God Gave Them Up

Well, we're in Romans chapter one, and we have come to again we're in that second segment in Romans chapter one that goes from Romans chapter one and verse eighteen all the way through chapter eight. But even in the midst of this division, there's another subdivision here in Romans one two. And even in that subdivision, there's another subdivision in Romans chapter one Versus eighteen through the end of the chapter. And that's where we're concentrating right now. We're looking at this picture of sin and its origins and its consequences. And as we come to this picture of sin, we look first of all at the fact that man, because of what God has revealed of himself in general revelation, is without excuse and is accountable for his sin. We then look specifically at man and his sin as it relates to denying God's existence, God's majesty, God's authority. And there's a corner that's turned in that last paragraph. It's almost as though there's a distinction here as of the first part of this section deals with man and his alienation from God because of his violation of the first four commandments, the vertical commandments that have to do with our duty to God, and we turned the corner there and started at the last part of the last paragraph to look at man's violation of the last six commandments, or man's duty toward man. And it's interesting how these two are interconnected, and they are interconnected at the point that we speak about day in our sin as it relates to sexual behavior. Now, that brings me to what we always do at times like these. If you remember, in Genesis chapter nineteen, I'll give you a little disclaimer. Here in Romans chapter one, I'll give you a little disclaimer. This passage deals with sex homosexuality, and it deals honestly and plainly. Now, just like we did in Genesis chapter one, every effort will be made to speak about these topics in a way that is both truthful and decent. Every effort will be made. But there are some honest things that are said about the behavior of homosexuality here in this passage of scripture. I will be as careful as I can. However, there are some and I know that there are folks who just feel like you know, when you don't want your kids to I probably already upset you because I didn't spell sex and actually said the word. And if that's you, then just know that here in Romans chapter one, in this particular paragraph, it deals very honestly with sex, and it deals very honestly with deviant behaviors connected to that particular issue. My promise to you is that I will be as honest as I can and as careful as I can in dealing with this particular subject. And if you were here when we dealt with Genesis chapter nineteen, or if you've heard that message from Genesis chapter nineteen, you have a pretty good idea of what I am saying. All right, Having said that, let us begin Romans on beginning at verse twenty six. This is the second of the three. Therefore he gave them over clauses. The first one was in last week's paragraph. Therefore, he gave them up to the lust of their hearts, to impurity. Here's the second, the one in the middle. For this reason, he gave them up to dishonorable passions. And then the third, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God. In verse twenty eight, God gave them up to a debased mind. So we're right in the middle of all of that. And here in the middle of all of that we read. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions for their women, exchange 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 that do penalty for their error. Now, as we examine this, here's what I want you to recognize. I want you to recognize. First, there's an umbrella statement. We got to recognize this statement. We heard about it last week. You hear about it again on next week. But this idea of God giving them up, this idea of God turning them over, here's here's not the picture. This is. This is not what the picture is. The picture is not you know, God says there and he's kind of got his arms fold and he's gonna see what folks are gonna do. All of a sudden, people make a decision, and God says, okay, fine, that's the whey you're gonna go. I'm done with you. That's not the picture. There is a balance here that needs to be struck. We need to understand that the picture is this. These individuals who are without excuse, are pursuing what they desire. We talked about that when we laid the foundation. Nobody is acting in any way that they don't desire. Men are not dragged off and forced into sin. They don't have to be. They do not rail against it. It is the natural disposition of man to pursue his own desires and to pursue sin. But as man pursues sin, there are consequences. And one of the consequences as man pursues sin is that it leads him into more and greater sin. So the statement here is not one of God forcing men somewhere that they don't want to go. Nor is the statement here of God just sort of completely and utterly taking his hands off, as though this has happened, therefore there's never any hope for you. Neither of those is true, because the fact of the matter is God often uses these consequences to draw people to himself. Amen, there are those who are saved today whose testimony is I got what I wanted and it ate me up on the inside, and that's precisely what led me to the cross. So there must be a balance here. But here's what you need to also recognize there is that sense in which there's the possibility that is held out for these individuals, and we need to know that and we need to hold on to that. But there is the other sense in which God is actively involved in the process of allowing them to go where they desire to go. And if you want to see that, let's draw a distinction. Go back with me to Genesis chapter twenty. Genesis chapter twenty, and you'll remember in Genesis chapter twenty we have this instance of Abraham and Abimelech. Abraham goes and basically is afraid of a Bimeleic, so he says that Sarah is actually his sister, does not claim Sarah as his wife. A Bimelech takes Sarah into his own household with the idea of making her his wife. And we look at this situation and think this is just bad. This is going to be awful. Your mind begins to paint pictures. But in verse six we read something, Now look at this. Then God said to him in a dream to a Bimelek and a dream, yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart. In other words, Abimelech didn't know he thought he was right. It was wrong, but he thought it was right. So God says, I know you've done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Here's what you need to know. You're not as bad as you could be. Amen, that's what you need to know. That we talked about this before. The doctrine of total depravity does not mean that man is as bad as he could be, because he's not. It means that every aspect of man's character and nature has been touched and affected by the fall. That every part of us impacted by the fall does not mean that we are as bad as we could be. And it is the grace of God alone that keeps you and keeps me from being as bad as we could be. That is true even of the non elect, the man on the street that does not know God, that has not been born again, that does not know Jesus in the pardon of his sins, the most hardened criminal that you've ever heard about in your life, it's not as bad as he could be. And it is the providence of God, and the providence of God alone that makes that soul. Now, with that in mind, here in our passage. Let these words settle in on you the way they ought to listen to me again for this reason, for what reason? First of all general revelation that heavens are declaring the glory of God. Man sees this ought to know that there is a God, can know that there is a God, can know the power of God, can know that there is a creator of the universe. However, man exchanges the glory of God for creeping things, for things and nature, and ultimately for himself and for his own desires. As a result of that, we saw the first phase where man is given over to these passions. Now these passions that he's given over to, he gives in to and there's another phase of this. It gets worse, and verse twenty six we see for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable or shameful passions earlier. God's giving them over to these impurities. Now what happens when he gives them over to these impurities is that they take what God has given and they use it in the wrong context. These dishonorable passions are different. They take what God has not given. The practice in view here in Romans Chapter one is the practice that God has not given. It's one thing for heterosexual people to engage in promiscuous activity, taking this beautiful thing that God has made and abusing it in the context that God did not intend. This is different. This is different. And there are three things that we see here about the practice of homosexuality that I want you to grasp. The first is this, I want you to know what's wrong with this sin? What's wrong about this sin? Because only then, I believe, can we have the proper kind of compassion for those individuals who find themselves caught up in this particular sin. Because here's what's heinous. What's heinous is that in our culture today, we've actually been sold a bill of goods. And that bill of goods that we've been sold communicates this to us. There are people who are engaging in activities that are completely abominable before God, but the right thing for you to do is learn to accept it. There are people engaging in activities who desperately need to be called to account, who desperately need someone to be merciful enough to speak the truth to them because it is their only hope. And yet the bill of goods that we've been sold is this, don't tell them the truth. In fact, you need to feel guilty about believing the truth, and so the adversary uses that to continue to hold people captive. I want you to understand these three things. First, for their women exchanged the natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and the men likewise gave up the natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. The first problem with this is that it is unnatural. Homosexuality is unnatural. Interestingly enough, this correlates to the first paragraph. Remember the first paragraph. Paul is not saying here that homosexuality is a problem because there are Bible verses against homosexuality. That's not his argument. Remember his argument here in this whole section is that general revelation is enough for man to be without excuse. Man is guilty, man is accountable based on general revelation. So look at the first part of this and we read for the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who were in verse eighteen, by their unrighteousness, suppressed the truth. For what can be known about God as plain to them, because God has shown it to them for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse. In other words, you do not need Genesis nineteen in order to understand that homosexuality is wrong. You just need the created order. That's all it takes, is the created order. Just common grace gives us that. You do not need special revelation in order to know that that's not the natural way that God designed men and women. That's a function. You do not have to be a rocket scientist or even a biologist to understand that that is not correct. It is not right, It is not natural. So that's the first problem, that this is not natural. Interestingly enough, what is the argument and the push in our culture? The argument and the push in our culture is to define it as natural. That's where you start. You have to define homosexuality as natural. How do you define homosexuality as natural? I'm glad you asked. One way that we attempt to define it as natural is to raise this argument people are born that way, and if people are born that way, then it has to be natural. Because no one in the history of the world has ever been born that's not natural? Did you catch that we're born with things that aren't natural all the time. Here's the other problem. The line of argumentation says people are born this way, and in fact, you can't even call it a line of argumentation because people don't even argue this anymore. They just state it as raw fact, as though science has proven that people are born this way. There's a small problem. There is no scientific proof of any kind that people are born homosexual none. There is no genetic proof, none, studies of identical twins, nothing. There's no evidence that has told us that people are born as homosexuals. The closest thing that we have to evidence is people who are self professed homosexuals who tell their story and say things like as early as I can remember. That's the proof, you guys. That's it. That's all we got is that there are a number of people who say as early as I can remember. But here's the question. Here's what I want you to do, Because this is what they want you to do. Attention to the man behind the curtain. Just watch the screen up here. The great and powerful laws is telling you that this is natural. Because people say that they can't remember a time when they didn't feel this way. What's the man behind the curtain? But the man behind the curtain is this question. Even if you prove that people are born that way, you just proved that they are born with an unnatural predilection. You haven't proven that it's acceptable. What if a man is born with a natural tendency toward violence, does that make it okay? It doesn't. So here's the first problem. The first problem is that we go all the way back to the beginning, and this is a denial of the God of the universe, who has revealed himself through creation. So Paul is here connecting this practice with the sin that has gone before that lays the foundation for it. The foundation for it is a denial of God as creator. The foundation for it is a denial of what God has created. So the first problem with the practice of homosexuality is that it is unnatural. Here's the second problem. Not only is it unnatural, it's insatiable. Look at the next part of the text. Men likewise give up the natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another. Don't miss that phrase there, They're consumed with it. It is insatiable. It cannot be satisfied. Why because it's not natural. You cannot be satisfied. It is a thirst that cannot be quenched. It is like the drug addict. Why do people continue to be addicted to drugs? Because they can never ever be satisfied. They have to do it again because they either can never experience that high that they experienced that first time, or because their mind keeps telling them that there is something out there that they haven't quite tapped into yet. But they cannot be satisfied. They even rewire the workings of their brain so that their cravings are continually turned on for this thing. It's the same with homosexuality. It is insatiable. You cannot be satisfied. I wrestled, and wrestled and wrestle, I think I mentioned before the book After the Ball, It was written in nineteen eighty nine by Kirk and Matson, How Americans will get over their fear and hatred of gays in the nineteen nineties. It was written in eighty nine, and it reads like it reads like prophecy. It's amazing how prophetic some of these statements seem to be. And basically they are outlining a campaign of propaganda to cause people to think differently about homosexuality. Well, in the last chapter of Kirk and Matson's book, they get real honest with the homosexual community and say, there's some things that we either have to stop doing or stop letting people know we do, if our propaganda campaign is going to be successful. And there's a segment in it that I want I kept, and I kept trying to pare it down, and I kept trying to edit it, but there was just no way that I could read that segment for you today. I just couldn't. It could not be done. So I'll try to give you the family Integrated Church, We're all in here together version of what they said. And here was the argument, and again, Kirkin Matsen, they're homosexuals. They are leaders in this movement whose goal it was to use propaganda to cause people to think differently about this lifestyle so that it would gain acceptance, so that they, first of all, would gain acceptance as a preferred minority group to be protected. And they're very clear. They say, for example, that AIDS was a small window of opportunity for them to gain sympathy and be seen as an oppressed minority group, and that they needed to strike while the iron was hot and take advantage of sympathy over aids in order to propagandize us. Here's their argument about the insatiability of it. You start and the most innocent things satisfy you after a while, it's not just the most innocent thing, and it's not just this individual. It has to be a variety of individuals. After a variety of individuals comes a variety of experiments. After a variety of experiments come practices that are unspeakable. And they argue that the overwhelming instance of drug and alcohol addiction within this particular segment of society, which is off the charts related as when compared to Americans as a whole, has a great deal to do with the desire and the belief that somehow, maybe through the aid of some kind of chemical they can get to the place that they simply cannot find. Otherwise, you can't be satisfied. Why we're not made to be satisfied that way. By the way, heterosexuality outside of the proper confines has the same problem. It's insatiable. You cannot be satisfied because you were not meant to be satisfied that way. Folks, the only place that you and I can find satisfaction is in Christ. And the only reason that the marital union can be satisfying for us is because we are in Christ and in a marriage relationship that has been ordained by God, created by God, not to satisfy as completely in and of itself, but because Christ is our ultimate goal. Being in a relationship whose purpose is the illustration of the relationship between Christ and his Church brings us the only possibility whatsoever that we can be satisfied with another person. Outside of that, it does not, cannot, and will not exist. And so this sin is unnatural, and this sin is insatiable. I don't know how many of you have personal relationships with homosexuals, but if you have personal relationship with homosexuals, and if you know a number of homosexuals, if you met one or two people in your life, we may have a homosexuals. Now, that's not what I'm talking about. I mean, if you've got a good sample, if you've met dozens the homosexuals in your life, here's what you know and can say without hesitation. They're the most miserable lot you've ever met. In your life. It's sensatiable. It cannot and will not be satisfied. That's why this push for marriage is so ironic. The most promiscuous lot on the planet pushing for marriage. Kirk and Matchsen, by the way, make it very clear why the push for marriage is important. The push for marriage is important because it's another step in the propaganda war. It's another step towards acceptance. Thirdly, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the do penalty for their error. It's unnaturalbal it's unnatural, it's insatiable, and it's devastating. Homosexuality is a devastating and destructive lifestyle. Let me read this for you. I can read from this one. I've read through this section enough to where I feel like I can edit it down. But this is from the book Straight and Narrow, Compassion and clarity and the homosexuality debate. And there does need to be clarity, because there can't be compassion without clarity. And see you if you watch television or if you watch movies, here's what you see. You see the picture of the homosexual who's the snappy dresser who understands you know how the world works. Who's you know, the most witt person in the room, always the life of the party. That's the way in movies and on television, that's the way homosexuality is portrayed. They even took the word gay, which used to mean happy. And so there's a picture of this sophisticated lifestyle, this sort of bohemian freedom that homosexuals enjoy the finest of everything. But here's the reality. The most poignant way to summarize the barrage of statistics that describe this chapter is to translate them into an illustration. Suppose you were to move into a large house in San Francisco with a group of ten randomly selected homosexual men in their mid thirties. According to the most recent research from scientific sources whose authors are without exception, either neutral or positive in their assessment of homosexual behavior. That's important. The data I'm about to give you this. None of this is from people who are anti homosexual None of this data. This is from people like Kirk and Matson, who are homosexuals themselves, who talk about the data and with the use of lower numbers where statistics differ. So if one person says twenty five percent another person says thirty percent. They take the twenty five percent instead of the thirty For this illustration that I'm about to give you, the relational and physical health of the group would look like this again, Ten randomly selected gay men in their thirties. Four of the ten are currently in relationships, but only one of those is faithful to his partner He will not be within a year. Four have never had a relationship that lasted more than a year, and only one has had a relationship that lasted more than three years. Six are having relations regularly with strangers. Again six and ten, and the group averages almost two partners per person per month. Three of them occasionally take part in group activities, one is a sadomasochist, and at least one is a pedophile. Three of the men are currently alcoholics, five have a history of alcohol abuse, four have a history of drug abuse. Three currently smoked cigarettes, five regularly use at least one illegal drug, Three are multiple drug users, four have a history of acute depression, Three have seriously contemplated suicide, two have attempted suicide. Eight of the ten have a history of STDs, eight currently carry infection pathogens and currently suffer from ailments caused by these pathogens. At least three are infected with HIV and one has full blown AIDS. That is the homosexual lifestyle. It is devastating, it is destructive, and that's precisely what Paul says, receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. By the way, usually when we read that, people will hold that up and LSA. See age. If you notice the list that I just read, that was the last thing on the list. This is a devastating lifestyle. So here's my question. Is the proper and most compassionate way to respond to a lifestyle that sounds like what I just read to that everybody needs to just close their eyes and accept this, Or is the proper response to say this is unnatural, it's insatiable, and it's devastating and destructive, and Christ is your only hope. Which one's more compassionate, which one's more honest, Which one offers any hope whatsoever? And anyone under the sound of my voice who knows someone who's wrestling in this lifestyle does not need to be convinced of what I'm saying. But there may be some here who've bought the lie. There are some here who believe what you see in the movies, and believe what you see and television, and believe what's portrayed in the press, that somehow this is just a lifestyle filled with snappy dressers and quick witted men and women who are just loving and desperately desire nothing more than to be accepted and to have the same opportunities that the rest of us have to settle down with the one they love. Anyone who knows the homosexual lifestyle knows that's a farce. It is deception, pure and simple. Here's the thing you need to see on this continuum. We start with the first four commandments and man in direct violation of our duty to God. And we move into the last six commandments and manage the direct violation of his duty toward his fellow man. But I want you to notice something that happens between the last paragraph and this paragraph. Look at verse twenty four. Therefore God gave them up to the lust of their hearts, to impurity, to dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. That's a statement about what we do with one another. But we just turned the corner, and now we're talking about what we do two one another, and there's a difference. There's a difference between what we do with one another and what we do to one another. Are they both sinful? Yes, they're both sinful. But one of the most unthinkable aspects of the homosexual lifestyle is the devastation that individuals are heaping upon one another in the name of love. That's not love. Love doesn't do this. But here's the other problem and the bigger picture. And again, by the way, all of this, here's what I want you to note. I want you to note that you don't need special revelation for what Paul just said. Do you realize that we didn't have to go to all the Bible verses about homosexuality in order for Paul's point to be made. His point is one, it's unnatural. You look at nature and you see that general revelation. Common grace gets us there. Secondly, it's insatiable. Kirk and Matson in their book and other homosexual authors have made that very observation. It's insatiable. You cannot be that is fine, which is why there's such alcohol use and drug use and depression and attempts at suicide. It's insatiable. There is no hope, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You do not need special revelation in order to demonstrate that. And finally, it's devastating, it's destructive. The statistics that I read again, he took those from authors who are pro homosexual and many of them homosexuals themselves, not from evangelicals who are out to warn the world. So this goes right back to Paul's argument at the beginning of this section. Man is without excuse, not because of what God has said, but just because of what God has revealed in nature. How much more so when we recognize the special revelation that has been violated. Let me give you a list Genesis nineteen four through nine. That is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Levitic Is eighteen twenty two. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus twenty thirteen. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon them. Deuteronomy twenty three, seventeen and eighteen. None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, and none of the sons of Israel shall be a cult prostitute. By the way, cult prostitutes for males was almost actual prostitution. You shall not bring the fee of a prostitute or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God, and payment for any vow, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God. Even things that were associated with the practice. One Kings fourteen, twenty four, fifteen twelve, and twenty two, forty six, and twenty three seven all deal with the issue of cult prostitution for males. Isaiah chapter three and verse nine. For the look on their faces bears witness against them. They proclaim their sin like Sodom. They do not hide at will to them, for they have brought evil on themselves Lamentations four to six. For the chastisement of the daughters of my people has been greater than the punishment of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands were wrung out for her. First Corinthians chapter six, beginning in verse nine. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolatris, nor adulters, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God Ephesians four nineteen. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. The word used therefore impurity includes the practice of homosexuality. One Timothy one point nine. Understand this that the law is not laid down for the just, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers from murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, and slavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine two Peter two six. If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomora to ashes, he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly Jude verse seven, just as Sodom and Gomurah and the surrounding cities which likewise indult in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. See here's what the homosexual community says. On the inside of the church. There are just a few obscure verses that make mention of homosexuality, and those verses are all talking about practices that are not loving, But none of them would condemn a loving, committed relationship. I didn't hear that in what we read. General revelation condemns this, Special Revelation condemns this. But here's what I also want you to understand. In almost every instance where you see the practice of homosexuality condemned, you see general sexual immorality condemned right alongside with it. Amen. So here's what we need to know. What the homosexual needs is the same thing that the rest of us need. We need Christ, We need to be redeemed and there is hope. I've told you this before. Perhaps I don't know, but I'm gonna tell you again because it marked me indelibly. This is several years ago. Now, I'm on the campus at San Jose State University. It's been a week between Santose State and Stanford preaching on the campus there. Sometimes it's preaching out in the quad, you know, just sort of open air preaching. Other times we were doing different things. But so we're there at San Jose State and we have these tracks that were passing out, and we're talking to people about the Gospel, and we're preaching, and this young lady comes up to me. This young lady comes up to me, and she has on some blue jeans, some combat boots and an army jacket, and she's, you know, sort of wearing her clothes and her hair in such a way as it didn't take a lot to figure out which group she represented. She was part of the lesbian group on campus. She and a friend came up got in our faces, and it was obvious in that moment she got right up in my face. It was obvious what she wanted. She wanted a confrontation, she wanted me to go off, and she was pushing all the buttons just just right up in my face. And by the the grace of God, I was able to remain calm and continue to smile and all these sorts of things, And eventually I gave her some of the literature that we were passing out. She didn't get the fight that she wanted, and so she walked off, and I'm just thanking the Lord. I'm grateful because we've experienced victory. She wanted a war right in front of everybody. She didn't get the war that she wanted. There's been victory, and so we're all celebrating. Things calm down and people are in classes. It's half an hour forty five minutes later. She walks up to me, but her gait is different than it was before. She opens up this track and she says, what does this mean? And so I explained to her what it means. Well, what about this? I explained to her what it means. She's asking questions about the gospel and she looks at me and she says, do you mean to tell me that you believe that this Jesus that you preach would save me too? And I looked at her and I said, oh yeah, and she just stood there. And so I looked at her and she just stood there, not knowing what to do, and I said, can I pray for you? And with tears coming down her face, she looked at me and she asked me, would you really do that? Right? Here right now, I said, I'd be honored to so she just kind of stood there and put her hands even know what to do. I put my hand on her shoulder and I began to pray for her, and she just lean forward and her head just fell on my shoulder as I was praying for her, and all of a sudden, it just dawned on me. I wonder how many times in this young woman's life a man has touched her with no intention of harming her or using her. And I prayed for her, and she began to sob, and then this thought dawned on me. It would take no more grace for God to save her than it did for God to save me. No more. She was caught up in a particularly hateous lifestyle. But hear this, Jesus saves to the othermost. He is able. The last thing you and I need to do is to buy this lie that says what the homosexual needs is for us to alter what God has revealed in nature and what He has revealed in his word, so that there is no longer this condemnation of sin. Don't believe that. But at the same time, don't you dare believe you're better don't you dare believe that homosexuality is a bridge too far. God is able share the Gospel, share Christ is your only hope and has the homosexual's only hope. Not to condemn God's law can do that all by itself. That's not our job. Speak the truth, but by all means, speak the truth and love. That is the homosexuals only hope, and it is yours as well. Let's pray, Father, as we bow, we confess to you our natural tendency to stand tall and condemnation of sins that we don't practice. Grandfather, by your grace, that we might recognize that it is pure your mercy that has brought us to you. Purely your mercy that has allowed those of us in this room who aren't fighting this battle to not be caught up in this lifestyle. And it is purely your mercy and your mercy alone that can save the homosexual the Gospel not failing to speak the truth about this issue, the Gospel not being unnecessarily offensive on this issue, The Gospel and the Gospel alone, So maybe recognize our own need for mercy. May we recognize how hate us, our own sin is before you, and in doing so, May we turn to those enslaved in this lifestyle and speak truth as those who are recipients of it, in spite of our lack of worth, in spite of our unworthiness, and solely because of the value placed on us by Christ, who shed his blood to redeem us for himself. Make us humble, make us bold. We asked this because we believe it's in accordance with the will and the nature and the authority of your son Jesus, who is the Christ. Our only say, Master and Lord, Amen.