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Good evening, tonight we're in Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12 in the Bible reads, At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were at hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was in hungered, and they that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, would ye not condemn the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue, and behold, there was a man which had his hand withered, and they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, that they might accuse him? And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, he will not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days. Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Asias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, and whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment unto the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Then it was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom to your children cast them out, therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold it greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold it greater than Solomon is here. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth an empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. While he had talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with them. Then once said unto them, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto them, and told them, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren? And he strengthened his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. Let's pray. Dear Lord God, thank you for every soul here at this church right now, Lord. We thank you for the King James Bible, Lord. We thank you for your word, Lord. We thank you for pastors as well. We pray that you bless them right now and fill them with your Holy Spirit as he preaches unto us, Lord. And just pray that us and the congregation are identified by the preacher, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Matthew chapter 12 tonight. Look down at your Bibles at verse 31. Verse 31 says, Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. And here's the key phrase right here. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. And the title of my sermon tonight is Beyond Saving, Beyond Saving. I'm going to talk about the reprobate doctrine tonight and just kind of give a systematic teaching on what the Bible says about the fact that there are certain individuals, according to the Bible, that can never be saved even in this lifetime. Now, when we talk about the reprobate doctrine, how would we define it? Well, let me give you just a practical definition of it. And that is the biblical teaching that a person through vehement rejection of Christ can essentially forfeit the opportunity to be saved forever. Okay, that's basically what the reprobate doctrine is. And, you know, a lot of people will have a problem with that. And they often have a knee-jerk reaction when they hear this phrase reprobate doctrine and the fact that people can't be saved even in this lifetime. But here's the thing, folks, is that there are very clear scriptures in the Bible that indicate that there are certain people that will never have forgiveness even in this life. And whether people agree or disagree that it could be applied to sodomites, and we're going to cover that in just a bit, you can't deny the fact that there are portions of scripture that clearly say that people can't be saved even in this lifetime. And, in fact, we just read one right now. I mean, it says right there in verse 32 that they shall never have forgiveness, listen to this, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Now, you would have to explain to me what in the world does that mean if it's not referring to the reprobate doctrine. Because if it's saying you're never going to have forgiveness, we obviously know that people who die without Christ will not have forgiveness in the world to come. That's obvious. We know that. If people die without Christ, they go to hell, they will never have forgiveness, they will burn eternally. That's what the Bible teaches. Pretty much every Christian agrees with that doctrine. However, you know, the statement before that says in this world as well. So it's saying that there are certain individuals that will never be exonerated in this world. Why is that? Because they have essentially forfeited their opportunity to ever be redeemed by God. And, in fact, the parallel passage, you don't have to turn there. It's actually in Mark chapter 3 and verse 29 when it says, But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. It doesn't say never, but if they repent or something. Or never unless they get saved. Or never unless, you know, God works in them or something. It just says they never have forgiveness. And that is the parallel passage to what we're reading here in Matthew chapter 12. Now, in its context, this is often described as the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. And people have different interpretations as far as what this is referring to. But at the end of the day, the most essential teaching of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is that this is referring to people who beheld the works that Jesus Christ was doing and asserted that the Spirit that was doing these things in Christ was not the Holy Spirit, but rather was an unclean spirit. Okay, so they're basically saying that Jesus was demon possessed. That's what they're saying. And so Jesus is saying, hey, if you blaspheme me, you know, if you blaspheme the Son, you can still have forgiveness. And you have people today that will mock Jesus Christ, they'll make fun of him, they'll blaspheme him. Well, the Bible says they can still have forgiveness. In other words, that they can still be saved, right? God can still redeem them. I mean, you think about the Apostle Paul, who the Bible says was before a blasphemer and injurious, the Bible says. So he blasphemed the ways of the Lord ignorantly in unbelief, and yet he got saved, he received the forgiveness of his sins through salvation. But here it says, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness. And people will wonder, well, does that mean if some unsaved person says I blasphemed the Holy Ghost, you know, because the Bible says that, you know, I don't care what happens. Is that considered blaspheming the Holy Ghost? Well, I don't really care because I wouldn't do it if I was an unsaved person. You know, do you really want to play with fire like that? And here's the thing, for someone to go out of their way to say I'm going to blaspheme the Holy Ghost because they know the Bible clearly says that you shouldn't because it's considered blaspheming and it's an unpardonable sin. You know, obviously that person's already on the brink of reprobation, not going to be saved because they obviously hate the Bible, hate the Lord. But the point that I'm making here is that even if we were to completely ignore Romans 1, if we were to completely ignore 2 Timothy chapter 3, if we were to ignore 2 Peter chapter 2 and the book of Jude that collectively show us that there's certain people that can never be saved, well, what about Matthew 12? Okay, but we just read you would have to give me a pretty strong and convincing interpretation that Matthew 12 is not talking about people who can't be saved because at the end of the day, that's literally what it says, that they will never have forgiveness. And just in case you're confused, he says in this world, neither in the world to come. So he's just covering both bases there and saying that there's certain people that are not going to be saved even in this lifetime. Now I'm going to cover those two realms tonight, okay? This world, the people who can't be saved in this world, and the people who can't be saved in the world to come. But I'm going to work my way backwards and I'm going to talk about the world to come first. And what is it talking about when it says the world to come? It's referring to the afterlife, okay? And more specifically, it's not referring to heaven, it's referring to hell. And this is pretty basic, but after death, there's only one of two places a person can go to. And you think to yourself, well, why are you teaching that people can't have forgiveness in hell? That's pretty obvious. You think it would be obvious. You think like, yeah. But you know, there's like a billion Catholics out there that believe in something called purgatory. And that's a really major doctrine in the Catholic Church that teaches that if a person dies as a Catholic, they're not going to go to hell. They'll go to this place called purgatory to be purged of their sins. And when they have been purged for long enough, then they'll be able to enter into heaven because God cleansed them from that sin. But here's the thing, though, is that you won't find the concept of purgatory in the Bible. The word is not even found in the Bible, okay? Let me read to you from CatholicAnswers.com, okay? Just don't take my word for it. Let's listen to the experts, okay? And the point that I'm making here is that people who have died without Christ are beyond saving. If someone has died without Christ and they have not been cleansed of their sins through believing on Jesus Christ, they're doomed. It's already over for them, okay? And I say that as kindly as possible, but it's just the reality, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. And you think to yourself, well, that's kind of mean. Well, no, what's mean is for a religion to teach you, oh, don't worry, if you die and you're not fully cleansed, you'll go to purgatory and you'll be cleansed there. So there's literally people in this world that aren't concerned about the afterlife because they think to themselves, well, if I die, I'll just go to purgatory. People can pray me out, I'll be cleansed of my sins, and then eventually I'll get to heaven. But you know what? There's people who have been there since the medieval times. They've been there since, whatever, 300 A.D., when the Catholic Church started, who died believing that doctrine, and guess what? Purgatory feels a lot like hell to them. And they're realizing, oh, man, I'm not being cleansed, I'm not getting out of here. Yeah, because purgatory is a false doctrine that has deceived many people into believing that it's okay if you're not saved and, you know, whatever, you haven't been cleansed of all your sin, you'll get cleansed when you go to purgatory, okay? So let's read a couple things here. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a purification, quote, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. So according to the Catholic Church, you go to purgatory and you start getting purified. And I'm assuming it's through fire. I don't know how they're purifying them. But they get purified until they achieve the holiness necessary to enter into the joy of heaven. And to that I say, then why did Jesus even die for in the first place? What's the point of Jesus' death on the cross to be a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, if you still got to go to this place called purgatory to get cleansed of all your sins, okay? So it says the purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter into the joy of heaven, which is experienced by those who, quote, die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified. So this is what they mean by that. People who go to purgatory are people who, you know, they died within the Catholic Church, okay? Because that's what it means by God's grace and friendship, because according to the Catholic Church, you could only know God through the Catholic Church, okay? And in fact, they have this statement and they always deny it, but this is what they say, there's no salvation outside of the Catholic Church, that's what they teach. And you could run into a Catholic that says, well, I don't believe that, then you got to tell them to go Google it and put a complaint into the Catholic Church and say, hey, don't teach this because I don't believe it, but you know what, they're not going to change it, because that's what the Catholic Church believes. They literally teach there's no salvation outside of the Catholic Church. And, you know, they claim Protestants and Baptists are so prideful because we teach once saved, always saved. But here's the thing, though, I've never taught there's no salvation outside of this church. That's insane. You know, there's people who are saved, you don't even have to be a Baptist to be saved. Now, you know, Baptists are often the ones who are preaching the Gospel the most, but you know what, there's non-denominant people out there who are preaching the Gospel, they're getting people saved, and in fact, let me give you an example, okay? Years ago we went to the country Belize to go preach the Gospel there, we went on a missions trip, and it was the first time we went, and it was me and brother Milan and brother Eddie and brother Robinson, and we're on the airplane and we're coming back from Belize, actually, and we have gotten a bunch of people saved there, and one of the male, I don't know what you call it, male stewardess, is that what you call it? Stewards? Male stewards? The dude who serves you the drinks and the food, okay? He was there, and we were just kind of reading our Bibles on the plane, and he walks up and he's like, he's like, hey, you guys Christians? And he was like a long-haired hippie guy, you know, and he looked like he would be a steward, you know, looks like that's the job he would be doing, and so he's like, oh, you guys are Christians? We're like, yeah, we're Christians, you know, he goes, oh, where are you guys coming from? We're like, oh, we just came back from Belize from a missions trip. He's like, really, how'd it go? We're like, oh, man, we got this many people saved. He's like, man, I just came back from a missions trip a month ago, and I can't remember where he said, he goes, and this is what he said, we got 30 people saved. He goes, 30 people called upon the name of the Lord. Well, look, folks, I don't care if he has long hair, at the end of the day, if you're using that lingo, you're probably preaching the right gospel, because very rarely where you find someone who actually preaches the gospel who uses the right type of biblical lingo, and he's just like, we got 30 people saved, they called upon the name of the Lord, and so, you know, it was awesome, and, you know, I don't remember if he said they got baptized or whatever, but, you know, he rejoiced with our numbers, and we rejoiced with his, and it wasn't like me and Leon are like, yeah, right, he's not a Baptist, this guy's a steward, you know, ain't no Baptist will ever be a steward, not in my church. I mean, that'd be very prideful and arrogant to think that, right? Now, you know, obviously, there are non-denom churches that don't preach the right gospel, there are many churches that preach a false gospel, but it would be very pretentious to say, there's no salvation outside of First Works Baptist Church, because we know that there are many local New Testament churches that preach the right gospel and are getting people saved, even people we've never heard about, but yet the Catholic Church claims that there's zero salvation outside of their Catholic Church, outside of their walls, okay? And so, when you die in God's grace and friendship, it means you're dying as a Catholic, so if you die as a Catholic, hey, it's okay, because you're gonna go to a place called Purgatory, because even though you're imperfectly purified, you're gonna go there, God's gonna cleanse you, and you'll be going into heaven soon, just wait a couple thousand years of burning, and it's coming, you know. It notes that, quote, the final purification of the elect is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. So it's like, hey, when you die, and you're burning, don't let that mistake you, you know, it's different, okay? You're being purified, okay? No, you're in hell. There is no Purgatory, you're not being purified, you're paying for your sins in hell and you're never gonna get out. That is the harsh reality, but it's true. This is what they say, the purification is necessary, because as Scripture teaches, nothing unclean will enter into the presence of God in heaven. So obviously, if a false religion is gonna, you know, sell you a bill of goods and lie to you, they gotta add some truth to that. And when they say that nothing unclean will enter into the presence of God, they're actually right about that, because that is what the Bible teaches. Nothing unclean will enter into the presence of God. But what they're implying is that you have to make sure you purify yourself and go to Purgatory if you want to get clean, whereas the Bible teaches when you believe on Jesus Christ, you become totally clean, okay? And when you die, you know, yeah, your flesh, because it's unclean, cannot go to the kingdom of God. That's why it stays here. I don't know if you know this, but when safe people die, their bodies stay in the coffin six feet under. It doesn't go with them. Only the Spirit goes to heaven, the body remains in the ground. You say then, what happens after that? Well, there's something called the resurrection, where God gives you Bruce Mejia 2.0, okay? And he transfigures the body, he makes it completely sinless, so that now it can go into the presence of God. But what they're claiming is that, well, because nothing unclean enters into the kingdom of God, the solution to that is not believing on Jesus Christ so you can get your sins forgiven, the solution is, you gotta go to Purgatory to get yourself cleansed from all those sins. He goes on to say, and while we may die with our mortal sins forgiven, there can still be many impurities in us, specifically venial sins and the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven. When we die, we undergo what is called the particular or individual judgment. Scripture says that it is appointed for men once to die, and after that comes the judgment. We are judged instantly and receive our reward for good or ill. We know at once what our final destiny will be, at the end of time, when Jesus returns, there will come the general judgment to which the Bible refers, for example, in Matthew 25, 31-32. What he's saying is this, is that there's a particular judgment that you're gonna receive, that's when you die and you go to Purgatory, okay? And then there's a general judgment at the end of time. But here's the thing, folks, is that hell is the lake of fire and the lake of fire is hell. And whoever goes to hell will go to the lake of fire. That is one judgment that is pronounced upon the person who does not believe on Jesus Christ. Augustine said in the city of God that, quote, temporary punishments are suffered by some in this life only, by others after death, by others both now and then, but all of them before the last and strictest judgments. Now let me just say this, is Augustine holds a different opinion now. He has a different opinion now, in fact. It is between the particular and general judgments then that the soul is purified of the remaining consequences of sin, he says, and then they quote Luke 12, 59, I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last copper. Last mine, this is a different version, this is a Duarim's version. And so, you know, obviously they know that Protestants are going to visit the website, so they provide scriptural basis to prove this doctrine of purgatory. And they say purgatory is found in the Bible. And they point to 1 Peter 3, verse 18, let me read it to you. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. And they're like, that's purgatory. Prison, purgatory, huh? Both peace, right? Now, you say, well then, what is it referring to? Well, when you study the life of Christ, him preaching the gospel to unsaved people is referred to him preaching the gospel to those who are imprisoned in sin. That's what it's referring to. And so when it talks about he's preaching to the spirits in prison, he's not referring to a purgatory, hell, Abraham's bosom, whatever variation of that that you want to talk about. He's referring to the fact that when he came here, he's preaching to people who are essentially enslaved to sin. He said, but it says spirits. Well, yeah, people have spirits. That's what he's doing. So then it says Christ refers to the sinner who will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come, suggesting that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one's sins. So what is he saying? He's saying, look, when the Bible says they have never forgiveness in this life nor in the life to come, he's saying this suggests that you can have forgiveness in the life to come. So let me repeat that. He said, you know, Jesus said they have never forgiveness, neither in this life nor in the life to come, which suggests that you probably can get forgiveness in the life to come, hath never forgiveness, suggesting that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one's sin. How do you how do Catholics read this and think, oh, yeah, that makes sense? Cool. Similarly, Paul tells us that when we are judged, each man's work will be tried. And what happens if a righteous man's work fails the test? He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Now, this loss, this penalty cannot can refer to the consignment to hell, since no one is saved there and heaven can be meant since there is no suffering there. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory alone explains this passage. Now, the strongest proof that they have of the doctrine of purgatory is actually found, not in the Bible, but in their apocryphal readings. 2 Maccabees 12, 43 through 45 distinctly and very clearly lays out the doctrine of purgatory. In fact, let me read some of it to you. It says, In doing this, he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view. For if he were not expecting the dead to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought, thus he made atonement for the dead, that they might be freed from this sin. You say, well, there you go, that's the proof. Yeah, but 2 Maccabees is trash, though, and it's not in the Bible. But this is why Catholics want it to be back in the Bible, because the books that are removed from the Bible, these apocryphal readings, the reason they were removed is because they contradict the rest of scripture. They don't go along with the rest of doctrine that's found in the Bible. Like what? Like Maccabees is talking about purgatory. So this is why they want to maintain and keep these books inside the Bible, because it still pushes their false doctrines that they're pushing. Now, what is the biblical teaching? The biblical teaching is that when a person dies, if they're not saved, the wrath of God abideth on him. They descend into hell, there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. The Bible tells us that the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. This is the fate of every single person that rejects the free gift of eternal life. And notice how they say the fate of the person who doesn't repent of their sins, who doesn't do good works, who doesn't keep God's commandments, who doesn't get baptized. No, it's the fate of the person who rejects Jesus Christ as their Savior. And in fact, the Bible says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So when a person dies without Christ, without that saving, redeeming power of Christ, they descend into hell and they never get out. They hath never forgiveness. And they can pray in hell all they want, and they can ask for forgiveness all they want. It's never going to happen, my friends. And look, what I'm telling you tonight, obviously people might take offense to that, but at the end of the day, this is a church where we believe the Bible, and the Bible is the final authority. And sometimes when we read the Bible, it goes against, you know, man's desires and man's logic, but we need to bring our minds into alignment with the Bible and side with the Bible. And if the Bible says, no, there's only heaven and there's hell, there's no purgatory, we don't side with an institution that teaches contrary to that. And this is the problem with a lot of Catholics, is they'll say, well, we believe the Bible is the inspired, preserved Word of God, it's God's Word, it has authority, but we also believe the traditions of men. But really what they're saying is they uphold the traditions of men over the Bible. Because they think they coincide, they think they work in tandem, they think they are collectively used by God and revealed by God to man to know God's will, but there's a problem because they both contradict each other. And so let's say we added some validity to the traditions of men, and we say, well, maybe there's some good things in the traditions of men. Wouldn't we say, logically, that the parts where it contradicts the Word of God, we just completely disregard? So let's say we uphold both as being, you know what, traditions of men, authoritative, and you know what, it's legitimate and it's good, well, wouldn't the Word of God still be a little more authoritative than that? Because God is obviously more authoritative than that. So parts where the traditions of men are contradicting the words of God, we would completely disregard. But here's the thing, is that all those traditions contradict the Word of God. So at the end of the day, we can just throw out the traditions of men and just stick with the Word of God. You understand what I'm saying? And you know, I've talked to Catholics and they're like, well, no, they coincide, they don't contradict each other. Go to catholicanswers.com, and just in the first couple paragraphs you can see how much it contradicts. And stop gaslighting people, trying to manipulate people into thinking, oh, it doesn't contradict, of course it contradicts. Maccabees contradicts all the Word of God. And anybody with two brain cells to rub together who's read the Bible for any length of time, knows basic doctrine, can see this doesn't belong in the Bible. It's teaching weird stuff. It's teaching necromancy. Because when it's saying it's praying to the dead, see, that's a contradiction, because the Bible teaches against the practice of necromancy, which is communicating with the dead. Praying to the dead, communicating with the dead, trying to get the dead out of purgatory, that is the practice of necromancy, which the Bible considers to be an abomination. So how do you reconcile praying to the dead in Maccabees when Deuteronomy says don't do that? Well, you know, you side with the traditions of men, that's what it is. Okay? And so, you know, we need to make sure that we teach people that there is no Abraham's bosom, there is no purgatory, and you're like, well, that's not very loving, we need to respect everyone's, but here's the thing, you know, if you want to respect someone's false doctrine and let them die and go to hell, then that's not loving then. It's not loving to let someone just continue to believe a lie, and then they die and they go to hell. You know? Whereas God wants us to tell them about the word of God, they want us to tell them about eternal life and eternal punishment and to get them saved, amen? And so it's important for us to realize that people who have died, it's already too late. And look, we all have family members, people that we know and love, who have died and they were not saved and unfortunately that was their fate. You know, and it is an unfortunate thing, but may it motivate us to try to get people saved, right? Before it's too late. Because whoever dies without Christ, they had not forgiveness in the world to come. Okay? Now let's talk about the second one, because he says they don't have forgiveness in the world to come, but it first says that they don't have forgiveness in this world. So in the current world that we're in, the Bible says there's certain people that will never have forgiveness. And forgiveness equates to what? Salvation. Because salvation brings forgiveness. You have to understand that. We're not just talking about forgiveness on a day-to-day basis, confession of sin or something like that. It's referring to salvation. And it's telling us the person who blasphemes the Holy Ghost, that's why it's called the unpardonable sin, they will not have forgiveness in this life, meaning they cannot be saved. Okay? Now turn with me if you want to John chapter 12. Go to John chapter 12. Now this is, again, we would refer to this as having a reprobate mind. And the word reprobate is not a common word that's used today, even amongst Christians, but just in general population, they don't really use the term reprobate. However, when you read literature of 100 years ago, even 50 years ago, you actually find that term a lot, even in books, secular books that have nothing to do with religion or the Bible or God. I would very consistently use that word reprobate to describe someone who's just very depraved, okay? Someone who's just very evil, extremely wicked, and just almost borderline a devil, they would use that synonym, this person's reprobate, that's what they would use it as, okay? And when you look at the modern versions, for example, they get the translation wrong, but you can see why they would use this word. They don't use reprobate, they'll say they have a depraved mind. And there's some truth to that, right? Because the reprobate mind does bring depravity to them. They do depraved things. But reprobate, the biblical definition would be rejected. Because the person who thinks of the secular way of using reprobate, they view it as, well, they're referring to a mind that does these things that are disgusting and vile and perverse, whereas the Bible considers a reprobate mind as being a mind that God has rejected from ever receiving the truth. So it's a mind that is incapable of ever consuming the truth or believing the truth, okay? And of course, in Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 30 is where we get that definition from. Reprobate silver shall men call them, for the Lord hath rejected them. So reprobate and rejected are used synonymously in the Bible. And when you think about a reprobate mind, it's a mind that's been rejected from ever receiving the truth. You understand? But now, in general, the general population has access to the truth. They can always believe the truth. If you're not saved, you're listening to my voice right now, you have access to the truth. You can believe the truth. But believe it or not, there are people in this world that no longer have that opportunity. That ability to believe the truth is no longer present to them. They have forfeited their privilege to ever actually believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now look at John chapter 12. Because we're going to get into Romans 1 in just a bit. But I want to show you other portions of scripture that teach this. Because, you know, there's other fundamental Baptists that disagree with this. They find it very offensive, and they just think we're overboard on this, and they don't agree. But here's the thing, folks, is that Romans 1 is not the only passage that teaches this. It's not the only passage that teaches that some people are beyond the hope of salvation. It's talked throughout the Bible, but there are some very clear passages, John chapter 12 being one of them. Look at verse 36. Now let's read this carefully, okay? It says in verse 36, While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed, and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. So let me just make a couple things clear here. He's telling them, he's the light of course, and he's like, while you have the light, you should believe in the light. And then the next verse tells us that even though they had seen so many things that would testify that Jesus Christ is God, the Bible says that they did not believe on him. In other words, they did not trust him as their savior, they didn't believe on him. But it clarifies what it is that actually happened there. Look at verse 38. That the saying of his eyes the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore, listen to this, they could not believe. So keep in mind, before it says they did not believe, but now it's telling us that they could not believe. So it's clarifying that it's not, the reason they did not believe isn't because, you know, Jesus wasn't good enough, or they just didn't understand. Something was removed from them where they could not believe. Something is impeding them from believing, because it says they could not believe. Okay, there's a barrier there that's causing them not to believe. I'm trying to say this as clearly as possible. Now verse 40, or excuse me, verse 39, I'm sorry, verse 40, is the clarifier here. He. Now let's, before we move on, class, who is he? It's God, right? Okay, well the Bible's about God, so it's, we should be talking about God, right? It's going to tell us something that God did. He hath blinded their eyes. Well maybe this is a mistranslation, maybe it should say that they themselves had blinded themselves, no, no, no, it says he did it. He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart. Why? That they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them, the Bible says. So here it's telling us that God is taking credit for causing them not to believe. Now people think to themselves, well you know, everyone has the freedom to believe, and to that I say, amen! But you know what, these guys right here, when Jesus is like, right there, and he performs all kinds of miracles to confirm that he's Jesus, he's God, and they're just like, no, I'm not going to believe, then you know what God does? Okay, I'll help you not to believe. Now this is not everyone in this world. This obviously requires a very unique special person who hates God. Because in general, people, even if they're not Christians, even if they don't read the Bible, they don't go to church, they have respect towards God. They believe in God, and their minds are like, you know, he's our God, and even you might have run into people who are not saved, and they will say that Jesus Christ is their savior, even if they're not saved. They recognize Jesus as being the son of God, so this requires like a special kind of evil, right? But what I want you to see is that they did not believe because they could not believe, why? Well because God's the one who blinded them so they could not believe. So he's keeping them from believing. Keeping them from what? From getting saved. So they can be beyond saving, you understand? Now, people have a problem with that. They're like, oh man, that's messed up though. Is it really though? Is it really messed up? Because you're thinking, most people when they hear this, they're like, oh man, but what if that person wanted to get saved though? Well the reason they're there is because they literally in their hearts told God that I never want to get saved. Because God wants people to be saved. He wants people to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But what if someone just tells them, hey, you know, I like to unsubscribe to your newsletter and I want nothing to do with you? You know what's the most annoying thing is when you unsubscribe from some, you know, newsletter or advertisement and it just keeps sending it to you anyways. You know what's really annoying is when framing the world just keeps sending me emails even though I like, I unsubscribe from them like a thousand, every time they send me anything I'm like, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, don't send me anything, I don't want it. Like, reprobate this email. I don't want it and they just keep sending. It's very annoying, right? Well God is a gentleman. He's not going to force himself on anybody. So when he finds a person that just says, I want nothing to do with you, I hate you, I don't want to think about you, God's not going to keep sending that email. Saying, hey, are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? God's like, okay, I'll help you and I will never send you another email thereafter. And it's like, whoa, that's kind of messed up. No, because he's doing what they have already done and really what they want. He's giving them what they want. Because it's not like, you know, I'm just confused about the truth. It's like they know the truth and they really don't want the truth. What I'm saying is that it takes a special kind of evil for God to come down and say, alright, I'm going to blind your eyes, not physically, spiritually. I'm going to harden your heart so you can never be healed and be converted. It takes a special kind of evil for that. Go to the book of Jude, if you would, book of Jude, and then we're going to go to Romans 1. And this is what the Bible consistently refers to as being a reprobate. It's a person who no longer possesses the faculty to believe the gospel. And no empathy should be expressed to them because that's literally what they want. That's exactly what they want. They never want to believe. Yeah, but I've run into some and they say they really want to believe. Well, the Bible actually says that they're full of deceit. They're lying to you. That's literally what the Bible says. Because here's the thing, don't you think that God knows people better than we do? Like God knows us better than we know ourselves. You know what I mean? Like he knows the inner recesses of the heart. He can see straight through your heart. He knows you way better than you know yourself. He knows your successes, your failures, your desires, your fears. He knows everything about you. I mean, he has an intimate knowledge of you, but he also has an intimate knowledge of the wicked as well. So for him to look into the hearts of these people who don't want to believe on him, he knows what they're really saying in their heart. Because you would agree that there's certain people that speak with their mouth, but maybe they might say something else in their heart. You know what I mean? Sometimes when we are speaking to others, we like to clean up how we speak. But what if we just said everything that was in our heart? That would be pretty bad. We'd be offending people left and right and saying crazy stuff. Well guess what? God already knows all that crazy stuff you say in your heart. He hears it. Because he's omniscient. Now that's for Christians, but what about the wicked though? What about the people who verbally...because aren't there people out there that literally say like, I hate God? You know, I hate Jesus or whatever? If they're saying that verbally, what do you think they're saying in their heart? To have the boldness to actually say with their mouths like, I hate Christianity, I hate God? To be as brazen to make that statement? Just imagine what they're saying in the inner recesses of their heart. Think about that. Well the only one who can hear that is God. So when he makes people reprobate, it's like, well God must have heard something really bad in their heart. See what I'm saying? Because I forgot to make someone reprobate because God heard probably some of the most blasphemous things in their heart where he knows deep down inside they despise God. Even if they wouldn't verbally say it, God knows the heart. Look at Jude. Look at verse 12, it says, These are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds. Trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, here's the key, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. And that is an important statement because of the fact that what it's referring to here is that God views this individual as though they're dead twice. And what does that mean exactly? Well the Bible refers to the current hell as the first death and it refers to the lake of fire as the second death. Right? Now anybody who goes to the first death is automatically sealed to go to the second one. So anybody who's currently in hell will experience the lake of fire in the future. That's how it works. And one of the best illustrations that I've heard when talking about that is the trash can illustration. It's like you have a trash bin in your house that's like hell and you take that trash bin and you throw it in the dumpster which is just a bigger trash can. Or as the Bible says, it's like the lake of fire. So they're both trash, it's just one's bigger than the other. So both hell and the lake of fire are both hell, it's just the lake of fire is a lot bigger. But anybody who's in hell will be going to the lake of fire according to the Bible. So there's first death and second death. Well here's the thing, there's people who are living in this world according to this passage that God views as though they're already in that first death. Even though they're not there yet. Because he's saying they're twice dead. He doesn't mean they're physically dead because he's talking about the fact that they're amongst Christians, they're walking this earth, they're here and he's saying these people are twice dead, it's as if they're already in hell. What does that mean? They've sealed their faith, they have never forgiven us in this life nor in the world to come. Now go to Romans 1. Let me give you a really clear passage as you're going to Romans 1 to show you this concept of reprobation. And let me just make something very clear, Christians can never become reprobated. And when I say Christians, I'm talking about saved people. People who believed on Jesus Christ, we're sealed until the day of redemption. We've got the Holy Spirit of God, and you can backslide pretty hard but you'll never become a reprobate. Because we're sealed. We have that in us, we're saved, and I don't even know how else to explain it. You're eternally redeemed. Your name is permanently embedded in the book of life. It can't be scratched out, no one can bring graffiti over it, you're permanently there. Nothing can take you out. And in fact, Jesus said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And I always find it funny that people are like, no, but you can lose your salvation. Are you any man though? Because if you're any man, who's stronger? You or God. God's stronger. So, you know, you can't pry yourself out of the hand of God, even if you wanted to. And you know what, I don't know anybody who would want to pry themselves out of the hand of God. Because that's just a weird scenario. Oh, but you could give the gift back. No, you can't give the gift back. In order for you to give the gift back, you would have to go back in time. And time travel doesn't exist. But let me read to you from 2 Corinthians 13 5, it says, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves. Know you're not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates. So what is it saying? If you're a reprobate, you can't have Christ in you. Because the only way to have Christ in you is to be saved, and reprobates can't have Christ in them. It's pretty clear. I know a lot of people hate that verse too. People who hate the reprobate doctrine, they have quarrels with that verse. Because it's so clear. Now look at Romans 1, because when we talk about the reprobate doctrine, it really covers a wide spectrum of people. And the extremes of this spectrum covers the sodomite, what we would know today as a homosexual. They're on that spectrum of reprobation, and then it also covers the false prophet. Someone who's gone apostate. That's also reprobation. Now just because someone's apostate and they're a reprobate doesn't mean they'll be involved in homosexuality. Because they have different desires, whether that is to steal money, to take advantage of the innocent, clout, whatever it is. But these two individuals fit on this spectrum of being reprobate. Now I've already covered the apostasy side through the book of Hebrews and Hebrews chapter 6 and other sermons. So I'm going to focus tonight mainly on the homosexual. And this is important because we live in a day and age where everyone wants to make an excuse for homosexuals because you have a cousin, aunt, or whatever. But I'm going to give you what the Bible says though. You have to accept what the Bible says. And if you don't accept what the Bible says, that's fine. Just don't say that the Bible doesn't say that because it does. Just say you disagree with the Bible. But Romans 1 is your quintessential chapter on reprobation dealing with homosexuals. Look what it says in verse 25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause, God gave them up to vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, so verse 26 says, it's talking about what? Lesbians. Women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. It's referring to like dykes, lesbianism, that's what it's talking about. Everyone, we're all on the same page here? Okay. Verse 27, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman. What does that mean, natural use? It means like God's intent for men and women is to get married and have kids together. You know, have a family. That's like literally what they're made for. You know, a man is supposed to find himself a woman, and they get married, and they live happily ever after. Amen. That is the natural use. It's for a man and a woman to come together in holy matrimony and produce offspring. And even if they don't produce offspring, there's still something that has to take place there, and I'm trying to keep this PG. Amen. That's what the natural use is referring to. So it says likewise also the men, they leave that natural use, meaning they don't, they're not looking for a woman. It says burned in their lusts one toward another. Like man, what does that mean? Well, men with men working that which is unseemly. I like how the Bible just kind of doesn't defile our minds, you know what I mean? So it's telling us that God is the one who gave them up to this though. He's like, he's the one responsible for them acting this way. He's giving them up to these vile affections. Let me just say this, there's nothing beautiful about homosexuality. The Bible calls it a vile affection. Any dude agrees with me, I don't care if you went to a high school where they promote that stuff, you know it's disgusting. And any woman would think the same thing too, but for some reason it's more disgusting to us men. Let's just be honest. If I were to just corner you, and you didn't agree with me, you would eventually say, it is gross. It is gross, yeah. Like if you saw two dudes kissing, you'd be disgusted. You'd be like, ugh. And in fact, there's a study where they examined the salivating glands of a man who looked at meat rotting, which is pretty gross, right? And it produced these enzymes in their saliva, and then they showed them images of two dudes kissing, and it produced those same enzymes. So it's like, a man reacts to dudes kissing the same way he would react to looking at meat rotting. And you know what, that's pretty accurate. Because even people who are like, well you know, I just think people should be allowed to do whatever they do. Yeah, but if you were to look at what they do, you'd be disgusted by it still. You're just trying to be nice. You're just trying to be nice with people. But at the end of the day, you don't want to look at that. You're disgusted by it. Because it's unnatural. It's like, ugh. Makes you want to throw up. You're a pastor, you shouldn't be saying, I'm just reading what the Bible says here. And I'm just saying what every young man thinks too. Because at the end of the day, let's just be honest, too many pastors are just kind of limp rested about this subject, not willing to tell you the truth. Hey, I'm with you guys. Because you guys are with the Bible, and I'm with the Bible, and at the end of the day it is gross. It's disgusting. And the biblical term would be, it's vile. It's a vile affection, like God is grossed out about it. And in fact, in the Old Testament, when he describes sodomy, he says the land would throw up. That's crazy. It says the land wanted to vomit. That's what God says. God's like, what's the best way to describe how nasty this stuff is? The land vomits, it wants to vomit. It's not even a sentient being, and it's just like vomiting because it's disgusted by sodomy. So it says, men with men work in that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error which was meat. What is that referring to? Disease, AIDS, this is the byproduct of sodomy. And it says that that's what they get, like AIDS is the judgment of God upon sodomites. That's what the Bible is actually teaching. Because they receive within themselves that recompense of their error. And you know what, you can study history, it's been the same thing. When sodomy existed throughout history, there was diseases, it was detrimental to a society. Anytime sodomy was introduced and embraced by that culture, that society would fall apart. He says, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. So he's saying, God, they didn't want to retain God in their knowledge, they didn't want to even think about God, so God says, okay, then I'll give you a reprobate mind, and it's going to cause you to do these shameful, disgusting, vile acts. That's what he's saying. Now, Brother Christian, come on up here. Stand right here, please. Everyone go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. No lat spreads up here, okay? We're talking about being beyond salvation, right? Look at 2 Timothy chapter 3, just stand there for a bit. We're going to read a couple of verses and we'll come back to Christian in just a bit. Look at verse number 5. I want you to notice this. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Isn't that crazy? Meaning that there's people in this world who can learn the Bible all they want, but if they have a reprobate mind, they'll never actually come to the knowledge of the truth. And who's the truth? Jesus. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. So they can learn all this information about the Bible, learn everything about what the Bible has to say, and they'll never come to the knowledge of the truth if they're reprobates. How do you know this is referring to reprobates? Well, look at verse 8. Now as Janus and Jammies withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. They're rejected from ever believing. Now the reason I have Brother Christian up here is because I want to clarify some things that people get confused about when I teach this. Because automatically sometimes if this is like a new doctrine to people, they'll often say, so are you saying that like a person who commits homosexuality can never be saved? And this is my answer, that's not what I'm saying. And you're like, well I thought you were just saying, weren't you just saying it's violent and disgusting? Yes, it is. I mean, I'm still about that. But then you're saying that if they commit that they can still be saved? Yes. Because did you know there's people out there who are forced into a homosexual relationship? They're raped, people who commit pedophilia, they're taken advantage of. Some girl has a boyfriend who's just a pervert and they get involved in these perverted acts. They're kind of forced into that. They can still be forgiven of that if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You understand? And so there's people who've been raped or even coaxed into that type of acts. And let me just say this, they're probably really ashamed of it. They're probably very disgusted by it. And their mind is being warped by Hollywood, pornography, just different things that are causing them to accept that. But then in the long term they're like, this is gross, this is disgusting, this is not good. And they hate that. That person can still be saved. However, that's not who I'm talking about when we talk about the reparative doctrine. And here's the best way to explain it, because when people say, oh you're saying the act causes them to be irredeemable, they can't get saved? No, it's the fact that they burn in their lusts one toward another and willingly commit homosexual acts because that's literally what they love to do. That's an indicator that they became a reprobate a long time ago. And here's the best way to explain it. Put your arms out, brother Christian. This way. Now back, forward again, I'm just kidding. So let's say Christian is a tree. Bulky looking tree, huh? Someone came and they planted a seed in the ground and the seed germinated and it began to grow. It became this tree, right? And it's producing leaves. But it's a fruit tree, but we don't know what kind of fruit it is. Seasons pass by and, you know, an apple grows on it. Would we look at that apple and be like, oh, it just became an apple tree? It's always been an apple tree. The fruit is just showing you that that's what it's been all along since it was a seed. You understand what I'm saying? So it's like, this is the tree and it's just like, oh, you know this is the tree, arms up man, arms up, here you go. Lat spread, no. And then it started, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, I think my wife said something about this, like apple trees take a long time to grow apples. Is that true? Yeah. So like, you're just waiting, I mean how long? Someone give me like a time. Generally. Years? Yeah? Okay, let's just hypothetically say five years, okay? Takes five years and then finally you see an apple, it's not like, oh, you know, this literally just became an apple tree. People tell you it's been an apple tree this whole time, you just don't know it because it's just now that it's bearing that fruit. But when that seed was thrown into the ground, it's always been an apple tree since then. So this is how I'm going to parallel, you can put your arms down, I'm going to parallel this to sodomy, okay? And that is, when you look at a person who's a full blown sodomite, who burns in their lust once toward another, and revels in that abominable act, what is that an indicator of? It's an indicator that that person became a reprobate a long time ago. It's just now producing the fruit, pun intended. You understand what I'm saying? Like how many of you have ever seen the degradation of a person when they become a reprobate to a blue haired, abominable reprobate? Right? Like if you ever see someone's Instagram or something, it's just like, oh man, they like atrophied, it took years for them to become that way. But here's the thing, if you scroll all the way down, you'll see a normal person, but they were probably a reprobate then. It just took years for that fruit to be produced. So the fruits of a reprobate are not the reason why they can't be forgiven, that's not why God intended it to be seen. The fruits of a reprobate is an indicator to let us know, oh this person rejected the Lord Jesus Christ a long time ago. They were given over to a reprobate mind, and obviously we don't know how many years ago, we don't know how long ago, but it was a long time ago that this person said in their heart that they hate the Lord Jesus Christ, and throughout the years they just got worse and worse and worse and worse, and now they're a sodomite. So you don't want to get confused, thank you brother Christian, you don't want to get confused and think to yourself, oh a pastor over here is saying that if someone committed this act, that they can't be forgiven, they can't be saved, well if this person is genuinely disgusted by it, and they know it's wrong, they were taken advantage of, maybe they were raped or molested or something like that, that's not what we're talking about. Because they can still be saved. God loves those people, because he loves the innocent, even though they're violated, especially because they're violated, because he loves the innocent, he wants to bring justice to them. You understand what I'm saying? And he wants to save them. There's been plenty of people who are molested and raped and violated who came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and they're thankful for salvation. But then there's others who, they become bitter towards God, they begin to hate God, and then five years from now you kind of see, oh this person has been a reprobate for a long time. So the vehement acts of sodomy that you see in a person should never be viewed as a, oh okay this person can't be forgiven, well they could be if they would believe, but they relinquished their right to ever believe years back when they became a reprobate. So for us as Christians, when we see that, what is it an indicator of? Oh this person was damned a long time ago. And people are like, oh man I feel bad about that. But should you really feel bad for someone who that's literally what they want though? That's what they want. Because when they don't want to retain God in their knowledge, they're essentially saying like I want nothing to do with God, so when God removes their ability to believe, listen to this, very important, what they believe is closely attached to their moral conscience. And here's another good illustration, I won't have you come up here because I'm illustrating a bee. But you know, think of a bee. How many of you have ever been stung by a bee? Raise your hand if you've ever been stung by a bee. I've never been stung by a bee, so I don't even know why I'm talking on this, but I've heard. Like a bee, once it stings you, it dies, right? And the reason it dies is because the stinger is directly attached to its intestines. Right, am I correct? See, I know what I'm talking about. Got it right! So, tiny bees, whatever. I was thinking a giant bee. A tiny bee stings you, it dies because its stinger is attached to its intestines. Well, in a very similar way, when a person becomes a reprobate, which means they rejected the Lord, their rejection of Christ in that manner is attached to their moral compass. So when their incapability of believing pulls with them their morality, which is why they can commit pedophilia, and bestiality, and sodomy, because they're connected. You find me a person who's into pedophilia, I find you a person who hates the Lord Jesus Christ. You know why? Because Jesus Christ hates pedophiles. And that person knows that. The stinger is connected to the intestines. The ability to believe is connected to morality. That's why Christians, we live and seek to live a moral life, be morally rectitude because we have the Word of God. It resonates with us, we love morality, we love justice, because that is retained because we believed on Jesus Christ. But the person who has hated the Lord and wants nothing to do with Jesus Christ, and if they could they could just snap them away and make them not exist, that person no longer can believe and has surpassed the boundaries of morality where they can get involved in some pretty weird stuff. Disgusting, murderous, raping, molesting type stuff. Even cannibalism. You know Jeffrey Dahmer is an example of that. How did Jeffrey, how did he even do something like that? That's like some crazy disgusting thing, because he's a reprobate. He rejected the Lord long ago, and you know the dismembered bodies in his apartment is just the fruit to show you this man hated the Lord Jesus Christ long ago. He just got worse and worse and worse and worse. And so it's important, so you say well okay, what am I supposed to do with this information? Now that you grossed me out. Well this is what you should do with this information. Get people saved. Give the gospel to people. Because the only way you can impede someone from ever going down that route and ever becoming a reprobate is by getting them saved. That's why you preach the gospel to the kids, preach the gospel to every person. Because once they're sealed, they're sealed. Once they're saved, they're saved. Once they're a child of God, once saved, always saved. Amen? And we can keep them from ever going down that route of ever becoming a reprobate. Because for those who are, it's too late for them. And you're like oh I feel bad. Well why do you feel bad for that small population when there's so many other people who actually love the truth? There's people in this world who love the truth. There's people in this world who, even though they're not saved, they love Jesus because they accredit Jesus to everything in their life. Shouldn't we go to them? So why empathize with the one who hates the Lord? Why don't we empathize and seek out those who want to be saved? And we would be thankful to have you bring the gospel to them and get them saved and seal their faith for all of eternity in heaven. You know the fields are already into harvest. And so it's important, this doctrine is important. Because we don't want to be ignorant of this wicked world to the point we think everyone is hunky-dory and no man can do wrong. There's some pretty evil people out there in this world. And you need to be aware of these people that exist out there. They will destroy your lives if they ever had a chance to and an opportunity to. So that's number one. But number two, you know, may this inspire you to make sure that you're getting your friends, your family members, your children, your cousins, your co-workers saved to prevent them from ever becoming a reprobate. It's the worst punishment someone can ever have in this world. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. So thankful for the gift of salvation, Lord. And I pray that you bless us as your people to continue to be aware of these things, Lord. And help us if there's someone here who maybe had a knee-jerk reaction to the teaching, Lord, that they would humbly receive what the word of God is saying, Lord. And I pray you work in their hearts. I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. One as our last song, our great Savior. Song number 161. Song number 161. Sing it on that first verse. Jesus, what a praise.