Alright, turn back with me tonight
in the book of Romans. We've begun on Wednesday evening
to look at this book of Romans. I was thinking about it. The prophet Amos. I believe it was Amos. said that he was not a prophet. He made no claim to be a prophet,
nor a prophet's son. But he said he was a gatherer
of sycamore fruit. And the Lord came to him and
said for him to bear a message, to take the word of the Lord
to a people. And the only authority that he
had, the only authority that there could be, was the fact that God had called
him and sent him, and what he said was just what God said. The Bible says, that if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light
in them. And you and I will never, ever
know the truth unless we take this book, and
rather than leaving it in the hands of men, open it and read
it for ourselves. The Apostle Paul described the
Berean people, calling them noble. And he said that they were noble
in this, that they searched the Scriptures to see if the things
that Paul preached were true. And that is surely what I want
every one of you to do. Don't take my word for anything. Search the Scriptures for yourselves
to see if the things that I say to you are true, if they are
what God says. Now, if you'll look here in Romans
chapter 1, we've come down tonight to verse
19. And I want to read to you a few
verses. Let me back up and read verse
18 also that we looked at last week. Paul says, For the wrath
of God And I say this hoping that people have understanding
at least of this. It is not Paul's word, but it is what the Spirit of
God directed him to write. It is the Word of God. I say Paul said, but God says
through the Apostle Paul. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness." Now, in our day, any notion of
God having displeasure with men or being a God of wrath has been
put so far back And men will not speak of it because men don't
want to hear about it. But as it says here, his wrath
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath
showed it unto them, for the invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God,
they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became
vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible
God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds
and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Now, the apostle has just said
that the wrath of God, the displeasure of God, the judgment of God is
revealed from heaven. And he is going to show us now
that there is nothing that brings the wrath and displeasure of
God upon a people like idolatry. What is idolatry? Well, idolatry is simply the
worship of something or someone as God who is not God. That's idolatry. That's the worship
of an idol rather than the worship of the living God. And from the very opening pages
of this book, which is the very opening pages of history itself,
the history of this world, God makes it very clear that He will
not tolerate idolatry. When he gave the law to Moses,
he said, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself
to them, nor serve them, for I am the Lord thy God. Am I jealous, God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me." Now, if that very Word
of God were believed and obeyed this day throughout all of this
earth, that would bring to an end most of the religions of
this world, because they are all given to idolatry. He says in the Gospel of John,
God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is Spirit. And we must worship Him spiritually,
which can only be by the enablement of the Holy Spirit and in truth. Men can raise up a God of their
making, and they can put forth an outward form and ritual and
ceremony of so-called worship, but God's worship must be according
to the truth. Not only does he say that, but
in Isaiah he says this, I am the Lord. That's Jehovah. I am the Lord, and there is none
else There is no God beside me, no other God but God Himself."
In other words, there is a God. And there is but one God. And he speaks so many times,
making that statement and declaring that very thing, that not only
is he God, but he's God alone. Now, if you just stop and think
about it with a little bit of reason in your mind, the things
that are said of God are absolute. In other words, he is almighty. Well, there cannot be two almighty
gods, or two all-knowing gods, two all-sovereign gods. As a matter of fact, that's what
makes the notion of free will so foolish. There can only be
one truly free will in the universe. And all other wills must bow
to that will that is truly free and unhindered, which is none
other than the will of God. And Paul says here that the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against those who hold the truth
in unrighteousness." Now, think about that. They are
said to hold the truth or possess the truth in unrighteousness. Now, what does that mean? The truth that is spoken of here
is the truth that God declares concerning Himself that the Scriptures
show is, on the one hand, put in the consciences of men, men
and women. God has given a witness of the
truth concerning himself in the consciences of men and women. And not only that, but also in
the creation that he has created. Now, there are a lot of people
who claim to be atheists and say they do not believe at all
in God. But it's a bit like I've heard
expressed in the past, there are no atheists in foxholes. In other words, it's easy for
us to display the foolish, stupid bravado that we often do when
everything is going well and we don't think we are immediately
facing death. But let somebody face us to slay
us. Let us face some grave disease
in our body. Raise your hand against a man
to shoot him or stab him or something, and this atheist cries out, but I thought he didn't believe
there was a God. The apostle says later on in
this same book, he says, for when the Gentiles, now he is
often here showing that there is no difference between Jew
and Gentile insofar as what they are of themselves by nature and
whatever, but he says, when the Gentiles, which have not the
law." Now, that law was not given to the Gentiles. Speaking of
the Ten Commandments, the law of Moses, no matter what we think
or what we try to say, it was not given to the Gentiles. It was given to that one nation,
Israel. He says, when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness,
and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one
another." Why is there any sense of right
or wrong where the law is not given? Why is there any sense
that there is a God and not only That there is a God, but that
we will have to give account to that God. It's because He's written it
in our conscience. The fact that He is. And the
fact that we have offended Him. And that cannot be erased. But not only in our conscience. But also, it is the same with
regard to creation. Now, hold your place here and
turn back to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. Suppose you and I were walking
out in a land which never ever was supposed to have been visited
or inhabited by any other living soul. And we're walking along, and
you see something shiny on the ground. And you walk over there
and pick it up, dust it off, and it's a watch. You wind the stem, it starts
ticking away, keeping time. And you just stand back and say,
well, I guess that just happened here, didn't it? You say, you wouldn't be so foolish,
would you? No. We would know that a mind
and a person with some ability had been there before us and
made that watch. It did not just happen by itself. And the Bible says that's what
this creation is saying. Just about the time mankind makes
some new discovery, finds out the existence of some minute
particle, what they find is really that they are now on simply the
next frontier. Just beginning to begin to begin
to find out just a little bit about our bodies, about our world,
about the universe. Mr. Putin has just said this
week that he thinks that the Russians are far ahead in the
race to Mars. So what? That's like saying that
I'm ahead of you in walking out that door. Because it is infinite. And God
is infinite. Now listen to what it says by
the psalmist in Rome in Psalm 19. The heavens, that's all this
around us. The heavens declare the glory
of God. And the firmament showeth his
handiwork. Day after day uttereth speech,
and night unto night shows knowledge. He's saying, the sun and the
light in the daytime speak, I am God. And the night, he says, utters
and teaches knowledge. The moon, all that spreads across
the sky at night says, this is the knowledge of God. We haven't even counted the stars. You see, at the heart or the
root of such things as evolution, and even now at our current hour
in global warming, is that attempt to deny the creatorhood
of God and the sustaining hand and work of God. That's right. Man would like
to say things just happened, and not only that, we can control
it. I dare say, as a matter of fact,
not just me, but a great portion of even scientists in our world
right now are saying that in a hundred years people will be
laughing at such notions. Why? Because everything is based
on this little bit of time that we have the records on. And so it can't help but be wrong. And not only that, God has said
that as long as this world stands, there will be sun and moon and
sea time and harvest because He sustains it. There is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard. God, wherever the sun shines,
which is everywhere, and wherever the moon shines at night, in
every place, the language of God to their language, regardless
of what it is, I might not speak it, and you
might not speak it, but God, through the very light of the
sun and the light of the moon, day after day, declares that
He is and shows forth His knowledge. Their line is gone out through
all the earth. and their words to the end of
the world, in them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. which is as a bridegroom coming
out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end
of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there
is nothing hid from the heat thereof." The sun. as it shines on the earth, declares
that God is and that he has created these things. This is his power. This is what he manifests. Jeremiah says, but the Lord is
the true God. He is the living God and an everlasting
King. At his wrath the earth shall
tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them,
The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they
shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens. He
hath made the earth by his power. He hath established the world
by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion. And when He uttereth His voice,
there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causes
the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings
with rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasure. He's God. You can't ever put
that out of your mind. He's God, and He is God alone,
no matter how many imagined lesser gods men raise up, thinking they can handle them. You see, God has showed these
things to men. And this being so, idolatry is
not for lack of light. It is the rejection of light. Idolatry, in reality, is never
really ignorance. It is willful rebellion. That's just the truth. That is
the truth with me. That's the truth with every son
of Adam and Eve that have ever lived in this earth, whether
we want to admit it or not, because it says that our natural minds
are enmity against God. And what's the great evidence
of that? Men make for themselves a God rather than vowing to and
believing on and seeking a further revelation from the true and
living God. Look back at Romans 1. Verse
19, he says, Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. It's manifest in them in their
conscience, and He has showed it to us in His creation. All right? Verse 20. For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen. Somebody said, I'm looking for
God. Can't you hear the very shout
of God all around you? Every time the sun rises, every
time the sun goes down, if we were any closer to it, we would
burn up. If we were any farther away from
it, scientists say we would freeze to death. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood
by the things that are made." You know, we talk about molecules
and DNA and things of that nature. Is that an accident? Have you
ever known of any intelligent device or anything like that
to ever have just evolved? Have you ever seen anybody just
throw a handful of iron ore and a handful of silica sand and
a handful of brass and this, that, and they just pile them
up and let them stay for a hundred years? See if you can get a watch
out of that. The self-deception of men and
women is really ridiculous, and it would be worthy of a laugh
if it wasn't so deadly, if it wasn't so soul-damning. He says, being understood by
the things that are made even His eternal power and Godhead. The fact that He is before and
behind all this creation, all these things that are made, they
didn't just happen, they bear the marks of intelligent design,
as some use the term, so that they are without excuse. No person who has ever lived
in this world and dies in their sins can ever claim total ignorance. They can never say that there
was no way that I could ever have known that there was a God. They will have to confess that
they shut their eyes to the light that they close their minds to
the truth of an obvious God. And they shall have to bear His
displeasure. You see, men and women, whoever
they are and wherever they are, and whether they have heard the
gospel or not, they are without excuse. Just without excuse. Look at what it says in verse
21. Because that when they knew God, whatever little portion in conscience, in creation, Whatever revealed in the conscience
or in the creation to them, what did they do? Did they say, well,
there must be a God, and He evidently is a mighty God, powerful, creator
of all this. Did they cry out to Him and say,
well, God, reveal Yourself, reveal more of Your truth to me. Is that what men did after Adam
and Eve fell in the garden? Is that what they do everywhere?
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. He says, because that when they
knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful. You're not thankful if you don't
glorify the God who gives all things. Say what you want to,
you're just not. I wouldn't be. But they became vain in their
imaginations. Now, vain, what does that mean?
The best word I know to describe it is just zero, nothing, hollow,
empty, useless. where at? In their imaginations. You see, that's where all images
begin. And the amazing thing is, in
our day, there are people in so-called civilized countries
or civilized societies who look at those who bow down to pieces
of stone or wood or whatever, say in the very darkest part
of Africa, people who bow down to a host of man-made things,
and they look at them and say, what idolaters they are. Where did those images come from? Well, a man responding to the
light of conscience and creation in rebellion against God decided
to make a God of his own, so he took whatever tool he had,
chopped down a tree, carved it up, made something, stood it
up, bowed down and worshipped it. And one thing else, if you ever
notice, Most of the man-made gods, whatever they are, stone,
wood, whatever, most of them got a frown on their face, don't
they? Because in the conscience, men not only know there is a
God, but He's angry at us for some reason. And that's because of our sin.
We sinned in Adam, the first man. And every one of us, after
that, light begets light. And so it says we come forth
from the womb speaking lies. That's why you don't have to
teach children to lie or fuss or fight or be jealous or selfish. Why? Because that's our nature. That's why none of our man-made
remedies All these politicians, all these politicians right now,
wherever they are in this world, they all have an answer. They
all want to bring about change. If I hear that word one more
time from a politician's lips, I'm going to just throw up, I
think. Sixty years in this world. I've seen nothing but change,
and always for the worse. Are men any less wicked than
they used to be? Is there any less crime? Is there
any less hatred or bitterness or fighting or war or whatever
it is? Absolutely not. And no remedy works because we
deny the problem. We operate on a principle, a
generally accepted belief that all men and women are essentially
good, when that's not what the scripture says, and that's not
what history evidences. So if we are to be saved from
our sin, it will have to be the grace of God. And it will have
to be by God Himself, and that through His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. One man said, they glorified
Him not as God. No idea can be formed of God
without including his eternity, power, wisdom, goodness, truth,
righteousness, and mercy. His eternity appears evident
because he is the maker of all things. His power because he
holds all things in his hand and continues their existence. His wisdom, because He has arranged
things in such an exquisite order. His goodness, for there is no
other cause than Himself, why He created all things, and no
other reason why He should be induced to preserve them. His
justice, because in His government He punishes the guilty and defends
the innocents. His mercy, because He bears with
so much forbearance the perversity of men. And His truth, because
He is unchangeable. He's God. But look back at verse 21 again.
Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination, and
their foolish heart was darkened. Now, what was the evidence? What
is the evidence of man rejecting the truth, rejecting light from
God, denying God as He is, becoming vain in their imaginations, and
their foolish heart darkened. What's the evidence of it? Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. The fool has said in his heart,
the psalmist says, there is no God. Or, no God. No to God. You see, they may say that they're
wise. They may think they're wise. Other fools may think they're
wise and call them wise, which they do, but God says they are
fools. They profess to be wise, but
they're fools. And change, now listen to this,
and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God, God who is spirit, eternal. They changed, or exchanged for
Him, their own man-made gods. And they made the God of glory to be like an image made like
to corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts,
and creeping things. Now, when God gave the law to
Moses on Mount Sinai, Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. Thou shalt not make unto me any
graven image. You know what they were doing
at the bottom of that mountain? They gathered up all the gold,
or at least some of the gold from
all the people of Israel, and they cast it into the form of
a golden calf and bowed down in worship. Now, that's pretty
ridiculous, isn't it? A piece of gold? It's no more ridiculous. than
worshiping a God, though he not be cast in gold or chiseled from
stone or whatever it is, who is not God, but just the God
of man's imagination. The images of men, in whatever way they are made
to form, are simply in the minds of men, and these images are
from vain imaginations. You see, you and I cannot of
ourselves imagine anything that is true about God, because the Bible likens us as
blind, deceived, foolish, So that if we ever find out anything
about God, He'll have to teach us. He'll have to reveal Himself
to us. And He says that He does it through
His truth. Truth. Turn back. to Psalm 135. Like I said, an image, whether
it's a statue of Mary or whether it's somebody over here who's
preaching about God, but they're both false. There's no difference. I was preaching in Mexico, in
the Yucatan, and we went to a fairly large town. I believe it was Isamal. It was
a big, right in the middle of towns, this big building, big
cathedral or something. Various gold things and stuff. People living in absolute dire
poverty outside. And at the front, there were
a lot of candles, but there was a statue that was supposed to
have been Mary. And in her arms lay what they
said was a dead Jesus. That is idolatry. But it is no worse than if I stood
up here in this pulpit and did not tell you what God says about
Himself, what He says about you and I, what He says about His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. What he says is the one way that
he receives and blesses and saves sinners from their sin. There'd
be no difference. Now, that's just the truth. And
that's why there is as many or more, depending on the pure statistics
of it, There are as many or more in so-called evangelical Christianity
who are setting forth false gods as there are in any other religion
in this world. Because it's for the glory of
man and not the glory of God. It's to sound out the opinions
of man rather than the Word of God. Okay, look here in Psalm 135. Now, you can apply this to whatever
a man actually makes with his hand, or whether it's just still
in his mind being spoken of by his lips. Psalm 135, look down at verse
15. The idols of the heathen. Who are the heathen? I can remember growing up and
if you acted kind of wild or something like that, people said
you were a heathen. But the truth is that the heathen include everyone who does not
know the truth about God and who is not found believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ. The idols of the heathen are
silver and go the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but
they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not, neither is there any breath in their mouths. And they that
make them are like unto them. And so is everyone that trusteth
in them." Now, you look at a statue or
an idol or whatever it is, you see eyes, but they don't really
see. You see hands, but they don't really feel or touch, or
a mouth that doesn't really speak. Well, we say, that's an idol.
Well, what about this God? that people talk about today,
and they say, well, He wants to do this for you if you'll
let Him. Well, I'll tell you this, a God
that I have to let or that I can withhold, He's not much of a God. creature whose breath is in his
nostrils like we are, if we can hold back God, if we can keep
him from accomplishing his will, if we can keep him from saving
who he wants to save and doing what he wants to do, he is more pitiful than a plaster
God. Much more pitiful. At least you
can reach out and touch a plaster, God. The Bible says that our God is
in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. He doesn't need you, and he doesn't
need me. He doesn't even need my help.
He doesn't need your money. It says the whole heavens cannot
contain Him. And we're going to build a gigantic
building and cover it with lush, lavish fixtures and say God's
going to be there? He said, no. He said, I dwell amidst the people
who are of a broken and a contrite heart. where I gather two or
three together, together there I'll be in the midst of them.
I'm the Lord. I change not." You see, the truth about God
is so shocking to men and women in our generation. The gospel is described in this
book as good news. That means we didn't come into
this world knowing it. We didn't find it out by ourselves. But when God confronted us with
it and made us to see it, enabled us to believe it, it was news
to us. Paul himself was a Jew. He had been raised up, taught
at the feet of the greatest teacher of his day, a man by the name
of Gamaliel. He was counted as a Pharisee,
a Hebrew of Hebrews. well-respected, a moral man. But when God revealed Himself
to him and showed him the sinner he
was and how he needed and had to be saved by a salvation outside
of himself which was in Christ Jesus, He later confessed this. He said,
I was before a blasphemer. No ifs, ands, or buts. I was a blasphemer. And what
I did, I did in unbelief, not believing the truth. But you see, in neither conscience
or creation is there a saving knowledge of God. You'll never know Him to the
salvation of your soul by looking out at creation and saying, well,
I saw God in the sun. No, you won't. Or, I know God
because I feel Him in my conscience. Oh, no. That's a condemning knowledge. That is the fact that He is and
that He's made all these things. And that leaves everyone, as
He says, without excuse. You say, well, if you can't receive
a saving knowledge of God in the creation or in your conscience,
where is it to be found? In the truth. and the word of
the truth of the gospel. Because only in the gospel is
there such a revelation of God as he is in the glory of his
grace, which the scripture says is in the face of Jesus Christ. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
the angel said, for he shall save his people from their sins. And when he was hanged on that
cross outside of Jerusalem, It was not everything gone out of
control. It was the Great Shepherd, as
he says in John 10, laying down his life for the sheep. What does that mean? It means
that just as God says, the soul that sins shall surely die. The wages of sin is death. So in order to save his people,
he lays down his life as the payment, the satisfaction of
God's justice against their sins, the ransom price to set them free. Men look at the cross of Christ. They put on an image of it. It still says, Thou shalt not
make unto me any graven image. I had this experience very recently. A young man that I like. I just like him. He's just a
likable person. And he likes me. I think he does
like me. I went where he works one day
and he said, don't leave so fast. He said, I've got something for
you. Say, well, OK. So I waited and. We went to his truck. And he
took out a picture. You've seen it many times, a
picture that is supposed to be Jesus standing at a door knocking. So I was faced with something,
either be true to God and tell Him the truth. or save his possible hurt feelings
at the expense of God. So I looked at him dead in the
eye. And I said, you know I like you.
I count you as my friend. And I wouldn't do anything in
the world to hurt your feelings or make you think that I didn't
appreciate the fact that you thought of giving me a gift,
but I can't take that." I saw a look of surprise in his
face. He said, you can't. I said, no. I said, there are a lot of reasons,
but I'll tell you as briefly as I can. Number one, the Bible
strictly forbids that. I know it's generally accepted
by men, but the Bible forgets it, forbids it. Thou shalt not make unto me any
graven image. Number two, nobody knows what
Jesus looked like. There were no photographs, no
portrait settings. Number three, if there were a picture of Jesus,
he wouldn't look like a Jew. He would not look just like a
normal European, Caucasian somebody. And he certainly wouldn't look
like what looks like Wild Bill Hickok or something. Well, I didn't know how that
was going to go. But since then he's been nice
to me and kind to me. And if nothing else, one time
in his life somebody told him the truth. Not only for God's
sake, but for his sake. His sake. You see, God is not
worshipped by crosses and statues and all these outward things
and religious paraphernalia. He's worshipped in spirit and
in truth. Somebody says, well, we really
worshipped yesterday. My first question, was the gospel
preached? Well, what do you mean? Well,
if you have to ask me, evidently it wasn't. You see, God sets
forth Himself by what He says about Himself in this world,
in this book. You don't have to take my word
for it. I could say, well, God's this, that, and the other. It
wouldn't mean anything. But if He says, I'm holy, I'm
eternal, I'm a just God, and a Savior. Well, how can you be
a just God and a Savior at the same time? In Christ. Justly punishing the sins of
His people and saving them at the same time. You see, he must make manifest
himself. And in the true gospel is the
revelation of God in grace. And grace is God justly showing
mercy to sinners through the sacrifice of Christ, through
his life and his death on the cross. I don't try to convince men and
women that there is a God. I don't enter into the field
of what they call apologetics to try to explain God. His declaration is all around
us. His manifestation of himself
is in our conscience. You know there's a God. And if
that wasn't good enough, it says that he has also given witness
that he will judge the world in that man Jesus Christ in the
fact that he raised him from the dead. The Apostle Paul went to a place
called Thessalonica, and he preached the gospel. He
preached the gospel. He told men who God is. It was a place as given to idolatry
as it is right now in our world. He preached the gospel. And the
Lord enabled some folks to believe the truth, showed them the truth.
And so he's writing them a letter later on, and he speaks of them. He says, For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye
turned to God from idols. to serve the living and true
God. You turned from idols to serve
the one true and living God. John says as he closes his first
epistle, he writes to the Lord's believing people and he refers
to them over and again as little children. Little children. He says, little children, keep
yourselves from idols. Paul went to Athens. And they had so many idols made
in forms of man and beasts and snakes and fish and everything. And just in case they missed
one, they had a statue or just a plain
monument or something that says, to the unknown God. And Paul stood up there and he
said, That's the one I've come to preach to you, the one you
know nothing about. He said he's not worshipped in
your temples or your tabernacles. He's not worshipped by anything
you've made with your hand. He's worshipped spiritually in
Christ. And a man or a woman never worships
him. until He enables them to know
something of who He is and what He has done by His grace. Not their works, but by His grace
for them. And then they'll be thankful
and worship Him. Adore Him. That's what it means,
adore Him. Our Father and our God, this
day we give You thanks. We are so unworthy, but You are
so gracious. We thank You that You have come
in human flesh in the person of Your dear Son, the Lord Jesus, that the one thing that You could
not accomplish on our behalf to save us from our sins, you have now accomplished by
becoming a man, and as a man, a perfect man, dying the death
of the cross. You are our Savior totally, and
you are truly successful as such. You are our priest, our great
high priest, whoever lives to make intercession for us. And we are made to know that
there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He is our King to rule our hearts
and our minds, to assure our safety, and to one day present
us faultless before the throne of glory. Lord, give us grace to speak
the things that are true concerning Yourself and Your salvation. and give each one hearts and
minds to receive and believe the truth of what thus saith
the Lord. We thank you and we praise you
and pray for all of these that in your providence you brought
to assemble here tonight. Cause all, Lord, that would be
of me to be forgotten. and cause your word never to
be forgotten. Use it, we pray, for the giving
of light into our souls, and receive our thanksgiving for
that great mercy which is in Christ, for we ask all things
in his name. Amen.