has a valid reason for not living for the praise and glory of God. 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:24.939 There's no one that has an excuse that will stand up when they meet God. 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:27.500 Now, I didn't know. 00:16:28.299 --> 00:16:29.120 It won't cut it. 00:16:29.459 --> 00:16:30.399 I thought you were different. 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:31.919 It's not going to help. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.259 I was too busy. 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:34.959 It will not stand. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.679 Because God has made his existence plain, 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:39.859 so that you might seek after him and find him. 00:16:39.859 --> 00:16:44.379 And if you don't, you are without excuse. 00:16:44.379 --> 00:16:47.320 Because your life is littered with God replacements, 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:50.899 each one of which show that you knew in your half-hearts 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:52.159 that he was there all along. 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:54.519 That's the first claim. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.320 The problem with us is not that we don't know the truth, 00:16:57.399 --> 00:16:58.759 but that we suppress the truth. 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:01.919 Secondly, let's look at Paul's other claim. 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:04.059 God's anger is obvious. 00:17:05.759 --> 00:17:08.680 Here the point is that God's wrath is not hidden, 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:11.960 and nor is it just a future event on Judgment Day. 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.440 The Bible is really clear that history is working towards a day 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.860 when all of humanity will stand before God, 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:19.079 who will stand in judgment. 00:17:19.620 --> 00:17:23.319 But Paul's point here is that it is presently visible in the world now, 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.140 revealed to us. 00:17:25.600 --> 00:17:26.920 If you look down at verse 24, 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:28.779 you'll see that this picks up the idea. 00:17:29.319 --> 00:17:31.640 Verse 24 starts with the word therefore. 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:34.019 There are quite a lot of therefores, 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:36.259 or becauses, or senses, or fors in the passage. 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:37.980 This is the big one, right? 00:17:37.980 --> 00:17:42.039 Because this is how God responds to our suppression of the truth. 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:43.960 We swap God for an idol, 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:45.599 and what does God do? 00:17:45.819 --> 00:17:49.440 Verse 24, he gives us over. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.339 In fact, it's repeated three times. 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:53.599 Verse 24, God gave them over. 00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:55.620 Verse 26, look down at it. 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:56.920 God gave them over. 00:17:57.279 --> 00:18:00.960 Verse 28, God gave them over. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.079 You could perhaps term this God's passively active judgment, 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.419 whereby in a sort of positive action, 00:18:09.699 --> 00:18:12.539 he passively steps back and says, 00:18:12.639 --> 00:18:15.419 you know, okay, you deny my existence. 00:18:15.939 --> 00:18:17.639 You swap me out for something else. 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:19.859 See how that goes for you. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:21.500 See how that works out. 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:22.939 So God withdraws. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:23.939 He removes his blessing. 00:18:24.059 --> 00:18:25.099 He takes us out of the garden. 00:18:25.220 --> 00:18:27.519 He puts himself behind a thick temple curtain. 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:29.539 And what happens when he does that? 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:32.480 Well, exactly what you would expect to happen. 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:34.799 Exactly what's happening around us all the time. 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:39.159 That is that we are taken over by our own desires and our own longings. 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:41.879 They rule us in the place of God. 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:45.700 And the first set of desires that get mentioned here are sexual desires. 00:18:45.879 --> 00:18:47.940 Verse 24 talks about impurity, 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.720 the degrading of our bodies with one another. 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:54.039 So that gone now are the God-given restraints 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:55.319 that were built into creation, 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:58.500 where one man was made for one woman in the institution of marriage, 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:01.019 faithful, committed, loyal, intimate. 00:19:01.019 --> 00:19:04.920 Now instead we are pulled around by our own desires, 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:06.779 which shift and change like the wind, 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.960 leading to the degrading of what was made precious. 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:15.339 Verse 26 and 27 pick on this theme of sexual desire and carry it on, 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:19.660 saying not only are we made by God for a faithful, committed, loyal marriage, 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:24.019 but also that nature teaches that sex is given for the possibility of childbearing. 00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:24.660 Childbearing. 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:29.460 The way humanity was intended to fill and subdue the world 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:34.279 was to exercise godly dominion over all that God had made through childbearing. 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.160 And yet having suppressed the truth about God 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:39.019 and been handed over to our desires, 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:41.099 that plan now goes out of the window 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:44.779 and unnatural sexual relationships are pursued as they are desired. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:46.720 Men with men and women with women. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.079 Now you don't need me to tell you 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:53.420 that these verses are massively controversial in our time. 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:59.559 I don't actually think there's a more provocative chapter of the Bible than this one. 00:20:00.360 --> 00:20:04.100 So much so that you're advised not actually to read it out in public 00:20:04.100 --> 00:20:07.360 for inciting anger and difficulty. 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:10.640 But let me tell you something really obvious, right? 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:13.220 Paul's point when he wrote these verses 00:20:13.220 --> 00:20:17.640 was not to trigger 21st century Londoners who he'd never met. 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.700 That isn't why he's writing, okay? 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.279 It's important to notice as well that there's no suggestion here 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.960 that homosexual sex is any worse than anything else. 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:32.140 Rather, his point is to say that the natural restraints of sexual activity 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:35.799 that were built into the world by God have been rejected. 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:40.700 So despite the fact that unfaithfulness ruins children, 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:43.819 traumatizes individuals and causes pain that lasts for generations, 00:20:44.640 --> 00:20:47.960 still the committed, faithful sexual relationship of a man and a woman 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:49.819 seems beyond us. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.259 And we've all been hurt by that kind of pain. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.200 Desires that pull us away. 00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:56.799 And even though it should be plain 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.840 that sex is designed for the possibility of childbearing 00:20:59.840 --> 00:21:02.039 in accordance with the plan of God in Genesis 1, 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:06.440 still when sex is governed instead by our desires, 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:11.559 we pursue even sexual relationships where they're guaranteed not to do that. 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:14.480 Unnatural ones, as he calls them. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:17.940 Now, at that level, I would say it's hard to argue that he's wrong 00:21:17.940 --> 00:21:20.440 because they have been given up, right? 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:23.340 Sexual restraint has been given up. 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:25.580 That is observably true. 00:21:26.100 --> 00:21:29.100 In fact, actually, our culture celebrates the fact 00:21:29.100 --> 00:21:31.920 that we have given up sexual restraint. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:35.820 The controversial thing that Paul is saying in these verses 00:21:35.820 --> 00:21:38.620 is that the giving up of those constraints 00:21:38.620 --> 00:21:42.080 that we are so proud of that we call progress 00:21:42.080 --> 00:21:46.080 is, says Paul, a sign of God's judgment on us. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:49.779 It's all a part of God's handing us over 00:21:49.779 --> 00:21:54.140 that we are now driven by desire and not by pleasing God. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:58.259 His point is, really, that we've not been liberated 00:21:58.259 --> 00:21:59.700 by living for sexual desire, 00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:01.559 but that actually living for sexual desire 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:04.160 is a kind of, well, tyranny. 00:22:04.779 --> 00:22:05.580 It's a torture. 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:09.220 You know, I think probably, as you read the passage, 00:22:09.360 --> 00:22:11.400 the material on sexual relationships jumps out at us, 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:14.640 but it's actually not the only detail here, is it? 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:17.400 The evidence of God handing us over to our desires 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:18.580 is there in verse 29. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:19.279 Look down. 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:21.620 You see God's judgment in all of this as well. 00:22:22.160 --> 00:22:24.600 You see God's judgment in every kind of wickedness, 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:26.500 evil, greed, depravity, 00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:32.140 envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers. 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:35.220 Anybody feeling like they're not included yet? 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:36.819 We're all here, aren't we? 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:39.700 God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:41.539 They invent ways of doing evil. 00:22:41.660 --> 00:22:43.400 They disobey their parents. 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:45.680 They have no understanding, no fidelity, 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:47.019 no love, no mercy. 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:51.980 Think back to the traffic lights for a moment. 00:22:51.980 --> 00:22:55.460 It's been a stretch of our imaginations 00:22:55.460 --> 00:22:56.819 to go through this story, hasn't it? 00:22:56.839 --> 00:22:58.740 But I'm going to just stretch it a little bit further, 00:22:58.819 --> 00:22:59.339 if I can. 00:22:59.860 --> 00:23:01.819 The conversation with the police officer carries on. 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:04.519 And he says, you know, normally in these circumstances, 00:23:04.519 --> 00:23:06.140 I would give you a £100 fine 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:07.579 and three points on your license 00:23:07.579 --> 00:23:08.799 for jumping that red traffic light, 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:10.660 but because of your willfulness, 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:12.819 I'm going to do something slightly different this time. 00:23:13.380 --> 00:23:14.579 He says, what I'm going to do, 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:17.460 because you deny the existence of traffic lights, 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:20.480 I am going to remove all traffic lights 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:22.100 from the streets of London 00:23:22.100 --> 00:23:24.140 and see how it goes. 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:26.420 And, you know, at first you think, 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:27.140 wow, this is brilliant. 00:23:27.940 --> 00:23:29.759 I've got away with it. 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:31.240 I've got away with it. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:33.880 And now I can drive around London as I please. 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:35.519 And so you drive off thinking, 00:23:35.680 --> 00:23:36.799 this is absolutely incredible. 00:23:37.900 --> 00:23:40.519 What great liberation I am enjoying. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.440 That is until you get to, 00:23:42.600 --> 00:23:44.539 well, it's the end of Carton Vale and Kilberland Lane here, 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:46.480 and someone bumps into the back of you. 00:23:47.380 --> 00:23:49.360 You know, they thought you could go. 00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:50.599 You thought you should stop. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:51.900 And they crash into you. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:53.400 You get a bit further. 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:54.680 You go to Maida Vale. 00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:56.000 And then you're sat there 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.120 because the little traffic lights on your dashboard 00:23:58.120 --> 00:23:59.860 that you've made, it says red light. 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:01.380 And it says it for an hour and a half. 00:24:01.539 --> 00:24:02.660 And so you're just waiting there. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.420 Not going. 00:24:05.140 --> 00:24:06.339 You get down on the Edgware Road 00:24:06.339 --> 00:24:08.360 and someone T-bones you right across the side. 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:09.440 They break your legs. 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:10.460 They break your arms. 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:13.220 Suddenly what felt like liberation 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.180 is actually some kind of torture. 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:18.620 It's a kind of judgment all of its own, isn't it? 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:20.779 The chaos, the pain, 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:22.720 and the disruption are a judgment. 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:24.600 And that, says Paul, 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:25.980 is the world that you and I live in. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:28.320 A world where we are entirely free 00:24:28.320 --> 00:24:30.920 to ignore and deny the existence of God. 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:33.400 You're entirely free to govern your life 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:34.340 by your own desires. 00:24:34.600 --> 00:24:36.400 But the moral chaos that follows, 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:37.960 the unfaithfulness, the wickedness, 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:39.620 the clash of people who are out for themselves, 00:24:40.019 --> 00:24:40.900 in for what they can get, 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:43.160 that, says Paul, is not liberation, 00:24:43.380 --> 00:24:44.100 it's judgment. 00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:49.360 So we shout loudly, don't we, 00:24:49.380 --> 00:24:50.380 about sexual freedom. 00:24:51.300 --> 00:24:52.800 And then we weep bitterly 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:55.220 when the man or woman that we love 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:56.300 goes off with someone else. 00:24:58.100 --> 00:25:00.280 We love the idea that we can do what we want. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:02.900 And then we find the reality is oppressive 00:25:02.900 --> 00:25:05.220 and destructive as people violently oppose us 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:06.140 and betray us, 00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:07.700 go behind our backs, 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:09.600 war with one another. 00:25:10.600 --> 00:25:13.839 But the most tragic part of all of this 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:15.839 is there in verse 32, 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:18.660 which is that the obvious wrath of God 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:20.600 does not bring about a change of heart. 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:21.880 Look down at verse 32. 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:24.579 Although they know God's righteous decree 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:26.579 that those who do such things deserve death, 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.680 they not only continue to do these very things, 00:25:28.779 --> 00:25:30.860 but also approve of those who practice them. 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:33.259 You're under the wrath of God. 00:25:33.259 --> 00:25:34.799 In a world of chaos, 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:36.640 you might thought that we'd all change our minds. 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:39.059 That we'd go and hunt out the police officers 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:40.379 and say, please reinstall the traffic lights. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:41.420 I believe, I believe. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.140 But no, we don't. 00:25:43.879 --> 00:25:44.900 Instead, we double down. 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:48.420 It's like the man in a smashed up car 00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:49.259 on Edgware Road 00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:51.680 who's just been hit by another car 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:52.680 coming the other way, 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:55.359 shouting liberation, freedom, 00:25:55.940 --> 00:25:57.539 broken legs and broken arms. 00:25:57.539 --> 00:26:04.639 Now, I know this is a difficult passage, right? 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.279 This obvious wrath of God, 00:26:07.379 --> 00:26:08.440 his judgment in our world, 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:09.599 but our suppression of the truth, 00:26:09.700 --> 00:26:11.159 it's hard, isn't it? 00:26:12.159 --> 00:26:14.500 I really happily talk to any of you over coffee 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:15.839 about any of the issues 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:16.819 that have been raised this morning. 00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.500 You know, bring me a black coffee from over here 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:21.119 and I'll talk to you for as long as you like. 00:26:21.879 --> 00:26:22.899 But let me just finish 00:26:22.899 --> 00:26:25.259 with two suggested responses that we should have. 00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:26.599 The first one is this. 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:29.299 If you've understood what we've been saying so far, 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:30.099 you must be thinking, 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:31.519 this is much worse than I thought. 00:26:33.059 --> 00:26:34.660 I don't know whether you've had that experience 00:26:34.660 --> 00:26:36.660 of going to the doctor for something simple 00:26:36.660 --> 00:26:38.240 and finding out you've actually got something 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:39.019 a lot more serious. 00:26:40.140 --> 00:26:41.920 Or you take your car to the garage 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:43.500 because it's making a small knocking noise 00:26:43.500 --> 00:26:45.440 and then the car is in the garage for months 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:46.059 being repaired. 00:26:47.619 --> 00:26:49.299 Well, listen, if you've been listening 00:26:49.299 --> 00:26:50.079 and following this morning, 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:50.940 that should be your feeling. 00:26:51.019 --> 00:26:51.559 You should be thinking, 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:53.400 well, this is so, 00:26:53.480 --> 00:26:54.839 I've never heard anything like this. 00:26:54.839 --> 00:26:56.359 This is so much worse than I thought. 00:26:57.299 --> 00:26:58.099 And let me show you, 00:26:58.199 --> 00:26:59.559 it's worse than you thought in two ways. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:00.839 One is personally, right? 00:27:01.919 --> 00:27:03.279 There shouldn't be a person in this room 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:04.659 who doesn't think that they've got problems 00:27:04.659 --> 00:27:05.319 in their life, right? 00:27:05.319 --> 00:27:06.379 We all know that, don't we? 00:27:07.379 --> 00:27:07.899 Perhaps you think, 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.759 well, maybe if I'd attend church 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:10.459 a little more regularly, 00:27:10.539 --> 00:27:12.119 then my problems might just go away. 00:27:12.679 --> 00:27:14.459 But the fact here is that the description 00:27:14.459 --> 00:27:16.279 of the problem is way deeper than that. 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:18.539 The problem is not that there are 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:19.819 a few problems in your life. 00:27:19.919 --> 00:27:22.099 The problem is that in our heart of hearts, 00:27:22.199 --> 00:27:23.740 we deny God and have swapped him out 00:27:23.740 --> 00:27:24.700 for something we control 00:27:24.700 --> 00:27:27.259 and we are under the judgment of God. 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:30.380 We are subject to our own disordered desires 00:27:30.380 --> 00:27:31.500 and everyone else's. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.279 It's hard to take, 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:35.960 but let me suggest to you, 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:37.859 that's actually a kindness for you to hear it. 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.980 Being told the bad news by someone 00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:41.660 is really loving, right? 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:44.140 If you don't see how bad it is, 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:46.000 you'll go for some superficial solutions. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.000 I used to borrow my mum's car from time to time 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:51.440 and it would make some really odd noises 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.140 and she'd say, 00:27:52.500 --> 00:27:53.599 oh yes, it's been doing that for a while, 00:27:53.660 --> 00:27:54.859 but I turned the radio up 00:27:54.859 --> 00:27:56.140 and then I didn't notice it anymore. 00:27:56.660 --> 00:27:58.480 That is not fixing it, is it? 00:27:58.839 --> 00:28:00.059 That's ignoring it. 00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:02.660 Now listen, you can do the same in your life. 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:03.579 You can say, 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.200 oh Steve, that sounds like a terrible prescription 00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:06.640 of the problem. 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:07.400 I don't want that. 00:28:07.460 --> 00:28:08.779 I'm just going to turn the music up 00:28:08.779 --> 00:28:09.579 and ignore it. 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:11.119 But let me tell you, 00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:12.400 it's a kindness to hear. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:14.440 If you want to take paracetamols 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:15.540 to try and cure cancer, 00:28:15.660 --> 00:28:16.480 then that's up to you. 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:18.560 But if you want the real cure, 00:28:18.740 --> 00:28:20.900 you need to know the real problem. 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:22.940 But secondly, 00:28:23.040 --> 00:28:24.700 it's worse globally as well, isn't it? 00:28:25.540 --> 00:28:26.540 I want to just remind you 00:28:26.540 --> 00:28:27.680 that Paul is writing Romans 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:29.120 to persuade the church in Rome 00:28:29.120 --> 00:28:30.840 to join him on his mission to Spain. 00:28:31.640 --> 00:28:33.220 And his motivation here 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:35.019 is to tell them that they live in a world 00:28:35.019 --> 00:28:36.320 under the judgment of God. 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.140 If you're a Christian this morning, 00:28:38.800 --> 00:28:40.620 there is not a single individual 00:28:40.620 --> 00:28:41.440 that you have met 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:42.740 that doesn't need to hear about Jesus. 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:45.140 Because there's no one in this world 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:46.320 with an excuse. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:48.860 Everyone needs to hear about him. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:50.600 And listening to this 00:28:50.600 --> 00:28:52.380 and that it's worse than you perhaps first thought 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:53.799 is motivation for us 00:28:53.799 --> 00:28:55.279 to go and tell people about Jesus. 00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:57.660 That's the first thing, 00:28:57.700 --> 00:28:58.380 it's worse than we thought. 00:28:58.460 --> 00:28:59.920 The second response is this, 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:01.279 the solution is more wonderful 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:02.039 than I expected. 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:04.220 I'm cheating here, right? 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:05.400 Because this is the weeks to come. 00:29:05.980 --> 00:29:07.220 But because the problem 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:08.340 is worse than we expected, 00:29:08.440 --> 00:29:09.940 what we will find in the weeks to come 00:29:09.940 --> 00:29:11.620 is that the solution is more precious 00:29:11.620 --> 00:29:13.039 and richer and fuller 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:13.840 than we ever thought. 00:29:14.580 --> 00:29:17.320 You see, notice there's a twofold problem here, right? 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.180 The first is this suppression of the truth 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:20.440 that we need to repent of. 00:29:20.820 --> 00:29:22.759 And notice that we need a change of heart 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:23.680 to do that, right? 00:29:24.360 --> 00:29:26.559 A change of heart that we are incapable of 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:27.740 and which the wrath of God 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:28.980 has not brought about. 00:29:29.580 --> 00:29:29.700 Yeah? 00:29:30.700 --> 00:29:33.180 For us to be saved in Romans 1, 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:35.539 we need to start believing in God 00:29:35.539 --> 00:29:37.580 and not suppressing the truth about him. 00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:39.399 But that requires a change of heart 00:29:39.399 --> 00:29:40.500 that is not coming about 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:41.619 by the judgment of God. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:44.119 We need something else. 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:47.139 But the second issue is God's wrath itself. 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:49.819 God is opposed to us. 00:29:50.539 --> 00:29:52.220 We are experiencing in part now 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:53.500 and a promise more to come. 00:29:53.980 --> 00:29:56.619 And so salvation not only needs to change us, 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:00.399 it also in one sense needs to change God too. 00:30:01.139 --> 00:30:02.179 Deal with his wrath. 00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:03.579 Satisfy it. 00:30:03.899 --> 00:30:04.899 Do away with it. 00:30:04.899 --> 00:30:07.319 In a holy, just, fair way. 00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:09.699 And that's exactly what happens 00:30:09.699 --> 00:30:10.599 in the Christian gospel. 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:12.079 In the Christian gospel, 00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:14.179 God comes to us by his spirit 00:30:14.179 --> 00:30:16.539 and makes us alive. 00:30:17.159 --> 00:30:19.240 And with our very first spiritual breath, 00:30:19.299 --> 00:30:20.000 what do we say? 00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:22.039 I am sorry, Lord. 00:30:22.899 --> 00:30:24.259 I believe in you. 00:30:24.759 --> 00:30:26.000 I trust in you. 00:30:26.099 --> 00:30:28.599 I turn from myself and I turn to you. 00:30:28.599 --> 00:30:33.359 And then in the Christian gospel, 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:36.980 God comes in the person of the son 00:30:36.980 --> 00:30:40.119 and on the cross pays in his blood 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:41.859 the judgment for our sin, 00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:45.000 bearing in his body the wrath of God at our sin. 00:30:45.980 --> 00:30:48.099 God hands over to him 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:49.779 all of our sinful desires 00:30:49.779 --> 00:30:51.179 and the judgment that that deserves 00:30:51.179 --> 00:30:52.699 that he might pay the penalty 00:30:52.699 --> 00:30:54.419 and die in our place. 00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:56.560 There's an old hymn. 00:30:56.680 --> 00:30:57.240 Put it like this. 00:30:57.340 --> 00:30:58.220 We'll finish with this. 00:30:58.800 --> 00:30:59.660 Rock of ages, 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:01.400 cleft for me, 00:31:02.039 --> 00:31:04.140 let me hide myself in thee. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:06.480 Let the water and the blood 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:08.279 from thy wounded side, 00:31:08.360 --> 00:31:09.039 which flowed, 00:31:09.120 --> 00:31:10.080 be of sin, 00:31:10.800 --> 00:31:11.740 the double cure. 00:31:12.480 --> 00:31:13.279 What comes next? 00:31:14.279 --> 00:31:16.300 Save from wrath 00:31:16.299 --> 00:31:20.680 and make me pure. 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:22.579 And that's exactly what God has done 00:31:22.579 --> 00:31:23.220 in the Lord Jesus. 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:24.579 Praise him. 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:25.539 Let me pray. 00:31:35.539 --> 00:31:36.539 Heavenly Father, 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.000 with this spiritual breath 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:40.440 that you have given us by your spirit, 00:31:40.539 --> 00:31:41.419 we want to say, 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:43.539 Lord, we are deeply sorry. 00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:46.920 We have suppressed the truth 00:31:46.920 --> 00:31:47.799 about who you are 00:31:47.799 --> 00:31:49.279 and we've lived for our own desires. 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:51.319 Please have mercy on us. 00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:53.440 We thank you for the death 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:54.839 of the Lord Jesus in our place 00:31:54.839 --> 00:31:56.599 that saves us from your wrath 00:31:56.599 --> 00:31:57.759 and makes us pure. 00:31:58.639 --> 00:32:00.019 Please, Lord, we pray. 00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:03.519 Would you so move our hearts 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:05.119 to love and trust you 00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:06.440 and love others 00:32:06.440 --> 00:32:08.259 that we don't shrink 00:32:08.259 --> 00:32:09.480 from telling them 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:10.859 the good news of the Lord Jesus, 00:32:11.339 --> 00:32:12.899 that we might not be ashamed 00:32:12.900 --> 00:32:13.560 of the gospel 00:32:13.560 --> 00:32:15.460 because it is your power 00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:16.440 that brings salvation 00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:18.940 to everyone who believes. 00:32:19.360 --> 00:32:20.460 In Jesus' name. 00:32:21.120 --> 00:32:21.480 Amen.