And if you need a healing in your body or in
your mind, just say I surrender to the healing
power of God. If you need maybe some sort of
miracle in your home or in your family, just
say I surrender to the miracle power of God.
Just apply your life to what you know about Jesus
and just raise your hands and say I surrender
to whatever you have for me, Jesus. I surrender.
to whatever you want to do in me, Jesus. I'm
about to take the bread that reminds me of your
body. I'm about to drink from the cup that reminds
me of your blood. And I believe, Jesus, you're
about to do something supernatural in my life.
And if you believe that, I wonder if you would
just now take your hands and maybe put them together
in applause or lift your arms or lift your voice.
The Lord bless you. You may be seated. It's been
a long time probably since some of you had a
coin in your pocket. We don't really do a lot
of that. We have become a cashless society, but
that's a subject for Wednesday nights. If you
could get into that a little bit, it would help
us. I've never seen so much information out of
the book of Revelation in just three. I think
he's done a phenomenal job, and I think he needs
to come back in 2026. And we'll just double it
up. But it's been great. I've enjoyed it. Thank
you so much. But if you took a coin, if you remember
what that is, if I was to talk about the gospel
today, I would say the gospel is like that two
-sided coin. And one side certainly is the grace
of God. And I know we're all thankful for the
grace of God. But the other side of the coin
is certainly the need of humanity. And not just
humanity as a whole, but each one of us need
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each one of us need
the cross of Jesus Christ. So one side of the
coin is the grace of God, the mercy of God, the
love of God. He died for us. But the other side
of the coin is, my goodness, I needed Jesus to
die for me. Because without him, my sins, they
will destroy me. My flesh, or my human nature,
if you will, it will absolutely undermine me.
And so, when we read about the wrath of God,
and these last few verses of Romans 1 zeroes
in on the wrath of God, I want you to know that
the wrath of God is a testimony to the righteousness
of God. Don't overthink this today. It's like,
oh my goodness, the preacher is coming after
us today. No, I just want you to see that Calvary
reminds us that we need a Savior. That we needed
what Jesus did on the cross. We needed the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ
because Calvary reminds us that there is judgment
for sin and judgment for sinners. And the penalty
of sin is that the soul that sinneth, it shall
die. I tried to figure out how to make this a
little bit simpler and really, in all transparency,
a little bit more palpable for people today.
He's talking about the wrath of God. And we want
to receive communion. We like to go on with Thanksgiving
and live happily ever after. So how are you going
to do that? So here's something to think about.
How many of you are old enough? You don't have
to raise your hand, but I will say I'm one of
you. That you have already seen evidence that
your body, your human body, is starting to fail
you a little bit. I want to use a stronger word
now, and I hope you can say amen. How many of
you have discovered that your human body is literally
betraying you? Right before your very eyes. If
you would like proof of this. A lot of times
during the week, the young people get together
and they'll play softball or basketball. And
I have had occasion to get out with young people,
and it's been a long time because I learned the
hard way that I'm not a young person. But I have
had occasion to go out there on the field or
get out there on the court, and I thought that
I was still a young, strapling superhero. But
then my body betrayed me. There was a young man
here one day years ago that was talking trash,
and I said, well, let's play some basketball.
I remember being pretty good at that. And within
about 20 minutes, the score was 10 to 0. I was
the zero, in case you're curious. And he was
the hero. And from that moment on, I've always
said I'm not worthy to be in the same room as
you. But here's the point. Our body betrays us.
So I want you to take that simple understanding.
Now, young people don't even know what we're
talking about. But some of you that are older
will know just like your body betrays you in
the natural, your body betrays you in the spiritual.
No matter how much you want to. do what's healthy,
what's right, what honors God, what aligns you
with the word of God, this human nature, this
old flesh will let us down every time. That's
why we need a savior. And that's why that savior
had to die on the cross because all of us are
trapped in a corruptible body. All of us are
trapped in a mortal body. And I know sometimes
we focus on the sadness and the loss of those
we love when they head off to heaven before us.
But my goodness, the moment they are in the presence
of the Lord, they are no longer limited by this
corruptible body. They are no longer limited
by everything that is mortal about this flesh.
They are free in the presence of God. And not
just free from the fear physical limitations,
but we are free from sin once and for all. And
so the gospel reveals God's righteousness to
every believer. I know I'm a sinner without him.
I know I'll never get there without him. I know
I'll never please God. I know my destiny is hell
without him. But I see a crimson stream of blood.
I see a Savior that came to earth as a man specifically
to die for my sins because as God, he cannot
die. But as a man, he can allow them to put those
nails in his hands and in his feet and that spear
in his side and that crown of thorns. of thorns
upon him. Remember, Calvary was gruesome. Calvary
was horrible. And in Calvary, we see when they
spit upon him and when they railed against him
and when they literally tortured him, we see
the wrath of God. That's the penalty that every
sinner should receive and not just the physical
death. The eternal, and this is a tough word
to use, we've got young people in the room, but
the eternal damnation that is the destiny of
every person that does not believe in Jesus.
Now, my brothers and sisters, as much as the
gospel reveals God's righteousness to every believer,
it also reveals God's wrath to every unbeliever.
And that's why this is in this letter to the
church in Rome, the believers in Rome. And that's
why it extends to us today. And we don't talk
about it much in Christian circles in our day.
We know we've got to kind of look past the reality
of some of the dark side of Christianity. And
we've got to focus on what makes people feel
happy. I get all that. But the reality is this.
If we ignore the cross, our destiny is to die
because of ourselves. we will pay the full price.
penalty for being sinners. Romans 6 says the
wages of sin is death. Thank God it doesn't stop
there. But the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. We see today the grace
of God because we are believers. We see the love
of God because we are believers. But if there's
anybody in the world that refuses to believe,
that Jesus is God, the cross reveals the wrath
of God, the penalty of sin, the wages of sin.
Is there anybody that could get ready for communion
by just raising their hand or lifting your voice
and saying, thank you, Jesus, for dying for me
so I don't have to die for myself. I don't have
to pay the penalty, experience the agony. The
torture of my sin. Can you say amen? So how do
we respond to the death, the burial, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ? We put our faith in Jesus. Sure
we do. We repent. And repentance sometimes makes
people feel like, what, are you judging me? No,
no, no, we're all sinners. So we all come to
Jesus. with honesty that says, forgive me for
anything that keeps me from the grace and the
mercy of the cross. I'm clinging to the cross
when I repent of my sins. And, of course, if
you've never been baptized by immersion in Jesus'
name, oh, where's the water? We've got the robes
ready. We've got the water ready even today.
You don't have to be a member of this church
to be baptized in Jesus' name. You've just got
to confess, I am clinging to the cross by putting
my faith in Jesus, by being baptized in Jesus'
name, and then I want to be filled with his.
Holy Spirit so that I can overcome sin in this
life and by the way as I continue to walk with
the Lord as a believer I know I will fall down
but I will get right back up because I'm clinging
to the cross of Jesus Christ no wonder believers
celebrate the cross no wonder believers celebrate
the mercy of God because as long As we cling
to the cross, we may sin. In fact, if we say
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. But if
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
every time to forgive us, to cleanse us. Hallelujah.
You say amen. Amen. A little bit fired up. That's
it. I am because there's nothing. like the grace
of God. And as long as you put your faith in
Jesus, the cross will always be a reminder of
the righteousness of God. But if you ever start
living a life that is not propelled by faith
in Jesus, then the cross for you is a symbol
of the wrath of God. And that's why, and we're
going to read it now. I'm just going to read
it. I'm not going to comment much about it. That's
why Romans ends with some pretty painful realizations
as the Apostle Paul tries to explain to these
believers in Rome, it's a big deal to put your
faith in Jesus Christ. Look at verse 18. The
New Living Translation says, but God shows his
anger from heaven against all sinful. Wicked
people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
They know the truth about God because he has
made it obvious to them. For ever since the world
was created, people have seen the earth and sky
through everything God made. They can clearly
see his invisible qualities, his eternal power
and divine nature. so that they have no excuse
for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but
they wouldn't worship him as God or even give
him thanks, and they began to think up foolish
ideas of what God was like, and as a result,
their minds became dark and confused. So I want
you to think about this for just a moment. That's
heavy duty, but I want you to understand that
in the way that God has established his relationship
with humanity, remember last week I kind of ended
one of the messages by reminding you the just
shall live by faith. There is something about
putting your faith in Jesus. No matter where
you are in your journey of trying to know God,
that if you will just keep taking another step
of faith and another step of faith and another
step of faith. Don't look around and compare
yourself to where other people are on their journey.
You just take the next step that God puts in
front of you that shows your faith in Jesus.
You may be seated here today and you're like,
my goodness, I could never go to church. As many
Sundays in the month as these people go to church,
you know what? The more you go to church, the
easier it is to live for God. But let me tell
you something. If you're looking around at somebody
and saying, I can't live like him, I can't be
like her, then you're no longer walking by faith.
But if you can keep your eyes on Jesus and you
can cling to the cross and say, I don't understand
a lot about religion and I don't know a lot about
God, but I know. There is a Savior. His name
is Jesus. And I'm going to take the next step.
I'm going to read my Bible just a little bit
more. I'm going to start the day with a little
bit of prayer. I'm going to get inside of his
relationship and even inside of his church and
say, Jesus, I don't want to just be a church
member. I want to walk by faith. Praise God.
Because if you'll keep living from faith, To
faith, to faith, you're going to know God. And
the more you know him, the more you're going
to know how much he loves you. And the more you're
going to learn how to please him. But he says
there are people who will call them unbelievers.
And we know that they look around at every evidence.
That is supposed to point them towards knowing
God, worshiping God, and they just refuse to
believe. And they are subject to the wrath of
God. In fact, because their minds become dark
and confused, they start to create all kinds
of ideas about what life is, what God is. And
look what happens, verse 24. So God abandoned
them to do whatever shameful things their hearts
desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading
things with each other's bodies. They traded
the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped
and served the things God created. instead of
the creator himself, who is worthy of eternal
praise. Amen. There is no serious scholar or
even student of history that would deny the fact
that as you study the cultures of the world,
there is something in humanity that longs to
worship God. It's across the board. Even in some
of the most primitive areas, primitive ways of
doing life, there is an inner desire in people
that wants to worship something. And so it is
hoped that every believer will put their life
into worshiping Jesus Christ. But the reality
is we're going to worship something. And a lot
of people end up worshiping themselves. And then
others create systems that allow them to worship
creation. Any number of things. And then you
see that God allows people to continue down a
road of darkness and even all kinds of evil.
Look at verse 26. We're just going to take this
a little bit further. That is why God abandoned
them to their shameful desires. Even the women
turned against the natural way to have sex and
instead indulge. in sex with each other. And
the men, instead of having normal sexual relations
with women, burned with lust for each other.
Men did shameful things with other men. And as
a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves
the penalty they deserved. Sin will take any
one of us further away from God than we could
ever imagine that we could go. It would be an
incorrect thing for you and I to read this passage
and then just start judging people that maybe
we think have fallen into that particular sin
or they've headed down that pathway. Remember,
all of us that are old enough know this human
body will betray you. And so it is when it comes
to spiritual life and the sins of the flesh.
You may not fall into the same darkness. of somebody
else, but every single one of us has to look
to the cross as a revelation without the grace
of God. There go I. I may not take the same path
away from God, but I will end up away from God.
And so I need a Savior. I need the blood that
was spilt on Calvary's tree. I need the Word
of God, and I need the righteousness of God.
I need the death of Jesus. on that cross to protect
me from the wages of my own sin. Dare I say,
I need the death and the burial and the resurrection
of Jesus as much as anybody, anywhere, at any
time. I need faith in Jesus and repentance and
baptism in Jesus' name and the infilling of his
spirit, not just to be religious, but to walk
with God. I need him. The old timers would say
I need him every hour. Since they thought it
foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them
to their foolish thinking and let them do things
that should never be done. They lived their lives.
Full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed,
hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious
behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers.
Haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful.
They invent new ways of sinning. And they disobey
their parents. Look at that. They refuse to understand.
Break their promises. Heartless. They have no
mercy. They know God's justice requires that
those who do these things deserve to die. Yet
they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage
others to do them too. Now, I want to say this.
In fact, you can come to the instruments. But
I think this is so important. We read about God
giving them up. And we almost think like, whoa,
God, you've got to stop this. I mean, look at
the world we're living in now. People are going
crazy. Come on, God. You've got to stop this.
And it's as if the Lord would say, I went to
the cross to stop this. But I won't force anybody
to live for me. I won't force anybody to believe
in me. I won't force anybody to serve me. So
when we see such strong language as though God
is giving people up to plunge into darkness,
you need to understand that the Lord has designed
you and I to make our own decision as to whether
or not we will believe that Jesus is. our Savior.
And the cross is the only hope that we have for
redemption and restoration to the righteousness
of God, which is by faith. And I want to ask
you this question as we prepare for communion.
Can you see the cross and at the same time see
your sin and your flesh? and the betrayal of
your human nature? And can you see your soul's
need for him? Can you see it? Can you see the
cross and know that the soul that sinneth, it
shall die? Sin left unchecked. Sin. managed by
my own good intentions, sin, even when I put
my life through an elaborate religious system,
that sin is going to eventually catch up to me,
and I will be lost forever except for the cross
of Jesus Christ. Can you see the cross and accept
that we have to teach and preach, And know about
the wrath of God so that we can understand the
righteousness of God. So that we can accept that
we need a Savior. And Jesus had to die so that
I didn't have to die. And oh, the agony. Oh,
the tragedy of Calvary. But if I will believe.
If I will cling to the cross. I take that bread
today. I drink that cup today because I'm clinging.
I'm holding on to the cross. Can you say amen?
We're going to take a moment and we're going
to examine ourselves. Those of you that are familiar
with what the scripture says about communion,
we're all invited just to pray a prayer of repentance.
To say, Jesus, in my flesh, I'm not worthy to
take that bread. I'm not worthy to drink that
cup. In my own attempt to be religious, I'm still
a sinner saved by grace. But oh, I cling to the
cross today. So I want to encourage you just
to close your eyes right where you're seated
and apply the cross to your life. While you're
doing that, I wonder if you remember those famous
words. On a hill far away stood an old rugged
cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And
I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain. I was
one of those. I am one of those, but I cling
to the cross. Again, in just a moment, but right
where you are, would you raise your hands and
would you take a hold of the cross right now
in your prayer? Jesus, here's my weaknesses.
I reach for the cross. Here's my sins. I reach
for the cross. Here's my failures. I reach for
the cross. Here's those parts of me that compare
myself to others. and think that I'm justified
in my own religious activity. I cling to the
cross, oh God. Here's that part of me that can
be in church long enough to check the box and
log in hours served and forget that without the
cross, I'm lost. Without the cross, I'm lost.
I reach for the cross today, Lord. Because this
is not about what you've done for anybody else.
This is about what you've done for me. And I
needed you, Jesus. And I need you now. I needed
that blood that was shed. And I need it now.
I needed your program, your plan for humanity.
And I need it. in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Those of you that Brother Mark's assigned to
help us with communion, if you'd come and get
ready right now. All across this sanctuary, I
want to invite everybody to stand and raise your
hands and thank the Lord for his mercy. Thank
the Lord for his grace. We've seen the wrath
of God a little bit today through the word of
God. And it just fills our hearts. with a greater
appreciation, a greater revelation, a greater
understanding.