He years ago. April 20th. 1950 I called Brother Mayhem this
week to make sure that I had the facts straight. He was there.
I wasn't bored. But he was there and heard what
took place April 20th, 1950. The largest Southern Baptist
Church in eastern Kentucky. was getting ready to have their
spring revival. And they couldn't find a speaker.
They did this every year. I always thought that was interesting
how churches decide to have revivals. We're going to have a revival.
And then they even put a date on it. This is when it's going
to take place. That's kind of ironic, isn't it? You can just work something
like that up. But anyway, they did. And they
couldn't find a speaker. So someone suggested a man by
the name of Rolf Barnard. No one had ever heard of him.
No one knew what he would have to say. So the opening night. Of this service, nobody ever
heard of him. Everybody was excited. We're
going to have a revival. And he opened the service with
these words. Now, I'm not giving. A false
view of this, this is exactly what took place. I called Brother
Mahan about it this week. He said, yes, that's when the
Lord taught me the gospel, right then. He opened the service with
these words. Now, you could imagine they'd
never heard anything like this before. He opened the service
with these words. There's two lies being propagated
by the Southern Baptists. This is a Southern Baptist church.
Now, he could have just as easily put in Methodist or Catholics
or Presbyterians or any other denomination. Two lies being
propagated by the Southern Baptists. And the first one is this, that
God loves everybody. And the second lie is that Christ
died for everybody. And neither one of them are subtle. Now you can imagine they'd never
heard anything like this in their life. They were upset it caused
quite a stir, as you can well imagine. And indirectly, you
and I are indebted to that right now. The man who taught me the
gospel, he learned the gospel from him. And the gospel I preach,
I preach the same gospel he preached. But let me make this statement
before I get into the meat of our text. Now he made that shocking
statement. Now let me say this, and I want
you to listen real carefully. If a man preaches If a preacher
preaches that God loves everybody and that Christ died for everybody,
he does not preach the gospel. And you can deal with that. That's
about the only way I know how to say it. You can deal with
that. If a man believes Listen to me, if a man believes in his
heart that God loves all men and Christ died for all men,
that man does not believe the gospel. Now, I hope by the end of this
day, you'll understand why I've made those statements. And we're
going to look at Romans 1, but first I want us to look at Romans
chapter 3. Now, I better have some scriptures
to back up what I'm saying. Amen. I better not be giving
my opinion or my view. This better be the very truth
of God. I tell you what, if it's not, if what I just said is not
the very truth of God, I'll be in hell. Now, did you hear me? That's
how serious this is. If this is not the very truth of God,
I will not be saved. I'm propagating a false gospel,
if that's the case. Oh, God forbid that I do that.
Now please listen carefully as we consider this passage of scripture.
Look in Romans chapter 3 verse 9. Paul asked this question,
what then are we better than they? Are we Jews better than
they Gentiles? No, in no wise, for we have before
proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. Jews and Gentiles alike. They're
all under sin. Now what's that mean? All under
sin. What's it mean to be under sin?
What means sin's over you? Means that you're under the dominion
of sin. I'm under the dominion of sin by nature. Means we're
under the control of sin. That means sin's our boss. That
means when it calls, we obey. Every man by nature is a slave
to sin. You and I cannot stop sinning. Now that's the fact of the matter.
all are under sin. And Paul said, we proved, we
proved, Jew and Gentile alike, that they're all under sin, under
the dominion and control of sin. Now, this proof began over in
Romans chapter 1. This is where we're going to
pick up in verse 18. Now, in the remainder of chapter
1, beginning in verse 18, Paul proves how the Gentiles, the
non-Jews, are under sin. In chapters 2 and the first part
of chapter 3, he proves how the Jews are under sin. Jew and Gentile alike, we've
before proved that all are under sin. Now look at verse 18. 4. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness, the wrath of God is revealed. Now, that's
what I've entitled this message, The Wrath of God Revealed. God is. He said, I am that I am, and
His isness is not dependent or contingent upon what you and
I think him to be, is it? He is as he is, and what you
and I believe has absolutely no bearing on his is-ness. He said, I am that I am. Now, we're born with the knowledge
of his existence. There's no such thing as an atheist.
I know somebody says, well, I'm an atheist. I don't believe it.
Not deep down. When you're all by yourself,
everybody knows that God is and the creation proves that. Look
in verse 18 again of Romans chapter one, for the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness of the cause.
Verse 19, 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. Creation proves his existence. This place came from somewhere.
It didn't just happen. And somebody that says, oh, I
believe it just happened. Well, that's just you're just
closing your eyes to the truth. You know better than that. God
is, and creation proves it. Somebody got this thing started,
didn't they? God did. Anything else is utterly
unreasonable, and everybody is born with that understanding.
Creation says God is. Right and wrong proves that he's
righteous. Is there such a thing as evil?
Is there such a thing as good? Is there such a thing as a moral
absolute that's right all the time, and something that's wrong
all the time? Is there such a thing as right
and wrong? Are there moral absolutes? Well, if there is, it must be
because God is, and God is righteous. Now, if there are no God, there's
no right and wrong. Just my interpretation of what
I want, your interpretation of what you want. If there is no
God, there's really no right and wrong. But if God is, there
is such a thing as right and wrong. There is such a thing
as truth and error, if God is. There is absolute truth, if God
is. And He is, and you know He is.
And every one of us know that God is righteous. There is such
a thing as right and wrong. And everybody knows that God
will reward the righteous and punish the wicked because he
is God. He is righteous. Everybody knows
that. And we know something about his
attributes. Look what verses 19 and 20 says again, because
that which may be known of God Is manifest in them for God has
showed it to him 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 that were Godhead
is his attributes. There are things we can know
about God that are true. from the light of nature that
renders all men without excuse. God has attributes. That's his
Godhead, his justice, his wisdom, his holiness, his immutability,
and so on. You see, God is not in parts.
This is very important. God is not in parts. It's not
like he's part merciful and part just and kind of balances each
other out. It's not like he's part sovereign and part unsovereign.
It's not like he's part love and part wrath. No, God is all
that he is. He's 100% sovereign. He's 100%
holy. He's 100% love. He's 100% just. He's 100% whatever he is. He's
not in part. It's not like he's part this
and part that, and one balances out the other to put him in the
middle somewhere. No, God is absolute in all of
his attributes. And God is not 50% love and 50%
wrath. God is not half merciful and
half just. That's so important for us to
understand. God's wrath is a perfect wrath like God himself. God, listen to this, God would
not be good if he had no wrath. You believe that? God would not be good if he had
no wrath. If he didn't punish sin, God
would not be good. I couldn't respect a God who
would not punish sin. God's love would be meaningless
if there were no such a thing as the wrath of God and the hatred
of God. His love would be a meaningless
term. What does the love of God mean? If he has no wrath, what
does the love of God mean? If there's nobody that he hates,
and somebody says, well, what do you mean nobody? You mean
God hates somebody? Well, he said, Jacob, if I hated, didn't
he? Did God say that? Jacob, have I hated? Now, that's the words of God.
Jacob, I'm sorry. Esau. Everybody started looking at
me so weird, and I thought, what am I saying? Esau, have I hated? God said that. Esau, have I hated? God's love would be meaningless
if there was no such thing as his hatred, his wrath. Well, look in verse 18, Romans
1, for the wrath of God is revealed, is opened up, is uncovered from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Now, let me say this about the
wrath of God. It's not like I wrath. When I have wrath, how come?
I'm mad at you. you, as I looked at it, did me
wrong. You injured me, and I'm upset. I want vengeance. Now, that's
the natural way of looking at things. I want, you did me wrong. I'm upset. I'm mad. And really,
our wrath and our anger is all based upon selfishness and self-righteousness
and everything else. Our wrath is an evil wrath, but
not God's. God is holy. God's wrath is against all Ungodliness,
sin against God, and unrighteousness, sin against men. His wrath is
against sin. Somebody says, now God loves
the sinner, but he hates his sin. Where's that in the Bible? It's
not in there. God loves the sinner and hates
his sin. How do you separate the sinner from his sin? Let
me show you some scriptures. Turn to Psalm 5. The wrath of God is revealed,
the scripture says. Psalm 5, verse 5. Psalm 5, verse 5. The foolish
shall not stand in thy sight. Thou, what's it say next? Thou what? Hatest all the works
of iniquity? No. Thou hatest all workers of
iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak leasing or lies. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man. Now that's who God is. Look at
Psalm 11. Psalm 11, verse 4. The Lord, Psalm 11, verse 4,
the Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven,
and His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men. The
Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked, and him that loveth
violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall reign
snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible tempest. This
shall be the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. His countenance doth behold the
upright." Now, his wrath is based upon his justice and his righteousness. It's against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. God is absolutely just. He is
impartial. He doesn't show favoritism. He
gives everybody exactly what they've got coming. He does not
condemn the innocent, nor does he reward the guilty. He is just,
absolutely just, impartially just, shall not the judge of
the earth do right. Whatever God does is right. And his wrath is executed against
the guilty. Now, remember this. If you're
a believer, if you're a believer, if you're a child of God, that
means you're not guilty. That means you're justified in
God's sight. That means if you're saved, you
have salvation coming because Christ's righteousness is charged
to your account and God sees no sin, none at all. You are
saved in a way that honors his justice. Yes, it honors his mercy
and his love, but it honors his justice. If you're a believer,
you're not guilty in his wrath. is executed against the guilty,
now sin, talk about sin for just a moment before we get to our
text, sin, and not much, there isn't any one of us that really
much believe this, like we say we do, but sin is an infinite
evil. Because it's committed against
an infinite God. Sin is an infinite evil. Do you believe somebody that
sins against God ought to be in hell? You know, there's part of our
nature that doesn't. There's part of our nature that thinks
that's too harsh. And that just shows how hard-hearted we are
against this thing of sin. Sin is an infinite evil. So infinite. that when Christ was faced with
the prospects of being made sin, he said, I'm exceeding sorrowful. My soul is heavy, even under
death. The scripture says he began to
be sore amazed because he knew he was getting ready to be made
sin and to bear the awful load of the wrath of God. That's the
son of God who made that statement. Why is hell eternal? And it is
eternal. Why is hell eternal? Because
no man can render satisfaction to God for his sin. It's so infinitely
evil. And it amazes me how hard-hearted
I am, even when I'm talking about it. You know, I say this about
sin because I know it's the truth, but how much do I really believe
this? Sin is an infinite evil because
it's committed against an infinite God, and God's wrath against
sin is only for those who die his enemies. It's for every unbeliever. It will be experienced in hell
and listen to this about him. You're one of the things that
I'm so ashamed about myself for is if there's one thing in all
the Word of God that's always given me trouble. It's the fact
that there is an eternal hell. And I'm not saying it gave me
trouble in the sense that I didn't believe it, but it just seems
too harsh. Doesn't it? If you thought that,
why is God so harsh that he's going to make somebody suffer
eternally in hell? That seems so harsh, and all
that shows is how hard-hearted we are and how we view sin as
not that big a deal. Because if we saw sin as it really
is, we would see the justice of God in making an eternal hell. And let me say this about hell.
Hell is not restorative. Hell is not given to reform people. Hell is because such sin ought
to be punished. The criminal ought to be punished
for his crime. Amen. Amen. The criminal ought
to be punished for his crime. That's why there is a hell. I
repeat, there is such a thing as the wrath of God. There is
such a thing as hell, the eternal torments of the lost, and this
is part of who God is. Therefore, it's best. And you
can only receive that by faith. Is that so? You can only receive
it by faith. If God's that way, it's best. And my heart says to that, amen. Whatever God is, If that's how
he is, it's best because of who he is. You know, in glory, you can read
in Revelation chapter 19, where the saints will be praising God
for his wrath. Revelation 19, verses 1-6, they're
going to be saying, just and true are you in your judgments.
Now, we can't understand this much right now because we still
have this thing called the flesh. But in glory, every saint will
praise God for his justice. And they will have no pity on
those who have sinned against him. That's what the Scripture
actually teaches. Now, with those things in mind,
let's look at this passage in Romans 1 together. Verse 18. Romans 1, verse 18. Now, Paul
has before proved, he says in Romans 3, 9, that all are under
sin. And this is where that proof began, here in verse 18 of Romans
chapter 1. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness. and unrighteousness of men who
hold, and that word hold is actually hold down, who suppress, who
hold down the truth in unrighteousness. Verse 19, that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it to 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 as eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The light of creation renders
all men without excuse. Somebody says, what about folks
who've never heard the gospel? I've heard people say, what about
the innocent heathen who have never heard the gospel? Well,
can you find me an innocent heathen? One who's never sinned? No, all
men are without excuse just by the light of creation. That's
what God says. What he teaches us in creation
renders all men without excuse for their sin. Verse 21, now
here's what they did. The Gentiles and what you and
I have done also because that. When they knew God from the light
of creation, the light of creation tells us things concerning God
when they knew God. From the light of creation, they
glorified him not as God, Neither were thankful, but they became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. Do you know that this is a reference
to the Greek philosophers and the Jindal philosophers? I can
remember even in grade school, we would read about Socrates
and Plato and that bunch. You know, the ones who gave us
Western civilization and Western thought and so on. And these
are the philosophers of the Greeks. Well, this is what Paul is talking
about. He's talking about the best Gentile wisdom to produce. Socrates, Plato and that bunch.
He says they became foolish and their heart was darkened, professing
themselves to be wise. We're philosophers. We love wisdom.
That's what the word means. They became fools, and here's
what they did. They changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image made like the corruptible man and to birds and four-footed
beasts and creeping things. They didn't like what they saw
regarding God in the light of nature, so they changed it. They
said, we don't like this view of God, so let's make a view
of God we're more comfortable with. So they changed the glory
of God into the image made like unto a man. They changed God
in their own minds into somebody they felt comfortable with. We
don't like what we see naturally about God. It just doesn't fit
into our way of thinking. Therefore, we're going to change
him into somebody we feel comfortable with. I think about what Luther
said to Erasmus. He said, You're God's too human.
And I could say that about a religion of this day. Your God is too
human. He's too manlike. I think of
what The Lord said in Psalm 50 verse 17, he said, thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such a one as thyself. You thought I was
like you. And that's what everybody's guilty
of. We take what we know of God and we say, well, that doesn't
fit my way of thinking. Therefore, I'm going to change
him and make him like this. And we make a God we can keep
in our back pocket, a God we can control, a God we can manipulate,
a God who's got to be at our beckoning call whenever we get
in trouble. We can call on Him and He'll get us out of trouble.
Nice granddaddy-like figure, but not the God of the Bible.
We changed Him. That's what they were guilty
of. They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like unto corruptible man, and it became even worse,
even to birds and four-footed beasts from creeping things or
reptiles. Now, because of this, verse 24, Because of this suppression
of the truth. God also gave them up to uncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own
bodies between themselves. You know what the worst thing
that can happen to you is or me? For God to take his hand off
of you and say, let him alone. The worst judgment against you
is for God to leave you to your own will, to not stop you, to
not do something to just withdraw His presence and let you go the
way you want to go. Do you have any idea? Do I have any idea of the evil
direction I'll take because of the evil of my heart if God doesn't
restrain me? And he says, because of this
suppression of the truth, I'm going to let him go. I'm going
to withdraw my hands. You know, people talk about free
will. You know what that is? It's glorifying man. It's saying
man is absolutely in control. Man's the ultimate decision maker. That's all free will says. But
the Bible doesn't teach it. The worst thing that can happen
to you is for God to lead you to your own will. And the cross
is proof of that. The one time God left men to
their own will, what did they do? They nailed God. in the person of his son to a
cross. And that's what you and I have
been guilty of in God's sight. Somebody says, well, I just can't
see myself to be that bad. Believe it. That's what the scripture
teaches regarding you and I. Believe it. If God left us to
ourselves, we would have been right there with those fellas
nailing the nails in his hands and his feet and sticking the
spear in his side. Now, that's the truth regarding
me and you. That's how we are by nature. Now, God gave them
up. to uncleanness through the lust,
the sinful desires of their own heart, to dishonor their own
bodies between themselves. And we're going to talk more
about that in a moment. Verse 25. Here's what they did. They
changed the truth of God that was obvious into a lie and worshiped
and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed
forevermore. Now, this is why God gave them
up. They change the truth of God into a lie. And worship man
and that's seen in in in most religious worship, it's the worship
of man. Man is the ultimate decision maker. Man has ultimate control.
The emphasis of human religion is man and the help God will
give him if he can just tap into the source. That's the emphasis
of human religion. That's the wrong emphasis. They
changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Verse 26. For this cause, because they changed the truth of God
into a lie, because they suppressed the truth, God gave them up. unto vile affections, for even
their women did change the natural use into that which is against
nature. Now he starts talking about homosexuality. So I want
you to, you know, have y'all been reading the newspapers and
seeing the news? That's a big issue right now.
Some of these denominations are having homosexuals to have positions
of leadership and so on. Now I want to talk to you about
that. The scripture is here. For this
cause God gave him up to vile affections for even their women
to change their natural use into that which is against nature
and likewise also the men. Leaving the natural use of the
women burned in their lust one toward another. Men with men
working that which is unseemly. and receiving in themselves the
recompense of the reward of their error, which was meet or appropriate
men with men and women with women. What that's a reference to is
homosexuality. Now, let me make some comments
about this. Homosexuality. As a sin. Is no worse than adultery. Or fornication? Or any other
sexual sin? Now this is not about homo bashing. It's really not. As God is my
witness, it really is not. As a sin, homosexuality is no
worse than adultery or fornication or any kind of sexual sin. It
is sin. I mean, I'm amazed that these
people are, you know, I mean, here, yeah, Romans 1, and somebody
says, well, we can have a homosexual as our preacher, our priest,
or head of our government. Good grief, read the Bible. You
must not believe the Bible's the word of God to maintain a
position like that. That's all I can say. But what
is it, what is this thing about homosexuality? Homosexuality
is God's judgment against man for their religion. It represents
human religion. Now, you think about this. They
change the truth of God into a lie. They make their religion
something they can understand, something they like. They change
the truth into a lie. Homosexuality is what? Well,
you have the act of life that can't give life. Now, that's what homosexuality
typifies. Human religion, it cannot produce
life. It can't produce regeneration.
Nobody is ever brought to a knowledge of Christ through a false gospel. It can't happen. It's like homosexuality. Can two men or women getting
together, is there any way they can produce life? Absolutely
not. And that's what this issue of
homosexuality is. It pictures and typifies human
religion. It cannot produce life. No one is ever saved by a false
gospel. Verse 28, and even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge. They heard the truth
and they didn't like what they heard, even from the light of
creation, there's things we can see regarding God. They heard
that and they didn't like it. They did not like it, 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, God took his hand away and said, OK, have
it your way. Did God love these people? That he gave over? Did he? If you love somebody, if you
love your kid and you're out playing in the street, or you
can say, I love you, but I'm not going to restrain you. Go
ahead and play in the street. I wouldn't dare violate your
free will. Have a good time. Would you love somebody if you
did that? Of course not. There's not a bit of love in
that. There's not a drop of love in that. He gave them over. He withdrew his restraints. He withdrew his presence. And
here's what took place as a result. And as they did not like to retain
God and their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind to do those things which are not convenient, which are
wrong. Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, sexual sin, wickedness, just flat out meanness, covetousness,
desiring that which God hadn't given us. Maliciousness, ill
will, full of envy, desiring what others have, wanting to
kill them in order that I might have it. Murder is the result
of envy. Debate, fighting, deceit, deceitful in being deceived,
malignity like a malignant cancer, whispers and back biters, haters
of God. That's what we all are by nature,
haters of God. Despiteful violence is what the
word means. Proud, braggarts, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, no respect for authority, without understanding,
without discernment. Somebody can come and hear this
and say, well, I don't have any idea what he's talking about. No discernment.
Covenant breakers. And you can see that in people's
attitude towards marriage in this society. Nobody thinks a
thing about divorce. Just break the covenant without
natural affection. No love. Implacable. That means
unreformable. Unreformable. unmerciful and
cruel, 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. Not only do they take pleasure
in themselves committing these sins, they like to see other
folks commit these sins. That's what that scripture says.
Now, here's what we're going to close with, verse 1 of chapter
2. Now, therefore, he's talking to the Gentiles, that's us. Therefore,
thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. Judgest. For wherein thou judgest
another, you condemn yourself, for you that judge doest the
same things. Now, I just read Romans chapter
one, and we are repulsed by the wickedness of these people. You
know what this passage of scripture says? You're a hypocrite. You do the same things they do.
That's what that passage of scripture says. You do the same things
they do. It's in your heart. Everything
I mentioned, that big list of sins there, anything you're not
guilty of? He says, if you judge, if you
look down your nose at somebody in a morally superior way, if
you judge them in the sense of you become the judge. Remember,
our Lord said, judge not that you be not judged. What's that
mean? Does that mean you hear somebody
preaching a false gospel? If you accuse them of it, you
shouldn't judge. No, in the same breath, when
our Lord is saying that in Matthew 17, He said, enter in at the
straight gate. He said, beware of false prophets. You've got to
make a judgment regarding that. He's talking about looking down
your nose at somebody in a morally superior way. You're inexcusable,
old man, whoever you are, if you judge somebody else, because
you're guilty of the precise same things in your heart right
now. You believe that about yourself? Does Romans chapter 2, verse
1 describe you? I want you to deal with that honestly. Romans
chapter 2, verse 1. Is that you? Well, here's what I want to close
with. If you believe this about yourself,
first, we see from this passage of scripture, look how evil sin
is that the wrath of God, the eternal judgment of God comes
upon it. How evil sin must be. Don't look at sin the way you
view it. Look at it the way God views
it. That's the only way to look at sin. How does God view sin?
That's the way I view it. Don't think God's too harsh.
Think you're too hard-hearted. That's the conclusion we ought
to draw about ourselves. Think of how evil sin is that
God's wrath comes upon it. And secondly, we also see God's
justice in the execution of His wrath. His hatred. Hell is just. Somebody says, how can a loving
God send a man to hell? And I've asked myself that question
before. How can a loving God send a man to hell? Beloved,
a loving God doesn't send a man to hell. A just God does, though. Those he loves, he saves. A loving God doesn't send a man
to hell. A just and a righteous and a
holy God does. Now, the next thing I see from
this is the necessity of sovereign grace. I mean, if you believe Romans
2-1 describes you, if you think God says to you that this is
the way you are, if I believe that this is the way I am, if
I believe what the Bible teaches regarding the sinfulness of man,
if I believe in total depravity, sovereign grace is an absolute
necessity. I can't be saved without it. I can't be saved unless God
elected a people, and Christ died for the elect, and God the
Holy Spirit irresistibly and invincibly comes and gives them
life and causes them to persevere. If there's no sovereign grace,
I've had it. I mean, I got no hope if this is not the case. You know, somebody says, does
a man have to preach it? Well, does it have to be? Can you be saved
if salvation is sought by God's sovereign grace? Is there any
hope for you? Well, if you really believe that,
if you believe there's no hope for you, you know you must hear
this preached. This is salvation. And this makes God's love and
grace so amazing. Now, this is, you know, there's
a lot of things that amaze me. I walk around, I mean, amaze
me. But this amazes me more than
anything else. This is the one thing that I
have a harder time with of all, everything in the Bible. Everything
in God's Word, there's so much that I'm just almost dumbfounded
by, but this is what amazes me the most. That this holy God could love
me. That this holy, righteous God
could love me who am so unlovely. And I see as sure as I'm a foot
and a half high that the only way he can love me is as I'm
viewed in Christ. But truly, I stand amazed in
the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and I wonder how he could love
me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. Oh, the amazing love and grace
of God that He would give His Son, His darling Son, His precious
Son, that He would give His Son to die for me. For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever should believe on Him should not perish. but
have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son to condemn
the world. He was already condemned, but
that the world through Him might be saved. Do you believe that you're in
that crowd He describes in Romans 2, 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judges. For wherein thou judgest
another, you condemn yourself. For you the judge do the same
things. Is that you? Well, if it is, there's only
one place for you to look. That's to Christ and Christ alone. And
do so right now. You're commanded to do it. Now,
tonight, we're going to pick up with the love of God. We've been considering the wrath
of God, and I've given what the Scripture teaches concerning
the wrath and hatred of God. It's all right there in that
passage of Scripture. But tonight, we're going to consider what
the Bible teaches regarding the love of God. And we will observe
the Lord's table together around that. Let's pray together.