WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.759 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:20.079 Just bow our heads in prayer. Now, Father, you know how deeply ingrained it is in us as human beings 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:24.959 as we are. And we are the ones that we think that we can or should be at least equal to you, 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:32.959 and that we get a say in what you say, and that we get to correct it. And you know how hard it is, 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:38.959 Father, for us to acknowledge that you are God, the creator and sustainer of all things, who will 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:45.840 bring, judge all things at the end and bring in the new creation. And that you are calling us to 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:50.560 acknowledge that you are God and that we are not, and that this is good, and that you are the one who 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:58.320 saves. Today, Father, we have words which are hard, and we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring home to 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:04.879 us just how great and good a God you are, how wise and just and merciful and beautiful you are. And bring 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:10.799 your word home to us that it might form us. And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, your Son and our 00:02:10.799 --> 00:02:13.919 Savior. Amen. Please be seated. 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:29.439 The Bible passage we are looking at today has three, sorry, I'm just going to just touch this in case it 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:35.120 makes a noise. There we go, pointing more at me. Is that right? Okay. The Bible passage we are looking 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:42.000 at today has three parts. And the middle part is about same-sex, sexual desire, and knowing. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:50.400 And the Bible clearly says that this is sin. For some people, this Bible text is a shock. 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:57.120 And some are probably offended by the text and may be considered hateful, 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:02.640 and wonder why on earth I would read it unless it is to denounce the text. 00:03:03.920 --> 00:03:10.240 For some, this text, the second part in particular, strikes at the very center of their identity 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:16.319 and their hopes and dreams for the future. In a moment, I'm going to read all three parts of the 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:22.800 text again. There are only nine verses. And then I'll go back to the beginning and look more closely, 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:29.920 verse by verse. We are not looking at this text because I or this congregation have a fixation 00:03:29.920 --> 00:03:37.520 on this issue. We read it because we believe it is part of God's Word written. And we try to be a 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:45.280 good church for both Christians and for seekers and for skeptics by preaching through whole books of the 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:51.759 Bible most of the time. So we look at the hard parts and the easy parts. We don't skip things. 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:57.520 The reason we want to be a good church for both Christians and for skeptics and for seekers is that 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:03.280 you don't have to worry that if you become a Christian that there's some fine print later on that's going to 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:07.759 to really just shock you and make you want to change your mind. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:16.639 We look at it all. We try to. We try to learn to walk towards the whole Bible, including the shocking 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:22.959 bits, together to contemplate God's Word and to learn from it. That's what we want to do as a congregation. 00:04:24.159 --> 00:04:31.360 Two more brief, very brief comments before I read the text. I hope everyone here hears the text, 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:36.159 and I'm not only just speaking to those who are here, but those who are watching online now and downstream, 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:46.240 that this is not for us and should be for no Christian and us versus them text, especially 00:04:46.960 --> 00:04:53.200 the second bit. The first and third parts address everyone, but even the second part in a church of 00:04:53.200 --> 00:04:59.760 our size and reach, and I know for a fact that this is true, includes followers of Jesus who experience 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:06.959 same-sex attraction. This is not an us versus them text, even for the second bit, and the first and 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:12.719 third bit can't possibly be, because there's no one here who is not going to see that the Bible is 00:05:12.719 --> 00:05:21.039 speaking directly at things which we do, that I do, which are sinful. Secondly, or finally, if you did not 00:05:21.039 --> 00:05:24.800 know this about the Church of the Messiah, because we don't talk about it very much, 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:32.560 I need to disclose this. It is because I and this congregation historically have thought that these 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:41.600 true verses are true and good, truth from God, that I was personally, effectively sued for seven figures 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:49.120 by my former diocese. And it's because we believe this text is true that we eventually had to walk away 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:54.160 from our building. And that's why we're in a rented facility like this, not a building that we own, 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:00.079 because we believe this text is true and good and beautiful and wise. 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.840 Let's look at the text again. We'll read the whole text, and then I'll go back. 00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:10.560 It's Romans chapter 1, verse 24 to the end of the chapter. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:18.879 Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts, a better way maybe to translate that is the over-desires, 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:25.040 of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:31.279 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:35.120 rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:42.399 For this reason, God gave them up. There's, by the way, you'll see there's three God gave them up. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.959 That's what unites the sections. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 00:06:49.919 --> 00:06:55.839 For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, literally against 00:06:55.839 --> 00:07:02.479 nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with 00:07:02.479 --> 00:07:10.159 passion for one another. Men committing shameful acts with men and receiving in themselves the due 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:19.280 penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up. 00:07:19.280 --> 00:07:26.879 It's the third God gave them up. God gave them up to a debased or degraded mind to do what ought not to be done. 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:36.879 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:48.480 murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, 00:07:48.480 --> 00:08:00.640 haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:06.400 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:14.400 they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. And this is the word of the Lord. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:23.919 Thanks be to God. So there's two big truths that you need to understand that make this text more 00:08:23.919 --> 00:08:29.120 clear. It's what the text, it's both what the text is saying itself. I'll tease out why it's saying it. 00:08:29.599 --> 00:08:34.399 And it's the big truths that this text wants to communicate to us. So if you could put the first 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:40.960 one up, that would be very helpful, Claire. And this is the first big truth. It is in the context of 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:49.120 triumphant good news for everyone that the bad news about everyone is clarified. That's the first big 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:56.560 truth. So this text isn't something that, you know, God didn't put this part in the Bible to humiliate 00:08:56.560 --> 00:09:05.040 you or me, to cause us to despair, to make us want to commit suicide, to think that God hates us and is 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:11.519 disgusted with us. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not the case. You have to hear this in the context 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:19.339 of triumphant good news for everyone, that the bad news about everyone is clarified. So it's in the 00:09:19.339 --> 00:09:24.879 context of triumphant good news for everyone that the bad news about everyone is clarified. And this can 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:30.299 be seen in the way that the whole letter is structured in that, as I've said before, it begins as a letter. 00:09:30.299 --> 00:09:35.199 It is a letter. And so there's some greetings, a longer greeting than normal, some little stuff, 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:39.699 you know, I'm planning to come, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then he gives the sort of the basic 00:09:39.699 --> 00:09:47.399 theme of what the entire book is about and what that is, and is, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, 00:09:47.579 --> 00:09:53.279 that's the good news, triumphant good news, for it, this triumphant good news from God, 00:09:53.279 --> 00:10:00.099 is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the pagan, 00:10:00.299 --> 00:10:05.979 for in it, this triumphant good news, the righteousness of God is revealed, that is, 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:12.679 it reveals both that God is always good and just, and also that he has provided a way to make us right 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:19.259 with himself. This is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:25.079 That's the basic thing that the whole book is about, and what Paul does next is very smart. 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:31.920 From verse 118, the very next bit, to 320, he sells the problem. Why is it that human beings need 00:10:31.920 --> 00:10:38.800 salvation? Why is it they need to hear good news from God? Why is it they need to have that good 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:44.680 news from God come with power from God to transform and change your lives? Why is it that human beings 00:10:44.680 --> 00:10:51.060 need to know that God is always righteous, good, and just? Why is it that human beings need God to make 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:56.299 them right with himself rather than some other means? Why is that the case? It's not obvious to people, 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:02.039 and that's what Paul is going to do from chapter 1, verse 18, to this part that we've read, to next week, 00:11:02.439 --> 00:11:07.119 and a couple of weeks later on, and then in chapter 3, verse 21, he starts to say, now that you've seen 00:11:07.119 --> 00:11:13.259 the problem, here's the good news. Here's all of the different things that the gospel does for you. 00:11:13.259 --> 00:11:22.000 So this text is in the context of triumphant good news for everyone, and it's in this context of this 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:30.720 triumphant good news that the bad news about everyone is clarified. Now, some of you might still 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.939 say, George, okay, that might be true, but good grief. We know so much more. You know, we know psychiatry, 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:44.120 we have social science and psychological indexes, and we have civil right legislation, and we know 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:49.260 about identity, and we know about this, and we know about that, and this sounds completely and utterly 00:11:49.260 --> 00:11:55.720 outdated, and those are very obvious and a good comment to make, and that's why this second overarching 00:11:55.720 --> 00:12:00.540 point is important to understand the text. If you could put it up, Claire, that would be very helpful. 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:11.959 It is in light of the true and beautiful story from God about creation, sin, salvation, and the new 00:12:11.959 --> 00:12:18.919 creation that we understand what is wrong with the world. Now, it's also in that context that we 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.579 understand what's good about the world and beautiful, but that's not the focus of this bit of the text. 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:32.340 But it's only in the context, in light of the true and beautiful story. It's not just a mere story. 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:37.940 It's a true story that comes from God, and it's a beautiful story that comes from God, and it talks 00:12:37.940 --> 00:12:44.879 about God making everything good. He talks about how rebellion against God and idolatry and lies 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:52.020 and evil entered into the world. It's a story about how God has done what we could not do for 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:58.879 ourselves to make human beings right with God, and it's a story about the new creation when God will 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:05.419 make all things right. And it's only in light of this true and beautiful story from God about creator 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:10.379 and creation and God and sin and salvation and the new creation that we can understand what is wrong 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:15.120 with the world. Apart from that, it's just going to be always very difficult to understand what's wrong 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:22.600 with the world, and what's wrong with me, and what's wrong with you. And that's the context. 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:28.360 And that's why, you see, the text is not out of date. It's never out of date, and we'll talk about 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:34.240 that more in a moment. So some of you might say, okay, George, well, boy, my memory of that text is 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:38.340 that it didn't talk about those particular... Although I can see sort of your first point about how it 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:44.340 begins like this, but I, you know, I just... No, no, let's look at the text for ourselves, okay? So you 00:13:44.340 --> 00:13:49.720 get your Bibles out, and let's look at the text ourselves slowly, and we'll begin at verse 24. 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:58.620 Last week, we looked at verses 18 to 25, so we're sort of looping back to do 24 again and 25, so we get 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:07.220 the three God gave them over text together. And so it goes like this, verses 24 to 25. 00:14:07.220 --> 00:14:15.240 Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts, the over-desires of their hearts, and the heart here 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:22.519 in the Bible isn't referring to our emotions. It says that the way God designed human beings, 00:14:22.700 --> 00:14:30.000 that there's a very central, the central part of who I am, that central immaterial part of who I am, 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:39.799 out of that central part, the mind flows, the emotions flow, the desires flow, the affections 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:47.399 flow, the will flows, imagination flows, creativity flows. So out of that very center of what a human 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:53.000 being is, it's not that there's all these separate things. It all emerges out of one thing called the 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:54.679 heart. So verse 24, 00:14:54.679 --> 00:15:19.699 And notice there, you see, I didn't just bring creation in out of nowhere. The text reminds us 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:25.140 that there's a creator, and that we've been created by a creator. That's a very fundamental 00:15:25.140 --> 00:15:33.759 aspect of the Christian worldview. And we see in that, if you look at verse 28 again, about 25, 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:39.379 I mean, they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. What the book of Romans is going to be talking 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:45.120 about here in the first chapter in particular is that there's three characteristics of the human 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:49.419 condition. And once again, this is the human condition. It's not like the Muslim condition, 00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:55.340 the gay condition, the MAGA condition. In fact, I just heard a new phrase that many people in Canada 00:15:55.340 --> 00:16:02.899 use about MAGA people. They call them maggots. So it's not referring to maggot people or, you know, 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:08.120 or, you know, woke people. It's not othering the text. It's talking about the human condition. 00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:14.100 And what the human condition is, is that we as human beings, we suppress the truth about God. 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:20.340 And here we see that we exchange the truth about God for a lie. That's the second thing 00:16:20.340 --> 00:16:26.960 underneath all of the wrong that we do. And the lie here is referring in particular to what's talked 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:34.360 about in Genesis 3, the original lie that was presented to Adam and Eve that came from the devil. 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:44.060 And that original lie is, you will not surely die, but you will be like gods. That's the original lie. 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:51.000 Suppressing the truth about God, you can exchange the truth about God. You can believe this lie 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:58.700 instead that you will not die, surely you won't. You can be like gods. And so there's the suppressing, 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:04.279 the exchanging of the truth for the lie. And thirdly, that there's idolatry. That's what 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:11.039 drives us. That's why it says here, worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, 00:17:11.139 --> 00:17:18.299 that human beings were designed to honor, acknowledge, know, worship, serve, put their 00:17:18.299 --> 00:17:25.299 trust in, be driven towards their creator as their greatest of all things. We're hardwired for that. 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:30.480 And when we reject the creator and try to become like gods ourselves and try to act as if we will 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:38.920 never die, we still end up worshiping and honoring and serving lesser things than that. And our lives 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:46.440 get out of order. And we give ourselves to things which are unworthy of us and dishonor us and make 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:52.120 us impure. And that's what causes sin. And the book of Romans is going to continue coming back to this 00:17:52.119 --> 00:18:00.559 thing as it goes along. And that's why God gives them up to the lusts of their hearts. 00:18:01.219 --> 00:18:06.539 But why is the therefore there? Look at verse 24. It begins with therefore. Well, the therefore there 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:11.759 is, I talked about this a little bit last week, and it's a very important, I think if you get this 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:17.159 metaphor, you'll understand a lot of what, why Christians think the way that Christians think, 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:21.740 and why Christians are right. I mean, not Christians are right just per se, but why the Bible is right. 00:18:21.800 --> 00:18:26.140 That's what I should have said. Because often we're completely wrong, right? Just often completely 00:18:26.140 --> 00:18:31.640 wrong. We say unbelievably stupid things. But why is the Bible right? So last week I gave two analogies. 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:36.259 I'll just go back to one of them. And imagine that you have a science fiction story, a movie. 00:18:36.920 --> 00:18:42.980 And in the science fiction movie, there's now a human settlement on Mars. And one of the things that 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:49.640 they do is they're going off doing some exploring in their, you know, Mars mobiles. And they come to a 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:54.620 new part they haven't explored before. And there's a big overhang, they realize. And underneath the 00:18:54.620 --> 00:19:00.599 overhang, as they shine their lights into it, they see an abandoned alien space station. 00:19:02.099 --> 00:19:06.220 That's a very, that's just a type of thing that you would have a science fiction movie about, 00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:11.559 an abandoned alien space station. And in the movie, they'd probably first go in and just actually, 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.419 maybe they wouldn't think it was an abandoned alien space station. I, you know, this being a realistic 00:19:15.419 --> 00:19:19.339 Hollywood movie, the first thing they'd want to make sure is that it wasn't something that Canadians 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:24.599 did earlier. That's supposed to be a joke, by the way. But, you know, they'd probably make sure 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:30.639 that it wasn't the Chinese or Pakistan or India or, you know, something. And they just come to the 00:19:30.639 --> 00:19:35.299 conclusion this is an alien space station, which is abandoned and there's power on and everything like 00:19:35.299 --> 00:19:40.919 that. Now, as I shared last week, what would definitely not happen in the movie? What would not 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.900 happen in the movie? Is it what somebody would say? This is just astounding. Obviously, this is just 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:51.060 a result of, there must have been some, I don't know, like maybe some solar breezes, some solar 00:19:51.060 --> 00:19:58.940 flares, some radiation, some explosions, some earthquakes, you know, some landslides. And out of 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:04.259 all of those things, this alien space, this space station is what looks like an alien space station. 00:20:04.340 --> 00:20:08.580 Isn't that, it's just something that all happened by, nobody would believe that. That would be, 00:20:08.579 --> 00:20:13.759 in fact, the only way that would be in the movie, and maybe I've just given one of you an idea for a 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:21.000 script that will make a billion dollars. And if you do, tithe, okay, that's all I'm going to tell 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:25.919 you, tithe. But maybe you'll come up with a script that'll make a billion dollars, because you do, in 00:20:25.919 --> 00:20:32.799 fact, have that person in the movie. But you'd cast somebody like a young Jack Black, who's obviously 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:39.079 nuts. And it would be comic relief for the rest of the movie, him going around trying to blow things 00:20:39.079 --> 00:20:45.220 up, or causing landslades, hoping to show that you can have these natural things create an abandoned 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:50.919 functioning space station. That would be like comic relief, Jack Black going off, explosions in the 00:20:50.919 --> 00:20:55.539 distance, people making fun of him, the crazy guy. But what would really happen in that movie? 00:20:56.379 --> 00:21:01.440 Several things would happen in that movie, right? The first thing they would start to do is they would 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:08.340 start to say, this is obviously made by aliens, we've ruled out a human source, aliens exist. And 00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:13.259 partly what people would be doing in the movie, you'd have the pure science, the philosopher types, 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:20.100 who'd be trying to figure out what do we know about the aliens from this space station, right? How do we 00:21:20.100 --> 00:21:25.799 get to know what's gone on? But here's the thing that would drive the movie, if it's a Hollywood movie, 00:21:25.860 --> 00:21:30.660 and it's going to make a billion dollars. It's an international space station, so there's 00:21:30.660 --> 00:21:36.820 Chinese and Russian and Americans and people from India. And the very first thing, the second thing, 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:40.500 very quickly, that would overwhelm the first thing after its aliens is this, 00:21:41.400 --> 00:21:51.600 ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. This is superior technology. If we can figure out how it works, 00:21:51.599 --> 00:22:02.299 and control it, we're going to be trillionaires. And our country will have huge power over, and it'd be 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:06.740 far more advanced than all the other nations, right? That's what would happen. And the rest of the movie 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:11.619 would be people fighting for it and all of that type of thing. Because on one hand, what they're going 00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:19.159 to do is they'll understand that everything in that space station has a purpose and was designed to 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:24.620 accomplish something. In fact, a moment of comic relief in the movie might be that they have this 00:22:24.620 --> 00:22:30.120 really heavy object, and they don't know what it is, and so one person very foolishly uses it to prop a 00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:34.860 door open, and somebody else has finally just figured out something about that object because 00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:38.660 they've started to understand the language, and they go back and yell, don't, don't, don't, don't keep 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:45.860 having the door slam against that. It's a bomb. It's not a doorstop. It's a bomb. You don't want it to go 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:49.359 off, right? That's what would happen in the movie, the comic moments, and that's what would go on. 00:22:49.699 --> 00:22:53.759 And so you see, what Christians say is, listen, you look at the cell, you look at DNA, you look at the 00:22:53.759 --> 00:23:04.399 stuff around you, it screams creator. It screams creator. And just as the wise people discovering 00:23:04.399 --> 00:23:10.339 the alien spaceship would want to figure out what are the aliens like, the wise response of human 00:23:10.339 --> 00:23:16.859 beings is not to suppress that truth, is not to exchange that truth for a lie, but to try to figure 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:21.939 out who God is. And the other thing that would be obvious about it is, obviously, then human beings 00:23:21.939 --> 00:23:32.339 are designed. All things are designed. And what's the purpose and the meaning? That's what this text is 00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:38.399 saying. You see, it's why it's in light of the true and beautiful story from God about creation, sin, 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:44.580 and salvation, and the new creation, that we understand what is wrong with the world. That's 00:23:44.580 --> 00:23:50.860 what the therefore is going ahead and staying. And so within that, here's, if you could put up the 00:23:50.860 --> 00:23:55.600 third point, this would be very helpful. So what you're going to hear is you listen to this first 00:23:55.600 --> 00:24:01.000 category of God giving them up. And then the second one, and even the third one, is this. 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:23.279 Out of the overflow of God's love, he created man and woman to live well in his creation. That's the 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:29.359 original intent of God. I talked about it last week, and I'll just share the analogy again very, 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:36.059 very briefly. I know I might put some of you to sleep. But, you know, if you take a magnet, and it has 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:42.019 a, you know, magnetism in it, and a magnet can pick up some iron, and then the magnetism flows from the 00:24:42.019 --> 00:24:47.799 magnet into the iron, and it can pick up that piece of iron, is now magnetized, and it can pick up another 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:53.019 piece, and then that gets magnetized, it can pick up another piece. And in a way to understand what Adam 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:58.500 and Eve did, our human forebearers did, is they decided, we want to be that magnet. Look, we have 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:02.720 magnetism flowing through us. We want to be like that magnet. We don't need God. We would like to be at 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:10.519 least equal to him. And so they disconnected themselves from the magnet, not realizing that the 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:15.180 second they did that, they can't hold themselves and all the other things together, and everything 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:21.019 starts to fall apart. Death enters the world. You can even see it in the Genesis story. Almost 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:26.400 immediately, they hide from God. They don't want to be seen by God. They blame each other. They don't 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:33.039 accept responsibility. And then soon there's murder and other horrendous things. As Jordan Peterson and 00:25:33.039 --> 00:25:38.559 others have shown up, even from a secular point of view, the book of Genesis is unbelievably profound 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:44.400 about the human condition. But what happens is that God does not let human beings completely and utterly 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:50.900 disintegrate immediately. What you see is God's common grace holds human beings fundamentally 00:25:50.900 --> 00:25:56.300 together so that we still can know the truth, we still can love, we still can be just, we still 00:25:56.300 --> 00:26:01.940 can be merciful, all the while with our sin. God's common grace holds us together. Every human being 00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:08.860 is dependent upon it. And what we see here in the punishments is surprisingly and fully just. 00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:15.140 When it says here that God gives them up all three times, he says in a sense, 00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:21.620 George, you keep wanting this and wanting this and wanting this and I send you things in the scripture 00:26:21.620 --> 00:26:26.200 and I give you insights from nature as to why that's not and you want it and you want it and you want it 00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:31.560 and what are the things I'm going to do to start to judge you is I'm going to remove my restraints 00:26:31.560 --> 00:26:40.400 from you a little tiny bit and allow you to get what you want. I shared last week a quote from Oscar 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:50.519 Wilde, not a Christian, when the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers. When the gods want to 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:58.420 punish you, they answer your prayers. And that's what this giving over to is it. And so we see in this 00:26:58.420 --> 00:27:03.860 text here, just before we move on, look at verses 24 to, we've spent the longest time on 24 to 25, 00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:10.559 the others will be briefer. Verse 24, therefore God gave them up in the over desires of their hearts 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:15.839 to impurity. And you'll notice here that there's an inner thing, the impurity, and an outer thing, 00:27:15.919 --> 00:27:21.500 the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. And it's all because they exchanged the truth about 00:27:21.500 --> 00:27:26.240 God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator. And we can see within that 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:33.240 that what God originally intended for us, it's very, very beautiful. His design for us is that I would 00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:42.660 have a pure mind, that I would have pure emotions, properly ordered, that I would have pure affections, 00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:48.500 that I would have a pure unsullied will, not the type of will that I have right now that wants 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:56.299 five contradictory things all at the same time or one after another. I would have a pure memory. I would 00:27:56.299 --> 00:28:03.700 have pure longings and desires. I would have a pure inner life. And then the other thing is the 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:07.859 dishonoring of the bodies. And that's going to talk about, you know, sexual sins, but just all the other 00:28:07.859 --> 00:28:14.859 ways that we dishonor our bodies. And our bodies are shamed and embarrassed. And the way we dishonor 00:28:14.859 --> 00:28:20.539 by our own, not our own, but we dishonor other people because we think they're ugly or because they're 00:28:20.539 --> 00:28:26.079 the wrong color from us or because they're old or because they're too young or because they're 00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:33.319 handicapped and we dishonor their bodies. And we feel proud and self-assured and dishonoring their 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:39.700 bodies. And the Bible says God did not design us to dishonor each other's bodies. In fact, it's this, 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:44.159 if you could put up the fourth point that will carry us through the rest, that would be very helpful, 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:54.380 Claire. The Bible teaches the original and perennial revolution to uphold the honor, integrity, dignity, 00:28:54.380 --> 00:29:04.220 and worth of every man and every woman. The Bible teaches the original and perennial revolution 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:12.920 to uphold the honor, integrity, dignity, and worth of every man and every woman. And by integrity here, 00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:17.200 I don't mean that we have integrity in terms of how we act. I mean integrity in a different sense. 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:24.279 When Russia invaded Ukraine, it destroyed and threatened the integrity of the nation. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:32.660 It's limits, it's boundaries, it's integrity. And this is saying that the Bible teaches that human 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:39.160 beings, we have boundaries which are proper to us as human beings. And we deserve honor, not only in 00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:43.860 our inner life but our outer life, but our inner and our outer life. There's to be boundaries and 00:29:43.860 --> 00:29:50.300 integrity to it. And there's a dignity to every human being. And there's a worth of every man and 00:29:50.300 --> 00:30:01.779 every woman. And this is part of the perennial revolution that comes from the Bible in the face of 00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:12.639 paganism. And whether it's a paganistic worldview with many gods or just one god, the pagan worldview is that 00:30:12.639 --> 00:30:21.579 human beings are made to be slaves. The Bible says you are not made to be a slave. You have an honor and 00:30:21.579 --> 00:30:29.639 dignity and integrity and worth. You are not just something that the state gives these things to you 00:30:29.640 --> 00:30:35.980 because they happen to feel kind to you. Every state and government will be judged on whether they 00:30:35.980 --> 00:30:44.900 recognize... God will judge every nation on whether they recognize the inherent honor, dignity, integrity, 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:52.440 and worth of every single man and every single woman for the whole stage of their life, from the womb, 00:30:52.780 --> 00:30:58.940 from the womb, till their natural death. And it's not that human beings are a tragic accident. 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:06.100 And it's not that human beings are just somehow some type of weird evolutionary anomaly of having 00:31:06.100 --> 00:31:12.340 brief moments of consciousness in a complete and utter universe that frankly does not give a dang about 00:31:12.340 --> 00:31:18.340 human beings. And to these views, common in the world today and common throughout history, 00:31:18.340 --> 00:31:26.680 the Bible says these are wrong. These are wrong. You have been created by the creator God. 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:35.340 And even though you have sinned and are in rebellion against God, he has not taken his common grace from you. 00:31:35.340 --> 00:31:42.160 And there is a truth to be upheld about every human being that they are to be honored and have integrity 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:52.120 and dignity and worth. And this is for every man and every woman. That is the perennial revolution. 00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:57.539 Perennial revolution that the Bible brings. 00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:05.379 And it's absolutely beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:16.020 And it's in that light that we understand even verses 26 to 27, which are the very hard second part. 00:32:16.019 --> 00:32:27.920 And just by the way, over the last 50 plus, just over 50 years, there has been a sustained campaign by very clever people, 00:32:28.099 --> 00:32:34.279 often with PhDs, to gaslight this text and try to have it say that it doesn't say what it says. 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:37.599 And they're all failed. It's just gaslighting. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:43.959 It doesn't matter if they have two PhDs, know 15 languages, and teach at the most prestigious university in the world. 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:44.799 They're just wrong. 00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:49.919 And careful scholars constantly show that they're just wrong. 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:52.139 The text says what it says. It's very clear. 00:32:54.139 --> 00:32:57.299 For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:03.099 Their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. 00:33:03.099 --> 00:33:09.559 And men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:15.059 Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:23.079 You see, the Bible, the average Canadian thinks that life is just one dang thing after another and then you die. 00:33:23.079 --> 00:33:30.500 And it doesn't recognize any type of external being who's designed or created human beings. 00:33:30.659 --> 00:33:34.439 So it's really just up to us to use whatever power we have to do whatever we want. 00:33:34.679 --> 00:33:38.079 And usually in a Canadian context, as long as we don't hurt other people. 00:33:38.579 --> 00:33:42.059 But the Bible says that's not the right way to understand things. 00:33:42.139 --> 00:33:45.220 And by the way, if you start to understand things in that light, 00:33:45.220 --> 00:33:50.100 then all human beings lose their honor, dignity, worth, and integrity. 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:53.059 And the state can do whatever it dang well pleases. 00:33:53.180 --> 00:33:55.680 And the powerful can do whatever it dang well pleases. 00:33:55.799 --> 00:33:57.559 But human beings are not like that. 00:33:58.140 --> 00:34:00.120 Human beings are designed and have a purpose. 00:34:00.880 --> 00:34:04.960 And the wise thing is to figure out what is the purpose for human beings. 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:08.059 Remember I said that it is in light of the true. 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:16.199 It is out of the overflow of God's love, he created man and woman to live well in his creation. 00:34:16.860 --> 00:34:22.199 And God did not design me to have sexual desire or sexual knowing of another man. 00:34:23.139 --> 00:34:23.860 Or you. 00:34:28.259 --> 00:34:30.679 And this is the bad news about everyone. 00:34:30.799 --> 00:34:32.460 We're going to get to some other things in a moment. 00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:35.940 But it's all said in the context of good news for everyone. 00:34:35.940 --> 00:34:41.380 And it all comes because we don't believe that human beings are accidents. 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:45.240 But we're designed and have integrity and dignity and worth. 00:34:45.500 --> 00:34:47.440 By the way, just one other thing. 00:34:47.539 --> 00:34:48.880 I think I have your attention. 00:34:52.740 --> 00:34:59.079 Just about everybody in Canada is actually on the Christian side of the playing field on these issues. 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:00.940 And I'll show that. 00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:04.760 What's another human being? 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:06.680 Is a human being a playground? 00:35:07.160 --> 00:35:08.920 Is another human being my playground? 00:35:10.600 --> 00:35:14.540 Or is another human being more like a playground? 00:35:15.080 --> 00:35:16.340 Or more like a temple? 00:35:20.080 --> 00:35:23.900 Now if you say, no other human beings are more like playgrounds. 00:35:24.420 --> 00:35:25.080 You say, really? 00:35:25.180 --> 00:35:26.240 Haven't you heard of the Me Too movement? 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:26.439 Isn't it? 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:31.799 Like isn't the Me Too movement all about very powerful men in Hollywood? 00:35:31.939 --> 00:35:36.899 Isn't part of the Epstein files and all the controversy around that all about very, very powerful men? 00:35:37.899 --> 00:35:42.119 Treating young women and other women as playgrounds for the rich and powerful? 00:35:42.299 --> 00:35:43.679 Like don't we all think that's a sin? 00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:51.619 Don't we all inherently know and value as Canadians that another human being shouldn't be viewed as my playground? 00:35:52.339 --> 00:35:53.599 Or your playground? 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:56.259 But more like a temple? 00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:58.179 Something holy? 00:35:58.179 --> 00:36:03.539 Something that requires almost like reverence? 00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:05.440 And a second? 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.319 A Canadian says that? 00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:12.159 They are on the Christian and biblical side of the playing field. 00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:15.339 And they've abandoned the other side. 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:18.799 They're thinking like a Christian without knowing the Bible. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:27.460 But I need to talk very briefly about that final list. 00:36:29.240 --> 00:36:30.380 Verse 28. 00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:38.660 And by the way, obviously this would be a very interesting thing maybe for you to go through with a counselor or therapist. 00:36:38.980 --> 00:36:45.980 It might be an interesting thing to have a men's or woman's retreat around this as a way to check yourself. 00:36:45.980 --> 00:36:49.659 But it begins verse 28. 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:55.260 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, that is to acknowledge God as God, 00:36:55.960 --> 00:37:04.719 God gave them up to a debased mind or degraded mind, a mind that's not working properly, that's been watered down or is not working properly. 00:37:04.960 --> 00:37:06.280 He gives them over to that. 00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:08.860 And they do what they ought not to be done. 00:37:08.860 --> 00:37:15.220 And that that's why human beings are filled with all manners of unrighteousness. 00:37:15.340 --> 00:37:21.180 And that's, as I shared before a couple of weeks ago, you know, what is the great commandment? 00:37:21.220 --> 00:37:23.700 To love your Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, body. 00:37:23.880 --> 00:37:26.380 And the second is like unto it, love your neighbors yourself. 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:29.800 That unrighteousness is the violation of the second great commandment. 00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:40.420 And evil, covetousness, that's where we desire what other people have in a way that would harm them. 00:37:41.140 --> 00:37:50.300 Malice, that's thinking about people in a way that we want to injure them, resenting them, nurturing that. 00:37:50.860 --> 00:37:59.000 Envy is seeing somebody that has something that we want and we'd rather that neither they or us get it as long as they no longer have it. 00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:07.140 Murder, and Jesus said that if you say that you hate the people you see around you, it's a type of murder. 00:38:08.039 --> 00:38:10.580 Strife means being very, very argumentative. 00:38:11.620 --> 00:38:17.600 Deceit means that you intentionally mislead other people for their harm and your good. 00:38:19.019 --> 00:38:26.519 Maliciousness is that same sort of a more settled type of ill will towards other people. 00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:34.579 Gossips are telling truths about other people, but in a way that's going to harm them, where it should have been kept quiet. 00:38:35.739 --> 00:38:43.280 By the way, as we're about to see here, one of the main sins of many churches is gossip and slander, 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:48.620 which is the very next one, that's telling knowing untruths about other people. 00:38:49.780 --> 00:38:57.280 Haters of God, insolent and haughty are both extreme pride and narcissism. 00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:03.480 Boastful is looking down your nose at everybody else and only talking about how great you are. 00:39:04.519 --> 00:39:08.880 Inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, good grief. 00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:12.720 That might touch just a single everyone here. 00:39:14.260 --> 00:39:16.559 Foolish means that we reject all wisdom. 00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:22.019 Faithless means that we reject all loyalties whenever they are inconvenient to us. 00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:28.579 Heartless means that rather than looking with compassion upon people, we close our heart to compassion. 00:39:29.720 --> 00:39:35.960 Ruthless means that we treat some people very, very harshly and feel completely and utterly self-righteous about it. 00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:41.599 And if anyone here thinks that this list does not include them in some point and way, 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:50.519 if you were to say that to the person sitting beside you, they would smirk and think how deluded you were. 00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:53.260 And I'm in that list. 00:39:54.440 --> 00:39:58.179 I'm not going to tell you which ones are my particular ones that are the worst. 00:39:58.179 --> 00:40:01.639 That would be inappropriate sharing. 00:40:03.559 --> 00:40:09.319 And even this last bit, though they know God's righteous decrees that those who practice such things deserve to die, 00:40:09.379 --> 00:40:11.839 in other words, deserve really full judgment of God, 00:40:12.239 --> 00:40:15.239 we not only give them but approve those who practice them. 00:40:15.980 --> 00:40:18.739 And we might think that that's not true of us. 00:40:18.799 --> 00:40:22.039 It's revealing another thing about what sin does in our lives. 00:40:22.039 --> 00:40:26.759 And when we believe, when we suppress the truth about God, when we worship idols, 00:40:27.039 --> 00:40:29.840 when we exchange the truth about God for a lie, 00:40:29.940 --> 00:40:33.659 what happens is that our minds become more debased, 00:40:34.019 --> 00:40:38.519 we can't think properly, and our inner desires become impure, 00:40:38.820 --> 00:40:41.559 and we can't even recognize ourselves, 00:40:41.960 --> 00:40:45.360 which is why, and I'm going to try to be as politically neutral here as I can, 00:40:45.460 --> 00:40:50.420 because this is a human problem, not a political problem. 00:40:50.420 --> 00:40:54.440 The very same people who might call some of you maggots 00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:58.260 are the ones who will feel very, very justified 00:40:58.260 --> 00:41:02.980 that it's only their views which are truly inclusive and respective of all people, 00:41:03.180 --> 00:41:06.599 and they will not recognize that they have just called you a maggot. 00:41:07.200 --> 00:41:09.320 And for conservatives, they will say, 00:41:09.500 --> 00:41:12.019 look at all those left-wing progressive people. 00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:14.519 They don't really care about justice and mercy. 00:41:14.639 --> 00:41:17.639 They're completely and utterly giving themselves over to lies, 00:41:17.639 --> 00:41:21.960 and you need to come around us because we're the only one who just respects everybody, 00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:25.359 and they don't even realize that they've just called a whole pile of other people names 00:41:25.359 --> 00:41:27.699 and been unfair and slandering of them. 00:41:27.980 --> 00:41:30.619 And it's the same type of thing in churches. 00:41:30.799 --> 00:41:34.659 Churches can be filled with malice towards the other, 00:41:35.659 --> 00:41:39.379 towards immigrants or towards people of different religions 00:41:39.380 --> 00:41:45.160 or people who, good grief, they have a different view on when Jesus is going to come back, 00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:48.420 and they can be filled with ill will towards these people, 00:41:48.539 --> 00:41:52.360 and they build platforms around them and have 1-800 numbers around them 00:41:52.360 --> 00:41:55.360 and feel like they're doing God's work and are virtuous, 00:41:55.700 --> 00:42:00.680 and they don't realize that they are being filled with malice and ill will 00:42:00.680 --> 00:42:03.220 and insolence and arrogance and haughtiness, 00:42:03.219 --> 00:42:07.959 and they're completely and utterly, we're completely and utterly self-righteous about it. 00:42:09.279 --> 00:42:10.119 Good grief. 00:42:10.239 --> 00:42:11.539 Verse 32 is true. 00:42:11.739 --> 00:42:12.739 Who would have thought it? 00:42:14.799 --> 00:42:18.980 It describes every single one of us here in different areas of our lives. 00:42:19.079 --> 00:42:19.799 Good grief. 00:42:22.059 --> 00:42:25.980 It is in the context of triumphant good news for everyone 00:42:25.980 --> 00:42:29.639 that the bad news about everyone is clarified. 00:42:29.639 --> 00:42:33.199 God does not say these truths about human beings 00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:37.599 so that we will despair or hate ourselves or others. 00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:40.920 He confronts to connect. 00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.460 He confronts to connect. 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:48.839 The whole list is beginning to say, 00:42:48.940 --> 00:42:51.199 listen, listen, listen, listen, George. 00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:54.859 Paul said there's this unbelievably good news, 00:42:55.679 --> 00:42:57.139 triumphant good news, 00:42:57.139 --> 00:43:00.559 that God has triumphed, 00:43:00.879 --> 00:43:03.239 and this triumph is for you, 00:43:03.319 --> 00:43:07.299 and the news comes with the power that you need to be made right with God, 00:43:07.460 --> 00:43:09.199 and God is always just. 00:43:09.579 --> 00:43:11.619 He's always good. 00:43:12.039 --> 00:43:13.339 Excuse me, I need to have a drink. 00:43:13.400 --> 00:43:13.980 I'm getting hoarse. 00:43:14.420 --> 00:43:17.639 And he's provided the way to make you right with him, 00:43:17.659 --> 00:43:19.379 and this is unbelievable good news, 00:43:19.379 --> 00:43:21.659 and this is why you need to hear these things, 00:43:21.659 --> 00:43:25.299 because you need to be saved. 00:43:28.239 --> 00:43:29.659 And I'm not just making it up. 00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:31.099 Look at how the whole section ends. 00:43:31.159 --> 00:43:33.099 Remember I said it goes from 118 to 320? 00:43:33.219 --> 00:43:34.699 If you just switch in your Bibles, 00:43:34.799 --> 00:43:35.940 it's not going to be on the screen, 00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:39.859 just after 320 to 323, I think it is. 00:43:39.920 --> 00:43:41.099 It begins with 322. 00:43:42.219 --> 00:43:43.139 It says this. 00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:45.440 After he's gone through all of the bad news, 00:43:45.579 --> 00:43:46.839 he comes right back to it. 00:43:46.839 --> 00:43:48.739 Why have I talked about this bad news? 00:43:48.739 --> 00:43:51.039 Because there's this triumphant good news. 00:43:51.659 --> 00:43:53.159 The righteousness, verse 22, 00:43:53.299 --> 00:43:56.000 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, 00:43:56.079 --> 00:44:00.019 that is, the way that God has provided a way for you to be right with himself, 00:44:00.339 --> 00:44:04.019 it's through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe the good news. 00:44:05.159 --> 00:44:06.979 For there is no distinction. 00:44:07.899 --> 00:44:12.939 There's no distinction here between pagans and Muslims and woke and maga 00:44:12.939 --> 00:44:18.099 and rich and poor and men and women and high IQ and low IQ. 00:44:18.099 --> 00:44:19.719 There is no distinction. 00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:24.480 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 00:44:24.480 --> 00:44:31.500 and are made right with God by his grace as a gift through the redemption 00:44:31.500 --> 00:44:33.219 that is in Christ Jesus. 00:44:34.799 --> 00:44:36.599 That's the context. 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:39.819 What better context to hear bad news? 00:44:39.820 --> 00:44:44.200 It's completely surrounded by grace. 00:44:48.440 --> 00:44:50.920 You know, this is what's so beautiful about the text. 00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:55.360 I put my faith and trust in Jesus and what he's done for me, 00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:56.860 and I am made right with God, 00:44:57.240 --> 00:44:59.880 and he will never let me go. 00:44:59.880 --> 00:45:04.640 And I put my faith and trust in what Jesus has done for me on the cross 00:45:04.640 --> 00:45:06.680 because God has decided in his wisdom 00:45:06.680 --> 00:45:09.180 that even though I am now born again, 00:45:09.180 --> 00:45:11.079 and I now have, in a sense, 00:45:11.180 --> 00:45:14.360 my citizenship is in the new heaven and the new earth, 00:45:14.680 --> 00:45:15.880 on this side of the grave, 00:45:15.980 --> 00:45:19.019 God has decided that it's not until I see him face to face 00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:20.200 and Jesus face to face 00:45:20.200 --> 00:45:23.340 that I will be completely and utterly remade 00:45:23.340 --> 00:45:25.280 to inhabit the new creation. 00:45:25.280 --> 00:45:27.080 And on this side of the grave, 00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:30.300 I need to so hear the gospel and the Bible 00:45:30.300 --> 00:45:33.140 that I will start to become more like Jesus. 00:45:33.660 --> 00:45:35.200 And I need to hear the Bible. 00:45:35.480 --> 00:45:36.780 I need to hear the gospel. 00:45:37.180 --> 00:45:39.180 I need to be reminded of this good news 00:45:39.180 --> 00:45:40.940 because, brothers and sisters, 00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:43.760 I am prone to suppress the truth. 00:45:44.080 --> 00:45:47.880 I am prone to exchange the truth about God for a lie. 00:45:48.200 --> 00:45:50.780 I am prone to worship idols, 00:45:50.780 --> 00:45:52.080 and so are you. 00:45:52.079 --> 00:45:55.799 So I need the gospel truths of the Bible 00:45:55.799 --> 00:45:59.619 to come home to me day by day, week by week, 00:45:59.920 --> 00:46:03.920 in the company of small groups and mentors and friends 00:46:03.920 --> 00:46:05.159 in the local church. 00:46:05.480 --> 00:46:08.079 I need to be reminded of these truths 00:46:08.079 --> 00:46:11.860 so I can say to him when I have really screwed up, 00:46:11.920 --> 00:46:13.139 I've had a terrible week. 00:46:13.239 --> 00:46:14.679 Thank you so much for grace. 00:46:15.139 --> 00:46:17.059 And that I can learn more and more 00:46:17.059 --> 00:46:20.820 about this profound, strong place 00:46:20.820 --> 00:46:23.579 to deal with the wrong in my life. 00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:26.480 And I can fully believe and understand 00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:28.380 that goodness is good for me 00:46:28.380 --> 00:46:33.059 and that God has an eternity planned for me with him 00:46:33.059 --> 00:46:36.820 that fulfills all of my longings and yearnings 00:46:36.820 --> 00:46:38.880 and desires and loves, 00:46:38.880 --> 00:46:41.639 and that everything bad and untrue 00:46:41.639 --> 00:46:44.679 and hard about my life will be made untrue. 00:46:44.679 --> 00:46:46.879 Everything sad will become untrue. 00:46:47.299 --> 00:46:49.359 And there is no sorrow, 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:52.279 no loss on earth 00:46:52.279 --> 00:46:55.119 that heaven will not heal. 00:46:55.699 --> 00:46:59.399 And I worship the Savior who touched the leper, 00:46:59.799 --> 00:47:01.980 who touched the unclean, 00:47:02.259 --> 00:47:03.699 who raised the dead, 00:47:04.059 --> 00:47:07.079 who touched the demoniac and delivered him. 00:47:07.319 --> 00:47:10.599 And this is the good news of our Savior. 00:47:10.599 --> 00:47:13.880 And there is no evil in your life or mine 00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:15.559 that he will not touch 00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:17.219 and he will not redeem. 00:47:17.759 --> 00:47:19.519 And then when you have become saved, 00:47:19.839 --> 00:47:21.539 you have his dear presence. 00:47:21.579 --> 00:47:23.480 Not only has your sin been dealt with, 00:47:23.679 --> 00:47:25.719 you have his dear presence 00:47:25.719 --> 00:47:26.779 to comfort 00:47:26.779 --> 00:47:28.980 and to guide. 00:47:28.980 --> 00:47:34.260 I am so grateful that I am a Christian, 00:47:34.760 --> 00:47:37.019 that he has saved me. 00:47:37.500 --> 00:47:39.019 And my hope and prayer is 00:47:39.019 --> 00:47:41.119 that if you are not a Christian today, 00:47:41.340 --> 00:47:42.519 there is no better time 00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:43.840 than to call out to him and say, 00:47:43.940 --> 00:47:44.519 just this, 00:47:45.539 --> 00:47:47.099 Jesus saved me. 00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:49.780 I want to be yours. 00:47:50.500 --> 00:47:51.420 I invite you to stand. 00:47:51.420 --> 00:48:01.579 Bow our heads in prayer. 00:48:05.579 --> 00:48:07.619 Father, we give you thanks and praise 00:48:07.619 --> 00:48:09.619 that you know us perfectly. 00:48:10.700 --> 00:48:12.940 When we were looking through those things 00:48:12.940 --> 00:48:14.639 about the lusts of the heart 00:48:14.639 --> 00:48:16.639 and dishonoring of bodies 00:48:16.639 --> 00:48:19.639 and the same-sex desire 00:48:19.639 --> 00:48:21.279 and action parts 00:48:21.279 --> 00:48:22.779 and that long list of sins, 00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:24.319 Father, we give you thanks and praise 00:48:24.319 --> 00:48:24.900 that you know 00:48:24.900 --> 00:48:27.980 for every single one of us uniquely 00:48:27.980 --> 00:48:29.279 which one of those things 00:48:29.279 --> 00:48:31.599 are real temptations for us 00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:33.179 or which areas of those 00:48:33.179 --> 00:48:34.859 that we really give ourselves to. 00:48:35.699 --> 00:48:37.819 And you know it perfectly about us 00:48:37.819 --> 00:48:38.960 and still you love us. 00:48:39.559 --> 00:48:41.619 Still you sent Jesus to die on the cross 00:48:41.619 --> 00:48:42.440 to save us. 00:48:44.179 --> 00:48:45.900 And we give you thanks and praise 00:48:45.900 --> 00:48:47.500 that you know how we stumble and fall 00:48:47.500 --> 00:48:48.579 when we follow Jesus 00:48:48.579 --> 00:48:50.819 and we give you thanks and praise 00:48:50.819 --> 00:48:51.739 that you have given us 00:48:51.739 --> 00:48:53.779 such a secure truth 00:48:53.779 --> 00:48:54.819 about yourself 00:48:54.819 --> 00:48:55.980 and about this gospel 00:48:55.980 --> 00:48:57.219 and about Christ with us 00:48:57.219 --> 00:48:59.239 that we can have an emotionally 00:48:59.239 --> 00:49:00.259 and intellectually 00:49:00.259 --> 00:49:03.019 secure and beautiful place 00:49:03.019 --> 00:49:05.360 to start to deal with the crap 00:49:05.360 --> 00:49:06.099 in our lives, 00:49:06.420 --> 00:49:07.920 to repent of it 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:09.000 and amend our lives, 00:49:09.659 --> 00:49:11.480 to pursue those things 00:49:11.480 --> 00:49:12.400 which are really good 00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:13.340 and true and beautiful 00:49:13.340 --> 00:49:14.639 and just and merciful 00:49:14.639 --> 00:49:15.440 and kind 00:49:15.440 --> 00:49:16.139 and gracious 00:49:16.139 --> 00:49:17.099 and creative 00:49:17.099 --> 00:49:20.460 to grow into that person 00:49:20.460 --> 00:49:21.539 you desire us to be 00:49:21.539 --> 00:49:22.059 in Christ. 00:49:22.179 --> 00:49:23.119 Father, we give you thanks 00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:23.599 and praise 00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:25.159 for these secure places 00:49:25.159 --> 00:49:26.500 to pursue these things 00:49:26.500 --> 00:49:28.200 and we ask that you would 00:49:28.200 --> 00:49:28.900 make the gospel 00:49:28.900 --> 00:49:29.659 ever more real 00:49:29.659 --> 00:49:30.420 to our hearts 00:49:30.420 --> 00:49:31.720 and we ask this 00:49:31.720 --> 00:49:32.599 in the name of Jesus, 00:49:32.780 --> 00:49:33.860 your Son and our Savior 00:49:33.860 --> 00:49:35.760 and all God's people said 00:49:35.760 --> 00:49:36.820 Amen. 00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:46.440 Amen.