I want us to begin reading with
verse 21, and we'll read down through the
end of the chapter, skipping maybe a verse or two here and
there. Because that when they knew God, Romans 121, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in
their imagination, 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. Wherefore,
God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. And in verse 28, And even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave
them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are
not convenient. And then verse 32, Who, knowing
the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in
them that do them. And in verse 3, or verse 2 it
is, of the second chapter, but we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. George Whitefield said that any
message that does not have some offense in it is a very poor
message. He said that if a man doesn't
get mad at himself when he's being preached to, or if he doesn't
get mad at the preacher, the preacher hadn't done a very good
job in preaching the Word of God. Now let it be understood
that if you want to argue with God, you go ahead. It's like
the fellow who spit in the wind, and the wind blew the spit right
back into his face. You want to argue with God? You
argue with God. But my friend, understand that
that's who you're arguing with if you don't like what the Word
of God says, what the Word of God teaches. Now as I read carefully
this first chapter of the Book of Romans, I asked myself this
question. Is this generation in which we
live, this generation to whom we preach, Is it under the judgment
of God? Is this generation under the
judgment of God? Old preacher Barnard once said,
if God doesn't bring judgment on this generation, he will have
to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah and the sons of Korah. You remember
that Sodom and Gomorrah was that evil and wicked city that God
poured hell out of heaven upon and destroyed them all. And you
remember that the Sons of Korah was those that got open the earth. And as old Barnard said, he sent
them to hell, not giving them time to pack a suitcase. He just
opened the earth and sent them to hell. He said that if God
does not judge this generation that he'll have to apologize
to Sodom and Gomorrah and to the sons of Korah. I believe
that it is a true statement that this generation, you may not
understand it, you may not be able to grasp it, but this generation
is ripening this morning for judgment. Now we do not hastily
make such a declaration as this. It is through much observation
and comparing of this generation to other generations upon which
the judgment of God fell that we reach this conclusion. This
generation is ripening for the judgment of God, and I feel that
if I'm to be faithful as a preacher of the gospel, as a servant of
God, that I must warn this generation of the impending judgment. The
judgment that's to come Hebrews 9 and verse 27 says it is appointed
unto men Once to die and after this the judgment so every one
of you have an appointment with death every one of you and after
this After your death after your demise after you leave your soul
leaves this body then my friend You will face God in the judgment
I would like you to hold your finger here in Romans chapter
1 turn back with me to Acts chapter 17 and let's look here beginning
with verse 28 and read down through verse 31 and The single greatest
cause of God's judgment falling upon men has always been idolatry. Idolatry. Now you listen to these
words here. For in him, verse 28, we live
and move and have our being as certain of your own prophets
have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as
we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
Godhead is likened to gold or silver or stone, graven by art
and man's devices. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent,
because he hath appointed a day. in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof
he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised
him from the dead." Now, the idolatry that we see in Romans
chapter 1, very obvious, that they whittled a god out of stone,
or whittled a god out of wood, and they worshipped false gods,
and they turned away from the true, the one true and the living
God, and when they knew God, they glorified him not as God.
Well, here in this chapter, for as much then as we are the offsprings
of God, all of us, having been created in the image of God,
were not to think that God hid his liken to gold or silver or
stone graven by art and man's devices. And Paul went ahead
to say that this ignorance that is in man, that they can worship
an idol and by doing so bring salvation to themselves and please
God is ignorance. In the times of this ignorance
God winked at, might have been a time when he did, but now,
right now God commendeth all men everywhere to repent because
He hath appointed a day, and that's what we want to talk about.
God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. It's coming. The day is already
appointed. And God has already appointed
the judge. And the judge is that one whom
he hath raised from the dead, whereby he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he raised him from the dead. Do you believe
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If you
believe in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, then you
must believe that God is going to judge the world in righteousness
by that man. God said, I raised him up for
this purpose. Now hold your finger there still
in Romans 1 and then turn over with me to John chapter 5 and
look at verse 22. where it says, For the Father
judgeth no man. I'm warning you that judgment
is coming. I'm warning you that live in
this time that God's going to visit you with judgment. An old
lady told a cardinal one time, God doesn't pay his wages every
week, but He will pay them. He will pay them. Judgment is
coming upon the world of the ungodly. And look at verse 22
of John 5, For the Father judgeth no man. The Father judgeth no
man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." So here it is
declared that this one, that God raised from the dead, that
he will sit upon the throne of judgment and he will mete out
judgment to all the sons of Adam whose sins are not forgiven and
whose sins are not under the blood. He has committed all judgment
unto the Son. I remember a story that I heard
one time about a young fellow, 13 years old, who was drowning. And there was a fellow who came
along, stopped his automobile, and jumped into the river and
saved his life, pulled him out of the water. And a few years
later, when this young fellow was in his early 20s, he got
into trouble with the law. And so he went to court, and
when he went into the courtroom, lo and behold, the man who is
the judge was the very man who had saved his life a few years
earlier when he was 13 years old. young fella said to himself,
well this, I know this fella, this is a fella that saved my
life. So he'll surely be lenient with me. He'll surely be favorable
toward me in that that he saved my life earlier. But when this
young man came before the judge and he mentioned to the judge,
he said, do you remember me? He said, yes young man, I remember
you. There was a day, he said, when
I was your savior But now, I'm your judge. And beloved, it's
true that Jesus Christ now is the Savior in this day of salvation. It's true that now, in this day
of grace, it's true that now God is reconciling sinners unto
himself through Jesus Christ. It's true! that you can approach
God through the Lord Jesus Christ now and receive everlasting and
eternal life. It is true that you can miss
the wrath of God now if you come to Christ and flee to Him and
flee that wrath which is to come. It's all desperately true. But
if you do not, this One that is now a Savior unto the souls
of men will one day be your judge. He'll be your judge, and there'll
be no leniency show. Oh my friend, this is the day
of grace. This is the day when God puts
away sin. This is the day when God delights
to show mercy. This is the time where if a poor
sinner come, he shall find rest for his soul, where you find
rest in the Lord. This is the time. And so if you're
going to miss the judgment, My friend, you must come to Christ
now in this hour and day of mercy, this hour and day of grace. Now,
we note again as we turn back to Romans chapter 1, I make this
observation, when those who are supposed to be speaking for God
change the truth of God into a lie, as they're accused of
doing here in this first chapter of Romans, and worship and serve
the creature more than the Creator, they lead men not to God, they
do not lead men to God, but away from God, and they lead them
down the path, the broad way, unto destruction. Now, beloved,
idolatry is not just the worship of images. It is the worship
of any God other than the true and the living God. Hear me,
any religion, any religion that makes man great and God small
is an idolatrous religion. Any religion which makes salvation
the work of man rather than the work of God is idolatry. Any
religion which preaches any way of access to God other than or
in conjunction with Jesus Christ is idolatry. John 14 and verse
6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father except by me. What I'm saying to you
this morning is that all of the idolaters are not somewhere bowed
down to some image that has been hewed out of wood or stone. What
I'm saying is that all free will works religion is idolatry as
far as God is concerned because it's the work of the creature
with these people and not the creator which gets the attention. My friend, when we draw away
attention from the Creator, when we draw attention away from the
sovereign God of the universe and place it upon man, even in
a small measure, we become idolaters. Well, what is the result of idolatry? What has always been the result
of idolatry throughout the Old Testament? What has been the
result? Beloved, it's judgment. That's
what it is, it's judgment from God. God is a jealous God and
he will not allow idolatry to go unpunished. And I think this
judgment is manifest in three particular areas which I notice
in this generation. Number one, the judgment of God
upon the generation, it is revealed by spiritual blindness. Spiritual
blindness. I invite you to turn with me
to 2 Thessalonians 2, and I'll read beginning with verse 10.
I'll read verse 10 and 12. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 10 through
12, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. And for this cause God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness. I say that spiritual blindness
is one of the marks that a generation will bear that is under the impending
judgment of God and already there is a prophetic voice about their
doom in that they're blind spiritually. When God gives people over to
a reprobate mind, he sends this spiritual blindness upon them
so that they cannot believe the gospel. Professing themselves
to be wise, they become fools. Nowhere, beloved, is this more
obvious than in the religious circles of our day. Nowhere,
I say, is it more obvious. You listen to the preachers of
our day and you will not hear anything about free grace. Nothing said about the free grace
of God. Nothing said about the free will
of God. His will being the only will
that's free in the universe. Nothing about sovereign election.
Oh no, these are stumbling blocks to this generation. Substitutionary
redemption. They don't know anything about
that. Effectual calling and infallible preservation. These are all stumbling
blocks to this generation. They're blind. The Bible says
if they speak not according to this word, it's because there
is no light in them. Meaning that they never had a
morning. They never had a dawning. No revelation was ever given
to their soul. They do not understand. They're
blinded because the judgment of God is upon them. A generation
under the judgment of God loves religion, but they hate God. And did you ever see any generation
that is described any more fully than this generation by that
statement? This generation loves religion. Everybody's religious. Everybody and their dog is religious. But they hate God. They are not
interested in the God of the Bible, and they're not interested
in His truth. They're not interested in that.
I said that the judgment of God would manifest itself in three
areas, and the first is spiritual blindness. Now the second area
is moral perversion. And if you were to look back
here to Romans 1, It is evident, and I don't want to go ahead
and read and reread these verses because I just don't feel there's
any need to it. But if you have listened carefully
to what was read here at the opening of our meeting this morning,
and also as we read our text, you will understand what we're
talking about. Nothing is more evidently manifest
the wrath of God upon a people than the reversal of roles between
men and women. effeminate men and domineering
women are destructive and they're never beneficial to society. These two things generally lead
to homosexuality and Lebanism. Leviticus 20 and verse 13 says
if a man Also lie with mankind as he laughed
with a woman both of them have committed an abomination and
they shall Surely be put to death Their blood shall be upon them
now That's what the word of God says in Leviticus 20 and verse
13 now This is spoken of in our day and time As the scripture
here reveals it, makes it known, God has given up these people
unto this vile affection, and how that their women did change
the natural use and so on, and likewise in verse 27, the men. Now, this is spoken of in our
day and time as being an alternative lifestyle. an alternative lifestyle. But beloved, this is a reprobate
lifestyle. I'm saying that whenever the
judgment of God is upon a nation, that moral perversion is one
of the signs. And it's certainly evident in
this generation. God said that these people are
worthy of death. That's what he said. That's how
God feels about homosexuality and liberalism. That's how God
feels about it. And so he said, we know that
the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death. They're worthy of death. You
say, well, that sounds awful strong to me. Well, he said,
but we're sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.
You say, do you really believe this preacher, that old-time
story about God taking judgment and saying that men are worthy
of death, that commit these sins? Well, the Bible says that they're
worthy of death. And there's an old saying that
says, through too much pity we lose the city. And we get the
idea, you know, that we can improve on what God says about these
things. I'm telling you that the judgment of God is coming
on this generation, and one of the evidences is the moral perversion
that we face every day in this world. We see it everywhere,
and it's all around us. Now the third evidence is, the
third area where the judgment of God is manifested is in self-centeredness,
self-serving chaos and rebellion. Look at Romans 1, 29. being filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, despicable, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents. All of these things come because
man by nature is a rebel against God. Because man will not listen
to what God says. Man will not believe what God
says in His holy word. Man will not take the position
that God sets forth in His holy and sacred law. They will not
stand for what the word of God says. And so people who despise
every form of God-ordained authority and live only to fulfill their
own lusts and sensual and material ways are those upon whom the
judgment of God is fallen and will certainly in eternity fall
everlastingly. Consequently, lawlessness and
deceit, murder and barbaric cruelty become commonplace as it has
in our world today. Very common to see men and women
who love themselves more than they love God. To see men and
women who love pleasure more than they love God. To see men
and women love the ways of flesh and the ways of the world And
the world is full of the wickedness. The Bible says that the whole
world lies in the lap of the wicked one. And so this is the
result, I believe, of what people have heard. These are the results
of religion which debases the character of God and exalts the
dignity of man. We've been told that man is as
smart as God is. We've been told that man knows
as much about how to live life as God Almighty, his Maker, knows
about it. and this is a lie from hell,
there's no truth in it. God is a God of truth, and his
revelation of truth reveals how that men ought to live. And to
live for oneself is to say, I'll go my own way. I'll do what I
want to do. I'll do whatever I please, when
I please, however I please, and nobody can say anything about
it. My friend, that's an evidence
that God's already gave up on you and turns you over to judgment. So I'm compelled to plainly declare
that we're living in a generation that is under the judgment of
God for the three reasons that I set forth to you. Darkness. Darkness over the things of God. Men and women don't know anything
about the truth. It's never been revealed to them.
They don't understand what the Word of God says. Moral perversion
is the second one I mentioned. And then this one about rebels
that are given over to self-centeredness and living in this world like
there was no God. They're saying, as Psalm 14 says,
no God for me. No God for me. Ain't no God going
to tell me what to do. I'll do as I please. You're going
to hell too, my friend. You're going to hell, but judgment
of God is going to come upon you. You remember old Noah, he
built that ark. He built that ark. I believe
that there are people just like those who lived in Noah's day,
and they're already going to hell even though they've not
died yet. They're reprobates and they're under the judgment
of God. Do you know that immediately when God shut the door on the
ark, And all those people floating around in that water, the millions
of people that were floating around in the water around that
ark, every one of them went to hell, not when they drowned,
but they all went to hell when the door of that ark was closed.
That's when they went to hell. And that's the way with this
generation. There are people that I'm preaching to this morning
that's as good as in hell already. They're already the same as being
there because they're in under the judgment of God. The wrath
of God is upon them. And the only way there is to
escape the wrath and judgment of God is to flee from that and
to get to the ark of safety. In Noah's day, one place in that
old ark. And if you wasn't in that ark,
judgment was coming upon you. And you need to flee, my friend,
under the ark of safety and do it now. That's to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, it's impossible for me
to imagine any generation in history more totally engulfed
in spiritual blindness, moral perversion, and self-serving
chaos and rebellion than this generation. Can you? No generation
in history has been given more light than ours. This generation
has been given more light than any generation that ever lived
on the face of the earth. Yet this generation chooses,
deliberately chooses darkness rather than light because their
deeds are evil. Just cannot stand to sit and
listen to the pure word of God preached. The Bible says in John
3 and 19 that men love darkness rather than light because their
deeds are evil. They love it. They love darkness
rather than light. Wake up, old sinner. You say,
well, I love darkness. Because that's when you do all
your deeds of evil and sin. And the world loves that. I fear
God has given this generation exactly what they want. Darkness. darkness. They want to be blind. They don't want to see. And they
don't want anybody around them that does see. They don't want
anyone pointing out to them wherein they're walking in a wrong way,
wherein they're walking in the way of sin, wherein they shall
find the judgment of God upon them. Like Ephraim. Ours is a
generation joined to his idols. And God has left it alone. God has left them alone. God
gave them up over and over in this first chapter of Romans.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind. God gave them up! My friend,
you better fear lest God gives up on you. God gives up on you. And say, just let them go ahead.
They're joined to their idols. They're joined to their sins.
They're joined to their way. They're joined to their pleasing. They're joined to their satisfaction,
pleasure. They're joined to that. God says,
let them alone. And God gives up on you. My friend,
if God gives up on you, you're going to go to hell. and forever
and ever burn in the lake of fire. This is a refurbished age,
already gone to hell while they live and breathe. Can you imagine
such a thing? Well, I've asked myself this
question. I said, is this generation under
the judgment of God? My answer is yes. It's under
the judgment of God. Then I asked, what can the people
of God do in a reprobate age? What can they do? What can the
Lord's living family do if they're living in the midst of a generation
of people that's already consigned to eternal and everlasting hell?
What can they do? Well, in Habakkuk 3, in verse
2, Habakkuk, the prophet of God, prayed a prayer. And he said,
O Lord, I have heard thy speech, my soul. Have we heard the speech
this morning? Have we heard it? He says, I
have heard thy speech and was afraid. My friend, we ought to
tremble at the word of God. The judgment of God is according
to truth. God has already raised up the
judge, and he's seated at the right hand of God, ready to greet
you at the great white throne judgment. He's there, ready,
the lamb upon the throne. And that lamb, men will look
upon him and say, deliver me, deliver me from the... that's
sitting on that throne when he's there as the judge of the universe. And so the prophet prayed and
said, I was afraid, I've heard your speech, and I was afraid. That meant that he trembled at
what God said. This generation don't know anything
about trembling. This generation don't know anything
about being afraid when it comes to God Almighty. The fear of
God is not in men's eyes. It's not in the hearts of men.
But you must be afraid and turn from this God that sits upon
the throne. And he went on to say, O Lord,
revive thy work. In the midst of the years, in
the midst of the years, make known, he said, in wrath, remember
mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Notice,
let me say just a word or two about this prayer. Oh Lord, revive
thy work in the midst of the years. Now the word translated
revive here might better be translated preserve alive. Preserve alive. Lord, preserve alive thy work. in the midst of the years? And
do we not sometime feel that there's a blanket being cast
upon the living family of God, upon the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, because of the evil that abounds in the world? And do
we not cry out, Lord, preserve thy work in the midst of the
years? Now, in these days, I do not so much hope for a great
sweeping revival as that I do that God will simply preserve
his church and his truth alive. That God will just simply preserve
his truth and his church. Now the hand of the Lord has
been with us, and there have been some people that have been
saved here over the last several months. But, my friend, we may
never see a worldwide revival, a sweeping revival, where thousands
are swept into the kingdom of God. But we do pray that the
testimony of our God, which appears to be weak in so many, many areas,
that this testimony will be preserved and the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which is the pillar and ground of the truth, may be kept
alive. And beloved, the Lord has promised
that He will do this. He promised in Matthew 16 and
18, He said, upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell will not prevail against it. How blessed, how blessed
that promise is. In the midst of the years, the
prophet said in his prayer, make no one. In the midst of the years,
make no one. Well, the Bible prophesies that
they shall all know me from the least to the greatest, saith
the Lord, about his elect people. They shall all know me from the
least to the greatest. But the prophet said, Lord, who
hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Beloved, in the midst of the
years make known. to find somebody, and we've seen
a few of them, that the Lord has opened their eyes. He's opened
their eyes. He took away the scales off their
eyes. He has given light. He has made
known. He has given an understanding
that they might know Him that is true, and that they might
rest in Him that is true, even in Jesus Christ. But let us pray,
those of us that make up the living family, those of us that
are alive in Jesus Christ, that our God will yet be pleased to
make known to this generation the gospel of His grace and glory
in Jesus Christ. Oh, that God would make known
His sovereign greatness, His grace, and His glory in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That there would come a time
of revelation, that the Lord's people would know Him better,
Paul, 20 years after he'd been saved, said, Oh, that I might
know Him and the power of His resurrection. Oh, that God would
make Himself known. That God would come to your soul
and visit your soul. And that He would make Himself
known. unto you, because the Bible says in John 17 and verse
3, that this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. You got
to know God in order to be saved. And so the prophet said, in the
midst of the years, in the midst of the years, make known, make
known, make known Thyself. Now, beloved, you cannot know
God until He makes Himself known to you. He must reveal Himself
to you. You can't know somebody unless
they reveal themselves to you. You say, I've lived around so-and-so
for many years. I still don't know him. And that
may be true. And you may say, well, I've been
to church for years and years, but I still don't know God. And
until He makes Himself known to you, you won't know Him either.
You say, I'm as smart as anybody else. You may be. But salvation
is by revelation. Knowing God is by God making
Himself known to you. And you'll never know Him until
He makes Himself known. You say, well, I come out of
a good family. Well, bless your heart. I'm glad that you did.
But I'm here to tell you this morning, you don't know God unless
He's revealed Himself to you. And you say, well, preacher,
I'm a reader of the Bible. Well, praise the Lord. That's
wonderful. But you still have got to have
a personal revelation of God in your heart, in your soul.
And you won't know Him until He does. And the Prophet prayed
for you. He said, in the midst of the
years, make known. Make known. Make known. O Lord
Thyself, let us pray then that our God will yet be pleased to
make known to this generation the gospel of His grace and glory. Let us give ourselves relentlessly
to the business of doing all we can in making Him known. In wrath, He goes on to say,
remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. When
you look at your loved ones, you look at your lost family
members, you look at those around you that you're around every
day, do you have some regard for them? Do you have some concern
for them? Would you not breathe in wrath,
O Lord? Remember mercy. Remember mercy. Upon your children that are lost,
O Lord, In wrath, remember mercy. God, remember mercy. Don't send
all these folks to hell that I'm preaching to. Lord, in wrath,
remember mercy. Lord, reach down. Lord, come
down. Lord, touch. some of these poor
souls here that are listening to this preacher this morning,
and draw them out to their blindness and death, and draw them up unto
yourself, and may they come and hug to their bosom the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust Him for the salvation of their
soul. John 3 and 36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Oh, in
wrath the prophet prays and the church prays! Oh, in wrath! Remember mercy. God saved these
people that are hardened in sin and death and dumb and cannot
hear the things of God and the truth of God, that they'll flee
to a Savior. There's yet a remnant of chosen
redeemed sinners who must be called and God must draw them
and they must come and experience the mercy of God. The Bible says
the election hath obtained it. The election hath obtained it.
Well, I must hurry here and come to a conclusion. May God remember
His covenant that He may have mercy upon some of you then in
these dark days. Notice this, in this reprobate
age All who know and trust God are bound to be thankful. Mike mentioned this in his prayer
downstairs this morning. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, but we're
bound to give thanks always to God. Always to God for you, beloved,
because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and the belief of the truth.
We read in Romans 1 where they, when they knew God, they glorified
Him not as God. But in this reprobate age, when
people all around us, it appears, are already consigned to hell,
the only thing, and we should reflect upon it, the only thing
that we should reflect upon and meditate upon and the thing that
should get a hold of our hearts, is the only thing that's kept
us and preserved any of us from the free will works religion
of Antichrist is the grace of God. If you believe God and walk
in the truth, it's because God has taken the initiative toward
you. It is because God, who is the
author and the finisher of the faith, it is because God, who
in his great mercy toward us, has shown us His mercy, and has
redeemed us by the blood of His Son, and called us out of the
world by the effectual working of His Holy Spirit. Now, beloved,
we ought to give thanks to God if we know anything at all about
these things. Give thanks to God. That's what
we ought to do. You say, what should we do in
a reprobate age? Pray, like the prophet Habakkuk,
and then secondly, give thanks to God that He brought us out. He brought us out. I am out of
hell. I'm out of hell. You're yet out
of hell. Give glory to God. Give praise
to God that you're out of hell. What a mercy it is. If we'd have
got our deservings, we'd have went to hell. I remember the
trial of the Rosenbergs back in 1952. And when they come before
the court being tried for treason, they told The judge, all we want
is justice. We want justice. No, the judge
said you don't want justice, you want mercy. And this court
cannot give you mercy. This court can give you justice. And when you come before God,
my friend, you're going to get justice. It's what you're going
to get. You're going to get exactly what
you deserve. Exactly. Won't be one bit of
deviation from what you deserve. If you want mercy, you sue for
it at the feet of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sue for
it now. Sue for it while you're yet in
this life. Well, the tribulation of those
days is so great that were it possible, me and you would be
deceived too, if it wasn't for the mercy of God. The tribulation,
the trouble of those days, the awfulness of the day, as we've
tried to describe it this morning, don't have the tongue to describe
it as it ought to be described, but we've tried to describe it,
and it's only the mercy of God that's kept us from being swept
away with this untoward generation. Only the mercy of God, so give
thanks, give glory, give praise unto the Lord that He spared
you, that He brought you out, that He might bring you in. Glory
to His name. Glory to His name. Well, I'm
going to end right there. That's about a third of the message,
or maybe a half of it. But I'm going to end right there,
because I think that we should leave you with what you've heard.
And I trust God this morning that what you have heard, that
it will remain with you. And maybe, just maybe, it'll
bring you to the place where you will say, well, God, I don't
believe a word that preacher said. And if you're going to
say that, you're going to have to take your pen knife and you're
going to have to cut a lot of scripture out of this Bible.
Take your knife, cut it out, mutilate the Word of God and
throw it away. Mutilate it! Or you're going
to have to say, God, what you said is true about me. If I'm spared your judgment,
it'll only be by your mercy. And I'm suing Christ for mercy
right now. I'm going to look to Christ.
I'm going to believe on Him. I'm going to trust Him. And I'm
not going to wait. I don't want to face that judge
on the throne that looked me in the face and said I was a
Savior, but now I'm the judge. I don't want to face Him. I'll have to call for the rocks
and the mountains to fall on me. I fear the face of Him who
sits on that throne. Well may the Lord use what has
been said, stumbling remarks as they are, that He may use
them to draw you to Himself.