You know, the Bible, as we've talked about, is one book. A collection of 66 books put into one book with one story, one storyline, one king, and which points us to the king of the history of the world, his story. And this church has stood firm on the exposition of his word for 40-plus years now. And the exposition of his word can be a scary thing because then you come to things that you don't wanna necessarily have to talk about. And so with that said, why don't you go ahead, I think it's right to stand this morning, let's go ahead and read the word of God together. Starting in verse 18, I will read for a moment here, for the wrath of God is revealed. from heaven, from God, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, clear to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Verse 21. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." Our text this week, therefore, God gave them up. and the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, verse 26, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. I was hoping to get through the rest, but I stopped at 27. Look at verse 28. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Verse 32, though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, though they know this, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, this is your book. These are your words. written down through your chosen apostle Paul. Lord, we live in a time in history that we cut things like this out of your word, because we don't want to have to deal with them. Lord, I pray that you would fill my lips and my mind with truth that comes out, yes, clearly and boldly, as it is clear, and yet overwhelmed with the grace that you've shown in my life and those who sit here. Lord, we do pray for this time that we would be challenged encouraged and given clarity on why such things are evil. And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. You have, I have maybe, some of us have tried really hard. you have pleaded with and you have shown with the absolute clearest evidence possible. And yet they, whoever they is, still do not respond. And so you have no other choice but to kind of let them make and pursue the decision you know in the end will have extreme circumstances and consequences. There are no doubt that there are some of you who have watched a loved one and a friend. A brother, a sister, a coworker, and sadly, our own children head into a direction that you know, without a shadow of a doubt, it's going to end badly. You know that. You see it coming. You know whatever they're heading into, it's not going to be good. You did the right thing. You pleaded. You attempted to persuade. You gave facts upon facts. all of them kind of bringing them to the table, every possible clear evidence that you can possibly think of, and you come to the point of even begging that person in hopes that they would turn in the other direction because you know what they are about to do or what they're about to head into is going to be a disaster. And we know sometimes this happens quickly, right? It happens quickly in people's lives, whatever the sin that they're heading into or the difficulty, the dominoes fall quickly, as you know it. But there are many times that it's slow, isn't it? Dominoes don't fall quickly on our own, but sometimes we can write videotape nowadays and we can show dominoes or things falling really slowly. And so sometimes, many times, dominoes fall slowly in life. So the decisions and the direction that people slowly by slowly go, it's just every inch that they go, the train begins to come off the track just a little bit. And even though you present clear argument after clear argument, they won't listen. Maybe some of you guys have been in the position of appealing to someone, but maybe someone has also begged you in whatever direction you're heading. Maybe you've begged them to the point of even not only just verbally, but you've even bailed them out of things. Maybe you financially have went after them, but this time you have no other choice but to leave them and to walk down into that which their heart so desires anyways. You've left them to face what appears to be a multitude of consequences for their sin, and there they go. And this is where Paul's at today. This is where Paul's at in the letter. Paul's going to communicate just how far mankind has fallen, if you wanna say, in the domino effect, and how far down the road of despair, and how God essentially this week says, enough's enough. I've shown you as much clear evidence as possible. There's no more hedges. There's no more guardrails. There's no more protection. There's no more begging. There's no more pleading. I'm going to leave you to go completely down the sinful path that your darkened heart so desires. And so there they go. Look at verse 24 with me as God gives them up. Therefore, God gave them up. God gave them up. And the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. And so while looking back, Paul transitions now and says with very emphatic language, this is very intense and intentional language, for this reason, God gave them up, or God gave them over, some of your translations say. Paul's writing in a way for the reader to wake up and to look back and to look forward here. So look back to verse 23 as we studied last week. God gave them up in the direct response. So it's a response to exchanging what God planned and designed. Now they've suppressed the truth and man comes up with their own plans. Romans 1.23 says, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images, right? Resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. And so last week, mankind was shown by God's grace, right? General revelation in our consciences and in His creation, God put in us and outside of us what can be known about God. It is plain to us. It is clear to us. And mankind in our sinfulness suppresses and suppress the truth of what can be clearly known about God. Remember, hiding the truth in a bucket. They did not and they do not honor God nor give thanks to the one who is God. They claim to be wise. They claim to be ever so smart and they're actually foolish as they exchange the glory of God for God's creation and worship those things. And so therefore, God hands them over. It's God who does this in his present day wrath. This is not talking about eternal wrath, this is talking about present day judgment. God gives them up, he hands them over, and he takes off the restraint as mankind goes into this deeper and deeper spiraling effect of the sin of their own choosing. God hands them over, it's committing type of mindset. It's God commits them to the things in which their hearts already sinfully desire. It's the same word that Peter used here in 2 Peter 2, he says, for if God did not spare angels when they sin, but cast them into hell and committed them to the chains of gloomy darkness. image bearers. You won't listen. You won't look. You won't listen to your conscience that I put in there of the laws of God. You won't look out at God's creation and scream, for sure creator God did this. You won't honor me. You won't give thanks for the things that I've given you. Whatever restraint is gone, whatever restraint I'm lifting now, and now you're going to, if you wanna say, reap what you sow, individually and societally, individually and societally, you are gonna fall into the most degrading and sad consequences of sin as my judgment and wrath is unleashed through the consequences of your own choosing. One commentary reads this, by withdrawing his influence over these disobedient idolaters, God permits them to continue in and indeed plunge more deeply into the sin they already chose to do. And so God hands people over and lets them plunge headfirst into that which their hearts desire. This is the picture of the prodigal son. In Luke 15, Father, give me my property, give me my money, give me mine, and let me do what I wanna do, right? His sinful heart desired those things, and so the son is what? Ungrateful and dishonoring to his father in that text. He's acting unrighteously as he worships and cares all about himself. And no doubt, we don't have this in Luke 15. The father would have pleaded, son, don't do this. Son, think about what you're gonna do here. Think about the decisions you're going to make. You think you're free, but you're about to become a slave, which he did. You think by doing this is gonna be all glorious, and it's not. Okay, son, here you go. You go and you see You will reap what you sow. It's God himself handing over his wrath to that which he sinfully chose to do. We saw this in Genesis 6-5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. All right, wrath of God in time unleashed on mankind. That wasn't a fast process. That was little by little, little by little. Society comes to this point. Wrath of God comes. It didn't happen overnight. Didn't happen in a moment. It appears God didn't and doesn't instantaneously bring judgments. And so these are times where people, myself, you guys maybe can ask, God, are you watching? Are you seeing what's going on right now? Are you their God? But we know Paul reassures us in Galatians 6, do not be deceived. The true God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, he will also reap. Your sin will find you out type of mindset. Well, what is it that God gave him over to? Look at verse 24. God gave them over or up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. God gave them up to complete degradation and shame into sexual immorality, that which they desired, the lust of their hearts to impurity, to dishonoring their own bodies amongst themselves. The lust of their hearts is directly linked, directly linked to sinful and unallowable sins. It has the idea of understanding, they understood full well, someone understands full well that what they're about to do is forbidden, their conscience, right? And yet their craving is so strong for that which they know they should not have, they go. And so, in other words, Lust here is referring to this almost uncontrollable desire, something that is taboo, if you want to say. But you don't care, for in these instances, you cannot not go after that which you want so badly. It's this craving of impurity and dishonoring one's own body and amongst themselves. And the term impurity here is strong. It's filthy. It's dirty. It's unclean. It's filthy, dirty, and unclean defined sexual immorality towards oneself and towards the bodies around you that God created. And so it's treating your own body, which God created to be pure and holy bodies, and it's treating those around you in filthy, dirty, grotesque ways. And here in verse 24, it appears here Paul begins with his kind of umbrella statement, general statement of sexual immorality. And so he puts this kind of over the top, like all sexual immorality, sexually impure, immoral things. Now remember, where's Paul writing this letter from? Corinth, which would have been like the hotbed, the sea of sexual immorality, if you want to say. The capital, he's there of the goddess of Aphrodite, and he told the church in Corinth, right, that it would have been full of sexual immorality, open sexual immorality and sensuality. 2 Corinthians 12, I fear when I come again, My God may humble me before you and I may have to mourn and cry over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of impurity, sexual morality, sensuality. He did the same thing to the church of Ephesus if you walk through Ephesians 5. Be imitators of God. Church, be imitators of God. Verse three, sexual immorality, all impurity, all covetousness, umbrella statement, cannot be named among you, as is proper among the saints. No filthy talk, no foolish talk, no crude joking. That's out of place. But instead of being ungrateful and dishonoring, be thankful. And then verse 11, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Instead, expose them. Say what the unfruitful works of darkness are. Verse 12, it's shameful even to speak of these things. It's a shame if you sit around talking about these things. Guess what Paul goes into in the very next section of Ephesians 5. He goes from don't have these things even be named among you. Oh, by the way, here's the beauty and glory of the gospel marriage in the world. He brings this up also to the church in Thessalonica in chapter four. We won't read the whole thing. He urges them, in the name of the Lord Jesus, verse six, no one transgress and wrong his brother. The bodies around you, do not sin against them, do not transgress them, and what you do, what you think about them, because the Lord is the avenger on all these things, as we told you beforehand. And I warn you, God has not called us to impurity, but holiness. And so it's dishonoring yourself and those around you. It's transgressing and wronging a brother or sister in Christ throughout acts of being immoral towards them and impure. You're dishonoring yourself and you're dishonoring them because what you're thinking about them and what you're possibly doing with them or amongst them is not God's intended design on how he designed his image bearers to act and think amongst one another. Lust of impurity. It's filthy. It's grotesque. It's unclean. We already read this. I read at the beginning, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality. This is interesting to me. So he says sexual immorality in umbrella statement, but he hones in on one facet of sexual immorality, which is, Homosexuality. Well, why did God give them up to the lust of their hearts to impurity? We have to answer that question. Why did he do that? Why does he give them up to dishonoring their bodies amongst themselves? Human idolatry. Human idolatry. Look at verse 25. He comes back to this understanding. In other words, he's kind of like, verse 23, here comes verse 25, don't forget, this is because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. You can see it on the screen. We won't go back to it and read it, but he comes back to the same statement. He puts this verse, and again, remember, this is the because statement. It's a complete reversal of the way things should be. It's doing a 180, it's heading in the opposite direction. I know some of you guys, I used to be into that thing called the Daytona 500 where they turn left a long time and they just keep going for a long time and then the race ends. Well, if you had the opportunity to race in the Daytona 500, okay, you know what the intention of the race is and how it's designed on how you're supposed to go around the track, right? We all know that. Well, if you decided to go in a complete reversal, 180, it would be a disaster, correct? Not only on yourself, but on all those who you then run into. Well, mankind's reversal from the garden forward is a disaster and it's a suppression of the truth. It's not going to go well when we don't go based on what God intended it to go by. It's completely opposite of the truth and then it's living a lie and thinking and believing that this world that we live in is all about us and all about what I want and all about what I decide to do with myself in spite of how it affects those around me. And so God, in present day wrath and judgment, he gives up his image bearers to sex or immorality, which is the result of them in idolatry, as they suppress the truth. This is the because statement. Verse 25, because they exchange the truth about God for a lie, and then it looks forward to verse 26. Look at that with me. Remember, they suppress the truth, and for this reason, Paul says, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Mankind rejects God. They believe the lie. and God gives them up to dishonorable passions. This statement is shameful, degrading, and the last one, which I think's the strongest, is vile, translated in the New King James. What God gives them up to, which is what they're chasing after in their sinfulness, is vile. Well, what is vile? He gives them up to dishonorable, to vile things, verse 26, he goes on, this, he defines it. Their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless, vile acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error." Suppress the truth, exchange that which is natural for the unnatural. What is this? Homosexuality. Homosexuality, what our society attempts to call an alternative lifestyle, Paul, on behalf of God, calls dishonorable, vile, a perversion. It's man's idolatry that leads to grotesque immorality. As I stated earlier, Paul's writing this to this sexually immoral church, and he singles out homosexuality under the umbrella of sexual morality. He does this to the church here in Rome. For their women exchange natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. God's image bearers and the original intention of the garden, worshiping God, they turn themselves from God and they turn themselves to themselves. And so let's be clear on this. Let's not just say homosexuality is sinful because it is and end there. It's great, dishonorable, degrading, why? Consider this. Mankind has in a literal sense turned their eyes away from that which God created his image bearers to naturally do. Looking outward away from ourself, that's gospel, to that which is not ourselves. Mankind in that of homosexuality turns to ourselves and women face women and men face men and they reverse God's intended design. It's deeper than just homosexuality is sin. They have inverted God's display of the gospel. And this is mankind's all-out war on God. The ESV says that it's contrary to nature. The NASV says it's a natural function for which is unnatural. And then the New King James says natural use for what is against nature. Natural means exactly what it says, natural. Things that line up, that are in accordance with, in alignment with God's intended purposes. And so the words Paul uses here are very specific. He purposely takes our minds back to the garden, and instead of using man and woman, he uses male and female in the original language. We know these verses, right? Genesis 1, 27 and 28. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them, and God blessed them, that was male and female, and God said to them, male and female, be fruitful and multiply, only male and female have babies, and fill the earth and subdue it. Then in verse 31 it says, and God saw everything, including male and female, that he created to then multiply and subdue the earth, and said it was very good. It was utterly good. It was right. It was the way in which God intended it to be. Alistair Begg says this, the words he uses for women and men are actually female and male. We said that. And so anatomy, physiology, biology, all of them, even without theology, testify to God's perfect plan, the violation of which leads to chaos, sadness, and despair. You guys can look up these verses, or they're actually in the digital bulletin that you can see on the screen here with me. We won't read them, but it's essentially saying the same thing, confirming the two, male and female, biological, physiological, anatomical male. is designed to join biological, physiological, anatomical, female, and God's designed to join, marry, become one flesh, and fill the earth. He goes on in verse 27, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error." If you look at these two verses, he expands a bit here on men, but he uses the term likewise to parallel women and men with the shameful acts they are involved in pursuing. If he wasn't clear enough in verse 26, he becomes even that much more clear. And I think it's important to note here, there are movements out there that try and reorient God's design and purposes, communicating that what Paul's actually talking about here is men with men and women with women outside of marriage. That's a movement, that's something being said now. So if men and men are married, then they can commit these acts because it's within the context of marriage is what's being said. There are others who are attempting to explain this portion of God's Word away by saying, well, what the Bible's really talking about is not homosexuality, but it's actually pedophilia. Which, pedophilia is also sinful, I agree with that. But Paul is abundantly clear in this verse where he says, men gave up natural relations with women, committing shameless acts with men, and shameless here is defined as forbidden. These are forbidden acts that are being performed. And in this setting, I will not give you the verbatim of the original Greek, but I would encourage you to go look it up on your own and to be as clear as I can be here, Paul is abundantly clear that what he is talking about is men having unnatural, rebellious, hatred of God, sexual relations with men. It's exactly what he's talking about. Go look up the original language if you want to know the verbatim of how it's said. It is graphically clear. The culture, our culture, is suppressing the truth, trying to hide God in that bucket that I talked about last week. And sad to say, those whom define themselves even as churches are jumping on the bandwagon in this all-out war to try and twist and distort and suppress God's design of God himself. Paul warns us of this. He says in 1 Timothy, The Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith, devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teaching of demons. Through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage? Twist marriage, twist the understanding of marriage. Verse four, for everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. It's made by the Word of God in prayer. Verse 13. Oh, dear young Timothy, and I think this is so purposeful. He writes it to young Timothy. Young minds, that's when our minds are shaped, right? That's when we can be convinced a little bit easier. That's when we're persuaded a little bit. We call little ones sponges, why? Because my little ones will pretty much believe anything I tell them right now. And so we gotta think upon truth. Guard the deposit entrusted to you. Part of guarding the truth of the gospel is guarding that which God has given to mankind, which is the picture of the gospel. Why should we fight for and be clear on what marriage is and is not based on the word of God? Because he purposely instituted a man and a woman together in one flesh union for the sake of sharing his truth through his image bearers and proclaiming the gospel. Ephesians 5 walks through this entire thing. Therefore be imitators of God. Walk in love. Verse three, sexually immoral, impure, all those things. Right after this, Paul goes into marriage and he says this, wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. Husbands are the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. The bride, submit to Christ. Wives, that's brides, that's females. Submit to their husbands, that's males. Husbands, love your wives, females, as Christ loved the church, the bride. Husbands, males should love their wives, females. This is what's honoring to the Lord. And he says, oh, by the way, verse 32, this mystery is profound, and I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. It is an important reminder. There is a reason that this church family, And again, I have it on the screen. You can read it later in your digital bulletin. We are abundantly clear on gender, gender roles, and marriage. Go to our website and you can read how clear we are. Why is this important? It's not just important based on traditionalism. It's important because it messes with and distorts the gospel itself. It's the very mystery of the gospel. Homosexuality is the epitome and such a clear earthly picture of self-worship, suppression of the truth about God himself and the hope that is in Christ. Don't fall into the trap of thinking this is not important. It's vitally important. This is about the truth that is the gospel. I think many would agree that we've come to a point in our culture that this pursuit of unrighteousness is, it's relentless, it's passionate, it's on every political thing out there. And so in this way, our church, this church, we are in a spiritual war when it comes to the open celebration and mockery of God. Not of marriage, of God himself. It is a mockery. Think about how dark our culture has become in light of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19, 18. Think about what we are voting on on Tuesday. We have come to a point where mankind in our culture believes it's one's right to not only kill God's created image bearers, we have to vote upon it to say that it's true. But then even more so, it's actually debated in those high and lofty position people, they've agreed to redefine marriage itself, one flesh union between male and female, And why is it such a hard fight? Because it's not the way God intended it to be. Our society's consumed with these issues. It's a consuming passion. Mankind attempts to invert God's created order. Not only in the passions of pursuits of homosexual relationships, but also inverting the way in which God created his creation to be from birth. I'm referring to the attempt to be that which we were not created to be. As men and women attempt to become that which they were not created to become. Women and men, men devalue God's creation of women as they attempt to be that which they are not. Women devalue God's creation of men as they attempt to be that which they are not. Just like we do with killing babies and calling it abortion, our culture has done a fantastic job of coming up with words and terms such as alternative lifestyle instead of sin and rebellion against God. Begg goes on to say, homosexuality then is not some alternative lifestyle, according to scripture. It's unnatural, born out of idolatry. It's an expression of a rebellion against God. I will decide who I am, what I am, what I am doing, and what I'm doing it. It's the greatest sin, but it's perhaps the, not the greatest sin, but it's perhaps the clearest evidence of a society's defiance against God. When a culture finally reaches the place where even manhood and womanhood, gender itself is deconstructed and reconstructed according to whatever agenda an individual has, whatever ethical set of norms they've decided to embrace, then that culture is in deep trouble. And I would say, yes. Yes, it is. As our culture has redefined, reconstructed, deconstructed, and dismantled God's design, it is because they've exchanged the truth about God for a lie. But it's further, it is an outward fight and hatred of the one we worship. We've come to a point where you can drive your car past signs, and we're not gonna sing at the end today, because I'm gonna keep going. even on churches, at least places that call themselves churches, that say love is love, knowing the intention behind the text. A lifestyle of homosexuality is love, the love and idolatry of self. While at the same time, it's communicating hatred of God. When organizations and these places that call themselves churches place men and women in the pulpit who are living, celebrating, or won't talk against that which God calls an abomination, they are anti-God. There are clear biblical qualifications of pastors of churches, the one at the top being above reproach. If a so-called church places a man or woman in a position of influence with God's authority, which is His Word, in His church, who is living, practicing a lifestyle, endorsing a lifestyle, or unwilling to challenge sin, that the Word of God so clearly calls vile and shameful, those places that call themselves churches are not churches. but they are progressive, anti-God organizations attempting to push the true God back into the bucket and suppress the truth. Guys, I'm not mad or angry with those people. It makes me almost more mad at places that call themselves churches and celebrate its glorifying to God. It is the complete opposite of glorification to God. In spite of what our culture and the leaders thereof of humanism may tell you, they attempt to portray their false reality of happiness as they fly the flags. Those who have been handed over in our impassioned pursuit of what they call progressivism are actually, guys, this is sad to say, unhappy and joyless. It is not a life of happiness. Why? Because you cannot, for sure, you will never be satisfied by that which God did not make us to be satisfied in. It's impossible. You will never be satisfied by that which God did not make us to be satisfied in. Well, can I say in my own humanist and in today's culture, This is a fearful thing to stand up here and say. It's also hard to say when most likely all of us have a direct connection to one who you love so dearly. Family members themselves. With that said, as a pastor of this church, as much as I can fear what is now and what is to come when we stand for such clear biblical truth I fear more standing before the one who is the truth to give a reasonable defense on why we wouldn't defend the truth, which also includes refuting error. As Christians, in light of the truth, how do we challenge? How do we need encourage and how do we respond? First, be reminded this isn't new. When it comes to others in history who have dealt with such heinous open sexual morality, remember where Paul is writing this thing from himself. Be reminded it's clear the text God did give them up and his present day judgment and wrath is giving them and in which their sinful desires want. This is important. Notice God, it says God gave them up. It doesn't say so give up on them. It says God gave them up, but it doesn't say give up on them. And such were some of you. That means some who were right with God through Jesus Christ were at one time listed there homosexuals. Be reminded that the very reason Paul wants so badly to come to Rome is to preach this gospel, which is the power which can change these dead hearts into new hearts, and their minds will be reoriented, and they will think the way that God intended them to think. I love this quote by John McCarthy. He said, as long as sinful men are alive, God provides an opportunity for their salvation. The gospel, yes, includes the wrath of God, and at the same time, it's so full of God's mercy at the cross. How do we respond to those living in sinful lifestyles, or maybe a friend? We angrily scream how horrible it is, and how sinful it is, and how grotesque it is. My response would be no. On the flip side, we just stay silent. Well, hopefully they just see I'm different and somehow, my response would be no. We kindly as we walk in his spirit with great love and boldness, as opportunity elicits, clearly communicate God's wrath while at the same time offering that which God gives us hope in, which is Christ. When opportunity doesn't arise, we have opportunity to pray. Don't shout at people and not pray for people. That includes online. How many of us have spent our time leading up to this election on Tuesday evening shouting at people and spending but not even a moment in prayer? And lastly, if you're sitting here and you are either secretly living of this sin or of this lifestyle or championing it, and this is uncomfortable, Well, just as uncomfortable as you should be, I would say, is just as uncomfortable as anyone sitting here next week as Pastor Jared walks through a whole litany of other sins that says when we live in such ways, we are suppressing the truth and exchanging the truth about God for a lie. And my loving appeal to you would be repent. Cry out to Christ. just as any other sitting here today in any sin should do, is cry out to Christ for the sin of idolatry that led you into the sinful consequences that you may be in. And so the greatest love I or anyone could show someone, the greatest love that we can show someone is not with anger or screaming as loud as we can, but as prayerfully, lovingly sharing with them the same thing that was shared with us. It's all any of us can have as we stand someday before the Lord God Almighty. It's not in our righteousness, it's in His alone. And so I would pray to that end. We're in a time in history that is unique. And in some ways, I praise the Lord, it is unique. Let's go share the hope of Christ with them. And when I say them, I'm talking about all sinful people who are living outside of God's intended design. With that said, let me pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, Lord, we... You know, when we all sit here and think, we've all lived outside of your intended design. Each and every one of us, in some way or another, we have sinned against you. Clearly, the sin that we talked of today, you're clear about. It is the opposite of the glory of the gospel and marriage, the human institution you put in this world for us to champion the gospel. Lord, my heart, our hearts break for those eyes that are blind and whose ears can't hear. May you open them, please. Lord, I pray for anyone sitting here that is secretly struggling with things such as this. Lord, I pray for them even right now, Lord, that you would free them to talk to someone about the struggles they have, and may that someone be able to respond with the hope and glory of the gospel. That's all we have. Lord, I pray for this church as we stand for truth, protect us. And when I say protect us, Lord, I ask that you protect our pride. May we be humble in our understanding of truth. Lord, we love you and we do praise you in Christ's name, amen.