The Debased Mind

Well, we've come to the end of Romans chapter one. We have been here for a while, and could probably stay here a while longer, but we've come to the last paragraph here in Romans chapter one dealing with this issue of sin, and particularly dealing with this issue. Of sin and general revelation. We're looking at the fact that the entire gentile world is under condemnation because of sin, because of unrighteousness, because of wickedness, because of suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. And we've seen this. Digression really of sin in the first paragraph introducing this idea of sin as a result of man suppressing the truth, and that second paragraph beginning verse twenty four, we see the result of man's suppression of the truth in his idolatry and his promiscuity. And that next. Paragraph beginning there in verse twenty six, we saw it really go into downright degradation in the practice of homosexuality. And now we get a full force of man's sin as it manifests itself, and what it looks like in the context of man's experience in light of this sin being given full reiin and so if you'll begin with me, beginning at verse twenty eight. We'll read the third of these. Therefore, clauses the first one in verse twenty four. Therefore God gave them up for the lust of their hearts verse twenty six. For this reason, God gave. Them up to dishonorable passions. And now in twenty eight, 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. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And then here's the summary statement, verse thirty two. Though they knew God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who who practice them. Amen. A couple of questions three, In particular, one question is what gives rise to sin? It's very important that we answer that question as we finish Romans Chapter one. What gives rise to sin? Now if we're not careful we read here in Romans chapter one and forget theological foundation upon which the Book of Romans is built, and we would believe that what gives rise to sin is just man's sort of experience of unrighteousness that leads God to respond to that unrighteousness as man falls deeper and deeper into his sin. But you have to remember that sin is a result of the fall, that first and foremost, what gives rise to sin is the sin nature that infects an affects every human being. As our confession of faith reads. From this original corruption, or the original sin, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceede all actual transgressions. In other words, in plain English, those actual sins that we commit come forth from our sin nature. They come forth from the fact that we are. Born in sin, that all men have a sin nature, original sin. So what's happening here in Roman chapter one is not that man comes to the picture innocent and neutral, but in fact man comes inclined toward all evil, desiring all evil, which is why he suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. In Romans chapter five and verse twelve, Paul writes, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin. In other words, sin proceeds first and foremost from original sin. And it's because of that original sin that we actuate, that sin, that we act upon what is in us, that's where it begins. But sin is that's not the only thing that gives rise to sin. What also gives rise to sin is actual sin, the sin we commit. So it's one thing for us to be born with a sin nature. It's another thing for us to act on that sin nature. And what we've seen in Romans chapter one is that as we act on that sin nature, it gives rise to more sin, to further degradation. For example, look at verse twenty two, claiming to be why they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. So that's what man did, and as a result of that we have verse twenty four. Therefore, because of what because of the sin, that man gladly walked in in spite. Of general revelation. And then we see in verse twenty five because they exchange the truth about God for a lie, worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And then in verse twenty six for this reason, for what reason? Because of what just happened in the last verse. And then we read in verses twenty six and twenty seven about the degradation of homosexuality. And it's only then that we have verse twenty eight. And since they did not see fit. To acknowledge God. So actual sin gives rise to sin, not just our sin nature, but acting upon our sin nature drives us deeper into sin. That's why we're told in chapter six not to offer our members to sin, because it actually drives us deeper in to sin. So it's not just what's there in our sin nature, it's the actual practices in which we participate. You notice that about your own life, that there are certain things in your life that get a hold of you, and all of a sudden, when you surrender, when you give in, when you actually appease those desires, it becomes easier and easier and easier to do it again and again and again and it becomes harder and harder, first of all, to acknowledge it as sin anymore as we become callous to it, and secondly more difficult to walk away from it as a result of the practicing of that sin. Here's what I want you to see in our paragraph. There's a couple of things that you have to grasp, and I know we try to stay away from Greek grammar lessons and things of that nature, but it's very important in this last paragraph that you understand what's happening linguistically. First thing you need to see is that in verse twenty eight there's a play on words. Actually the verb there. You would think that the verb there is to acknowledge, but that's actually not the verb, and the Greek the verb is did not see fit. That's that's the verb the way the verb is translated. So since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, or as some translations say, since they did not consider the acknowledgment of God to be appropriate. So there's a play on words, because what God does is gives them up to a debased mind. That word for debas correlates to something that is unfit. In other words, they did not see fit to acknowledge God. So God gave them a mind that was not fit for anything else. That's the play on words. The other thing you need to understand is this that there's different tenses in the verbs. The first thing we see is that these first two verbs are in the airas tense. Now, the errors tens you just need to understand, that's just an action that takes place. It's a simple action. But beyond the ra's tens, there's also the present tense, which in the Greek the present tense is linear and continuous action. Now again, I. Know you don't come here for Greek grammar less, but this is important when we're talking about present action and continuous action versus simple action. There is also here in verse twenty nine, they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, that is in the perfect tense, which is an action that took place. In the past, that is having lasting impact in the present. Now I'll explain all of those I promise you, but they are extremely important. So look at verse twenty eight. Since they simple action did not see fit to acknowledge God, God simple action gave them up to a debased mind, and it's the debased mind that led them to this present tense verb to do what ought not, and then there's another present tense verb to be done, to do ongoing action. Here's what you need to understand. The text is not saying. That because of what they considered in their mind, God led them to a place where one time they did something back no present tense, ongoing action, continual action, perpetual action. This is a lifestyle of sin. That's going to be very important as we go on. But understand this is a lifestyle of sin. It is a character of sin. It is the defining aspect of the individual's life. That's what that tense and that verb means. Because of that, they were filled perfect tens an action that happened in the past that has lasting impact. By the way, what comes after that is a list of nouns and adjectives. There's no verbs in this sin list. Not amazing. In other words, this list is not the list of things that people do. It's a list of things that people are that lead them to do what they do. Let me say that again. This list that we find at the end of Romans chapter one, which is repeated in part in a number of different places throughout the New Testament. It's not a list of verbs. It's not a list of things that people do. It's a list of nouns and adjectives that describe who people are. You see, our actions come out of who we are. Now, notice these nouns and adverbs. They were filled with all manner of There's a list of four, a list of five, and a list of twelve, all manner of unrighteousness. By the way, that word. Unrighteousness is sort of an overarching term, and it's been repeated several times. The root word for unrighteousness has been repeated several times here in Romans chapter one. If you remember, we started by talking about righteousness as it relates to the Gospel. That word righteousness is an important word throughout the Book of Romans because that's what the doctrine of justification is all about, being declared righteous before God. So here we see that these. Individuals, because of what they were filled with perfect pence, a past action that has lasting impact. The first thing they're characterized by is that they are unrighteous. They are evil, they are covetous, and they are malicious. They're filled with that. That's who they are. Next, they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. There's your list of five, and now your list of twelve. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. There's the list. That's what these people are. By the way, that's what all people are. Amen, That's what all people are. And the things that we do in our lives come forth from the character that we possess. And this is merely a definition of the character that we possess. Now, this list number one is not exhaustive. Paul was not trying to give us a list of all of the sinful characters that exist within the context of the human experience. It's not exhaustive. But secondly, it is representative. Go through this list, and it covers pretty much everything that we deal with. Amen, And we can. Take the time and bear down here and focus on this list and the individual things found in this list. But the fact of the matter is this list is not about the individual things found therein. This is an overarching picture of sinful character that is a result of the callousness in man's heart. That's what this list is. It's the big picture, and it's the culmination. You start with denying that God is God. You start with breaking the first Commandment and worshiping other gods and the creature rather than the Creator. That leads to man being. Enthroned as the ruler of his own universe, and that leads to practices that are designed to satisfy man, but in essence do nothing more than destroy him. And this is a picture of what that destruction looks like. Remember we started with the wrath of God being revealed from heaven. Remember we talked about that term the wrath of God being an eschatological term in the sense that ultimately the wrath of God is going to come and God is going to deal with sin in an ultimate sense. But there is also a temporal sense in which the wrath of God. We're actually seeing the wrath of God right here and right now. Here's what you need to know. This kind of character is representative of the wrath of God in our midst. Men living like this. Is evidence of the wrath of God in our midst Men living in ways that they ought not live, doing things that ought not to be done. It's evidence of the wrath of God. It's evidence of God saying, I Am going to punish sin in an ultimate and eschatological sense. But in the meantime, what you will experience is the fruit of your sin, the fruit of your desires, and the wrath of God poured out as men do to themselves and to one another with their sinful character. Desperately wants think it gets. Worse Verse thirty two. Though they know the decree, that they know God's decree, excuse me, that those who practice such things deserve to die. There needs to be some explanation here. They know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die. If we're not careful, we'll make a leap here that's unwarranted. We'll make a leap from general revelation to special revelation because it says God's decree. So if it's God's decree, it must be what God has said that, it must be what is written. We must have gone now into the law that has been revealed. No, actually, he's saying they know God's decree, and the word that he uses there in the Greek is epgnosis and epgnosis is something that you know as a result of objective observation. Well, now, wait a minute, do you mean to tell me. That Paul's arguing that human beings ought to be able to look at nature, not the Bible, but just look at nature and be able to tell by looking at nature that people who practice these kinds of. Things deserve to die. Yeah, that's exactly what Paul's saying, and it's exactly the case. Then me give you a few examples of why it's the case. Number one, you can go to cultures that have never seen the Bible before and they have the death penalty for a lot of these practices. Why. General revelation. That's why, that's why we know that these things are wrong. But we need to back up even further. Death itself is part of general revelation. Let me say that again, Death itself is part of God's general revelation. Death preaches, perhaps louder than any other sermon that is a non biblical sermon. The heavens declare the glory of God. The sun rises, and it preaches a sermon, and men can hear the sun rise sermon. The sun sets and the stars come out, and they preach the glory of God sermon. The seasons change, and they preach the changing of season's sermon. But none of those sermons has the impact of a cold, dead body. None of those sermons has the impact of the realization that life ends for all of us. The sun and the moon and the stars do not and cannot communicate to the human being the way the loss of life communicates to the human being. When a human being dies, it communicates to the world around us. Number one, this is not all that there is. Number two, you can't avoid this. And number three, there's something that God has put on the inside of you that says you probably need to get ready for what comes after. Amen. And you don't need a Bible for death to communicate that to you. Here's the other thing that communicates. Death communicates that things aren't all right. There's something wrong with the world. Death communicates that, loud and clear, there's something wrong with the world. As people God, here's the other thing death communicates. And for a moment, here, for those of us who are believers, for those of us who are followers of Christ, for a moment, for a moment, we've got to step out of our of our of our Christianity for a moment. And by that, I don't mean that we need to act like unsaved people. I mean that for a moment, we need to think like unsaved people for just a moment, because there are some of us that we're not used to doing that, and we don't want to do that, and we don't, but listen, we need to do that, even unsaved people. If you're a lost person, you don't know the Lord, you don't know anything about God, you don't know anything about Christianity, you don't know anything about the Bible, here's what you would experience. And I don't care if you're the worst person imaginable. In fact, let's put this in a context. Let's go to prison for a moment. Now we're in prison, and we're in prison a bunch of prisoners that don't know God, hardened, calloused prisoners, harden callous prisoners who don't know God, who have done horrible things to people. And yet there are some people who come into that prison for crimes that even prisoners believe are unthinkable, and they've treated differently. Why general revelation, here's another example. You and I don't know God, and two people die One of those people who dies is a young child or a young mother. Another person who dies is a man whose life was characterized by this kind of sin. Now, if we're lost people, I know we're Christians, and you know how you're supposed to answer, That's not what I'm talking about right now. How do lost people look at that? Lost people look at that and say that person deserves to die? That person didn't. A lost person knows that why Because general revelation shows us that sin deserves death. You don't even have to have the Bible for that. So this statement here in verse thirty two is not Paul saying that you know they know the degree of God because somebody brought them a Bible. No, without a Bible, you don't need a Bible to be able to observe nature, to be able to observe what God has revealed and realize that there are certain things that are. Out of life. But here's what's awful. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them. That's bad enough. It's bad enough to look around through general revelation and to realize that certain things are awful and they ought not to be done, and you go ahead and you do them anyway. But there's a step further. They give approval to those who practice them. Here's what you need to know. All those verbs there, though they know that verb is actually in the airest tense. They know simple action, but practice both times present tense. Do present tense give approval present tense? Remember what I told you about present tense. It is a linear, continuous action. These people have a lo lifestyle that approves of sin, a lifestyle that engages in sin. They're characterized by this. Listen to what Calvin says here. Though this passage is variously explained, yet the following appears to me, and I love this word the correctest interpretation. That men left nothing undone for the purpose of giving unbridled liberty to their sinful propensities. For having taken away all distinction between good and evil, they approved in themselves and in others those things which they knew displeased God and would be condemned by his righteous judgment. For it is the summit of all evils when the sinner is so void of shame that he is pleased with his own vices and will not bear them to be reproved, and also cherishes them in others by his consent and approbation. This is the lowest of the low. But here's the question what restrains sin? We see what gives rise to sin. But the question that we have to ask is what restrains sin? Not because it's really spoken of here in the text, but because it's the obvious question raised when we read the text. Because you look at this and you say, okay, fine. They're filled with all manner of unrighteousness and evil and covetousness and malice, and they're full of envy and murder and strife and deceit and unrighteousness and their gossips and matters, all these sorts of things. And here's what you say to yourself, I don't know anybody that bad. Or it is just me, you say to yourself, I don't want anybody that bad. Paul's exaggerated. People an't really that bad. Let me say two things. Number One, the reason you say that is because you see the outside. Amen. The reason you say that is because you see the outside. If you saw the inside, you would have a different response. Here's the second thing. You say that because you see the results of God's common grace. Remember what we talked about on last week. Total depravity doesn't mean that man is as bad as he could be. Man's not as bad as he could be. So here's the question. What restrains sin? And this is important? But why is it that we don't look at people usually and see all of these things being manifested the way they appear here in this text. Number One, self interest restrains sin. So the sinful man, the natural man, has all of this in his character, and yet he does not act upon. All of this. And one of the main reasons he doesn't is because of his own self interest. I don't act on all of these things because when I act on these things, there's usually a consequence. Amen, And I don't want you to do. That stuff to me, so I won't do that stuff to you. Why Because I'm a good person. No, it's pure self interest. There's nothing good in the natural man, but there is self interest. So because of self interest, sin is restrained. Because I don't want you to act as bad as I am on the inside, my sin is restrained. Secondly, societal interest. Societal interest. He A. Societies have laws, even if they're not written codes of conduct. All societies have laws. Why does societies have laws? Because they know that this stuff is in them and it needs to be restrained. That's why societies have laws to restrain evil. Men praise God for his common grace and societal laws. Amen. It restrains evil. It restrains evil. There's a third thing that restrains evil. This one people don't like so much. Christian culture restrains evil. Christian culture restrains evil. If you don't believe that, you haven't traveled the world much. If you've traveled the world much, you know the difference between cultures where Christianity has had an influence and cultures where it has not. Christian culture restrains evil. Does that mean Christian cultures are perfect? No, absolutely not. I didn't say they eradicate evil. We'll get to that in a minute. I said they restrain evil. So here's what happened. People have self interest, we have societal interests, but we also have Christian cultures. So what happens is a culture informed by Christian truth makes laws for societal interests that are informed not just by general revelation but also by special revelation, and that has a powerful impact on the people in that society. Does it save them, No, it doesn't, but it restrains them. That's the question. The question is what restrains sin. Why is this so significant? Here's why it's so significant because when you look at a pre Christian culture or a culture. That's never hurt the Gospel, all you. Have is self interest and societal interest without the word of God, and you can only go so far, and it is still an evil culture. And yet here's what happens. Inevitably, and everywhere in the world, you have Christian culture that arises and it transforms a society and eventually they go from a pre Christian culture to a Christian culture, and then they scream for a post Christian culture. And that's where we are. Here's where our culture is. Our culture looks out at the world that hasn't been impacted by Christianity and they see evil. And yet man wants to suppress the truth and unrighteousness. So here's what he does. He actually says that it's Christianity that's caused most of the problems in the world, and what we need to do is move away from this Christian puritanical view and move towards something that's more like people who don't know Christ. So what do we do? We go backwards, back up the ladder. Let's condone homosexuality. Why we're throwing off the restraints of the Christian influence that suppresses sin. Let's condone promiscuity. Let's condone malice, envy, slander. Really we condone those things. Have you not read the Internet? Of course we condone those things. Now hear what I'm saying, and hear what I'm not saying. The question is what restrains sin? And I'm admitting self interest, societal interest, and Christian influence and culture restrains sin. But as followers of Christ, that cannot be our interest. Our interest is what eradicates sin? That has to be our interest. What eradicates sin? And the answer to that question goes back to the beginning of this whole deal. Go back to verse sixteen. For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, the jew first, and also the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the. Righteous shall live by Christian influence in a society. By faith here's where it gets. It's difficult for us if we're not careful. All we push for is the Christian influence to restrain sin, and we give up on the Gospel that eradicates it. This is true in society and it's true in our homes with our children. Are we more interested in just restraining their sin or eradicating it? How do you restrain it? Well? Our own self interest. You're a societal interest, which will be your family interest. The influence of Christian culture. Even though they are not Christians, they live in the context of our Christian culture. If you're not careful, they learn how to conform to the Christian culture and never have that sin eradicated and think they're all right with God. Now let's make this personal. Every person in this room looks at this list and you read this list, and a couple of things happen. Number one, you say, who, I'm glad that's not me. I want you to hear something. If you have not come to Christ and repentance and faith, that is you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, But I don't live like that all the time. No, No, you don't. Why self interest, societal interest and Christian culture. You've experienced behavioral modification, so that you have repressed this sin in order to fit into your family or to fit into your society. But it hasn't been eradicated because you've not been born again. You've been conformed but not transformed. Bill Well, I thought Christians were supposed to be confirmed. Yeah, Christians are conformed to the image of Christ after they've been transformed through justification. But before that, we're conformed to the. Pattern of this world, which is what we're told not to be in Romans chapter twelve. So let me ask you something. You look at this and your first response is who I'm glad that's not me. But here's what you need to ask yourself. It's not you. But is it not you because of self interest? Do you not do these things because you don't want people to do. Them to you? Do you not do these things because of societal interest? Because you've grown up in a society that frowns upon these kinds of behaviors, and therefore you suppress them and you hold them back even though it's every bit of who you are. Is your sin restrained because of the influence of Christian culture. You grow up in a Christian family, you grow up in church, Do you know what the word says and try really hard to live in accordance with what's there, because by God, you're gonna be a good person. Or has it been eradicated because of the justifying and sanctifying work of Jesus Christ? Which is it for you? Which is it for your children? One of the saddest things in ministry is to watch families tie their children up in knots. There's some people who get upset, and there's some people who get mad because we have an age at which we will baptize folks in this church. We don't baptize anybody before the age of twelve, and usually you know, it's not that young. But there's some people they get all upset. Why because we're so used to being in the situations and settings where just little. Old bitty folks. Five six years old, as long as they can walk down the aisle and somebody ask them where Jesus is and they can say, in my heart, we dunk them and call them Christian? Never about to ask about this sin issue. Is it self interest? Is it societal interest? Is it the influence and peer pressure of Christian culture? Well, I don't know who can tell at that age exactly. That's why we wait. Here's the other response. Well, but everybody sins, right, amen, hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Everybody sins. But let me read a couple of things for you. Let's go back to First John. We spend a lot of time in First John. We went through First John. Let me read a couple of other things for you. Out of First John, First John, chapter one. Let's look at beginning a verse five. Then I'll go back and talk about these verb tenses again and try to wrap this up in a way we can understand. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the. Blood of Jesus, his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So no, we're not talking about sinless perfection. We do not believe in that. People who believe in sinless perfection are liars? I didn't say so. Again, I don't write the mail, I just deliver it. John says they're liars if they believe in sinless perfection. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and justin for give us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sin, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Go to Chapter three, beginning of verse four. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. One of the things you find in John's epistle. Is this present tense verb. Because here's what people do. You go here and some believers look at this list, and all of a sudden you go, oh, well, I've done that. I must be lost. The verb is in the present tense, and the ESV translates it appropriately. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning. It's the present tense. It is linear, continuous action. It is what you do because it's who you are, not everyone who's ever done this before. Remember, if we say we have no sin, we liars. But do you practice it? Are you characterized by it? You know him that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen. Him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason for the Son of God excuse me, the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God? And who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, Nor is the one who does not love his brother. What is your life characterized by and why? Is your life characterized by this ongoing struggle to live up to societal norms and to live up to the peer pressure in Christianity? Or is it characterized by the transforming, life giving work of Jesus Christ in your life as evidence of his justifying and sanctifying work of salvation. That's the question is your sin being restrained? Where is your sin being eradicated? And noticed, I said being eradicated. It's not all done with. That's why we can sing things like come my Lord, no longer terry, take my ransom soul away. Why I'm tired of this. It's one of the marks a true follower of Christ. I'm tired of this. It's getting better as He sanctifies me and as I'm being conformed to the image of Christ. But I'm tired of this. I want full and total victory. So come Lord Jesus, because that's when I get my full and total victory. Our sin is birth from our sin nature and the actuation of that in our practices. It is restrained by a number of things. And by the way, that's not bad. It's good that sin is restrained. Amen. I'm glad men aren't as bad as they could be. Thank God for his common grace. Thank God for self interest, thank God for societal interest. Thank God for cultures that have been impacted by the Gospel. And as a result, it's not just general revelation, but also special revelation that influences the laws that restrain evil men. Praise God for that, but it is woefully insufficient for those of us who know Christ and know that the Gospel is man's only ultimate hope for the eradication, not just the repression of sin. And that's what we're after. That's what we're after. If you're here today and you're all about behavior, modification, repent, come to Christ because he's your only hope. If you're here today and all you ever do. Is restrain your children's sin and never point them to the one who can eradicate it, repent. And call them to do the same. If you're here today and you're sick and tired of going through the motions and experiencing defeat after defeat after defeat because you're relying. On your own power and your own strength, repent. And if you're here today and all you got out of this morning's message is thank God, I'm not like those publicans and sinners. Repent because you have an overblown estimation of yourself. Let's pray, Father, we recognize that we are fallen men who live in a fallen culture, and. That we sin for the same reason. All men sin. Because of character, not because of mistakes bad choices, but because of evil, because. Of sin. Because of unrighteousness, because we suppress the. Truth and unrighteousness. But thank you for the person and work of Jesus Christ, who gives us hope and is our only hope for ultimate victory over sin and for temporal victory over sin. God, thank you that although we are not what we want to be, those of us who are in Christ are also not what we used to be. And it is to the praise of His glory. I pray for those under the sound of my voice who had their sin restrained by self interest in society, even Christian culture, for far too long, who desperately need to repent and believe and put their whole trust and whole hope and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Would you call them to yourself today? I pray for the one who struggle with assurance, Grant, that that one might learn the simple yet glorious beauty of a Greek verb tense. And we rejoice in the fact that as believers, although our sins happen in the erast, they don't happen in the present simple action but not linear, ongoing, repeated action. And that's just because you're good. You're good. Grant's victory over sin and grant us a passion to proclaim the Gospel as our only hope and the only hope for those around us as well. Thank you for the privilege of living in a culture that has been influenced mightily by the Gospel, And protect us from those who want nothing more than to ignore and eradicate that reality, by your mercy which you protect us. These things we ask because we believe their in accordance with the will and the nature and the authority of Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen