WEBVTT 00:00:00.620 --> 00:00:02.080 Well, good morning, Watermark. 00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:05.139 For those of you who don't know me, I'm Graham. 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:12.960 And a couple of weeks ago, Tobin began by telling us of certain items that have significance 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:14.900 for us or hold certain memories. 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:18.559 And I thought I would continue that tradition this morning. 00:00:18.900 --> 00:00:22.019 And I had planned to do a little bit of a show and tell. 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:28.699 But my wife forbade me to bring the item I was thinking of because it is a pair of my 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:32.619 white shorts, which are now about six years old. 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:39.519 And for us, that signifies the first fight we ever had as a married couple. 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:46.079 You see, we were on honeymoon in Thailand, and we had been in the resort for three days, 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.340 and we decided we should go out for dinner. 00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:53.739 And we did our research, and we found a lovely little restaurant, and the reviews were great. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:58.100 But the one thing that they failed to mention was that in order to get to this restaurant 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:03.539 from where the taxi drops you off, you would need to walk through a series of boutique 00:01:03.539 --> 00:01:04.620 clothing shops. 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:11.480 So when the taxi dropped us off, we got out and blissfully married newlyweds, hand in hand, 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:12.439 smiling at each other. 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:13.079 We were walking down. 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:15.640 I see the restaurant straight in front of me. 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:20.520 I carry on walking, and then I feel my hand being pulled into one of these clothing shops. 00:01:21.299 --> 00:01:24.599 And I understand maybe it's something my wife needs to do. 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:29.699 But personally, for me, going shopping is about as exciting as going to the dentist. 00:01:30.479 --> 00:01:37.259 So I'm in the clothing shop, and my wife's looking for five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:42.479 And slowly, I start to feel this little bit of frustration boiling up inside me. 00:01:42.639 --> 00:01:44.359 I'm no longer holding her hand. 00:01:44.419 --> 00:01:49.919 In fact, I'm standing really close to the exit, hoping she will get the idea it's time to leave. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:55.240 At that moment, my wife decides, she turns around, she looks at me and says, honey, you 00:01:55.240 --> 00:01:56.420 need a new pair of shorts. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:00.200 In that moment, she suddenly decides, I need a new pair of shorts. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.140 I say, no, no, thanks, son. 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:03.000 I'm okay. 00:02:03.820 --> 00:02:06.000 So anyway, we leave that shop. 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:06.920 I think this is it. 00:02:06.980 --> 00:02:10.920 We're walking to the restaurant now, and we go straight into the next shop. 00:02:11.300 --> 00:02:13.120 This time, I don't even go inside. 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:14.900 I'm standing outside the shop. 00:02:14.980 --> 00:02:15.980 My arms are folded. 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:17.500 I'm not even making eye contact. 00:02:17.500 --> 00:02:20.120 It's like, I'm boiling inside, right? 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.819 I can feel the simmering anger inside me just getting hotter and hotter. 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:29.819 She's there looking at all these clothes, and then she finds them, the perfect pair of 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:30.460 shorts for me. 00:02:31.060 --> 00:02:34.060 She comes up to me and says, honey, these are the ones you should get. 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:35.120 Please try them on. 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:36.560 No, I'm not going to wear that. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:37.939 They're going to make me look like a grandfather. 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:39.900 Please, honey, these are the ones. 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:40.560 Just try them on. 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:41.300 Just try them on. 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:42.699 And you know what that means, right? 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:44.639 At that point, I grab them. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:45.240 I look at her. 00:02:45.340 --> 00:02:46.479 I just grab them out of her hand. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:47.459 I say, fine. 00:02:47.899 --> 00:02:48.500 Walk in. 00:02:48.799 --> 00:02:49.399 I change. 00:02:49.459 --> 00:02:50.739 It confirms my worst fear. 00:02:50.819 --> 00:02:52.119 I do look like a grandfather. 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.079 I walk out, and I say, what do you think? 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:56.039 Honey, you look fantastic. 00:02:56.899 --> 00:02:58.539 So that's it. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.120 I've conceded defeat. 00:03:00.239 --> 00:03:00.919 I grab the shorts. 00:03:00.979 --> 00:03:01.439 I go to pay. 00:03:01.519 --> 00:03:04.319 And it's only then that I notice the price tag. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:10.780 And I think there is no possible way that any piece of material on the face of this planet 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:12.299 can cost that much money. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:14.820 But it's too late now, right? 00:03:14.880 --> 00:03:16.060 So I hand over my credit card. 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.040 I literally see it melting on the machine. 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:19.760 And I get the shorts. 00:03:19.860 --> 00:03:20.600 We walk out. 00:03:20.660 --> 00:03:21.939 I don't even look at her. 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:24.040 I'm walking about three meters ahead of her. 00:03:24.140 --> 00:03:26.020 I'm making sure we go straight to the restaurant. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:27.840 We're sitting down at the restaurant. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:29.780 We don't even talk to each other. 00:03:29.780 --> 00:03:33.400 I'm still fuming inside about these pair of shorts. 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:35.539 The only person we speak to is the waitress. 00:03:35.539 --> 00:03:41.000 I order my tongyang soup, and I shove it in my mouth in my anger, and it hits the back 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:42.379 of my throat, catches fire. 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.639 I almost choke to death, at which my wife gleefully smiles. 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:52.939 We look at each other, and we start laughing at how totally ridiculous it is to get upset 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:55.620 and angry about something so small. 00:03:55.620 --> 00:04:00.659 So whenever I put on those pair of shorts, I always think back to our honeymoon, and 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:01.800 I always think back to the first thing. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:06.319 But my wife did learn a valuable lesson, and that was never to take me shopping with her. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.259 So whenever she goes now, I get left at home. 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:15.259 And I'm going to do a favor to all the husbands out of their wives. 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:17.620 Your husbands don't really enjoy shopping. 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:20.360 Do them a favor, and don't take them with you. 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:26.180 But I think we find it easy to stand up here and talk about a time, or we think of a person 00:04:26.180 --> 00:04:31.180 who got angry, because we can relate to what it means to be angry. 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:39.100 But as soon as we mention the wrath, or the wrath of God, the anger of God, people have 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:39.620 a problem. 00:04:40.280 --> 00:04:46.840 And I think the reason we have a problem is because we can't imagine a God who has feelings. 00:04:46.839 --> 00:04:48.679 And then why wouldn't He, right? 00:04:48.719 --> 00:04:54.339 Because we're made in the image of God, and we are feeling emotional people. 00:04:54.419 --> 00:04:55.459 So why shouldn't God? 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:59.599 But we can't really imagine the anger of God. 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:05.579 And I think it's because we're so concerned with our own thoughts, our own feelings, that 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:07.379 we fail to consider His. 00:05:07.559 --> 00:05:12.299 But you know there are things that make God supremely happy. 00:05:12.300 --> 00:05:17.920 You've heard that it says one in three marriages in Hong Kong will end in divorce. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:22.560 Well, I'm here to tell you this morning that two out of three marriages in Hong Kong stay 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:23.079 together. 00:05:23.280 --> 00:05:25.400 And that makes God really happy. 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:32.939 I was recently watching TV, and they were interviewing a couple on their 70th wedding anniversary. 00:05:33.280 --> 00:05:38.720 And they asked the old man, they said, in all those 70 years, did you ever consider divorce? 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.640 And he said, divorce, never, murder, often. 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:47.060 Okay, now you see, that made you happy, right? 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:51.180 But there are things that make God sad. 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:52.740 There are things that make Him sick. 00:05:53.200 --> 00:05:56.100 And there are things that make Him angry. 00:05:57.220 --> 00:06:02.460 So I think the first reason, I think there are three chief reasons that we battle to understand 00:06:02.460 --> 00:06:03.480 the anger of God. 00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:05.200 And number one is because God has feelings. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:11.360 And the second reason is when you and I think of anger, we think of it as a bad thing. 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:12.219 It isn't. 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:15.479 It's a neutral thing, like electricity, like nuclear energy. 00:06:15.479 --> 00:06:18.019 It can be used for good or wrong purposes. 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:24.680 But most of us use it in the wrong way, at the wrong time, on the wrong people. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.959 Therefore, we're guilty, and we're ashamed, and we can't imagine a God who can be angry 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:31.860 in the right way. 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:37.759 In Ephesians, it says to Christians, be angry and sin not. 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:46.480 You see, one of the marks as we journey on faith with God is that we become angry at the 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:47.900 right things. 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:53.819 And as I was preparing for this, I was thinking to myself, what is it that makes me angry? 00:06:54.100 --> 00:06:54.199 Right? 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:58.540 Because usually when I get angry, it's because of not getting my own way. 00:06:58.540 --> 00:07:02.540 I'm angry at what someone else did, or they didn't do it to my liking. 00:07:02.640 --> 00:07:04.280 That's sort of the reasons I get angry. 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:06.939 And I asked my wife, I said, you know, what makes us angry? 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:10.820 What should make us angry as believers? 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.420 Watermark, what is it that makes you guys angry? 00:07:15.420 --> 00:07:28.100 Third reason I think we battle to deal with this anger of God is that anger is destructive. 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:33.860 Right anger destroys bad things, whereas bad anger destroys good things. 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:37.780 Our anger usually destroys a good thing. 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:39.100 It destroys a friendship. 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:41.879 It destroys a relationship. 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:46.740 But God's anger destroys bad things. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.800 Now, you might think, well, you know, Jesus never got angry, right? 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:52.139 He walked the earth, he never got angry. 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:53.439 Oh, yes, he did. 00:07:54.019 --> 00:07:59.379 Wouldn't you imagine Jesus goes into the temple and he says, this was supposed to be a house 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:04.259 of prayer for all nations and you've turned it in to a den of thieves of robbers. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.920 He didn't at that point stand up and say, excuse me, guys, I'm not really happy with what's 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:09.699 going on here. 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:11.839 Could we quietly pack up our things? 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:13.500 Can you take the animals and could you leave? 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:14.899 No, he didn't. 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:20.120 He took a whip and he whipped out money changers and he whipped out animals and he overturned 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:20.659 their tables. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:29.500 When you know how big the temple is, you rarely see something of the anger of God being revealed 00:08:29.500 --> 00:08:30.899 in that action. 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:34.759 So God's anger is right. 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:41.159 It happens at the right time and in the right way, but it does destroy. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.100 It destroys the things that would otherwise destroy us. 00:08:49.799 --> 00:08:51.779 Now, I have to be honest with you this morning. 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:55.259 I'm the kind of guy who likes the nice bits. 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:55.919 Okay. 00:08:56.579 --> 00:08:57.899 I read the nice bits. 00:08:58.039 --> 00:08:59.439 I think, oh, that's great. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:04.379 And then Tobin springs this trap on me and he says, would you like to take a passage in 00:09:04.379 --> 00:09:04.759 Romans? 00:09:04.939 --> 00:09:06.879 And I'm thinking, oh, it's going to be chapter three. 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:07.839 It's going to be chapter four. 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:08.519 Wonderful stuff. 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:11.559 And he says, chapter one, verses 16 to 32. 00:09:12.439 --> 00:09:12.639 Okay. 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:19.659 But there's another verse in Romans 11, which says, behold, look at the goodness and the 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:20.960 severity of God. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.460 And both are needed. 00:09:24.579 --> 00:09:31.340 And I have to tell you this morning that today we are looking at the severity of God. 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:33.460 It is going to be tough. 00:09:33.539 --> 00:09:34.699 It is going to be pointed. 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:40.480 And some of us will feel the surgeon's knife of God's work, God's word going to work in 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:40.940 our hearts. 00:09:41.020 --> 00:09:42.020 But let me put it like this. 00:09:42.060 --> 00:09:47.800 It's kind of like we need to go on this journey of chapter one and chapter two, the bad news 00:09:47.800 --> 00:09:54.360 before we are fully appreciate and understand and rejoice in the good news of chapter three 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:55.480 and chapter four. 00:09:55.560 --> 00:09:56.780 So stay the course. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:01.960 This is just one piece in the Romans puzzle that we're slowly putting together. 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:04.480 And I've got good news for you right now. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:09.019 In about a week's time, Tobin is going to do a bit of a Q&A so far. 00:10:09.480 --> 00:10:14.300 So if there's anything that you're thinking, any questions that you have, talk to your community 00:10:14.300 --> 00:10:16.360 groups about it, but also write them down. 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:20.200 We'll probably give you a number that you can just, it's an anonymous number. 00:10:20.300 --> 00:10:25.159 You can just kind of SMS your questions in and we're going to let Tobin deal with them. 00:10:25.259 --> 00:10:25.460 Okay. 00:10:25.460 --> 00:10:33.820 During the second world war, there was an archbishop of Canterbury called William Temple. 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:36.379 And William Temple said this. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:37.139 He said, 00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:48.120 Let me read that again. 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:55.360 A sentimental and pleasure-seeking generation tries to eliminate wrath from its concept of 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:56.360 God. 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:59.080 And we live in such a generation. 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:04.759 And therefore, we don't really want to know about God's anger. 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:15.620 But if I said to you this morning, God's wrath is on Hong Kong, what would you think? 00:11:17.980 --> 00:11:21.179 If you're like me, you'd probably want to know why. 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:23.979 And you'd want to know how. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:27.699 What proof do I have for saying such a thing? 00:11:27.779 --> 00:11:31.339 And essentially, with any anger, there's a reaction to it, right? 00:11:31.359 --> 00:11:34.079 What are we reacting to? 00:11:34.319 --> 00:11:37.759 And then how do we reveal our anger, right? 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.139 So God's reaction and His revelation. 00:11:40.699 --> 00:11:42.419 That's what we're talking about this morning. 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:49.500 I'm sure you've heard that in the Greek language, it was a much fuller language, or it is a much 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:52.600 fuller language, than English or even Chinese. 00:11:53.139 --> 00:11:56.740 And that there are many different words for love in the Greek. 00:11:56.840 --> 00:11:59.960 But there are also different words for anger. 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:01.379 I'm going to give you two of them. 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:03.759 I'm going to tell you them, and then you can forget them. 00:12:04.299 --> 00:12:06.519 Okay, they are orge and thumos. 00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:07.039 There they are. 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:08.080 Now you can forget them. 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:15.980 But the first one means the slow, simmering, kind of inward burning anger, the same kind 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:18.639 of anger I started feeling towards my wife as she's shopping. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:21.100 It just kind of builds and builds and builds. 00:12:21.199 --> 00:12:25.080 The second one is the kind of anger that just explodes quickly. 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:26.639 It's like a volcano. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.059 It explodes and then quickly dies down. 00:12:29.419 --> 00:12:31.299 Now I'd like us to do a little bit of a vote. 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:36.299 Which one of those is your problem? 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:37.580 All right, let's start with the first one. 00:12:38.199 --> 00:12:38.720 Hands up. 00:12:38.819 --> 00:12:45.759 Which one, which of you suffers from the slow, burning, inward anger that kind of works 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:46.139 up over time? 00:12:46.179 --> 00:12:46.939 Can we raise our hands? 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:47.420 Hands? 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:49.020 Okay, good. 00:12:49.260 --> 00:12:49.900 Hands down. 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:56.760 And for the second kind, which one of you suffer from the quick volcano type anger? 00:12:56.900 --> 00:12:57.300 Hands up. 00:12:58.520 --> 00:12:59.640 Okay, that's about 50-50. 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:01.120 Which one suffer from both? 00:13:03.180 --> 00:13:03.700 Okay. 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:12.160 If I had to ask you, which one do you think is God's anger? 00:13:12.680 --> 00:13:13.600 What would you say? 00:13:16.520 --> 00:13:17.560 Well, I've got good news. 00:13:17.660 --> 00:13:19.440 Whatever you were thinking, you're both right. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:20.420 Because it's both. 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:24.240 We haven't yet seen God's anger fully poured out. 00:13:24.300 --> 00:13:25.660 We haven't seen it explode. 00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:32.839 But we are seeing his simmering anger being revealed. 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:39.379 How do you know when someone has that simmering anger, that just burning anger? 00:13:39.439 --> 00:13:41.919 Husbands, how do you know when your wives are angry with you? 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:43.879 Okay, when they blow up, you know. 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:44.199 Okay? 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:45.039 I'm in the dog box. 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:45.480 You know. 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:46.980 But otherwise, how do you know? 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:50.860 Maybe it's silence. 00:13:52.060 --> 00:13:53.500 Maybe it's a look. 00:13:53.639 --> 00:13:55.200 Maybe it's a phrase. 00:13:55.920 --> 00:14:00.899 Maybe it's the kind of notes on the dining room table when you get home late at night 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:02.279 after work or after a meeting. 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:05.980 And it says, your slippers are in the fridge. 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.039 Your dinner is in the dog. 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:09.860 And I've gone to bed with a headache. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:13.060 It's just a subtle thing. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:14.560 Something's wrong, right? 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:17.739 She's angry about something. 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:26.639 And if I had to ask you yet another question, and I said, what do you think it is that is 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.779 making God angry? 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:35.399 When God looks down at the world, what do you think it is that makes Him angry? 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:45.279 If, like me, you thought, well, maybe it's all the social injustice in the world or the widespread 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:50.500 immorality in the world, you'd be wrong. 00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:58.019 Because behind all injustice and all immorality lies idolatry. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:00.419 People make a God of something. 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:05.759 We make a God of money, sex, family, food, work, fashion, entertainment, sport, church. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:09.100 You name it, we can make an idol of it. 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:13.620 Everybody serves and worships something. 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:18.399 In the passage we read today, it says they worshiped and served created things rather than 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:19.019 the creator. 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:24.940 Maybe you hear somebody that says, well, you know, he has a problem with money or he has 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:26.460 a problem with women. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:28.039 No, he doesn't. 00:15:28.220 --> 00:15:30.340 He has a worship problem. 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:37.580 Worship basically means worth-ship, the worth you give to something. 00:15:38.180 --> 00:15:48.160 And when we give an unbalanced worth to a created things rather than a creator, that is idolatry. 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:54.440 And it leads to a wrong attitude to each other as human beings because we have a wrong thinking 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.780 about who God is. 00:15:56.779 --> 00:16:05.439 People are spreading lies about God and therefore about each other because we have a wrong view 00:16:05.439 --> 00:16:10.179 of God and it will always lead to a wrong view of people. 00:16:10.459 --> 00:16:16.019 And I think the saddest verse we read today in the whole scripture reading is this. 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:18.199 It says, they knew the truth. 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:19.879 They knew the truth. 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:22.939 And they are suppressing it. 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:28.160 They knew the truth and it is being suppressed. 00:16:28.660 --> 00:16:33.780 One of the favorite questions that always gets asked when you tell people about the gospel, 00:16:34.020 --> 00:16:39.660 when you say that Jesus Christ is the only way back to the Father, they ask this question. 00:16:39.780 --> 00:16:44.180 They say, well, what about those who have never heard? 00:16:44.660 --> 00:16:46.660 I always answer that with a question. 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:48.280 I learned that technique from Jesus. 00:16:48.280 --> 00:16:50.440 I always say, oh, would you like to be a missionary? 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:52.200 Would you like to go and tell them? 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.440 And then you quickly learn that's not their intention at all. 00:16:56.160 --> 00:17:00.000 It's always asked by those who have heard. 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:00.920 Have you noticed that? 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:04.539 It's always the people who have heard that ask that question. 00:17:05.539 --> 00:17:10.700 But they are essentially hiding behind some apparent injustice of God. 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:14.360 But listen, this is what Paul is saying. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.660 He's saying that every human being knows the truth about God. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:20.580 Let me say that again. 00:17:20.579 --> 00:17:27.299 God has made sure that every human being knows the truth about himself. 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:31.179 Through two things that he's given us. 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:34.519 First one is creation. 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:42.980 We live surrounded by the evidence, the power, the order, the holiness of God. 00:17:42.980 --> 00:17:45.339 Even in Hong Kong, the concrete jungle. 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.920 All we need to do is look up, look around, look at people. 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.720 And it's if creation is shouting at us, hello, there is a designer. 00:17:53.860 --> 00:17:56.839 There is a creator behind all this. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:00.039 This is not some amazing, massive accident. 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:03.519 This is not something that made itself out of nothing. 00:18:04.099 --> 00:18:05.240 There is a creator. 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:07.460 There is a designer behind all this. 00:18:07.460 --> 00:18:19.039 And I would need yours to stand up in front of you and tell you how amazing and how intricate and how mathematically perfect creation is. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:21.659 I love nature programs. 00:18:21.659 --> 00:18:25.420 When I get the chance, I'm a little bit of a National Geographic junkie, right? 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:31.940 So I'm amazed at the cinematography and just the things that they discover. 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:37.299 But sometimes they put in this phrase, oh, well, that's Mother Nature for you. 00:18:37.379 --> 00:18:38.759 Or Mother Nature designed that. 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:40.180 And it's lies. 00:18:40.379 --> 00:18:41.319 She doesn't exist. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.019 There is no Mother Nature. 00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:46.460 There is only creator, father, God. 00:18:48.900 --> 00:18:51.319 Creation is evidence of God. 00:18:51.639 --> 00:18:55.680 The second evidence he has given to every human being is a conscience. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:19:03.180 There is something inside each and every one of us that knows the difference between wrong and right. 00:19:03.339 --> 00:19:07.519 Yes, it may be conditioned by your upbringing and by society. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:16.039 But there is something in us that we know we have a sense of what is fair and what is unfair, what is just and what is unjust. 00:19:17.139 --> 00:19:24.119 But if we're honest, and if I'm honest with you today, all of us in some way have spoiled God's creation. 00:19:24.639 --> 00:19:29.000 And all of us at some point have gone against our own conscience. 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:35.420 Never mind the laws of God, just our own conscience we've never followed all the time. 00:19:35.420 --> 00:19:39.900 So God says, you are without excuse. 00:19:40.259 --> 00:19:45.500 You've got no little bit of evidence, nothing that will help you because I've given it all to you. 00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:53.759 And if you do not believe in God, you have willfully decided to go against the facts that are in front of you. 00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:57.300 You will not face the evidence. 00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:00.400 And that's what makes him angry. 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:05.620 They neither thanked him nor glorified him for what he has done. 00:20:06.800 --> 00:20:10.860 And I think to myself, what more, what more could he possibly have said? 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.460 What more could he possibly have done? 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:15.500 What more evidence could he have possibly given us? 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:19.120 And the answer is none. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:25.779 But man knew God and pretending to be wise. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:27.199 Oh, look how clever I am. 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:30.619 Says God doesn't exist. 00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:34.079 It's kind of like going to the doctor. 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:37.599 And the doctor says, listen, I've got bad news for you. 00:20:38.219 --> 00:20:39.719 You got cancer. 00:20:40.679 --> 00:20:43.019 And he shows you an x-ray. 00:20:43.139 --> 00:20:44.839 He shows you an MRI scan. 00:20:45.239 --> 00:20:47.159 And he says, there's the cancerous growth. 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:48.519 It is going to kill you. 00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.019 I'm sorry. 00:20:50.540 --> 00:20:51.680 You listen to that. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:52.640 You see the evidence. 00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:54.340 And you say, I refuse to believe it. 00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:55.240 And you walk out of the door. 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:59.460 To that person, you would say, well, you're totally senseless. 00:20:59.620 --> 00:21:02.620 You just, it doesn't make sense to live and react that way. 00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:04.840 And that's essentially what God's saying. 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:09.880 It says, for anyone who looks up and sees all this evidence and says, well, he's not there. 00:21:11.540 --> 00:21:13.360 It's being totally senseless. 00:21:13.460 --> 00:21:15.620 In the psalmist, he says it like this. 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:21.000 He says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:24.079 You know, it might sound very clever. 00:21:24.219 --> 00:21:26.419 You might have very articulate words. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:31.379 But it's totally senseless to say, there is no God. 00:21:32.139 --> 00:21:33.979 But what is the reason behind that? 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:35.459 Why would you do that, right? 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:36.359 You got the evidence. 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:39.739 Why would you choose to willfully believe that? 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:43.519 And the answer is idolatry. 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:47.680 And idolatry begins in the imagination. 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:53.500 And it usually begins with the kind of question, what do I want God to be like? 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:56.440 What do I want God to be like? 00:21:56.440 --> 00:22:06.559 And I find when anyone starts the sentence, I think God is like, that is the start of idolatry. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:10.159 I think he's like a bull. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.139 Let's make a golden calf. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.500 Well, I don't think God would ever judge me. 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:18.119 I don't think God would ever allow suffering in this world. 00:22:18.179 --> 00:22:20.619 I don't think God would send anyone to hell. 00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:25.459 That person has made an idol. 00:22:26.199 --> 00:22:28.839 They might not have made it out of wood and stone. 00:22:28.959 --> 00:22:29.679 That's the crude form. 00:22:29.719 --> 00:22:37.319 But they've made an idol in their imagination of how God is to be for them. 00:22:37.639 --> 00:22:39.579 H.G. Wells, the author, said this. 00:22:39.659 --> 00:22:43.819 He said, if you don't believe in God, you don't believe in nothing. 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:46.959 You believe in anything. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:51.240 And I was amazed in preparing for the sermon. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:56.660 I found out in our educated, intellectual, wealthy city of Hong Kong 00:22:56.660 --> 00:23:04.519 that seven out of ten people read their horoscopes every day. 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:06.200 And it's lies. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:07.340 It's lies. 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:12.140 We have the truth, but we don't choose that because that's not what we want. 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:15.380 We choose lies instead. 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:19.560 Why is God angry? 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:23.700 Because the truth is being suppressed. 00:23:24.600 --> 00:23:29.560 Because we are worshiping created things rather than the Creator. 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:37.520 And as a body of Christ, we need to expose those lies in love and in mercy. 00:23:38.060 --> 00:23:39.400 But they do need to be exposed. 00:23:39.400 --> 00:23:43.940 So the big question we have now is, well, how is He showing it? 00:23:43.980 --> 00:23:46.259 If you can tell me God is angry, how do I know? 00:23:46.340 --> 00:23:47.420 What can I see? 00:23:48.300 --> 00:23:52.440 I don't know if you noticed, but in the Scripture we read this morning, 00:23:52.519 --> 00:23:56.220 it says three times God gave them over. 00:23:56.540 --> 00:23:58.140 God gave them over. 00:23:58.140 --> 00:24:00.360 God gave them over. 00:24:01.100 --> 00:24:01.860 To what? 00:24:01.900 --> 00:24:03.460 What did God give them over to? 00:24:05.460 --> 00:24:09.900 To themselves and to follow their idols. 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:17.500 You see, when man suppresses the truth about God, God gives man over. 00:24:17.500 --> 00:24:23.819 We live in Park Island, and there's a little bit more space, 00:24:23.940 --> 00:24:27.500 and there's lots of areas for kids to ride their bicycles and skateboards and everything. 00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:33.980 And a few weeks ago, we were outside, and I was watching a father with his young daughter. 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:36.940 She must have been about, I don't know, four or five. 00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:43.180 And she wanted to run into this place where the older kids were riding their bikes and their skateboard. 00:24:43.320 --> 00:24:47.000 And he literally, he just had his hands on her shoulders. 00:24:47.580 --> 00:24:48.960 And she was wrestling. 00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:50.220 She wanted to go. 00:24:50.539 --> 00:24:54.980 And he was just holding her on, just by the shoulders, just on the shoulders. 00:24:55.640 --> 00:24:56.420 She wanted to go. 00:24:56.519 --> 00:24:57.059 She was wrestling. 00:24:57.120 --> 00:24:57.759 I want to get there. 00:24:57.820 --> 00:25:02.539 And all he did, the only thing he did was just lift up his hands. 00:25:02.980 --> 00:25:04.120 He just let her go. 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:08.359 And she ran, smiling and laughing for about the first five meters, 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:13.779 until an older boy with a bike came in and plowed straight into her. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.399 Now, we might be like that little girl, right? 00:25:20.939 --> 00:25:23.219 We just think, yes, God, just let me go. 00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:24.179 Then I can be happy. 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:25.059 I can be free. 00:25:25.179 --> 00:25:26.619 I can do what I want. 00:25:28.439 --> 00:25:31.299 But listen, this is what Paul says will happen to us. 00:25:31.299 --> 00:25:34.799 We will suffer mentally, and we will suffer physically. 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:39.859 And you will finish up with dishonored bodies and depraved minds. 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:47.039 When God leaves you alone, your body and mind don't get better. 00:25:47.119 --> 00:25:47.579 They get worse. 00:25:47.639 --> 00:25:49.879 And I know that's true of my own heart. 00:25:51.139 --> 00:25:53.579 If I don't walk with God, I don't become better. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:55.480 I become worse. 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:59.160 And it begins with our appetites. 00:25:59.220 --> 00:26:03.920 And it begins with not being able to control your appetites. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:08.579 You see, appetites are good, and they are given by God. 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:11.059 I enjoy eating. 00:26:11.620 --> 00:26:12.940 I enjoy sex. 00:26:13.120 --> 00:26:14.759 And that is a good thing. 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:21.079 But when your appetites get out of control, you start hating yourself. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:27.200 You start becoming enslaved to the very thing that should give you joy and pleasure. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:34.839 See, God has designed us that our appetites are to be maximized and enjoyed within a limit, 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:36.379 within a boundary. 00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:41.879 And He's created us in such a way that with Him, we can control them and we can enjoy them. 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:45.380 Without Him, they become idols. 00:26:46.840 --> 00:26:49.580 And we become enslaved to them. 00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:54.320 I'm going to say something that might offend a few people. 00:26:55.600 --> 00:26:59.880 But the Bible does say alcohol was given for our enjoyment. 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.340 There's a few of you thinking, amen, right? 00:27:02.800 --> 00:27:04.300 But it was. 00:27:04.320 --> 00:27:05.600 It was given to us for our enjoyment. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:12.740 But there are thousands and millions of young people today who hate themselves because they 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:15.639 cannot control their addiction to alcohol. 00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:20.659 And they are destroying themselves and they're destroying the lives of people around them. 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:23.219 And the same thing happens to your sex. 00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:25.899 The same thing happens to your food. 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:33.000 I meet people on a continuous basis who can't stop eating to comfort themselves. 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:38.280 You know, the very thing food was given for our enjoyment, for our health, for our nutrition, 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:40.440 to bring people together around a meal. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:45.380 And you become enslaved to it in such a way that you begin hating yourself. 00:27:48.540 --> 00:27:49.060 Sex. 00:27:49.059 --> 00:27:49.139 Sex. 00:27:50.339 --> 00:27:55.119 Right back in the beginning in Genesis, God created sex. 00:27:55.240 --> 00:27:56.599 It was His idea. 00:27:57.019 --> 00:27:59.839 He didn't kind of look at it and think, oh my goodness, what are they doing? 00:28:00.059 --> 00:28:01.740 It was His plan, right? 00:28:01.899 --> 00:28:04.200 He created sex. 00:28:04.819 --> 00:28:07.379 But He created it with a boundary. 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:08.659 This was His intention. 00:28:08.819 --> 00:28:09.579 This was His purpose. 00:28:10.039 --> 00:28:13.119 Okay, somebody tell me, what is God's boundary for sex? 00:28:13.359 --> 00:28:14.299 Just shout it out. 00:28:16.019 --> 00:28:16.500 Marriage. 00:28:16.639 --> 00:28:17.379 There it is. 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:17.980 Marriage. 00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:18.180 Marriage. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:22.099 Okay, let's define marriage just in case we get a little bit confused here. 00:28:22.420 --> 00:28:30.759 Marriage is two people of the opposite sex in a relationship as long as or until one of them dies. 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:32.960 That's marriage for you, right? 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:38.860 I love God's law and I love God's way because it is simple and it protects. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.319 Okay, let's do. 00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:41.860 John, are you married? 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.819 Did you have to think about that for more than two seconds? 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:46.120 No. 00:28:46.120 --> 00:28:46.940 Okay, you just know. 00:28:47.039 --> 00:28:47.920 It's very simple. 00:28:47.980 --> 00:28:48.539 I'm not married. 00:28:48.779 --> 00:28:49.500 You're not married? 00:28:49.940 --> 00:28:50.779 Don't do it. 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:52.140 You are married? 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:53.200 Go crazy. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:55.860 Okay, but with the person you're married to, right? 00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:57.400 That's got to put that in there. 00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:02.980 But you see, we can't stand before God one day and say, gee, God, you know, I was really 00:29:02.980 --> 00:29:05.420 confused about what you were really trying to say there. 00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:07.480 It's really simple, right? 00:29:07.480 --> 00:29:14.120 But when God goes, what we don't realize is that we lose our sexuality. 00:29:14.120 --> 00:29:15.860 We lose our masculinity. 00:29:15.860 --> 00:29:17.900 We lose our femininity. 00:29:17.900 --> 00:29:19.740 And we begin to look to Hollywood. 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:23.960 And we begin to look to the world to tell us what it means to be a man, what it means to 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:24.440 be a woman. 00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.860 And just in case you don't know, Hollywood doesn't have the best track record. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:30.120 The world doesn't have the best track record. 00:29:30.119 --> 00:29:32.839 It's a bad idea. 00:29:34.199 --> 00:29:40.539 I think usually the first step along that road is confusion, right? 00:29:40.579 --> 00:29:44.839 Where you can hardly tell the difference between male and female anymore. 00:29:44.939 --> 00:29:46.599 I look at some of the fashion makers. 00:29:46.679 --> 00:29:47.299 I don't look at them. 00:29:47.359 --> 00:29:48.619 I see young people reading them. 00:29:48.679 --> 00:29:49.539 And I notice the cover. 00:29:49.679 --> 00:29:50.279 Okay, sorry. 00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:52.160 But you see the cover. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:56.539 And honestly, I can't tell whether I'm looking at a guy or a girl. 00:29:58.359 --> 00:30:02.799 You know, recently there was a pastor from Texas who conducted a wedding ceremony. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:03.700 And he said this. 00:30:03.779 --> 00:30:05.839 He said, I now pronounce you man and wife. 00:30:06.019 --> 00:30:08.379 And I leave the rest of you to work out which is which. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:11.059 You'll get that. 00:30:12.700 --> 00:30:20.019 But the second step is that we begin to ignore the whole difference between male and 00:30:20.019 --> 00:30:20.379 female. 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.460 And of course, that is homosex. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:31.579 But the point is, all sex outside God's boundary is idolatry. 00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:35.539 Outside God's intention is idolatry. 00:30:36.379 --> 00:30:43.639 As a very young believer, someone, a very wise old man, described sex to me like this. 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:45.819 And he gave it to me as a picture which I think was very powerful. 00:30:45.900 --> 00:30:47.000 And I'm going to share it with you now. 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.940 He said, imagine a big house with a fireplace. 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:53.900 Now, that's a little bit difficult for us to imagine in Hong Kong. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.599 But you know what I'm talking about, right? 00:30:55.619 --> 00:30:57.279 A big house, a nice fireplace. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:01.039 And he said, sex is like fire. 00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:07.119 And when we put it in the fireplace, in the boundary for which it was created for, it is 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.140 a beautiful thing. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:10.539 It gives warmth to the whole house. 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:12.220 It gives light to the whole house. 00:31:12.220 --> 00:31:16.019 It gives light, warmth to the whole relationship. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:20.600 When it's in the boundary for which it's created for, and it's been very cold the last week 00:31:20.600 --> 00:31:22.600 in Hong Kong, we would appreciate that, right? 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:24.400 Nice warmth glow. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:29.579 Soon as you take that fire outside of which the boundary it was created for, and you put 00:31:29.579 --> 00:31:36.559 it anywhere else in the house, it becomes dangerous, and it becomes destructive. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:42.440 Yes, it might look very fun to watch a house burn down, but it is destructive. 00:31:44.919 --> 00:31:50.319 And I wonder, when you look at today, you see the films of today, you just wonder how 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:57.579 far have we lost God's intention for something that was supposed to be so beautiful and such 00:31:57.579 --> 00:31:59.179 a gift for us. 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:07.539 But all that, all that immorality that we see are results of God's anger, not the cause. 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:08.860 We make that mistake. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.799 They are the results of God's anger, not the cause. 00:32:12.940 --> 00:32:15.680 One is the root, the other is the fruit. 00:32:15.779 --> 00:32:20.840 Because idolatry always leads to immorality and injustice. 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:23.840 That's our bodies. 00:32:24.100 --> 00:32:25.120 What about our minds? 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:30.259 Paul basically says we will end up with a depraved mind. 00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:33.699 A depraved mind, very simply, is an antisocial mind. 00:32:33.779 --> 00:32:35.199 And Paul develops this list. 00:32:35.639 --> 00:32:42.339 He says, you will have a selfish mind which can't consider other people, a wicked mind 00:32:42.339 --> 00:32:48.459 which is opposed to justice, an evil mind which desires to corrupt and degrade people, a greedy 00:32:48.459 --> 00:32:54.279 mind which is never content, an envious mind that wants what others have, a murderous mind 00:32:54.279 --> 00:33:00.099 that has contempt for other people, a strife mind which is always arguing, a deceitful mind 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:05.240 which is underhanded and uses other people for their advantages, a malicious mind which 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:10.420 puts the worst possible construction on the facts, a gossiping mind which whispers about 00:33:10.420 --> 00:33:16.099 others behind their back, a slandering mind which publicly destroys reputation, a God-hating 00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:21.220 mind which only sees God as ruining their fun, an insolent mind which cannot accept anyone 00:33:21.220 --> 00:33:26.440 above themselves, an arrogant mind which is snobbish, a boastful mind which is a show-off, 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:32.620 an inventive mind which is always thinking of new ways to taste and do wrong things, a 00:33:32.620 --> 00:33:38.240 disobedient mind which refuses to listen to parents, a senseless mind which cannot be appealed 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:45.339 to, a faithless mind which never keeps its word, a heartless mind that has no natural affection, 00:33:45.339 --> 00:33:49.699 and a ruthless mind that can rape women and children. 00:33:50.899 --> 00:33:55.539 That's the list what happens to your mind. 00:33:55.939 --> 00:33:59.839 You become the person you really are. 00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:09.739 And you see when I read that list, I'm basically that person and I know that everything we read 00:34:09.739 --> 00:34:14.239 in Romans 1 today, I am capable of becoming. 00:34:15.339 --> 00:34:18.919 Everything we read today, I am capable of doing and capable of becoming. 00:34:19.439 --> 00:34:22.379 Because I know that in me dwells no good thing. 00:34:23.739 --> 00:34:26.399 If you don't believe that's true, just ask my wife, right? 00:34:26.459 --> 00:34:27.579 She lives with the truth. 00:34:27.699 --> 00:34:29.739 She knows what's in my heart. 00:34:29.739 --> 00:34:36.959 I did something this week, just preparing for this. 00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:40.500 I started reading the headlines of the newspaper. 00:34:40.759 --> 00:34:42.779 I read the South China Morning Post. 00:34:42.899 --> 00:34:43.579 I read BBC. 00:34:43.799 --> 00:34:44.739 I read CNN. 00:34:45.379 --> 00:34:48.000 And I just circled the headlines. 00:34:48.839 --> 00:34:52.959 And it was like I was reading Romans 1. 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:56.139 I challenge you this week, do that. 00:34:57.059 --> 00:34:58.000 Click onto BBC. 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:01.380 Click on CNN, South China Morning Post. 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:05.179 And circle the headlines in light of this list. 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:14.280 You see, what's even worse is when that happens to us, we kill our own conscience, right? 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:15.739 We just refuse to listen. 00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:18.519 We just keep on going because this is really what I want to do. 00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:24.079 But we begin to kill the conscience of other people too. 00:35:24.079 --> 00:35:34.380 When it becomes so habitual and so consuming, we feel so alone that we can get other people to do what we are doing so that it doesn't feel so bad. 00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:36.460 And it goes right back to the garden, right? 00:35:36.599 --> 00:35:39.920 When Eve took that fruit and she ate of it, she sinned. 00:35:39.980 --> 00:35:41.420 What is the first thing she did? 00:35:43.299 --> 00:35:44.579 She gave it to her husband. 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:47.440 Because I know it's wrong. 00:35:47.500 --> 00:35:48.079 I knew it was wrong. 00:35:48.119 --> 00:35:49.019 But I don't want to be alone. 00:35:49.219 --> 00:35:50.299 It feels scary here. 00:35:50.340 --> 00:35:51.340 So I give it to someone else. 00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:55.059 And I approve of my husband doing the exact same thing. 00:35:55.059 --> 00:36:06.340 Now, we see why God's anger is on Hong Kong. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:18.799 We can see his simmering anger at work because God is showing that he is handing people over to themselves. 00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:32.660 If there is a reason to realize that God's anger is on this city, that makes the gospel the most relevant thing. 00:36:33.080 --> 00:36:36.620 You see, the basic need of this city is not economic improvement. 00:36:36.860 --> 00:36:38.260 It is not social awareness. 00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:39.740 It is not education. 00:36:39.739 --> 00:36:42.199 It is the gospel. 00:36:42.319 --> 00:36:49.019 Because the gospel is how to be saved from the wrath of God, the deserved wrath of God. 00:36:49.399 --> 00:36:50.739 Paul writes in the city, he says, 00:36:50.839 --> 00:36:56.439 I am not ashamed of the gospel because the wrath of God is being revealed. 00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:58.719 I hope you see that connection. 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:03.519 You see, because what is the one thing that can turn away God's wrath? 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:10.719 In the Old Testament, this picture was developed again and again and again. 00:37:11.860 --> 00:37:14.900 The cup of God's wrath. 00:37:17.019 --> 00:37:20.119 And Jesus, the night before, he's about to be crucified, says, 00:37:20.500 --> 00:37:22.519 Father, isn't it possible to find another way? 00:37:22.759 --> 00:37:25.920 Do I have to drink this cup? 00:37:26.099 --> 00:37:26.980 What was the cup? 00:37:27.699 --> 00:37:29.440 It wasn't crucifixion. 00:37:29.759 --> 00:37:33.320 Thousands of people were crucified without sweating drops of blood. 00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:38.139 The two thieves that were crucified with him did not sweat drops of blood. 00:37:39.500 --> 00:37:47.300 It was the first time he would experience what it was like to be on the receiving end of God's wrath. 00:37:49.460 --> 00:37:51.699 Anger withdraws from a relationship. 00:37:52.179 --> 00:37:54.039 And as it was poured out, Jesus cried out, 00:37:54.259 --> 00:37:56.559 Why, why have you forsaken me? 00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:00.480 Because God in his wrath had to turn away. 00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:05.079 He became sin who knew no sin. 00:38:05.079 --> 00:38:12.279 The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus. 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:18.580 In Psalm 106, it's talking about the Israelites. 00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:19.380 It says this. 00:38:19.460 --> 00:38:20.240 We read it this morning. 00:38:20.340 --> 00:38:20.980 I'll read it again. 00:38:21.100 --> 00:38:21.320 It says, 00:38:21.460 --> 00:38:27.640 They exchanged their glorious God for an image of a bull which eats grass. 00:38:27.740 --> 00:38:29.040 I just love that, right? 00:38:29.100 --> 00:38:30.240 Can you see the humor in there? 00:38:30.500 --> 00:38:31.460 Which eats grass. 00:38:31.460 --> 00:38:35.659 To me, that just kind of sums up how ridiculous idolatry really is, right? 00:38:36.179 --> 00:38:38.300 Glorious God, the creator of the universe. 00:38:38.420 --> 00:38:38.760 Amazing. 00:38:39.420 --> 00:38:40.619 A bull which eats grass. 00:38:41.099 --> 00:38:41.820 You know what we'll do? 00:38:41.880 --> 00:38:42.900 We'll exchange it. 00:38:43.340 --> 00:38:43.559 Okay? 00:38:44.440 --> 00:38:46.940 That's idolatry in a nutshell. 00:38:48.079 --> 00:38:50.599 Nothing can be compared to glorious God. 00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:53.619 But, you know, we'll choose something that eats grass. 00:38:53.619 --> 00:39:11.359 So he said he would destroy them had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:21.200 As believers, how much more will we be saved from the wrath of God? 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:24.519 Because Jesus has stood in the breach. 00:39:24.599 --> 00:39:26.960 He didn't just argue and speak to God. 00:39:27.140 --> 00:39:28.019 He died. 00:39:28.120 --> 00:39:31.559 He took the wrath of God on himself. 00:39:31.980 --> 00:39:38.900 How much more will we be saved from the wrath of God through the blood of Jesus? 00:39:38.900 --> 00:39:44.860 You know, that's why when we come here and we gather and we sing these songs and we praise, 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:50.780 and next week we're going to take communion and we're going to give thanks and we're going to give praise for the very fact that he did that. 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:55.139 In Romans 1 it says they neither thanked him nor glorified him. 00:39:55.660 --> 00:39:56.619 But we thank him. 00:39:56.680 --> 00:40:03.220 As his people, we thank him for that amazing sacrifice that he achieved for us. 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:08.820 But, you know, I think about this, and I have to be honest with you, I wrestled a lot with this verse. 00:40:08.900 --> 00:40:12.579 This passage, and I go back to why would God be doing this? 00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:14.639 Why would he just let people go? 00:40:14.740 --> 00:40:16.639 Is that a good thing to do? 00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:20.940 And I go back to that picture of the father with his daughter. 00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:30.300 As he let her go, she ran away laughing and screaming and giggling until she hit the boy on the bike and she fell down. 00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:31.960 And the first thing she cried out was, 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:32.360 Daddy! 00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:33.420 Daddy! 00:40:33.420 --> 00:40:38.460 And the father came running to pick up his daughter. 00:40:41.119 --> 00:40:47.680 In love, God gives men over to what they really want. 00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:58.919 Jesus took the deserved wrath for you and I. 00:40:58.980 --> 00:41:03.799 Because if we're honest, we know that every one of us is capable of becoming what we read about this morning. 00:41:04.539 --> 00:41:06.599 But Jesus took her in our place. 00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:10.480 And that's the truth that needs to be told. 00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:17.340 The anger of God is turned away at Calvary. 00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:21.079 Would you stand with me? 00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:22.760 I'm going to pray for us. 00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:22.880 Amen. 00:41:22.880 --> 00:41:37.440 Father, we come before you as your people. 00:41:38.240 --> 00:41:44.059 And we give you the praise and the glory and the honor for who you are. 00:41:44.220 --> 00:41:45.119 For your creation. 00:41:45.980 --> 00:41:48.320 For the conscience you've given us. 00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:53.620 But Lord, above all, for the son that was willing to sacrifice himself. 00:41:54.160 --> 00:41:56.620 So that we could be reconciled to the father. 00:41:57.800 --> 00:42:01.140 Lord, I pray that we will rejoice in this truth. 00:42:01.600 --> 00:42:04.420 That we will be consumed by this truth. 00:42:05.960 --> 00:42:08.960 Lord, I pray for us that it doesn't just end here. 00:42:09.620 --> 00:42:13.559 But Lord, that we will see the need for Hong Kong. 00:42:13.660 --> 00:42:16.580 We will see the need of the people of this city. 00:42:16.579 --> 00:42:19.799 Lord Jesus, I pray for each and every one of us. 00:42:20.259 --> 00:42:23.819 That we will have opportunities as we walk out in the following week. 00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:27.619 To speak about the God of grace. 00:42:27.840 --> 00:42:31.420 The God who was willing to sacrifice his son. 00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:34.380 For us and for them. 00:42:36.219 --> 00:42:40.480 I pray, Lord Jesus, that the beauty of the gospel. 00:42:41.179 --> 00:42:43.500 Will be alive to us this morning. 00:42:43.500 --> 00:42:51.000 Lord, I pray that we don't ever walk out of here feeling that we are somehow superior to the people out there. 00:42:51.360 --> 00:42:55.460 But Lord, that we will know that we are more than capable of becoming like them. 00:42:57.059 --> 00:43:00.039 Only but for the grace of God. 00:43:00.599 --> 00:43:02.400 And we thank you for that this morning. 00:43:03.019 --> 00:43:04.199 Lord Jesus, we love you. 00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:07.500 And we give you all the thanks and all the praise. 00:43:07.980 --> 00:43:08.199 Amen. 00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:08.300 Amen.