Well, I have to admit that the
apostles loved titles too. They also were fond of titles.
Paul loved to call himself the servant of Jesus Christ. He liked
that title. He used it quite often. Paul,
a servant, a bond slave of Jesus Christ. He once called himself
the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Yes, the apostles too were fond
of titles, but their titles glorified the Lord and not themselves.
I'm lost in the cause of Christ. A young communist left an eastern
university several years ago and he traveled to Mexico to
labor as a communist in Mexico. And he wrote his fiancée, they
were engaged to be married, and he wrote to her breaking off
the engagement. And this is what he wrote. He
said there's one thing, and only one thing, about which I'm in
dead earnest, and that is the cause of communism. It's my life,
it's my business, it's my hobby, it's my family, it's my bread
and my meat. I work at it in the daytime and
I dream about it at night. The whole of communism Communism
only grows, not lessens, as time goes by. I cannot carry on a
friendship or a love affair or a conversation without relating
it to communism. For communism drives my life
and guides my life, and I evaluate people according to how they
affect the cause of communism. I evaluate books and ideas and
actions according to how they affect the cause of communism
and according to their attitude toward it. And I'm ready to die
for communism. But you know what I say? Read
that letter again and put Christ wherever you find communism.
Put Christ and you'll have the believer. I'll read it again. There's one thing about which
I'm in dead earnest. And that's the cause of Christ.
It's my life, my business, my hobby, my sweetheart, my family,
my bread, and my meat. I work at it in the daytime and
I dream about it at night. The whole of Christ on me grows,
not lessens, as time goes by. I cannot carry on a friendship,
a love affair, or a conversation without relating it to Christ.
For Christ drives and guides my life and I evaluate people
by their relationship to Christ. I evaluate books and ideas and
actions according to how they affect Christ and how their attitude
toward Him. I die for Jesus Christ. You know
what the believers say? And that's what Paul is saying
right here in verse 1. He said, I'm a server. I'll take
that title of Jesus Christ and I'm separated. I'm separated. under the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This is what our Lord is saying. If you hold Romans 1 and turn
to Matthew 16. Matthew 16, verse 24. This is what our Lord is saying.
The same thing here in verse 24 of Matthew 16. Then said Jesus
to his disciples, if any man will come after me. Matthew 16, 24. If any man will
come after me, Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it. And whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake, in my cause, in my kingdom, lose
his life. I'm lost in a cause." That young
man, communist, that wrote that, he was lost in a cause. He was
taken up with a cause. It was his life. As far as anybody
else was concerned, he was dead. Isn't that what Paul said? I'm
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I. But Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live, and the flesh I live
with the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me. I'm crucified with Christ. When Christ died, I died. I died
to the world, and the world died to me. I'm lost in the cause.
That's what this young man's lost in the cause of communism.
Paul was lost in the cause of Christ, and our Lord says in
verse 25, save your life. Yeah, save it. Give your attention
to saving your life for yourself, or for any other purpose, and
you'll lose it. But whosoever shall lose his
life for my sake, they're not talking about being killed necessarily.
They're talking about losing oneself in Christ. Losing one's
own personal ambitions and will. Tear up my blueprints. Lose my
life in the cause of Christ. Verse 26, you're not talking
about death, because what shall a man gain if he gains the whole
world? He'll lose his soul. What will
a man give in exchange for his soul? Paul says, I'm separated
to the gospel. If anybody loved father, mother,
husband, brother, sister, wife, his own life more than me, cannot
be my disciple. That's what Christ said. Lost
in the cross. Well, Paul was separated to the
gospel. Look at verse 3, "...concerning
His Son," Romans 1, verse 3, "...concerning His Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David." The gospel
is concerning... Now listen to me. Most folks
do not know the gospel. It's concerning a person. The
gospel has to do with who is Jesus Christ. The gospel has
to do with what did Jesus Christ do. The gospel has to do with
why did Jesus Christ do what He... The gospel has to do with
where is Jesus Christ? Now the gospel, the gospel itself
has to do with a person. Look at verse 1 through 3 again. Paul said, I'm separated to the
gospel of God. Now verse 2 is in parenthesis.
And he identifies this gospel, he said it's an ancient gospel,
the old gospel, the gospel which he promised by Moses, and Moses
wrote of me, and Abraham, and David, and Isaiah, all the prophets
he promised in the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures.
Now just lift verse 2 out, it's in parenthesis, lift it out.
Paul says, I'm separated to the gospel of God concerning his
son. The gospel of God, the gospel
of his glory is concerning his son. Not concerning what you
do with his son or what you believe about his son, the gospel, the
good news, redemption is concerning his son. It has to do with Christ. Well, what about Christ? Well,
he was made of the seed of David. He was made of the seed of David. That is according to the flesh.
He was bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Hebrews 2, let's
turn over there a moment and see if we can get some help here.
Christ was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
He was a Jew. He came through the house and
lineage of David. He was a rightful heir to the
throne of David. When they put over his cross
Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews, they were telling the truth
in many ways. He was the king. He was from
the family of Jesse and the tribe of Judah and the household of
David. Hebrews 2.16, For verily he took
not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Angels fell too, you know. They sinned, Lucifer and
the whole gang. They sinned, they rebelled against
God, and they fell. And the Scripture says the angels
who fell, and there were a host of them, are reserved in everlasting
chains of darkness unto the day of judgment, unto the day of
condemnation. And our Lord didn't take upon
Himself the nature of angels. He didn't come to save angels.
He didn't come to redeem fallen angels. He didn't take their
nature. But He came down here. Adam fell. The man that He created
fell. And sin and death and judgment
passed on all men. And Christ came and took the
nature of men. Look at verse 17. Wherefore,
in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren.
How did I come into the world? Well, I lay nine months in my
mother's womb, and then I was born, and then I nursed at my
mother's breast, and she held me in her lap, and then I grew
up as a boy at my daddy's feet. I followed him around. My dad
happened to be a carpenter, too. And I followed him around and
helped him and cut the grass in the yard and all these things,
subject to my parents, grew up. I'm a man. I was tempted and
tried. Christ was a man. He was born
of a woman. He wasn't conceived by a human
father, he was conceived by God Almighty, but he was born of
a woman. And he was subject to the law
of his parents, and the law of the home, and the law of the
nation, and he was tempted and tried in all points. If he's
going to be our representative, he's got to be like us. That's
what he's saying here. He didn't take the nature of
angels, he took the nature of men. And in order to be brethren,
A brother with the brethren, he's got to be just like them.
He's got to be tested in every point. Look here as we read on.
Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful, faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For
in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to
succor those that are tempted. He was tested in all points as
we are. Christ Jesus the Lord was made
according to the flesh of the seed of David. He was a human
being. You cut him, he bleeds. You hit
him, he hurts. He thirsted, he wearied, he wept.
He knew all of the trials of life, the temptations. subject
he was made under the law, every law of God, as a man. But look at that next line. He
was declared to be the Son of God, determined to be the Son
of God. He wasn't born, made, or became
the Son of God. He was already the Son of God.
He was declared to be the Son of God with power, the power
to heal, the power to raise the dead, the power to do all things. He said, if you don't believe
me, believe the works that I do. They bear witness of me. Declared
to be the Son of God. He was made. Unto us a child
is born, but unto us a son is given. That son wasn't born.
He was given. The Son of God wasn't born. He
wasn't made. He didn't become. He was declared. Declared to be the Son of God
with power, all authority in heaven and earth. According to
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, also His perfect nature, the
Holy Spirit came down upon Him in the form of a dove. John,
upon whom you seem to see the Spirit descending, that's the
Son of God. And he said, I saw and bear record,
He's the Son of God. By resurrection, on this fact,
Paul rests the deity of Christ. If he be not risen, You're yet
in your sins. If he be not risen, he's not
the Christ. On the resurrection, Paul, basis
rests the deity of Christ, the truth of the gospel, the faith
of the believer, the truth of his message, and the hope of
those who are dead. Yeah, he was declared. This gospel
I'm preaching, Paul said, is concerning a person who, by the
grace of God, was made flesh. But He was declared, when He
was made flesh, declared to be who He is. And this is something
I try to watch all the time I'm preaching about Christ. It's
not saying Christ was, or He was, or He is. I am. We don't say Christ was
compassionate with me, and Christ is compassionate. And any time
we use the word, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need
to speak in the present tense. He is. He says, I am. We need to watch ourselves because
now the abundance of the heart and the mouth is speaking. You
see what I'm saying? Christ is. Jesus said, I am. He was made
of the seed of David for a time, 33 years he was on this earth,
but he was declared, declared to be the Son of God. Jesus Christ
the Lord has come in the flesh. Now if you can enter into all
that that says, then you've learned the gospel. Jesus, Jesus, man,
Christ anointed, the Lord, Jesus Christ is come, came from somewhere. If he's coming to the world,
he had to come from somewhere. I was born into this world. Our Lord
came into this world. I didn't come into this world.
I was born into this world. Christ came into this world.
He came by way of birth, but he came into this world. He is
the Son of God in the flesh. He, the Lord, was made flesh. If you can believe all that's
implied, you believe the gospel. If you can receive all that's
given in that text, you can be saved. But Paul talks about three
things, and I'm going to move along. He talks about himself,
the rest of this chapter, then he talks about his gospel, and
then he talks about the world. And when he talks about himself,
he says in verse 5, listen, By Christ, I have received grace.
Grace to pardon, grace to forgive, grace to believe. That came from
Christ. Grace to live, grace to die.
Grace for every need. By Christ, I've received grace.
Wherein I stand. That by the grace of God, He
said, I am what I am. Don't give me any credit. Don't
pat me on the back. Don't praise my name. By grace,
by grace, by God's grace, I am what I am. By Him, I've received
grace. Not only grace, but by him I've
received apostleship. I'm appointed to an office. I'm
appointed to an office that other men might hear this gospel and
be saved. I speak with authority, Paul
says. I speak not bashfully. I do not hesitate. I speak boldly. I know whereof I speak. John
says we've seen and heard. That which we've seen and heard,
we're declaring unto you. We're not matching wits with
you, we're not comparing notes with you. By Christ we receive
grace and by Christ we receive the message. And we deliver that
message. For obedience to the faith among
all nations. And then he says in verse 8,
I thank God for you. I thank God for you. There's no sweeter music to another
believer. than the account of God's grace
in a man's life. I thank God for you. Paul says,
I've heard about your faith through the whole world. I've heard about
the church at Rome. And how I thank God for you.
How I do praise God for you. I told a man a story Thursday
night. I'm not sure I think I've told
it here before, but I plan to put it in the paper for next
month. Dr. John Gill was pastor of the New
Park Street Church for 51 years. The old man was 74, which is
not old for some people today, but he was old at 74, and he
got to where he couldn't much do anything, and the church went
downhill. He preached to a thousand over
there in that church, and he got down to about 150 members
when the old man died. But he was there 51 years, a
great writer. admired love by Men and women everywhere even
today. His commentary is being reprinted and so the church started
looking for a pastor and They had recommended them a young
man by the name of John Rippon He came on probation But lo and
behold, he walked in the pulpit on Sunday morning. He's 20 years
old. They'd been listening to old Dr. Gill for 51 years. He
was 74 years old. One lady said he took the pulpit
steps. The young man did two at a time,
and that's unforgivable. The old man could scarcely walk
up them. John Rippon ran up them two at
a time. And that just didn't, you know,
I mean, after all, that just wouldn't do. But he was a good
preacher, he knew the gospel. And he preached for a while,
and the folks, most of the folks, and the young people started
coming back, and the married couple started coming back, and
they called him his pastor. 20 years old. And 40 people out
of that 150 left. They said, we're not going to
have a boy 20 years old as our pastor. That's all it took. And
they left, and they went down the road and started another
church. You know what that young man did? The first Sunday after
he's called his pastor, he got up and he said, I'm not surprised
that 40 people turned down my ministry. He said, I'm surprised
there weren't more than that. And he said, these 40 people
who left, left because of their pre-conscience sake. And he said,
I'm moved that this church helped them build their church. And
they took up an offering. And now this is back in 1700
and something, 1773 to be exact. And they took up over $600 to
help that church build their church. And when that church
finished their building, you know who preached the ordination
sermon for their new pastor? John Rippon. And you know how
old the pastor was they called? 19. But oh, to be able to to fellowship. Nowadays, if somebody leaves
the church, we don't speak too lovingly of them. We sure wouldn't
help them build a building. There's about a hundred of you
left this morning. I wonder how many of us would
take up and off and help you build a building, huh? That's
grace, though. I think that's what Paul's talking
about here. He said, I thank God for you.
I may not agree with you on everything, but I thank God for you. Why? For your faith. And God is my
witness. He said, I pray for you, verse
9. I make mention of you always in my prayer. In verse 11, He
said, I long to come and see you, that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift. I want to exhort you in the gospel.
What's this spiritual gift He's imparting? The preaching of the
gospel is what imparts spiritual gifts. Men grow in grace by hearing
the Word. And then in verse 14, He says,
I'm in debt to everybody. Whether he's a Greek or a barbarian,
whether he's a Jew or a Gentile, whether he's wise or unwise,
male or female, I'm in debt to everybody. I have a desire to
see all men of all nations hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. What God has given me, I feel a responsibility to share. To share it with others. And then here's the key word.
He said in verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I'm not
ashamed. And brethren, it's the gospel
of Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And this gospel of Christ
is not the gospel of an infant in Bethlehem's manger. It's not
the gospel of one who went about doing good, although he did.
It's the gospel not of a martyr. It's the gospel of Christ crucified.
And all that that implies... Now you listen to me. There are
two words that sum up the gospel. One of them is satisfaction and
the other is substitution. Christ Jesus died because I deserve
to die. Christ Jesus bore the judgment
and wrath of God because He took my place. He was wounded for
my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquity.
The chastisement of my peace was laid upon Him. He took my
place. He bore my sins in His body on
the tree. the sinless became sinful, that
the sinful might be sinless. The just died for the unjust.
That horrible, ignominious, humiliating death of Calvary was my death. That was my cross. That was my
crown of thorns. That was my nails in His hands. Those were my nails in His feet. That spear was my spear. The
judgment and wrath and desertion of God was my desertion. It's
Christ crucified! Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing but Christ! Not the example, not Christ the
moralist, not Christ the martyr. I'm determined to know nothing
but Christ and Him crucified. And I call it what you will.
But without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. Sin brings
death. Somebody's dead. Somebody's got
to die. Soul that's finished shall die. Somebody's got to
bear God's wrath. Somebody has. This somebody's
the one that did it. And that's me. And that somebody
bears it for me. And that's what Christ did. He
bore it for me. Christ crucified. I'm not ashamed
of that. Are you? You say, when is a man ashamed?
Well, I'd say a man who doesn't preach it would be ashamed of
it, wouldn't you? I'd say if he had his Sunday
morning congregation and he doesn't want to offend anyone, doesn't
want to upset the dignified, you know, and I'd say if he holds
back what man is and the death and judgment and depravity that
passed upon us through Adam and he didn't talk about the mercies
of a crucified Christ, I'd say he's shamed up, wouldn't you?
I'd say people who do not go where they can hear it, are shamed
of it. I'd say people who do not make
it known to those among their circle of friends are shamed
of it. I'd say so. If you're shamed
of me, he said, in this sinful and adulterous generation, I'll
be shamed of you when I come in glory. If you confess me,
confess me how? Well, baptism's a confession
of his death, burial, and resurrection. The Lord's table, when you take
the wine and the bread, that's a confession of Christ's death.
This is my body broken, bruised. This is my blood shed. When you
pour the wine into the cup, that's the blood being poured out. And
the only thing, the thing that happens when a man's blood's
poured out, he dies. That's death. Alas, and did my Savior bleed? I want those songs to be sung.
And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's blood?
Died he for me who him to death pursued? There's a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. What can wash away my
sin? Nothing but the blood. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ crucified. Not ashamed. The gospel, let
me give you a four-point outline here just briefly. What is the
gospel? It's the gospel at first of identification. God chose
us in Christ. Christ, we were identified with
Christ from the foundation of the world. He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. God, I know there's an identification
we make with Him, but the first is His identification with us.
Surety, identification. Secondly, the gospel is a gospel
of incarnation. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. We got to have a Savior. Christ
was made flesh and dwelt. He was numbered with the transgressors.
gospel of incarnation, and next it's the gospel of justification.
In order for God to be just and justify the ungodly, Christ had
to die. You see, the sacrifice of Christ,
now get this, you need to know this, that Christ didn't die
to impress you and me. Christ didn't die to make some
sort of overtures toward the center. That's not why he died. Christ did not die to win your
sympathy and your allegiance. He died to reconcile God. He
died to satisfy the justice of God. He died to put away God's
wrath upon us. The sacrifice of blood was to
the Lord, not to the sinner, to the Lord, not to the devil. Christ didn't buy me from the
devil. Devil's broke. He doesn't own anything. He's
been cast out. Brother Barnard one time taking
up money to build a church, and he'd go in the saloons and get
money, and the dance halls and get money. One of his deacons
said, you can't build the Lord's church with the devil's money,
or else I didn't know he had any money. I thought he's broke. I thought the gold and silver
belonged to the Lord. He said, I promise you if I find
any of the devil's money, I won't take it. The devil's broke. He doesn't own anything. He's
a troublemaker, an adversary. He's a roaring lion, going about
seeking whom he may devour, but all things are Christ's. That's right. He bought me from
the law. He bought me from the justice
of God. Now the law had a claim on me. I'd broken the law. Just
like that man who murdered that little boy is in jail. And the
law's got a claim on him. And you can't get to him. You
go down there and say, I want so-and-so. No, you can't have
him. Why? The law's got him. And he's going to satisfy the
law before he gets out of there. And the law had me. And my Lord
bought me from the law. And he satisfied the law. And
now I'm out. The justice, justice has him. The long arm of justice
laid hands on the man and put him in prison. You can't get
him out. So justice is satisfied. If it takes 500 years, justice
is going to be satisfied. Well, I'll tell you how long
it will take you to satisfy justice. Infinity. Because it's the infinite
justice of God. It's the infinite holiness of
God. But Christ came down here. And paid justice demands. He met the law's demands. He
set me free from the bondage of the law. Justification. And then the gospel
is the gospel of regeneration. Now, Christ put away God's enmity. Christ put away God's enmity.
Now, wait a minute. There's somebody else involved
in this thing, too. That warfare between heaven and
earth is also between earth and heaven. That enmity is not only
from heaven to earth, it's from earth to heaven. And our Lord
put away, He reconciled God. He put away God's wrath. God
loves us in Christ. But you see, I didn't love God. And I had to be regenerated,
John. I had to have the love of God
shed abroad in my heart. I had to have the enmity removed.
I had to become a new creature. My own natural man receiveth
not the things of God. The natural man is enmity and
not subject to the law of God. So the Holy Spirit in regeneration,
in the new birth, in conversion comes and puts God's love in
my heart and takes away the enmity and the hatred for God. That's
what's wrong with modern evangelism. Christ has reconciled us to God. He's removed the enmity. God
loves men in Christ. But men still hate God, and a
decision won't change that man. Walking an aisle won't change
that man. Putting him in the water won't change his heart.
Giving him a wafer and wine won't change his heart. But if the
Holy Spirit comes and regenerates him and makes him a new creature,
he changes his heart. And that sinner no longer hates
God, he loves God. Whosoever is born of God loves
God. And you know something, he not
only loves God, but he loves those that are begotten of God.
He loves those that are born of God. That's regeneration. So our gospel
is a gospel of identification. God was pleased not to let us
alone, pass us by, but do something for us. Gospel of incarnation,
Christ came. Gospel of justification, He did
something for us. toward God. He reconciled us
to God. He removed the enmity. God said,
Peace on earth! Christ has come. He's the Prince
of Peace. He's the King of Peace. And then
the Holy Spirit comes in time through the preaching of this
gospel and somebody comes and tells you the truth about God
and about yourself and about Christ. He comes and tells you
the truth. The Holy Spirit's pleased to
use this gospel, you see, this message. and carry down that
inventory. God save us such as be of a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. God's got to whittle us down.
Saul of Tarsus is a picture of us on the road to Damascus sitting
up on that white horse of pride and carrying the papers of rebellion
and his own understanding and his own judgment and leading
his own little gang, you know. And our God, Charlie, said, whoo,
put him on the ground. And that's what he did. He smote
him. He bit the dust. He lay in darkness. He whittled
him down. That's what God does. He'll whittle
a fella down. He'll take the starch out of
him. Because the gospel of Christ, verse 16, is the power of God. And that word power is dunamis,
dynamite. It'll blow you apart. It'll blow
your world apart. It'll give you a new world. For
the believers, there's already a new heaven and a new earth.
The power of God. Verse 17 in the Gospel is the
righteousness of God. We're not talking about the personal
righteousness of God, but we're talking about the righteousness
with which He's pleased to clothe us and impute to us and accept
us. Now look at verse 18. Paul talks
about the unbelieving world. The wrath of God. The wrath of
God. The Lord of Heaven is angry with
this world. Let me tell you something, folks.
Right here, I want to walk softly. I want to tell the truth, but
the scripture says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men. The Lord
God is angry with the wicked. His holy wrath and indignation
is revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness. And my friends, these are not
sins of ignorance. They're sins of the will. The
sins of men are not sins of ignorance. The sins of the world and the
sins against light. For he says, and he's talking
about the truth, the truth, they hold, look at verse 18 of the
last line, they hold the truth in unrighteousness. What is the
truth? God is truth. He created the world. He created
man and man fell. And sin and death and judgment
passed before all men. And in the flesh dwelleth no
good thing, and God in love and mercy determined to save some
people. And He sent His Son into this world. That's what the Bible
says. And His Son lived on this earth, and walked on this earth,
and died on the cross, and was buried and rose again, and ascended
to heaven, where He is at the right hand of God, where He interceded
for us, where He's the only mediator. Truth. Truth about God. Truth
about men. Truth about salvation. Truth
about God's purpose. Because, verse 19, that which
may be known of God is manifest, look at that word, in them, to
them, make it what you will, but it's manifested to them. Did you know that men sin against
the light of conscience? Look at verse, if you will, chapter
2, verse 14. Chapter 2, verse 14. It says, verse 14, chapter 2,
when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law. Now what are we talking about?
We're talking about out in the middle of Africa where there's
a tribe. And they don't have a Bible.
They don't have a law. They don't have God's law. They've
never heard a preacher. They do by nature the things
in the law. What's in the law? Thou shalt not kill. Well, they
know it's wrong to kill. Who told them? Thou shalt not
steal. They know it's wrong to steal.
Who told them? They know it's wrong to commit
adultery, to steal another man's wife. Who told them that? They
know these things are wrong. Well, it shows the law, verse
15, it shows the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the
meanwhile excusing, accusing or excusing one another. In other
words, men have consciences. God's written His law in the
heart of every son of Adam. Do men walk in the light of conscience?
No. They do what they want to do.
If they know it's wrong, they'll do it anyway. See, it's a sin
of will. We sin against the will. We will
not accept the truth of our consciences. My conscience says that's not
right. I'll do it anyhow. I'm following
my will. That's a sin of will. That's
not a sin of ignorance. That's a sin of will. And then
there's the light of nature. Look at verse 20, Romans 1. The
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even God's eternal power and Godhead. So men are without excuse.
The heavens declare the glory of God. How wonderfully, David
said, I am made. There are so many witnesses of
God in this world. Only the fool has said there
is no God. That man has to be a fool. Those
stars up there in their precision, their precise movements to the
split, split, split, split of a second. Everything is so ordered,
the seasons, birth, life and death. The trees that plant a
little old seed and come up a beautiful tomato plant, watermelons, trees
with fruit on them. These things didn't happen to
be. Everything brings forth after its kind. There's no crossing
of the species. You can have all kind of horses,
but a horse will never give birth to a cow. You can have all kind
of dogs, but a dog will never give birth to a cat. Everything
brings forth after its kind. It's order. Order in the universe. The law of gravity. All these
laws we have. Whose laws are they? The law
of accident? Well, we're not dealing with
atheists, we're dealing with fools. That's what Scripture
says. A fool has said in his heart, no God for me, that man's
got to be a fool. And they sinned against the light
of nature, and then verse 21, because when they knew God, and
this is the light of Scripture, God spoke. He says, God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake to our fathers by the prophets,
God spoke to this world. Moses came and spoke. Abraham
spoke. All the prophets of God spoke.
We're not left in ignorance. God spoke. God has spoken. And in these last days, He's
spoken by His Son. Christ came. One man said to
a preacher, I wish somebody from up there would come down here
and tell us what it's all about. They did. They did. He came. And when they knew God,
when they knew God revealed Himself to them, when He talked to them,
they didn't glorify Him as God. They weren't willing for Him
to be God. They weren't thankful. They didn't submit to His Word,
His truth. They became vain in their imaginations,
foolish reasoning, stupid speculation. And their foolish heart was darkened.
They claimed to be wise. We don't need the Bible. We are
law unto ourselves. This is the way I think it is.
Today, preachers have closed this book and put it down. They're
preaching out of their own brains. Sunday school teachers. I asked
a man, a preacher, yesterday, did this lady teach the Bible?
He said, no, she taught her quarterly. It supersedes the Bible. So we
put the Bible down and teach our quarterly. We profess to be wise. Well,
we're nothing but fools. That's what we are. Verse 22.
And we change the glory of the uncorruptible God, the glory
of Christ. God is a spirit. You don't worship
God by touching pictures. In a Baptist Sunday school quarter,
they had what they call a picture of Jesus, and under here it said,
have the little children reach out and touch Jesus, they'll
feel close to Him. That's changing the glory of
the incorruptible God to the image of a man. You have pictures
of Him on your wall, you know better than they are. You got
a picture up there and you call it Jesus. I preached in a church
that they have a picture of Jesus as big as those doors back there.
Who is that? It's an idol. That's who that
is. They've changed the image of the incorruptible God into
one like a man. Don't be so harsh, brother of
mine. I'm just telling you the Scripture says I shall not make
any graven image of anything in heaven, earth, or under the
earth. That's what the Bible says. We don't need a cross down
here on this table either. We worship God who is a Spirit.
I'm telling you the truth. Birds and four-footed beasts
creeping things, we're wearing all these designs around, birds
and lions and tigers and snakes. And he said, this is the result
of that stuff. This is the result of turning
down the truth. This is the result of sinning
against conscience. This is the result of sinning
against the Word. This is the result of not hearing
God's prophet. This is the result of not of
not hearing the voice of God in nature and heavens, God gave
them up. All right, he says, if you won't
hear me, I'll just give you up. To do what? To do what your rotten,
evil, fallen nature wants to do. Uncleanness through the lust,
the desires, the passions of your own, not God's heart, not
God's word, not God's way, not God's will, your heart. to dishonor
your own bodies between yourselves. I'll let you live like animals.
I'll let you change the truth of God into a lie, the truth
of God. And go ahead and worship the
creature. And for this cause, God gave him up to vile affections. That's where your lesbianism
and sodomy and homosexuality, that's where it all comes from.
It comes from God has given you up. That's where it comes from.
That's the result. You've just been turned over
to the flesh. They've been turned over. Look at verse 28. And they wouldn't retain God
in their knowledge. They didn't want to think on
things holy and righteous and truthful. They wouldn't think
on God's graciousness and God's mercy and God's truth and God's
Son and God's revelation of salvation, God's gospel. They wouldn't think
on those things. So God gave them over to a mind
that's reprobate. I was reading Abbey the other
day. Some woman wrote in and said
somebody in her office or family was a homosexual and Abbey said,
well, God made gays and God made straights. Who made gays? God? So we have to love them
all. I'm not saying it's a matter
of hatred. I love them. I pity them. If it weren't for
God's grace, I'd be right where they are. You would too. But
God didn't make them. God left them and the flesh made
them. That's the result of God turning a man over to a reprobate
man. That's right. I'm just reading
from the Scripture now, and here's where it all starts. Here's where
the whole thing starts. And I know a lot of churches
playing games. They're trying to see how many they have in
Sunday school. I'm trying to see how much truth I can preach to you.
They're trying to see how many folks they can get down the aisles.
I'm trying to see how many folks I can get to bow to the claims
of Jesus Christ. Whether you ever walk the aisle
or not, I don't care. Salvation is not down here, it's
in Christ. If I can preach the Word and
the Holy Spirit can take that arrogance out and that haughtiness
and that pride and bring you down to cry, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. And that peace is made. in your
heart by the spirit of regeneration, and you embrace Christ as your
Lord and Savior, walk anywhere you want to. But oh, that you
may know Christ. That you may know Christ. We
don't keep records and numbers. I have not the faintest idea
how many people are baptized, even last year, this year, any
other year. I don't know how many members this church has
got. I don't have the faintest idea. I don't know how many is here
this morning, how many is in Bible school. It's not important. I'll tell you what is important,
that Christ is here, and oh, that we may know Him. But I'll
tell you where all this starts. Let me tell you something. All
of this reprobacy and all of this mind bored of judgment and
bored of understanding, reprobacy, you know where it starts? It
starts when a man won't hear God speak. That's what it says,
right? Because they receive not the
love of the truth. Paul said, God turns them over
to themselves and gives them strong delusions that they'll
believe a lie and be damned for believing it. That's right. And I'm saying to you, when you
hear the preaching of the Word,