(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Let me voice it all first. What can wash away my sins? What can lift the blood of Jesus? What can make me hope again? What can lift the blood of Jesus? All the precious is the throne That makes me quite as old. No longer counts I know That we love the blood of Jesus For I'm born in this I see That we love the blood of Jesus For my lens in this I feel That we love the blood of Jesus All the precious is the throne That makes me quite as old. No longer counts I know That we love the blood of Jesus Not being there for sin at all That we love the blood of Jesus Not of good that I have done That we love the blood of Jesus All the precious is the throne That makes me quite as old. No longer counts I know That we love the blood of Jesus For I'm born in this I see That we love the blood of Jesus Not being there for sin at all That we love the blood of Jesus All the precious is the throne That makes me quite as old No longer counts I know That we love the blood of Jesus Amen Do you know if your song puts a song number 343? Song number 343 Revive us again and again That is song number 343 Sing it out May He praise me, O God For the Son of Thy love For Jesus who died And is now Lord of all Hallelujah, thy glory Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, thy glory Revive us again May He praise me, O God For thy spirit of life Who has shown us Such Savior has gathered our time Hallelujah, thy glory Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, thy glory Revive us again Our glory and praise To the Lamb that was slain Who has borne all our sins And has cleansed every stain Hallelujah, thy glory Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, thy glory Revive us again Revive us again Fill each heart with thy love May He so be rekindled Hallelujah, thy glory Hallelujah, amen Hallelujah, thy glory Revive us again All right, well, if you'd like a bulletin, go ahead and slip up your hand, and one will be brought to you. And as always, the service times are in there, and every Sunday at 10 30 a.m. and again at 5 30 p.m. And on midweek at 7 on Thursdays, we'll be in the book of Genesis, chapter 8. Churchwide Solemnies below that, as well as the regional Solemnies, the Solidations of Baptisms. Don't forget the Eastside Blitz coming up this next Saturday. And you've got the scheduled events If you're going to attend, please go ahead and sign up. You don't have to sign up. If you want to get in last minute, that's fine too. And don't forget the Children's and Teens weekly Bible memory verse. So it's just one verse this week, and you can still earn three cookies. It's kind of a standard there. The milk is good until the 15th. But you can go four days past the expiration date if you don't open it. Right? No? Okay. I guess that's not a rule in my house. That's how I grew up. I turned out fine. On the back, I'll have fresh milk, guys. Okay? Just calm down. Continue to pray with the expectant ladies. There's a men's preaching class in Tempe and a small town soloing to Eloi coming up soon. Let's go ahead and count up the Salvations going back to Friday. Anything from Friday or Saturday or today? I know there was nothing for the group. All right. Anything outside the group today? All right. We'll go ahead and sing one more song before we get into preaching tonight. This song fills the song number 187. Song number 187, Jesus Loves Me. That's song number 187. Sing it out. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. The Bible tells us so. Jesus loves me. He will die. Heaven's gate to old great wine. He will wash away my sin. Let his little child occur. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells us so. Jesus loves me. He loves me. Close beside me, on the way. Thou hast played a blind for me. I will raise her clear. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells us so. Amen. Good singing. At this time, we'll pass the offering plate. And as the offering plate is going around, please open the Bibles to Revelation 22. The Bible won't really hear what's happening. It has agreed to us in Revelation 22. Revelation chapter 22. Verse 1 of the Bible reads, And he showed me a pure root of water and life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the land. In the midst of the street, on the other side of the river, was a tree of life, which there were twelve manger of fruits, and yielded their fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, for the throne of God and the land shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no light there, and there need no candy, and light of the sun, for the Lord God be with them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said unto me, He said unto me, The faith shall be true, and the Lord God of the holy prophets and his angels to show unto his servants the things which will shortly be done. Behold, they come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the saying of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. When I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angels, which showed me these things. Then saith thee unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy bread of the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, but of the time, that is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with thee, to give every man according to his workshelf. I am Alfred, the man, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, and they may have rights for the tree of life, and may enter into the gates, into the city, but without our dogs, and sorcerers, and whore mongrels, and our servants, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth, and maketh a lot. I, Jesus, have sent my angels to testify unto you of these things, and the churches, and the fruit, and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star, and the spirit of the bride shall come, and let him that heareth succumb, and let him that is the thirst succumb, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely, for I testify unto everyone that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add on to these things, God shall add on to him, for I testify unto everyone that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. God shall add on to him, the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away every part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book, he which testifies these things, say it, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Father Adam, would you pray for us? Heavenly Father, thank you for reuniting with the Holy Spirit. Help me preach to us tonight, Lord. And I pray that you will keep us all safe. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. So I'm going to continue on tonight in the book of Mark if you want to keep something to your revelation. Go ahead and do that. We'll come back at the end. But if you want to go back to Mark chapter number three. Mark chapter number three, I'm going to pick it up there in verse 22. We're going to look at verses 22 through 30. The Bible says in Mark chapter number three, verse 22, And the scribes which came and said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils, casteth he out devils. So if you remember, Christ is doing all these great miracles, and then they're coming and making this false accusation against him. And this false accusation, which they might very well have believed, these scribes and Pharisees, is that he hath Beelzebub, which is a name for Satan or the devil, right? And by the prince of the devils, casteth he out devils. And then, of course, Jesus says in verse 23, And he called unto them and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against Satan himself and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. So he's saying, How is it I can be casting out devils, like you say, if I'm, you know, if I have a devil? I'm not opposing myself. That's basically the parable that he's getting at there. But then he makes this other parable in verse 27, where he says, No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. And, of course, this is talking about, you know, B&E, basically, a guy breaking into somebody's house and spoiling it. That means taking the goods that are in there. But he's saying that a strong man's house can only be overcome by somebody else unless they first bind the strong man, and then he can do whatsoever he will. In this parable, it seems kind of counterintuitive because it's not, you know, a man entering into the strong man's house, that's not a good thing, but it's a parable that Christ used to illustrate what he's doing with Satan. Christ is entering into Satan's house and binding him and spoiling Satan's house. That's the meaning of the parable there. I know it seems counterintuitive, but, you know, Christ isn't condoning breaking and entering or robbing people or anything like that, obviously, but, you know, it gets the point across. He's saying, look, you can only, you know, overcome somebody if you're stronger than they are, right? So that's what he's saying here. Like, if I'm overcoming Satan, this is why I'm able to do what I'm doing because obviously what he's doing is profound. What he's doing is a great miracle to be able to have power over the devil and over demons, to be able to cast them out. That's not something, that's not an everyday occurrence. That's something that's very rare. That's what the apostles are doing, okay? So he has to explain it. Their explanation is, oh, he's doing it by Satan. He's doing it through Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. He says, no, it's because I'm actually stronger than he is and I can bind him and spoil his house. That's how I'm able to do this, right? And that should have been a big wake-up call to them to understand that this is God, okay, that this is the Christ, this is the Messiah that they're dealing with, not just some ordinary man, not just an And then he says this in verse 28, So there's a lot to kind of unpack there. There's a lot of good doctrine here in these closing verses that we're looking at tonight and the first thing I want to point out here is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is very specific, okay? A lot of times people wonder about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. What is it? What does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Well, this text tells us exactly what it is, okay, and by virtue of that tells us what it is not, okay? It's not only do we understand what it is, we also understand what it is not and people get confused about what it is not often, okay? People reach out to us. I've talked to people who are concerned that they have somehow blasphemed the Holy Spirit and again, I say why would anyone be that concerned about that? So what if you do that? Well, again, read it. It says there that he that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, okay? If you ask people what the unpardonable sin is, a lot of times, especially if you're speaking with Catholics, they'll just come out and say, oh, it's suicide. That's not the unpardonable sin, okay? The unpardonable sin is blaspheming the Holy Ghost. So this is why a lot of times people get concerned, right? They're thinking, oh, I think I might have done that. I have never forgiveness. I can't be forgiven. I'm a reprobate. I don't want to get too hard ahead of myself, but the Bible's really specific that the whole blaspheming the Holy Ghost is attributing the works of God and of Christ to Satan, okay? Pay attention when you're reading the verse. He says there, verse 29, he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation because they said, he said that, he said that if you blaspheme, you don't have forgiveness because of what they had said. Now, what did they say? By the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. He hath an unclean spirit. That's what they're saying. When they say he hath Beelzebub, what they're saying is he has an unclean spirit. The reason he's able to do what he's doing is because he has a devil himself, right? And that's why Jesus gives, again, that parable, kind of clearing that up and saying, the reason I'm doing this is I'm able to do this is not because I have a devil but because I can bind the strong man and spoil his house because I am stronger than the devil because I am God, okay? So the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is really specific here, isn't it, right? They said he hath an unclean spirit and his response was, he that blasphemes the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. So that's the context of the blaspheme of the Holy Ghost. The blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is not you taking God's name in vain. That is not blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, okay? That's not like I'm giving you a pass like it's okay to do. Obviously, that's a horrible sin. We should not be guilty of that, okay? But that is not to be confused with blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, okay? And I'm taking the time to teach this because people do get confused about that. Now, no one in the room is probably confused about that. No one in the room is probably confused about it. But I guarantee you if you're around the ministry long enough and if you're working with people, eventually, you're going to run into someone who's confused on this issue, okay? So, if you're paying attention, you'll know how to answer this. It's a common question, okay? It's not, you know, it's not when you get every day, but it does come up, okay? There's certain things that people struggle with consistently, you know? Not the same people, but you know, this is a consistent struggle with people that comes up. People say, I think I might have blasphemed the Holy Ghost. And they're genuinely concerned, okay? First of all, let me just point out that reprobates, people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, typically don't sit around and wonder whether or not they blaspheme the Holy Spirit. They could really, you know, they couldn't care less about, you know, the Bible says they don't want to retain God and their knowledge. You know, a lot of times people reach out and say, I think I'm a reprobate. No reprobate would reach out to a Baptist church and look, you know, for consolation on this issue. And a lot of times I just tell people that say, look, the fact that you're emailing us or calling us, reaching out to us out of a genuine concern tells me that you're not a reprobate, okay? So people who are genuinely concerned that they somehow blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you know, that should tell you right there that you haven't, okay? I mean, really, you have to attribute a miracle of Christ to Satan, basically. That's what you'd have to do. You know, and obviously the only miracles you're going to attribute, the only miracles of Christ that you're going to attribute to Satan are the miracles that have already been done, okay? Now, if you would, go to Colossians chapter number three. Colossians chapter number three. We'll look at Mark three a couple times. So the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is very specific. It's attributing the works of Christ to Satan, okay? And people who are really concerned about having done this, you know, that should be your first clue that you haven't, okay? Because if you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, you can't be saved. That's basically what he's saying there, okay? And what he's getting at, he's teaching you is that you're a reprobate, okay? Christ taught the reprobate doctrine. Let me point also that Christians are capable of blasphemy in general, okay? So I'm not saying that it's impossible for a Christian to blaspheme. It is. I'm just saying they can't blaspheme. We're not going to be blaspheming the Holy Ghost, okay? It's a very specific sin. Look at Colossians chapter number three. Verse eight. But now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy. So if we're not capable of blasphemy, as Christians, why is Paul commanding the Colossians to put it off, to not be guilty of this sin? Obviously it's because it is a sin that we're guilty or possibly could potentially be guilty of. We have, as God's people, the ability to be blasphemous, to have filthy communication, right? And again, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is a very serious sin. It's a very rare sin. But blasphemy itself is still a very serious sin, okay? It's, you know, it's the fourth commandment, right? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. You know, taking the name of God in vain is a blasphemous thing because what does it mean to be blasphemous? It simply just means you're insulting or you're showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, okay? Another way, another definition of blasphemy is claiming the attributes of deity, okay, which is what the Pharisees ended up accusing Christ of, right? When they're, when they're are in, when they're, when they're inquiring after him, when they've arrested him, remember? They said, what further need he have witnessed? He have heard his blasphemy, right? Because he said, you shall see the son of man's coming in the power of God and his holy angels. So he's basically saying, you know, I'm God basically and that's what's so funny, I don't know if funny is the right word, probably more like ironic when Muslims will make the claim that Jesus never said he was God when that's literally what they stoned him for, that's, or crucified him for and that's literally what they crucified Christ for, for blasphemy, not that he was being irreverent towards God but that he, being a man, maketh himself God. That's what they said, okay? And I've recently preached about that. You know, I've already gone over that whole topic. So that's another form of blasphemy. It's claiming the attributes of deity. It's being irreverent towards something that is considered sacred, okay? So just having an irreverent, kind of just contemptuous, lack, you know, attitude towards God or the things of God, okay? So obviously, taking the name of God is a blasphemous thing, right? And this is something that people do every day, okay? So not all blasphemy is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. The blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is very specific and blasphemy is something that even Christians are capable of, being irreverent towards the things of God, okay? Not taking the things of God seriously, you know, having a lack of respect for the things of God, you know, putting things over the service of God. You know, making the things of God, you know, putting the things of God, you know, into the back seat in their life. That's an irreverent attitude. When you say, well, you know, this is more important than the preaching of the word of God. This is more important than the Bible. This is more important. This takes priority over the things of God. You know, that's an irreverent attitude. That's, you know, that's not a good place to be because that's, you know, a form of blasphemy. And God says, thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. People do that every day. You hear it every day in everyday conversation, right? People just use the word God like, like just express their personal disdain for something. They take that name which is above every name, the name in which every knee shall bow and tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. They take that holy, precious, righteous name in their mouth and use it like a cuss word to express their disgust for something or their frustration with something. They'll take that name Jesus Christ and use it in a blasphemous way. People do this all the time. You know, I'm not saying, you know, I'm not gonna sit here and prescribe, you know, to everybody else so you have to go around correcting everybody, but who do that, eventually I get fed up. And I remember I was working on this one guy, it was constantly Jesus Christ this and Jesus Christ that. And finally, I was saying, what did you do? Did you turn him to Exodus and Deuteronomy and show him how you shouldn't take the name of the Lord God in vain? No, every time he said Jesus Christ I said, praise his holy name. You go, Jesus Christ said praise his holy name, right? Then they kind of stop, well, you know, Buddha. You know, every time I, you know, stub my toe or someone cuts me off in traffic, I'm just going, Muhammad. Ah, Dalai Lama. You know, like, we gotta like, if we're gonna start picking on, you know, religious leaders, you know, it's like, why the Lord, right? Because it's blasphemous is why. And because people have been trained to use the name of Christ by music, by television. I mean, they do it all the time in film. They do it all the time. It's wicked. You know, blasphemy is a very serious sin. Taking God's name in vain, I mean, just today. My daughter told me about some kids, you know, and I'm not saying, you know, these a bunch of wicked heathen out there, but there are just some kids playing at the park across our street. Our cute little pug, who does, the cuteness is overwhelming, it does evoke an emotional reaction when you see our dog. He's that adorable, okay? I can understand, but you know, there's a way to express that and saying, OMG, you know, fill in the blanks there, you know, that's not the way to do it. But people do that all the time. Oh my God. You know, or they don't want to do that, so they'll just write OMG. It's the same thing. The world, that's just what they do. But God, God's people, you should have more respect for the name of God, for Jesus Christ, than to use His name in an irreverent way. You know, none of us is likely, in fact, none of us is going to ever be guilty of the blaspheming Holy Ghost. If you were, you'd be a reprobate, okay? Because you have never forgiveness, okay? But every single one of us in this room is capable of being irreverent with God's name. And it's a wicked sin. It's a wicked sin to take God's name and drag it through the gutter of your mouth because you're upset about something. It's very wicked. It's a serious sin. Well that's why I say, gosh, it's the same thing. You're just, you're just putting another word in that place. Oh gosh. Jeepers, right? Cheese and rice. You know, they say things that rhyme with it. Right? How about saying nothing? How about saying ouch? You know, you stub your toe, ouch. That's a good way to know if you're full of the Holy Spirit. Stub your toe and if you cuss, you know, you're probably not. I mean, I remember I worked with a guy that was, went to our church, not here, this isn't another church, and he was very, you know, he said, man, I had a good day today. I said, what are you? He said, I dropped a box. He worked at UPS. He said, I had a good day. He said, I didn't cuss. I went, bam, and all the co-workers turned and looked at me and I went, ouch! Right? And he's like, and then it dawned on me, like, normally I would have cussed a blue streak. You know, but I didn't. And he said, I was really proud of myself. I said, well, God bless you. Right? But you know, even God's people sometimes we might be guilty of being frustrated and just saying something blasphemous. So, there's a few things we can learn from this. The other thing I want to point out beyond the fact that there's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and just blasphemy in general. One, Christians are not capable of doing. The other we are. Otherwise, why are we told not to be blasphemous, not to be irreverent? And by the way, blasphemy extends beyond just taking God's name in vain. Okay? Let me reemphasize that. When you're irreverent towards the things of God. You know, that's a blasphemous attitude. Okay? When people don't give God the respect that he deserves. Another one would be, another thing we can learn from this passage is that some people are beyond forgiveness. Let's, if you're still there, let's carefully read it together. Okay? Because I know that this is a doctrine that is not popular that people do not like to hear, but this is what the Bible teaches. It's very clear on this subject. He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. Never is going to be forgiven. Right? And he's saying this to the Pharisees. You want to accuse me of doing the things that I'm doing by the power of Satan? You will never be forgiven. That's coming out of the mouth of Jesus. You know, that's being called, that's called becoming a reprobate. And I know we know this here, but this is an important doctrine. And I know people think that this is just some hobby horse that I ride or something like that. Or like I just, I never preach anything else. But here we are in Matthew, excuse me, Mark chapter three, and here's Jesus teaching the reprobate doctrine. You know? So I'm going to take a minute and park it here. Okay? I've preached a lot of other sermons and a lot of different other topics and here we find ourselves reading the very words of Christ where he's saying there's a group of people that shall never be forgiven. Okay? And it's important because people are getting this wrong. And when you start to get this doctrine wrong, that's when you start to put other people at risk. Okay? When people want to dismiss the reprobate doctrine and say, oh no, anybody and everybody can be forgiven of anything anytime they want, then that's when people start to open their arms to literal reprobates. Okay? And this is taking place, it's been going on, and I'm going to continue to ring this bell every chance I get because Baptist churches have just fallen, you know, have gone by the wayside on this doctrine. Okay? Not here. It's not happening here. So what do Baptist churches, other Baptist churches, a lot of other Baptist churches believe about this? I don't know because they don't preach it. Okay? But I'll say this, the first time, I can remember it as if it were yesterday, sitting in the Burger King on Division in Traverse City in front of the Meyers, my pastor in Michigan, you know, we were running a bus route and we were picking up some kids who had a couple of sodomites, a couple of you know, women sodomites that were, you know, had a mixed family and they were sending their kids on our bus. And we were doing some kind of promotion and I remember sitting in that Burger King with my pastor and he's like, I just don't know if we should invite them. At the time I'm like, well why wouldn't we invite them? Isn't everybody, I'm just thinking this. And I said, well why not? He said, because they're reprobates. Now, I'll give him credit for that, however, that's the only time I ever heard about him. Okay? What that told, what that tells me is that that pastor, that old IFB pastor understood the reprobate doctrine. And this is something that the old IFB used to preach and understand and believe. Okay? And you know, look, I'm not saying none of them preach it, it's just, I'm not hearing it. You know, I'm not hearing it. In fact, a lot of times you're hearing the complete opposite. Today, now it's to the point where you can't respect it. Let's bring him in and put him in the children's ministries. Let's bring him in and sit him in the front row. You know, like those idiots out there at West Coast Baptist College who sit there and want to teach that they deserve dignity and respect. They're reprobates. They're blasphemers. They despise God. They're despisers of those that are good. They don't deserve dignity. They don't deserve respect. And they surefire don't deserve to be welcome in the house of God. And they'll never be welcome here. As long as I'm behind this pulpit, it's never going to happen. I'll resign, I'll quit before I ever let some sodomite reprobate in this church. They might make it in, but if they're found out, they're going to go out a lot quicker than they came in. I promise you that. And we got the muscle here to make it happen. Amen? Amen. You know, the Bible says that people are reprobates. Did I have you go to Jeremiah? No? Well, go to Jeremiah. Because again, we're going to teach this, and I'm going to make this very clear to people. And if you haven't marked this down in your Bible, you should, because it's an important doctrine. Christ is teaching it. They that blaspheme the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. Oh, Jesus, you know, Jesus will forgive everyone. Then explain why He could say to a group of people, that there's a group of people out there that will never be forgiven. You have to reconcile that. Some people, the Bible teaches, are beyond forgiveness. Okay? Beyond salvation is rather what I should say. Look at Jeremiah chapter 6, verse 29. The bellows are burned. The lead is consumed of the fire. The founder melteth and vests. The fire melts. The fire melts. The fire under melteth in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. Look, I understand. We preach this. We probably all understand this. But notice, okay, a couple things here. It's men that are doing the calling, right? Reprobate silver shall men call them. So men are gonna call another group of people reprobate silver. Okay? What are they gonna, why are they gonna call them that? Why would a group of, why will men look at these people and say, reprobate silver? That's what they are. Let's put a label on them. Reprobate. Why would they do that? Because the Lord hath rejected them. So who's doing the rejecting? The Lord. Who's doing the name calling? Men. Pretty clear, isn't it? Say, oh no, you're rejecting them. Nope, nope, that's not what I'm doing. I'm calling them that because God has rejected them. I'm only rejecting people whom God has already rejected. That's what it means to be reprobate, to be rejected. It's a great, it's a crystal clear verse. And you'll say, well, you know, through the Bible he uses reprobate, but you know, no one's rejected. That's literally why they're calling them that because they've been rejected. Then you tell me what reprobate means. If it doesn't mean that, what does it mean? And see, this is why a lot of people won't preach it because they know this is exactly what it means. So rather than just, you know, pulling up their bootstraps like a big boy and preaching it, they just avoid it altogether and pretend it's not there. Men do the calling, the Lord does the rejecting. Romans 1 everybody, let's go. Romans chapter 1. Turn to a passage of Scripture more in one year than a lot of preachers will probably turn to in their entire career. Romans chapter 1. The important, important chapter in the day and age that we're living in. So why do you guys got to preach about this? This is the day and age that we're living in. I mean, what else, what else should I be preaching about? You know, what other sin is just taking over our country? You know, if we weren't just being inundated with this embalmable filth, if we were just having this stuff just shoved in our face every single day, then I wouldn't have to preach about it. It's not that I enjoy it, it's not like I like getting up and talking about this topic. I mean, I'll say this, I've gotten to the point where it's easy for me. It's like, you know, this is an easy sermon to write because you know this doctrine. At least you should. I know we all know the passage. Romans 1 verse 18. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Okay, that is blasphemy. Okay, it's not saying it, but it's expressing the concept of blasphemy there when it says that these men are holding the truth in unrighteousness. That's an irreverent attitude, right? That's irreverence. That's a disrespect of God. That's blasphemy, okay? Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. God's not playing hide and seek with the people of this world. The things of God are clearly seen, right? The invisible things of God are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made. That's what it goes on and says in verse 20. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly under seen being understood by the things that are made. What are the things that are made? Me and you. We are part of the creation. We are the things that are made. So we can look at the creation of the world and see the invisible things of God. We can understand them. We can conceptualize that there is a God. The invisible things are understood by the things that are seen by those things which are made, okay? Even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. People do not have an excuse in this world to say, well, I didn't know there was a God. It's evident. It's obvious that there's a God. Verse 21. And I've preached about that. Just the fact that you can sit there and conceptualize the God. What evolutionary benefit is there to sit there and think about God? There is none, okay? That's something that's unique to human beings because we are spiritual creatures. So there is a spiritual realm. There is a God. Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. So they get the ball rolling, right? They're irreverent. They're blasphemous. They're not gonna glorify God. They're not thankful. They're gonna become vain in their imaginations and they're gonna darken their foolish heart through this. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. They're being lifted up with their own pride and changed the glory of God, excuse me, the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Some idolatry. Then when God sees all this, it says in verse 24, wherefore God also gave them up. Now, let me emphasize one word in particular here, also. Also, meaning in like manner in the same way, okay? It's a back and forth but who started it? They did. When they were unthankful, when they were unholy, when they changed the image of the uncorruptible God onto corruptible things, four-footed beasts, so on and so forth, they started it. That's why it says, wherefore God also gave them up. Who gave up first? Who dismissed who first? They dismissed God. This is the path to becoming a reprobate when you just reject God and reject God and reject God. That's why it's a scary thing to fall in the hands of the living God, my friend. If you're here tonight and you're not saved, you need to get saved and not have this attitude, well, I'll do it later. Well, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll just keep rejecting it. You say, where is that line? I don't know. Do you really want to find out? Because I don't. Let's not find out where that line is. Why don't we just get saved? This is especially true for kids who grow up in a Christian home who are under the voice of sound biblical preaching who are taught the gospel in an early age. You know, you're made more accountable. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, to the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. So that's where that sin is coming from. To change the truth of God into a lie and worship and serve the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever and meant for this cause. For what cause? The cause of them turning the truth of God into a lie. For the cause of them worshiping and serving the creature more than the creator. For that cause, God gave them up. So again, who started it? They did. God just says, okay, you want to give me up? I'll give you up. And he gives them up unto vile affections. And we know what he's referring to there. Verse 27, burning in their lusts one toward another, working that which is unseemly, women with women, men with men. Okay? Verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Every time where it goes, where it starts to speak about God giving them up, notice in the context, it's very clear that they started it. God is giving up on people that have given up on him. Okay? So it's not this Calvinist doctrine where God is picking one over another. Oh, you're saved, you're a reprobate. Because to the Calvinist, you know, reprobate means something else. Right? And you don't have a choice in the matter. You're just a reprobate. That's it. Okay? The reprobate is somebody who has the choice and gives up on God. And as a result, God gives up on them. Okay? Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. Now what's reprobate? A rejected. They're given over to a mind that has been rejected by God. Okay? And that's an important verse. Okay? And it's specifically the mind. Right? Something goes on in the mind. Okay? Where their thinking has changed. Okay? Their mind has been changed. It's been rejected by God. Okay? Go to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. Actually, you know what? Let's take the time. Go to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy chapter number 3. Okay? And this is what people need to understand about this doctrine when it comes to the reprobate doctrine. Because a lot of people will accuse us and say, oh, you're saying that Jesus won't forgive those people. You know, but Jesus did say they have never forgiveness. That if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, you have never forgive. Oh, they'll say, oh, you're preaching a limited atonement. You're saying that God will only forgive certain sins. Well, that's not what Jesus said. He didn't say they're not going to forgive. And we call it the unpardonable sin and that's really not an accurate term to use. Okay? But it's a sin that will not be pardoned. Okay? It's not that it's unpardonable. It's just that God's not going to do it. Okay? Because the people that commit the sin of the blaspheming Holy Ghost are reprobates. Okay? And when you're given over to a reprobate mind, you will not believe on Christ. Okay? And this is where people get a little confused sometimes. They think that it's like, oh, no, the sodomite, the reprobate, if they, you know, they want to be forgiven and God just won't do it. Or somehow, you know, Christ's blood isn't sufficient. No, it is. What they fail to understand is that the reprobate doesn't care. They won't believe. Because they've been given over to a reprobate mind. It's their mind that's been affected. You understand what I'm saying? It's not that Christ couldn't forgive their sin. He could. But it's not going to happen because they won't believe. And look, I've been out soul-winning and I've seen this happen. I remember going and I was by myself when this happened. You know, I didn't have a partner. The other people that I was soul-winning on another part of the street or something. And I knocked on this door and I remember I was thinking about this when I walked up the door. And I honestly believe it was the Holy Spirit, you know, bringing these things to my remembrance. It wasn't speaking to me. Okay, I may be very clear about that. Well, God told me as I walked up to the door. No, these things came to my mind. I was thinking about what it means to be a reprobate, what it means to be rejected. And I knocked on this door and this young man came to the door and he was, you know, he's very effeminate. And my first impression of him was this guy's a fag. Okay, that was just an immediate impression I got. But, you know, I said, you know what, nevertheless, I'll give him a chance. I said, hey, I could show you from the Bible how to be saved. Would you like to hear that? And he said yes. And he wanted to hear it. And I preached him the entire gospel and he understood all of it. He understood. He said, yep, that is. I said, do you understand what the Bible is saying? Yep, that is what it's saying. That is exactly what the Bible is saying. That it's a salvation by his grace through faith. It's through Christ alone. It's eternal. He got it. Like he understood it. But he would not believe it. He chose not to believe it. And I walked away thinking that guy's a reprobate. He either was very close to being one or he just became one or was one already. That made such an impression on me to see that actually play out in somebody's life. Now, I can't say for certainty that it was, but it left a mark on me. It made an impression on me. That whole experience. And that kind of dawned on me. It's not that God is incapable of saving them or would refuse to do it. It's that they won't believe. They will not retain God in their knowledge. They're given to a reprobate mind. A mind that will choose not to believe. It's their choice to not believe. So it's not a limited atonement. It's that reprobates will not believe. They won't do it. Look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. Know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false abusers, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses and leave captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts. Notice verse 7. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They're learning, they're understanding, but they will never come to a place of knowing the truth. Of knowing the truth. Of accepting the truth. Of believing the truth. Look at the end of verse 8. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. Okay? The problem is they're not able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They won't accept it. Go to John 12. John chapter number 12. You say, oh, why are you preaching this? Because it's in Mark 3. Because Jesus taught it. That's why I'm teaching it. Because the Bible teaches it. That's why I'm teaching it. Because that's my job, that's my duty as a pastor, as a preacher of the word of God to get up and preach the word of God. Every word of it. John chapter 12 verse 37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. And Jesus said, if you don't believe me for my word's sake, believe me for the miracle's sake. Give us a sign. How about all the miracles? Right? But this is what reprobates they won't believe. They will refuse to believe. No matter how many signs you give them. Oh, I'd believe God if he just showed up right here. No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't believe if one rose from the dead. Because one did rise from the dead and you don't believe. That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed to our report and whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, they could not believe. They could not believe because Isaiah is saying again, he hath blinded their eyes. He had blinded their eyes. They cannot come to the place of believing. It's not that Jesus isn't capable of saving them. It's that they cannot believe. They won't believe it. They've been given over to a reprobate mind, not just to do those things which are inconvenient, not just be given over to those vile affections. They're also given to the reprobate mind in the sense that their mind has been affected to where they cannot believe. They won't believe it. You say, well, what if Asada might believe the gospel? Would he get saved? Yes, but he never will because they cannot believe. That's what the Bible says. This is the narrator scripture in John chapter 12. Now lest you think that it's just all, you know, negative preaching tonight, let me also point out in this passage, go back to Mark chapter 3, that God does more forgiving than rejecting. Okay? We don't want to run to the extreme and just, you know, as seen people do this, anyone that doesn't believe the gospel reprobate, you know, we don't want to get on a hair trigger with the reprobate doctrine. You know, I asked them if I could leave them a verse of scripture and they said, no, thank you. Pretty sure they're reprobate. You know, we don't want to go too far with this, okay? Obviously, the people that are guilty of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is a very narrow group of people. It's a very small group of people. That encompasses a very small scope of people, okay? The people that God is willing to forgive is much broader, right? Look at Mark 3 again, verse 28. Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven under the sons of men, and blasphemies wheresoever they shall blaspheme. All sin is capable of being forgiven, but certain sins are not going to be forgiven because the people that commit those sins are reprobates and they will not believe. Reprobates could be forgiven if they could what? Believe. But they can't. The mind's a reprobate. They are condemned of themselves, okay? And reprobates aren't pleading to be saved. Again, you know, when people reach out, they think I'm a reprobate. I'm guessing not because you're, you know, you're reaching out to somebody who could clear that up for you out of a genuine concern, okay? Reprobates aren't pleading to be saved. God is capable of saving them, but they will not believe. Go to Revelation 22 where we started. We were wondering how we were going to get there, right? And look, the Bible is real clear. God, he said, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, right? Wheresoever they blaspheme, but whosoever blaspheme the Holy Ghost hath never forgiven us because only a reprobate would blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Only a reprobate who could not believe would look at the miracles of Christ and say, I'm pretty sure that's Satan doing that, okay? It's a wicked thought. It's an extreme form of blasphemy. But God is willing to forgive a lot, okay? And God is probably forgiven, and we could probably, all of us could probably, you know, maybe not some of the kids, you know, and keep it that way. You know, don't feel like you got to go live a wicked life just so you can be, you know, know the grace of God, okay? You can just be thankful that you didn't have to have, you know, a life of sin forgiven. But there are people that could look back and say, you know, God's forgiven me quite a bit. And God does a lot of forgiving, doesn't he? You know, whenever I read this, I always think about, you know, years ago, and I'm not coming to this guy's defense when that UFC fighter Conor McGregor came out and basically said he could beat up Jesus in a fight, right? Which is a blasphemous thing to say. It's wicked. I'm not defending the guy. Look, the guy's a scumbag, okay? Just is, you know? But, you know, it's funny because at the time a lot of people were like, oh, he's a reprobate. I was like, well, wait a minute. What did Jesus say? All men are sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven. Shall be forgiven men. Like, he's still capable of forgiving that, right? He didn't get up and say, oh, I think that the, you know, the works that Christ did were done by the power of Satan. You know, that's my best Irish accent. Well, that was pretty good, right? Just like him, you know, starting doing the thing, yeah? How does he do the walk? I don't know. He's not turning into a, yeah, you're doing it. Maybe you could demonstrate for us. Come on up here. I'm just kidding. Don't do it. Right? But it's like, well, he didn't say that. He just said something blasphemous. And look, what he said was wicked. Oh, you're defending him. No, I'm not. What I'm saying is let's not be an inherent trigger. Let's understand that God wants to forgive people. That he not come to destroy men's lives but to save them. Okay? Because this is the thing. People hear you preach the reprobate doctrine and they just, they just think, oh, you're just this hateful, spiteful person who just, you know, wants to see everyone die and go to hell. No. No, that's not the case. You know, that's, we love people. We have compassion on people. We want people to be saved. Just like God does, we get it. But, you know, it's just that we have to preach all of the Bible. And we have to understand this doctrine. Okay? Because it's important. In the latter days, perilous times shall come. Okay? It's a spiritually perilous time in which we're living. It is. And people want, and people reject this doctrine of being, of the reprobate doctrine. You know, they reprobate the reprobate doctrine. I know that's not even the proper verbiage there. They reject the reprobate doctrine to their own peril. And it's especially dangerous when it's leaders, when it's pastors and preachers of churches that are doing it. They're leaving themselves wide open. I would rather deal with the repercussions of preaching this than the repercussions of not preaching it. I'd rather deal with the scorn and ire of the world for preaching this. I would rather deal with hair-lipping people in the pew and sending people out the door to never come back than to deal with the repercussions of not preaching it and turning into one of these soft, weak preachers that are just going to open their arms up to anybody and everybody so we can just have a bunch of trannies sitting in the front row. You know, you're being a little extreme. It's happening. It's happening! It's being taught at Baptist Bible colleges to accept this filth. Okay? So when you reject the reprobate doctrine, you do so at your own peril. That's why you have... This is the sin of our day. This is the bell that must be rung repeatedly. I'm going to kick this dog every time I find it. Revelation chapter 22, verse 8. And I, John, saw these things and heard them, and when I heard it and seen it, I fell down to worship it with a few of the angels of these things. Then saith unto me, See, thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren, the prophets of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of the book, for the time is at hand. And I know that this message that's being given to John is referring specifically to the vision and the book that he's been giving in the book of Revelation. But, you know, we can apply that verse to the entirety of scripture. We should not seal the sayings of this book. The time is at hand. All of these doctrines must be preached. And when you come across a doctrine that Christ taught, teach it. You know, Jesus wouldn't be welcoming a lot of pulpits today. You know, it's like, Jesus would get up and he'd preach to reprobate doctrine because he did. I've got chapter and verse, buddy. Mark 3, preached it. They hath never forgiveness. That's the reprobate doctrine coming out of Jesus' mouth. And you know what? And I'm convinced that because of that, there's a lot of Baptist Bible colleges that would say, well, you're not welcome here. You can't preach that here. That's not a loving spirit. Look, seal not the sayings of this book. The time is at hand. And if it hurts people's feelings, so what? Because I'd rather deal with that than deal with the repercussions of not preaching it. Verse 11, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. You know, we can't be afraid to get up today and say it like it is and call a spade a spade and preach whatever needs to be preached, preached anything that's in this book. You know, and if, if people, if people are reprobates, then let them be reprobates. Like, if they're unclean, if they're unjust, tough. That's on them. They did the rejecting. And it's just, it's crazy to me when God's people and preachers fancy themselves more loving and compassionate than God. You know, they fall all over themselves to say, to try and reach people that God has said and I believe that he has rejected. You know, he that is unjust, let him be unjust. He that is filthy, let him be filthy. And don't be afraid to say it that way. It's a filthy, disgusting thing that they're involved in. I mean, it's vile affections. That's where all that comes from. But again, you know, that's, that's the, the chapter tonight or the, the passage clearly taught the reprobate doctrine. Well, let's not also forget that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven the sons of men. You know, God is still obviously very forgiving. But he has a limit and he's drawn a line and it's very clear where it is. So, you know, there's, there's plenty of other people that we can go out and be loving and compassionate and forgiving to. You know, we can go reach, you know, fucks, fornicators, adulterers, murderers. You know, we can go pick, you want to go get a bunch of wicked, unjust, and filthy people saved, you can do that. The world's full of them. The world's full of, of, of, you know, ungodly, wicked people that'll get saved. It's not like we're hurting to find sinners. Just go knock any door. Anyone who answers, sinner. But why do we have to think of finding the worst element of society and embracing them and say, no, no, no, this one group of people that God has clearly said are reprobate, we're going to accept. That's who we're going to go after. That's who we're going to target. This extreme minority, just to show everybody how loving we are. Oh, you're more loving than God. Why the reprobate? You know, go spin your wheels. And, you know, I guarantee you, I, me, and other people in this church have preached to more reprobates than these bleeding hearts ever will. That's a fact. I've preached to more reprobates on accident than they ever will with all of their love and compassion because we, you know, we actually go out there and do the work that we're supposed to do. So, let's not fall all over ourselves to try and save people that God has rejected. Let's be more concerned with the people that God is willing to forgive, which is the vast majority of people. Let's not focus all our efforts on people that hate God and despise God. Let's just go find, you know, John Q. Sinner or whatever, you know, and just get him saved Lord, again, thank you for the crystal clear teaching of your word that there, so much is just evident. Like there's just no question about what the Bible teaches on so many topics Lord, and this one in particular. And Lord, we thank you for the forgiveness and the love that is in Christ Jesus. We thank you for the cleansing power of His blood. We thank you for the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the internal security that we have and Lord, we thank you for the love of God which is shed abroad in our hearts. And Lord, we pray help us to preach that gospel to the lost Lord, but help us also Lord to understand that there are some people that we should call reprobate because you have rejected them. And Lord, help us to know the difference between the two and Lord, we just thank you for it in Jesus' name, Amen. All right, amen. And he was with us still, and he thought we were just and good way, just and good way. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, nor to trust when you fail. Not a shadow that lies, not a cloud in the skies, not a smile that really drives me away. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh for your tear, can apply what we trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, nor to trust when you fail. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, nor to need of which we behave. Not a grief or a loss, not a crowd or a cross, but is blessed if we trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, nor to trust when you fail, nor we never get by. But the light of His love is the light of His love. For the favor He shows, and the joy He bestows, after them who will trust and obey, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. When He fellowships free, He will sit at His feet, a woman by His side in the wind. What He says, we will do. When He says, we will go. Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Amen. Amen. We are at Christmas.