Thank you. Good to know that by his stripes we're healed. We're going to be in Romans chapter 3 this morning. As we go further along in this thing, Brother Bart and I were talking a little bit this morning before church, how wicked a day we live in. Can we agree with that? I mean, it's wicked, man. Uh, you, you look in Louisiana, they're wanting, they, they passed a law to place the 10 commandments on the wall of every classroom. And you say, man, praise God. It won't stand. So before, before you get all excited, yeah, they're not going to let that stand because there's a hatred for the things of God. There's a hatred for the word of God. And I was thinking about. Uh, this dear family and him going into prison, that's the hope, right? They, they, they have all these reform program. We need to reform people. Well, you can't reform when you get, they had to be regenerated. See, we've all tried to be reformed in one way or another, try to do better. And until you have a heart change doesn't work. And so going forward, uh, in this world, wicked world, we live, we've got to figure out. A couple of things, one, how not to be discouraged. Number two is even though we are in a dark world, the Bible tells us we're to let our light shine, right? And so if we're so caught up in all the things that are being done to us, we won't let our light shine. And see, that's the distraction. Remember all the way back to the garden of Eden, uh, in Genesis, Satan told Eve, he said, now listen, and she, they, they could eat of any tree in that garden, except for one. And Satan told her, you don't know what you're missing out on. God's trying to hurt you by keeping you away from that one. So he appealed to her, to her selfishness and her flesh, right? And so it's no different. He's still doing the same thing today. And I was reading a couple of days ago and brother Noah Hatcher taught our Sunday school this morning, did a phenomenal job teaching on the Bible, the word of God. And, uh, one of the things we, we take a lot of things out of context. We as good independent fundamental Baptist, we'll take a verse and we'll run with it. And, uh, I, you go to Romans 12 and, uh, the Bible said, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, uh, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Well. I've, I've preached on that and I believe that can be a standalone verse, but as you go through chapter 12, um, he gives us a lot of things that shows us that we're not our own. And then brother Foy, he gets all the way down to verse 21 of chapter 12. Well, even this, uh, he said, uh, in verse 14, bless them, which persecute you and curse not. Well, we don't. do that do we I mean surely God is okay with me stand up for myself and when people offend me and hurt me and you know I can do that. Watch this be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the Lord rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, giving to hospitality. Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that do weep. Be of the same mind, one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceit. Watch this, recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And therefore, watch this, if thine enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt reap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. You can't do that in your flesh. Amen? You can't do it. So see, we've taken the Scripture and we'll say, well, you know, God understands. He sure does and He still wrote that. In the evil day we live, He still wrote that. And so we come up, man, I mean at work and at play and at school and in the Walmart parking lot and in the Walmart store and everywhere, even in church, right? People, that's still true. So how do we do that? Well, if you go back to Romans chapter 3, Verse number nine, again, we've been preaching through Romans this year and in verse number nine, Paul writes this, he said, what then are we better than they? By the way, that's a question. He said, no, in no wise, for we have before proved both you and Gentiles that they are all under sin. Let me ask you this, how many sitting here this morning are Jews? How many are Gentiles? Let's not be ashamed of. That's what you are, right? Well, how many of you are under sin? Some of you go, I don't know. You are. Right, if you're a Jew or a Gentile, the Bible said all. All, that encompasses everyone, Greek, Hebrew. We're all in the same boat. Right? And so it goes on to say this, as it is written, now I want to make sure we believe the King James Bible is the inspired, preserved word of God. Right, brother? No, that's what we learned this morning. God breathed it, so it's forever settled. Can we agree with that? Well, the Bible said, as it is written, which means it is the word of God, there is how many righteous? None. No, not what? One. How many is righteous? How many in here is righteous? How many out there is righteous? Amen. That's what, see, when you get to the place that you understand that it changes your perspective of things. Well, I deserve, no, you deserve hell. So do I. And that's, that's what Paul's trying to get us to see. There's none righteous. None of us are righteous. No, not one. Notice verse 11. What? There is how many that understandeth. There is how many that seeketh after God. Well, I don't know about you. I'm starting to get a little depressed. So they are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not how many? How many? Is there anybody that does good? What are we doing here? You see what I'm saying? We get saved, we get born again, God saves us and all of a sudden we go, oh, I've arrived. You've not arrived, you're still in that all category. You're just a forgiven sinner. You're not an arrived sinner yet, right? And so, sin reaches across all lines. It doesn't matter if you grew up independent Baptist, doesn't matter if you grew up not Baptist, doesn't matter if you were worshiping stumps when you were a kid or didn't worship anything, we're all in the same boat. And that ought to change the way we look at things. See, I think sometimes we have this independent Baptist pride where we're like, well, we got saved, we're born again, we don't go out, we're not in prison, we don't go out and commit adultery and we don't do these things and we listen to the right kind of music and we carry the right Bible. You need to understand this morning that without the grace of God, without the long suffering of God, without the mercy of God, you're just as much doomed to go to prison and really be in hell than anybody else. And so it reaches beyond borders, racial lines, social lines, cultural lines, financial lines, and religious lines. All means all. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. It's all the same thing. God is saying, listen, we're all level. The ground's level for the cross. And so he deals in the first three chapters. He's dealt with the heathen. He's dealt with the hypocrite. He's dealt with the Hebrew. And all have been dealt with now, he deals with all of humanity. You say, well, I'm not a heathen, hypocrite or a Hebrew. Well, you're part of humanity. Far as I know. I don't think we've got any aliens in here or cyborgs or something else. So what he's saying is I'm going to make sure we all understand that we're all under sin. You go to Walmart and you see somebody and they're, listen, they're not dressed right and they're, I mean, I get it. You go to Walmart and you want to see the pillars of society, that's where you go. But we're no better. We're no better. Right? You go to prison, you're no better. Amen. So now humanity at large is summoned to hear God's indictment against mankind. And so here's what he deals with in these verses. Number one, he deals with the racial aspect. In verse number nine he said, What then are we better than they? See, that's the whole idea of prejudice and racism. It doesn't matter what race it is. Elevating one race over another is racism. Prejudice is prejudging or elevating. And we may not call it that, but let's be honest, there's some, brother, we look at it, brother Jimmy, and say, well, you know what? We're Baptists, and since we are Bible-believing Baptists, we're better than this particular denomination. Well, there's a lot of Baptists in the penitentiary, too, by the way. There's a lot of folks that say they're independent Baptists but they don't believe the Bible. So before you go patting yourself on the back, the most important thing you can be as a Christian is saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. And so Paul's really dealing with that. He's got these Hebrews and they're saying, you don't understand we're of the lineage of Paul. I mean, the lineage of Abraham. You don't understand. how far our religion goes back. You don't understand that God has, through this lineage, the Messiah is coming. Paul is saying, no, you don't understand the Messiah has come. You don't understand that it's not about how you grew up and it doesn't matter how much Bible you can quote and it doesn't matter that you sat on a pew. There'll be so many, my friend, that are in hell that sat on a Baptist church pew their whole life and heard the gospel preached every single Sunday and they never received Christ. It's not about what you grew up or how you grew up. See, some will say, I'm not saved because I grew up in such a harsh environment and I didn't have all the luxuries of life and I didn't have all the benefits. And then some will turn the other way because they never see a need for God. I'm telling you, if you're breathing air this morning, you need God. See, the racial aspect is this, all men are lost. All under sin, that's what it's saying. Let us, verse number nine, what then are we better? Know and know wise for we have before proved both you and Gentile that they are all under sin, all, all of us. Do we realize this morning that without the blood you're doomed? Do we realize, and what's sad, Brother Shane, is we sit here in our Baptist churches and sit in Methodist churches and Pentecostal churches, whatever church, and we've made a profession of faith and we say, well, I'm good, I'm going to heaven. I can't wait until Jesus comes. But there's a world out there that's Jew and Hebrew that's on their way to hell that have not accepted Christ. Brother Matt, we're just sitting here going, well, you know, they're getting what they deserve. Friend, you ought to get on your face before God and thank God you didn't get what you deserve. See, before we got to the place where we're... Yeah, I'm saved. I'm born again, but you know, I'm not like they are. You were. Such were some of you. Folks, I'm telling you, it is humbling when you realize that you didn't deserve what you got. The grace of God is God's unmerited favor. The mercy of God is God not giving you what you deserve. Amen. So Paul's getting very clear. All men are lost. Black, white, good neighborhood, bad neighborhood. America, Africa, South America, in prison, out of prison, all men, all of them, amen. It ought to change the way we look at people. We ought to look at people with our hearts broken knowing that they're going to hell without Jesus Christ. But you know, let's be honest, we kind of have that us four and no more mentality. You know, me and my family. I think we're going to be surprised how many of our families are going to be there. Brother Russell, we've talked ourselves into believing that every kid that's ever made a profession of faith, well, they asked Jesus to come into their heart when they were a baby. And I believe in once saved, always saved. And I believe they're okay. They're just away from the Lord, preacher. They're just away from God. They were taught better than that. Okay. But have you ever just realized that maybe they're not saved? Maybe their fake little profession of faith and there was never a change in their life didn't do a thing for them. But it makes you feel better that someday you're going to... Listen to me, church. You can fool yourself and have some peace on this earth that your kids are okay with God because they made a little profession of faith. But wouldn't you rather be burdened on this side of eternity and see them on the other side? See, we must come to terms with our sinful nature. Without Jesus Christ, there is no telling what any of us would do. Amen. So we all have a death sentence on us. It doesn't matter where you are, who you are, where you came from. Every man has a death sentence on their head. Well, I just don't know if I could serve a God that was like that. Oh, let me tell you something. You better serve a God that's like that because He's the only one that offers a way out. Right? So here, Paul has made it real clear, it doesn't matter where you came from, who you are, that all men are lost. Why do we send missionaries all across the world? Because all men are lost. Why do we knock on doors? Because all men are lost. Why do we hand out tracts at the restaurant? Because all men are lost. Why do we run buses? Why do we have a Spanish ministry? Listen, you say, well, preacher, if we weren't spending money on Spanish ministry and missions, just think what we could do for the church. Listen, a church that won't reach the lost will die. They're going to die. And you're seeing it over and over. And let's be honest. Can I get just plain? I'm so tired of this preservation mindset. Well, let's just preserve what we got. You cannot do that. A living organism has to grow. It is our job, Brother Matt, to go out there and find lost people and tell them about Jesus Christ and to grow the church. You say, well, I just don't agree with that. Well, guess what? When your kids and my kids are here and we've not done getting new blood in the church, I mean, that's what we're to do. You know what's going to happen? We're going to be relics. This church will be a relic. And I hear all the time, well, I remember back when the sanctuary was completely full. Well, good. What have you done about it? What have you done? All of a sudden it got quiet, didn't it? Somebody ought to do something. Right? Jesus is coming back and we're sitting going, well, you know what? I believe most people are good. No, that's not what the Bible said. All are under sin. Not only all men are lost, all men are level. You say, what do you mean by that? Well, notice what Paul said. What then? Are we better than they? There's no race or religion elevated. Doesn't matter where you come from. Doesn't matter the pigment of your skin. Doesn't matter your religious background. We're either sinners or saints. It doesn't matter. You're one or the other. And this morning, I'm here to bring you some good news. What's behind you doesn't matter. It's what you do with Jesus Christ today that matters. So number one, there's the racial aspect Paul deals with. But then in verses 10 through 12, there's a religious aspect. Notice in verse 10, he says, As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one. So he's dealing, first of all, that men are unrighteous. Now we like to, we'll argue, most people, Brother Harley, will argue that they're right to the death, right? The Bible said that only by pride cometh contention. In other words, if I don't have pride, we're not gonna fight. That's what it means. That I've got so much stinking pride, Brother Randy, that I'm going to dig my heels in and prove to you that I'm right. You know what, that's pride. But I'm right. Okay. I'm going to prove that I'm right. Okay. I'm real, most of the time I'm real happy because I just, I found this out. When you know you're right, you don't have to prove you're right. When you know you're right, you don't have to... Listen, 2 plus 2 is 4. You can argue 2 plus 2 is 5. All right, you can believe what you want to believe. But 2 plus 2 is 4, and I don't care what Common Core says or anybody else. 2 plus 2 is 4. If you jump off a building, you're going to hit the ground. You can argue with me all day. I don't believe in gravity. Well, help yourself. You will. I don't have to argue about gravity. And see, that's what I'm saying. A lot of the argument comes because we just got to be right. And why is that? Pride. Because most people, most people, there's this pride, brother Bart, that if I'm right, I'm better. Right? If you're wrong and I'm right, I'm better than you. I'm higher. I'm elevated. Right? Preachers are no different. They'll argue about the dumbest stuff to prove that they're right about stuff. I don't care. We got a job to do. There's people dying and going to hell. We're worried about whether or not we're right. And that's what Paul's saying here. He said, Are we better than they? No. We're unrighteous. Right? What does righteous mean? Right. I was talking to a guy the other day, and he was arguing with... Here's the thing, if you don't argue back, there's some people I think just like to hear themselves talk. This guy, Jim, was arguing me about Israel. You know, all these Christians saying they're God's people, and I look at all that they've done, and look at how corrupt the government is, and I just think we're being duped, and I said, maybe. I said, look how corrupt our government is. Right? He's like, all these Christians, they're just saying support Israel. I'm like, yeah, what the Bible tells us to do. Yeah, but they're Zionist. Well, we got atheists in America. They're corrupt and they're wicked and there's all this homosexuality and all this stuff going on over there. Like America? See what I'm saying? I'm just like, okay, brother. Believe what you want to. Right. I mean, but we're going to argue about stuff that doesn't matter. And there are people dying and going to hell and we're just, that's what I'm saying. Romans chapter 12, it's building to the point where it was like, well, okay, when you realize that everybody's a sinner, everybody's unrighteous, nobody's really seeking after God, that it takes a work of God in your life to get you where you need to be. How can I look at anybody else and think I'm better? That's what Paul's trying to say. I would to God, God's people would get that. I mean, Brother Eddie, we think when we get saved, we've arrived. Everybody else is, you know, just scum and we're, you know, we're... Hallelujah. Man, I don't want to get to the place, Brother Jimmy, ever that I think I've got it figured out. Listen, the more I study the Bible, the less I... The more I realize, I don't know much. So, men are unrighteous. Man is incapable by nature of doing that which is right in the sight of God. Now, we'll do what's right in our own eyes, right? We'll do what's right in our own eyes to make us happy. And by the way, that's called narcissism. That's called selfishness. That's called humanism. And it's no different among God's people. I see it all the time. Well, I go to that church because they do this for my children. I get fed and I enjoy the fellowship. What about this? What about we get to the place where we feed ourselves and we go to church so we can serve God? Amen! Every man did what was right. Look at the Old Testament. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. And it was one of the darkest days in Israel's history. And now we're no different. Listen, you can blame COVID. You can blame Trump. You can blame Obama. But I'm telling you this, this downward spiral was happening way before 2020. We're lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. And so this attitude produced one of the darkest times in their history and is producing one of the darkest times of our history. And the life of Christ shows us just how crooked we are. You want to compare yourself to somebody, don't let it be me. I promise you this, you'll look good if you compare yourself to me. Don't compare yourself to your wife. Don't look at another Christian. That's why we have the Gospels. We have the account of Jesus Christ walking on the earth. And if you'll get into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and you'll follow the life of Christ, you'll realize how unrighteous you really are. Amen. Amen. But I want to feel good about myself. No, no. I want to feel good about Jesus, don't you? So men are unrighteous, but then, verse 11, men are unreasonable. The Bible said, there's none that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God. Now you say, I don't agree with that. Well, I'm just reading the Bible. There is how many that understandeth? Hmm. Brother Johnny, there's how many that seeketh after God? Let's pray, go home. That's all of us. You say, well, how do we seek after God? Well, the fact is the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God, 1 Corinthians 2.14. Man's power to think lifts him above the beast of the field. See, here's what we've done. So that man is not accountable to God, we've said that we're animals. Is that right? that we have equated ourselves to a common animal and animals are dictated by instinct. A dog is going to act like a dog. A snake is going to act like a snake, right? People get pet alligators and pet snakes and then, you know, their pet lion and then when it attacks me, I don't know, I thought I had it trained pretty well. Well that's your ignorance, right? A lion is going to eat stuff. So people get a snake. I can't believe that snake bit me. What's he supposed to do? Right? A snake has instincts. Dogs have instincts. Humans have reasoning. God has developed us with intellect so that we can choose what to do and what not to do. That's called the free will of man. That's what you've got. So man is unreasonable. Why? Because he denies the truths of God. He has no natural understanding in the spiritual realm. You have to be taught by the Spirit of God before you can understand the things of the spiritual realm. Doesn't make sense. That's why people without faith, Brother Adam, they're going, I don't get that. I can't trust in a God. I can't see. Well, there's some things you're not going to understand about the spiritual realm until you believe God. It's not, show me and I'll trust you. It is, trust me and then he'll show you. That's the way it works. Well, I can't do that. Then you'll never get any farther than where you are. So one thing, on the things that matter most, man is blind. Satan sees to it. That's why people, they'll sit in a church like this and they'll go, well, I know that's what the Bible said but. Right? I know that I need to be saved, but I believe. I know what the Bible says about being saved, but I believe that I'm the exception. I believe my good outweighs my bad. Right? I believe I'm good enough. I believe my baptism... I made a deal with God. You know how many times I've heard that? I made a deal with God. God doesn't make deals. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man come to the Father but by me. There's the deal. Either him or nothing. Right? Real simple. See, when you make deals, you don't know in the negotiation, even if it's written down, if the terms of the contract are true. Well, see, he's written it down, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So therefore, you and I have to realize that we're unreasonable. Here's, give it to you this way. If you were good enough to go to heaven, why'd Jesus die? And if Jesus died and you stand before God and say, well, I think my good outweighed my bad, that's a slap in the face to God. I mean, if I let my son die in your place and you came to me and he went to prison for you and died in your place and I heard you on the street later and said, well, they let me out on good behavior. I'd probably choke you out. Because I gave my son in your place so you could go free. And so see when we look at it that way and we say well I know Jesus died but I still think I'm good enough to get to heaven. What you're doing is you're pointing your finger in the face of a holy God and say I don't believe what you did was good enough. That I'm equal with you. We're unreasonable. And then man is unresponsive. In verse 11, there's none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Well, man will not naturally seek after God. He'll go the other direction. He'll seek after the flesh. He'll seek after things that satisfy him. Right? That hole in us that God put in us, if we seek after the things we want, we put worldly things in there. So you say how does a man turn to God? Well, the Holy Spirit convicts. See, it's not natural for a man to want God. Because the flesh is saying if I turn to God I'm going to have to give up all this fun stuff, right? I can't satisfy the flesh with all the things of this world. Well, then the Holy Spirit, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, the Holy Spirit deals with a man's heart and says, hey, there's something wrong with you. And you say, oh, okay, well, I know there's something wrong with me, but I think if I just do better, if I go through this program, that I can fix it, or I'll just try harder, right? Well, that'll work on some things. But when it comes to eternal things, the Holy Spirit says, nope, there's something wrong with you. And then you hear the Word of God preached. It may not even be a salvation message, but the Holy Spirit says, now the Word of God says the only way that you're going to go to heaven is to accept the finished work of Jesus Christ. And you didn't desire that. That is anti-flesh. So we're unreasonable and unresponsive because in the flesh we won't do it. Nobody goes to church. Kids, you drag them to church when they're kids, right? They don't want to go. But you become adults and you don't have to go to church if you don't want to. Right? I mean, let's be honest. There's something inside of you that says, hey, you say you're a Christian, you ought to be in a place around other Christians. Amen. People say, well, I don't have to go to church to be a Christian. You don't. But there's something inside of you that's saying, I want to be around other believers. I want to be at a place where the Word of God is preached. I want to be at a place where they sing about Jesus. I want to be at a place where we can corporately worship. Yeah, you can worship God on a bass boat or in a tree stand or sitting out in the field. You can do that. You should do that sometimes. But you can't get the corporate worship experience with God's people unless you come to the place God said to come. That's the local church. But that's not natural. See, the natural man is saying, I don't want to go there. And so even some folks that are saved, they'll say, well, you know, the flesh, we'll feed the flesh, and we'll say, well, I don't want to go to church, or I only want to go once in a while, and I think I'll get, well, the problem with that is, that's the natural man, that's not the supernatural man. Because see, if you're saved, there's still something inside of you that's saying you need to go. Am I right? I'm not saying it drags you. That's free will. But there's something inside of you saying you need to go and you have to make a decision whether or not you're going to go. You face it every week. I do too. Right? Every Sunday night, Wednesday night, you face it. And so what I'm saying is God makes the first move towards us. You don't desire God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict men of their sin in need of God. But some, some, even this morning, there's some of you, you may be here, you're lost and on your way to hell and you're going, well, I'm just going to wait. You're unresponsive. Some of you this morning, you're saved. But you're so cold on God, you're going to sit there unresponsive. It's like, I did my duty, came to church, got a check, right? Here's my checklist, got it done today. See you next week, preacher! Right? You're unresponsive. Then, finally, men are unrepentant. Verse 12 said, they are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Well, man's good deeds do not outweigh his bad deeds. None of them, not yours, not mine. You say, look at all the good I've done. You know, here's the thing. Can we be honest? All right, I'll give you an example. How many, don't raise your hand, I don't want to embarrass God's people, but I want you to think how many, how many have ever done a food diary. In other words, you write down everything you eat in a day, right? That's what it says. If you want to lose weight, get healthy, whatever, write down what you eat. We don't know what we eat, we're just... I don't think I ate bad today, right? And they'll say, what you need to do is write down everything you ate. Can we agree? Quit looking at the floor, look up here at me. Even if we do that, we tend to remember the good stuff we eat to write down. Somehow have amnesia when it comes to the snicker bar. Am I right? Yeah, what snicker bar? Well, this was a healthy snicker bar is what they said. Right? Yeah, this was at the health food store. It was good for you kind of candy bar. But it still had 400 calories in it, but it's healthy. That's good calories, right? My point being, I'm not... See, some of you under committee, why is he going out? I'm trying to make you understand that if you eat good stuff, it's like, I had grilled chicken breast, and I had broccoli and Brussels sprouts today, and they're all great. But you don't tell people about the 15 chips and, you know, chocolate bars, right? Is that right? Because we don't want to think about the bad stuff, we want to acknowledge the good stuff. And it's no different when it comes to the good outweighs the bad. If you were honest and you really weighed the good and the bad, you'd see that your bad far outweighs the good. Right? God's saying that you can put the scale any way you want to, but the bad's going to be way heavier. That's why we need Jesus. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Doesn't matter if your scale is like this, or if it's like that, or if it's like that. It's short, right? Doesn't matter if you almost made it to the other side, or you jumped and just barely made it. If you don't make it to the other side, you still die. So all of sin comes short of the glory of God. So we're just unrepentant. You'll hear the Bible preached and there's something inside of you that tells you, you ought to go to the altar and get things right today. But then there's a flesh side of you saying, not today. There's the spirit saying, you need to get saved today. Your flesh is saying, not today. Right? Well, here's the problem. One day, don't know when that is, one day, those days run out. You don't have any more chances. One day, one day you won't have another opportunity to get things right with the Lord. I don't know if that's today, might be. So when I look at humanity, how can I not give the gospel when somebody gave it to me? How can I not forgive when I've been forgiven? How can I not love when I don't deserve His love? We gotta get to the place, folks, we understand that we're no better. We're just saved. And it changes our perspective on things. I'm not good. And the more I study God's Word, the more I realize how far away I am from the standards. So Paul, again, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is writing to us saying, listen, church, it ought to be humbling to think that God, in His grace, mercy, and love, would save us and keep us. There's nothing to brag about, nothing to pat ourselves on the back. It's humbling. That's why we shouldn't look down our nose at people. We look at them and say, well, if they'd get right with God. Yeah, that's the fact of it. But how many times did God, in His long suffering, speak to you? How many messages did you hear before you got right with God? How many times did the Spirit of God deal with your heart before you got right? Right? This morning, I'm thankful for the grace of God. The commonality of human sin is just this, we're all sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Let's stand together. Heads bowed, I'm glad there's hope though, isn't it? If we left it there, that'd be very depressing. We'd all go to hell. But I'm thankful for the grace of God, thankful for Calvary. This morning, if you don't know Him as your Savior, let me invite you to come. This morning, if you've not responded to the Holy Spirit of God, He's dealing with your heart this morning, let me invite you to come. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed, she begins to play. If you never trusted Him as your Savior, if you're not sure where you'd spend eternity, will you slip your hand up? Say, Pastor, I want you to pray for me. I don't know that I'd go to heaven if I died today. I'm not saying you're a good or bad person. I'm saying that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Would you do it? Preacher, I need to know this morning that if I die, I'd go to heaven. Maybe you're unsure. Would you come? Maybe God spoke to your heart because your walk is not what it needs to be with God. Would you come? Just respond. Respond. The difficulty is responding. You felt it in your heart this morning. God spoke to your heart. You're going, yeah, but I don't want to go up there. If God tells you to come, you need to come. You mind God. Father, thank you for the message. Thank you for the grace of God. Thank you for Calvary. I pray if there's one that doesn't know you, Savior, before they leave here, they'd get saved. Give us a greater burden for those on the outside of the church and those on the inside of the church. Get glory out of our lives. Thank you for being good to us in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.