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I'll be preaching tonight what is probably the most controversial sermon I've preached so far, but if you look at there in Romans chapter 1 verse 28, Romans chapter 1 verse 28 it 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 the total of the sermon tonight is a reprobate mind, a reprobate mind. Now before I get into the sermon there's just one little correction that I want to make from my sermon on Sunday. If you guys remember I had mentioned Mahatma Gandhi, and I got him confused, I mean I didn't really get him confused, I knew who I was talking about, but I mentioned that he died in the 70s, but actually he died in 1948 by assassination. So I got that mixed up with someone else, but I just wanted to make that little correction in case you were wondering. It's the same guy that I was referring to that had that quote back on Sunday. But tonight we're going to be talking about a reprobate mind. Now what I mean, I'm just going to tell you very quickly what I mean by this term reprobate. Now I'm not saying this term can always be applied perfectly, but a lot of people refer to this doctrine as the reprobate doctrine. And basically, don't worry what it's called right now, but the main principle is this, is obviously we know when someone dies without the Lord Jesus Christ, they have no chance of salvation, right? They're in hell, they go to the lake of fire, they're paying for their sins for the rest of their eternity, and in many ways we could say these people are reprobate because they've been rejected by God. God's wrath, God's judgement, God's anger, and God's hatred in that fire of hell is burning so hard against these people that rejected him. And when we talk about the reprobate doctrine, this might seem unusual, but there are people on this earth that they're living and they're breathing, but they have already received the wrath of God upon them, okay? So instead of stepping into hell, instead of stepping into eternity without Jesus Christ, they have already been rejected by God, okay? And God's wrath has already started upon them, okay? They're not burning in the flames of hell just yet, obviously they will when they go and they die without Christ, okay? But there are people in this time that have been rejected by God, okay? They have no chance of salvation, just like anybody else in hell, but instead of crossing to hell, they're already facing that punishment upon this earth, and they're not going to be saved. There's no chance for this person to be saved. And that might sound, you know, contradictive to what we understand about the Scriptures, which is why this is a controversial topic. But you know what? I've been amongst, I've been in church my whole life, okay? And I've been in, let's say, one, two, three, four, this is my fifth church that I've been a part of. And in every church that I've been a part of, there's been some teaching on this topic, okay? Now it may not always be called the reprobate doctrine, but there's always some element, whether it's dedicated to a whole sermon or just parts to a sermon, where the preacher talks about somebody that can never be saved, that God's given up on that person because they've given up on God. There's always some element of it, okay? But not every church that I've been to have taught on this topic, you know, alone, like a one sermon sort of thing, okay? Now, the first time this topic became really apparent to me, I won't even mention which church that was, okay? I was in a mainline independent fundamental Baptist church, and I remember the preacher saying that someone can get to the point where they rejected the Gospel so many times, they rejected God so many times, they rejected the moving of the Holy Ghost so many times in their life, that God says, that's it, I'm done with you, and that's it. There's no further chance God will no longer be working in that person's life, okay? I've heard this preached in a mainline independent fundamental Baptist church. Now today, in 2018, there are preachers saying, no, we don't believe that, but I've heard stuff like this taught in every church that I've been part of, okay? Some element of it, okay? Bits and pieces here and there, okay? Now, the reason I remember this very distinctly, this sermon, very distinctly in that church, is because my wife turned around at the end of the sermon, and obviously my wife's been trying to give her father the Gospel, and she's given him the Gospel a number of times and is rejected a number of times, and she turned around and said to me, and this is why I remember it, do you think my dad has lost his chance of salvation already? And that's why it struck to me, and I said to Christina, look, I don't know, I mean, I guess we don't really know, all we can do is continue giving him the Gospel at every opportunity that we have, okay? Now, it wasn't called the reprobate doctrine back then, but that was essentially the teaching that, you know, that this is about, right? This is the teaching that you can be walking the earth and you've lost your chance of salvation, okay? Now, the first thing I want you to understand, because again, there are a lot of Baptists now that are saying, no, you have till your final breath to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. You have till your last breath on your death bed, everybody has a chance to receive Jesus Christ, you know, and look, this sounds really beautiful, right? It sounds really pleasant, it sounds really nice. You're going to get a lot of people on your side by saying these words, but I know any Bible-believing Christian, anyone that upholds the word of God as their final authority does not agree with that. Even if they say that, okay, they're speaking out of two sides of their mouth, okay? And I'll show you what I mean by this. Please turn to Matthew 12, Matthew 12, verses 22. Now this sermon might be a little long, okay, but I feel like it's important that we cover a lot of information here. So Matthew 12, 22, Matthew 12, 22, are there people that cannot be saved, that are walking this earth and just have lost their chance for salvation? Well, let's look at what Jesus says in Matthew 12, 22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb. And he healed him in so much that the blind and the dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, is this not the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, pay attention to what they say, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. So the Pharisees are saying of Jesus, you're casting out devils through the power of the devil, right? And look at verse 25. 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 casts out Satan, he is divided against himself, how shall then his kingdom stand? So if someone's casting out the devil, they're not doing it through the power of the devil. Otherwise God Jesus is saying that the kingdom can't stand. Okay? Satan's kingdom is strong, but it can't stand if Satan is fighting within himself. And verse 27, and if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do 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. So Jesus is casting out devils by according to what spirit? The spirit of Beelzebub, the power of Satan? No. He says I'm casting them out by the spirit of God. Okay? Verse 29, or else how can another 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 gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, all manner, pay attention to these words now, these are the two verses I want you to focus on. 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. Wow. So if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, Jesus says there's no forgiveness for you. Say well maybe no forgiveness just now, but you can still go to heaven. Well look at verse 32. And whosoever speaketh a 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, and look at the next words, neither in the world to come. Not now and not for eternity. These people will die in their sins. They will not be forgiven. No matter what they do, if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, you've lost your chance of salvation. Now is that difficult to understand? And look, if you ask any bold-believing Christian, if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, can you be saved? Any bold-believing Christian will say no, you can't be saved. Because they know how plain the teaching is. You can't twist this stuff. They can't be forgiven in this world, neither in the world to come. So if you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, guess what? You're a reprobate. You've been rejected by God because you rejected him. Now the question that comes up is, well, what does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Well, what did we just see? You know, people make this complicated. I don't think it's complicated. Jesus was doing God's work. He was doing it through the Spirit of God, right? And what did the Pharisees say, or these Pharisees in particular? They said he's doing it by the power of Satan. So if you turn around and say, well, Jesus, the reason why Jesus could do what he did was because he's of the devil. His power is of the devil. And you speak like that about Jesus Christ, you're not actually just blaspheming Jesus, you're actually blaspheming the Spirit that's working those miracles, which is the Spirit of God. That is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. If you blaspheme him, you say he's of the devil, you say he's of Satan, you will not be forgiven in this life. Now if that worries you, here's the thing. If you've believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Okay, so the point here is that the reason why these people cannot be saved ultimately is because they can't believe. And I'll show that to you later on, okay? Now, turn to Revelation 22. We're going to look at a lot of passages. Revelation 22, Revelation 22 verse 18. Revelation 22, 18. The Bible says, for I testify unto you every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. So if you take specifically the book of Revelation, but I believe this applies to the whole word of God, if you add anything to his word, you know, you chop and change it, you're a Bible editor, you add things, you remove things, well we'll see you remove soon, then God's going to add the plagues to you. Okay, the plagues that we read about in the book of Revelation. Verse 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. Okay, so if you add or remove, guess what? Your part of the book of life will be removed. Okay, and if your name is not found in the book of life, guess what? You're destined to the lake of fire. So do you see this? Someone that adds or removes, you know these guys, Westcott and Hort, that created their own new Greek text? Okay, they added and changed and did whatever they want to the word of God, they destroyed it, and now you have all these modern translations coming out using this Westcott and Hort translation. Hey, those guys have lost their part in the book of life. These people are burning in hell, even as they were walking on the earth, they've lost their chance of salvation. And again, you can ask any Bible-believing preacher, you know, can someone lose their salvation if they add or remove from the word of God? They'll say, of course you can, because again, these things are plain to read. They're not difficult to understand. Okay, so these people are reprobates. They have the reprobate mind. Okay, now you're in Revelation, look at Revelation 14. Revelation 14, verse 9. I'm sorry if I'm preaching loudly. When it comes to topics like this, you kind of have to preach hard, right? You've got to preach loud, okay? Revelation 14, 9. And the third angel, so this is about the time of tribulation. You guys know about the mark of the beast. Anyone that takes the mark of the beast has to worship the beast. The reason they take the mark is so they can buy and sell, but it's not just taking the mark. You're worshiping the beast and you're worshiping the dragon. Look at verse 9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark on his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. So those that take the mark of the beast, guess what? They're reprobates. They've been rejected by God. They have no chance of being saved. Their end is the wrath of God, is destruction in the lake of fire, okay? And of course, following this, God pulls out his wrath upon the earth, you know, before they die and go to the lake of fire, so that they experience God's wrath even through those plagues that he has in the book of Revelation prior to being sent to the lake of fire, okay? Now, so what do we see so far? People that blaspheme the Holy Ghost, people that add and remove things to the Bible, people that take the mark of the beast, all these people have no chance of salvation, okay? They've been rejected by God because they rejected him. Now turn to John chapter 12, John chapter 12 verse 37. John chapter 12 verse 37. John 12, 37. But though he had done so many miracles before them, so this is about Jesus Christ obviously doing many miracles, yet they believed not on him. So there were certain Jews that did not believe on Jesus Christ, even though he did all the miracles in their sight, okay? That the saying of Esaias, the prophet might be fulfilled, which is spake, Lord, who have believed our report, and to whom have the arm of the Lord been revealed, therefore, look at this, therefore, they could not believe. So they decided, even though Jesus did all these miracles, they got to a point where they thought, I'm not believing this, okay? And then have a look at this, verse 29, therefore, they could not believe, right? Because the rebate, the reason why they can't be saved is because they cannot believe, okay? Therefore, they could not believe because that Esaias said again, he have blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. Who? God. God blinded their eyes and hardened their heart. Now think, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that belief is from your hearts, right? You've got to believe 100% with all your heart on the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't believe 50% on Jesus and 50% on your good works. No, it's 100% on Jesus Christ. These people hearts have been hardened by God himself. And look at this, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. So the reason why these people's hearts have been hardened by God is because God doesn't want them to be converted, he doesn't want them to be healed, he doesn't want them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, okay? Because they've already rejected the Lord Jesus Christ first, okay? Now people say, well that's Calvinism, you're teaching Calvinism. And I don't know if people even know what Calvinism is anymore, okay? But standard Calvinism teaches, and I won't preach a whole sermon on Calvinism, but it teaches that God in his eternal past, before he created anything, before the foundations of the world, God already knew everybody that would exist, and I believe obviously he does, but then he would elect or predestine those who he want to be saved, and those that he wants to just burn in hell forever, okay? So God, before these people even have a chance to reject God, or a chance to even want to believe on Jesus Christ, God's already made that decision for them. That's what they teach. And so because, you know, God already made the decision who's going to be saved and who's going to be damned, then why, when Jesus Christ came to die on the cross, he wouldn't need to die for those that already would be damned, right? He wouldn't need to die for those that would be saved, okay? So even if you didn't want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, it's going to happen anyway, because God's already chosen that for you, and even if you didn't want to die in your sins and be saved, well there's no chance anyway, none of you, it's not your decision, it's not your decision, it's God's decision, and God's already decided whether you're going to hell or heaven. So why even try? Like why even try anything? Like why even find out the way to heaven if God's already elected those to be, whether some to be saved and some to be damned? What I, look, I'm against Calvinism. I believe Jesus Christ came and died for the sins of all mankind, and I believe every man has the opportunity to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or not, okay? And what this doctrine teaches is that just some people have had the opportunity to believe on Christ, just like these guys had the opportunity to believe on Jesus when they saw the miracles, but they kept rejecting him and God says, enough, I reject you as well, I'm going to harden your heart so you don't believe and be converted, right? This is not Calvinism, so people that try to throw the Calvinism tag at you, you know, they don't even, either they don't know what we believe or they don't even know what Calvinism is. It's one of those two things, okay? Now, I'm going to skip some of my notes, but if you can turn to Romans chapter 1, let's go to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, and I'd love to preach on this whole chapter alone, one day I will obviously, but let's just start with verse 16. Romans chapter 1 verse 16, because obviously we believe in the gospel. We believe Jesus died for all man. We believe, you know, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. We believe that, okay? We believe he died for every man. We believe that Jesus paid the price for every man's sin, whether they believe on him or whether they don't, okay? It's been paid for, but some will just reject that gift, okay? Now, look at verse 16. Romans 1 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But what if God hardens your heart so you can't believe? What's going to happen? You've been rejected by God, you cannot be saved if you cannot believe, right? Now, look at verse 17. For therein, therein what? What we just spoke about, the gospel. For therein, the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. Now, what does it mean to reveal something? It means to make it known to others, you know? It's a visible revelation. God's revealed his righteousness in the gospel. He sent Jesus to come and die, was buried the three days, three nights, rose again from the dead, and that's the expression of God's righteousness. That's how he's revealed it to us, okay? Revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. So the righteousness of God is revealed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. But look at verse 18, the comparison. Pay attention to the words. For the wrath of God is revealed. So the first part was the righteousness of God is revealed through Jesus Christ and now the wrath of God, the contrast. How is the wrath of God revealed? From heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man who hold the truth in unrighteousness, okay? So again, we think of wrath. What is the wrath of God that's been revealed? You know, we think of hell. We think of the plagues, you know, the seven trumpets and the seven vials in the book of Revelation. But you know what? God has revealed his wrath in some people today, okay? And that's what we've been looking at. People who have lost their chance to believe and be saved, okay? Now have a look at this in verse 19. We need to read all of this and put it together, okay? Verse 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them. So God has given these people the opportunity to believe. He's shown his righteousness to them. He's shown who he is in verse 20, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. So look, even the creation is a reason for people to believe on God. Being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, pay attention to that. When they knew God, these people that we're about to talk about are people who know God, who have heard the gospel. God has revealed himself to them through whatever channels, okay? Creation can be one of them, okay? Who knew God? It's not like they never had a chance. Who knew God? But look at this. They glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations. Now look at this. And their foolish heart was darkened. Remember how God can harden someone's heart so they don't believe? Well this is a similar statement there. Their foolish heart was darkened, okay? Because you need to believe with your heart. Verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like uncorruptible man into birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. So instead of believing in the God of the Bible, the God, the creator of all things, instead they want to worship and adore the creation, the animals. When you go door to door, a lot of people say God is everywhere. God is everything. God is the tree. God is your God. The animals are God. That's the process that these people that you talk to have taken and they could potentially become a reprobate, okay? Because this is the downward spiral that people take. Now what am I up to guys? Verse 24. Okay, now here's the important thing you need to understand. They've been rejected by God. So they rejected God first. So God's rejected them, okay? We'll see this soon. Verse 24, wherefore God, look at the next word, God also gave them up. Also, okay? So because they worship the creature more than the creator, what that is saying is they have given up on God. They've given up on God, okay? Then when you read verse 24, wherefore God also gave them up. So that's the response of God. You want to worship the creatures? You don't want to acknowledge me as God? Then I'm going to come and give you up, okay? God also gave them up. Now how did he give them up? To uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. So these people are dishonoring their bodies. This is how we know that the wrath of God has been revealed in these people because they start to defile their own bodies. And you might be saying, well what does that mean? Well let's read on because God explains this to us three different ways, okay? And it's a matter of just putting all these things together and it becomes crystal clear who these reprobates are. Who these people with a reprobate mind are. We'll see soon. 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. So you can see how we're starting to repeat the same process there. These people again rejecting the creator and want to worship the creation. Verse 26, for this cause. So for the reason that they're rejecting God, God's going to do something to them. For this cause God gave them up. God's given them over. God's given them up. Look at this, unto vile affections. So that dishonoring of their bodies now is being described as a vile affection. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. This is lesbianism. I forgot the word lesbianism, okay? This is two women wanting to be together and verse 27, and likewise. So in the likewise, the same way that the women changed the natural use of their bodies and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of the error which was meat. So what is this vile affection? What is this dishonoring of their bodies that we read about earlier? Homosexuality. It's the sodomites, okay? This group of people that make up some two percent of our population is what is being referred to here. We haven't looked at any other sins right now, okay? This is the second time God's explaining it to us, okay? Let's keep going. The third time, verse 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. So did they have a knowledge of God? Yeah. Did they want to retain that knowledge and know more about Him? No. 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. Well, what things that are not convenient? We've just been reading about it, okay? God sent us three times dishonoring their bodies, homosexuality, okay? And God, when He gives them up, when He gives them over, when He gives them over three times, He's given them a reprobate mind, okay? It's a mind that is like animalistic. It is not a natural, normal human mind, okay? It's been changed. And their hearts have been hardened, okay? Their hearts have been hardened as well. We'll see we'll see soon a little bit more of this. And it says, yeah, to do those things which are not convenient. Obviously, not convenient referring to what we just read, those homosexual acts. Now, you don't need to turn there. Stay in Romans 1. I'm just going to read to you Jeremiah 6 30, okay? I heard a sermon recently that Jeremiah 6 30 is where we base everything on this reprobate doctrine. Jeremiah 6 30 just helps us understand what the word reprobate means, okay? Now, if you look up the word reprobate in a dictionary, it's pretty obvious. It's just someone that's been rejected or something that's been rejected. That's really what it means, okay? But Jeremiah 6 30 is great because it's the first mention of the word and it gives us just a biblical definition of what it means. It says Jeremiah 6 30, reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them. So what's reprobate silver? If you're mining gold or silver and then you put that metal in a furnace, you're trying to purify it. You want pure gold and pure silver. Once it goes through the fire, all that dross, all that waste, you know, worthless materials and dirt will come up, bubble up out of the surface and that silver will be purified and all that rubbish that gets taken out of the metal is rejected. It's not worth anything, okay? If you want the silver, you don't want the reprobate silver. You don't want the stuff that was left over from the purifying process, okay? So all we can take out of this verse is obviously that the word reprobate means rejected. Now, someone's trying to say and I'm not going to name the names because that's not what I'm about, okay? I just want to teach you guys doctrine right now but some people will say, well reprobate doesn't mean rejected forever and that's a true statement. Reprobate doesn't mean rejected forever. It doesn't mean rejected temporarily either. It doesn't mean rejected for five years. It doesn't mean rejected for a million years. It doesn't mean rejected for eternity. It just means rejected, okay? When we go to Jeremiah 6 30, we just take that word and that definition that it means rejected because obviously when you read this passage, this passage is referring to Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah being rejected but then they would come out of captivity and be accepted by God once again, okay? So that's not what we're discussing. We're not discussing Judah. We're not discussing the captivity here. We're just taking the definition of the word reprobate and understanding, oh that means rejected. So when God's given someone over to a reprobate mind, it's because God's given them a rejected mind, okay? It's not a natural normal mind of a natural sane person, okay? It's been changed. It's been rejected, okay? Because intellectually they're not going to understand anymore salvation and their hearts are darkened and hardened. They're not going to be able to believe anymore, okay? Now go back to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 verse 29. So we're going to get to some, it's not difficult to understand. Some people just want to make it as difficult to understand, okay? We've understood now they've rejected God. God's rejected them and by rejecting them he's given them this rejected mind, okay? And he's darkened their hearts, okay? And they're committing homosexuality. The context is these reprobate homosexuals, okay? These sodomites. Homosexual reprobate is the context. Can you take anything, I mean can you formulate any other context so far than what we've just read? That's what we're talking about, right? Because that's important because when you read verse 29, look what it says. Being filled with all unrighteousness. What are we talking about? Who's being filled with all unrighteousness? The reprobates are, okay? The homosexuals are specifically, okay? These people are being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding. Why? Because they've got the reprobate mind. Covenant breakers without natural affection. Why? Because their hearts are darkened, impractable, unmerciful, okay? So these homosexual reprobates are filled with all these sins. That's what the Bible's teaching us. And you might say, but Kevin, I know this homosexual and he's the nicest guy I've ever met. He's such a friendly person. That's a lie, okay? I know that's the front they put up for you, okay? To make you sympathetic to them, but God tells us no, they are full of these evil and wicked sins. And look, I know, I understand that some of these things in this list, we've done, okay? I acknowledge that some of these sins in this list are things that we've done, but people that want to deny this doctrine, what they do is they just lump in homosexuality with all these other sins. Well, homosexual is just one of all the other sins that we all do, okay? No, it's the homosexual that is filled with all these sins, okay? It's not just another sin in the list. This list is the homosexual, okay? If you read it again, that will come clear to you. Otherwise, you have to conclude that God has given all of us reprobate minds, that God has darkened all our hearts, because that's what people say, well, no, this is all of us. Well, are you saying you're a reprobate then? Is that what you're saying? Are you saying God's given you over to your homosexual lusts? Is that what you're saying? Because I'm not. I've not been given over to that. That's the most filthy and disgusting thing that could possibly enter into my mind. This is why it's reprobate. This is why it's rejected. Now, let's keep reading now. Let's look at verse 32. Look at this. Now, again, verse 32 helps clarify all this, okay? Because let's look at one of the sins that's in there. Let's say, what is it? Proud, boasters. I'm sure we've all suffered with pride. I'm sure we've all boasted in our lives, right? Okay, so let's pretend this is just every sinner. Every sinner that's done any kind of sin. Let's look at verse 32. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things, what? Boasting and being proud, are worthy of death. Hold on. And by the way, I'm going to show you soon, this is the death penalty. Are you worthy of death? Are you worthy to die because you've committed pride, the sin of pride? Think about this for a minute. They're worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Now, I've had people try to take this worthy of death in Romans and apply it to Romans 3 23, you know, for the wages of sin is death. Oh, sorry, that's Romans 6 23. Is that right? Yeah, Romans 6 23. For the wages of sin is death, right? Hold on. Hold on one thing at a time. First of all, I'm going to prove to you right now, and just take my word for it right now, but I'll prove this without a shadow of a doubt, that this is the death penalty. Now, according to God's laws, is homosexuality a sin that's worthy of death? Is homosexuality a sin worthy to be put to death about? It is, okay, it is. So, if we understand that in this context, that this is talking about homosexuals, it would make perfect sense if this was about the death penalty, because that's God's judgment on that sin. Okay, now let me prove this to you. I've got a lot of verses, you don't need to turn there, you can take down the references then if you want, okay? But the first mention of this phrase, worthy of death. So, we're going to do the law of first mention. You know, people like that, the law of first mention. Let's look at the first time the Bible refers to worthy of death. It's in Deuteronomy 17 verse 6. Deuteronomy 17 verse 6. It says, at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death, but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. First mention worthy of death is what? Being put to death. The death penalty, okay? Let's do the law of second mention. The law of second mention. I don't know if there's such thing, let's just do it. Let's pretend there is. The law of second mention. Deuteronomy 19 verse 6. Deuteronomy 19 verse 6. Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long and slay him, slay him, let's kill him, whereas he was not worthy of death inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. So this is about accidental death, manslaughter. You know, someone accidentally kills someone, you know, that person is not worthy of death, you know, and he's got to be careful because someone might slay him, someone might kill him as an act of revenge, okay? What about the law of third mention? Can we do the law of third mention? Is that okay? Can we do that one? Deuteronomy 21 verse 22. And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and they'll hang him on a tree. So this guy gets hanged on a tree, he's being put to death. This is the third mention of worthy of death. What about the fourth mention principle? Can we do the fourth mention principle? Is that all right? Is that one okay? Deuteronomy 22 verse 25. Deuteronomy 22 verse 25. But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her and lie with her, then the man only that lay with her shall die. So this is about rape. If a man rapes a woman, then the man only that lay with her shall die. Some people like to say, well, if you've been raped, then the Bible says you should be put to death. No, it doesn't say that. It's the rapist that gets put to death, okay? Verse 26. But unto the damsel, there shall do nothing. There is in the damsel no sin worthy of death. For as when the man riseth against his neighbour and slayeth him, even so is this matter. Okay, so being worthy of death there. Again, the death penalty. The rapist is worthy of death, but not the victim of the rape. Let's talk about the fifth mention principle. The fifth mention principle. 1 Kings 2 26. 1 Kings 2 26. And unto a by a father priest said the king, get thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields, for thou art worthy of death. For you, so this person is worthy of death, but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou bearest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou has been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. So again, a reference to the death penalty. Being worthy of death. And you might say, well hold on Kevin, that's the Old Testament. We're now living in the New Testament times. Alright, let's do the sixth mention principle. The sixth mention principle. Luke 23 verse 15. Luke 23 verse 15. This is when Jesus Christ is brought before Herod, right? And what did the people want to do to Jesus Christ? They wanted to kill him. They wanted to crucify him. And these are Pilate's words about Jesus. Sorry, they're brought to Pilate, not Herod this time. It says, nor yet Herod, these are Pilate's words, for I sent you to him, and though nothing worthy of death is done unto him. He's saying Jesus is not worthy of death. Jesus is not worthy to be crucified. Okay, that was a Pilate's word. Again, the death penalty. What about the law of seventh mention? The law of seventh mention. Acts 23 verse 27. Acts 23 verse 27. And the next references are all about Paul, by the way. So these are the words of Claudius, which is a Roman captain, talking about Paul. Talking about the apostle Paul. Verse 27. This man was taken of the Jews and should have been killed of them. So saying the Jews wanted to kill Paul. Then came I with an army and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman. And when I would have known the cause whereof they accused him, I brought him forth into their council, whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have done nothing lay to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. He says, look, they wanted to kill him, but he's not worthy of death. Okay. And then in Acts 25 verse 11, the eighth mentioned principle, and I'm sorry to drive this home, but I think it's important. The eighth mentioned principle, Acts 25 verse 11. These are Paul's words of defense. Paul's words of his own defense as they were trying to kill him. He says, for if I be an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die. So he says, look, if I've done anything worthy of death, then yeah, it's okay. Kill me. I don't refuse that. Okay. But if they've been done none of these things whereof they accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. So again, what's worthy of death? The death penalty. Okay. Now the law of ninth mentioned. Number nine, Acts 25, 25. These are Festus' words to King Agrippa about Paul. They're talking about Paul. King Agrippa is talking to Festus about Paul. Verse 25, and when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death and that he himself have appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. So they're saying, look, he's not worthy of the death penalty. The law of tenth mentioned. The law of tenth mentioned. This is all New Testament. New Testament. The law of tenth mentioned. Acts 26 verse 31. This is an assessment of those listening to Paul's case to say, well, is he worthy of death? Is he worthy of the death penalty? Verse 31, and when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves saying, this man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. So he's not worthy to be put to death and he's not worthy to be in prison, in bonds. Okay. That's the tenth mentioned principle. Have you seen a consistency there of what that phrase worthy of death is? What's the eleventh mentioned principle? Romans 1 32. It's the only other place in the whole Bible after we've gone through ten mentions about worthy of death, about being the death penalty, we get to the eleventh mentioned Romans 1 32, who know in the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death. Not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. How can you turn around and say, well, ten times in the Bible leading up to this Old Testament, New Testament, it was a death penalty, but now, nah, that's just everybody just dying, like just everybody dying and going to hell for your sins. Come on. Let's use the Bible to define the Bible. Let's use the Bible. Let's get a little bit smarter. Okay. Let's go back and study the Bible and make sure whatever we stand and preach on is based on the Word of God. Okay. Let's do that. Now let's deal with another issue here. Romans 2 verse 1. Romans 2 verse 1. So my point of going through all of that was to show you that these people, the Bible is saying, need to suffer the death penalty. They need to be put to death because they're worthy of death. Why are they worthy of death? Because they committed some of those sins? No, because they're homosexuals and God put the death penalty on homosexuality. That's the consistency of the Bible. So don't turn around and say, well, that's all of us. Well, I mean, look, if God's given you over to your lust of homosexuality, then yeah, that's you. You are a reprobate. Okay. Honestly, that's the case. God's hardened your heart and He's rejected you. Now, some people say, well, hold on. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You can't just read chapter 1 and not look at chapter 2. So let's look at chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 1. Therefore, so therefore, what we just talked about, thou art inexcusable, O man. So he's talking about everybody else here. Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest doest the same things. And they're saying, see, homosexuals can be saved. And by the way, my point of all this is that the fourth group of reprobates that we read about are the homosexuals, if you haven't caught my gist. It was those that have taken and removed things from the Bible. It's those that take the mark of the beast in the tribulation period. It's those that blaspheme the Holy Ghost and the homosexuals. That's group number four. And this seems to be the most controversial one because over the last few decades, the media and these lobby groups, the government and the schools have been indoctrinating our minds to just become accepting of this of this LGBTQRSTUV movement. Okay. Because in the, look, I grew up in the 80s, I was born in the 80s. In the 80s, everybody hated the homosexuals. In the 90s, we started laughing at the homosexuals. In the 2000s, we started to be accepting of the homosexuals. And in the 2010s, the churches started accepting them in their churches. And I'm not going to accept that. I'm not going to accept someone who is a reprobate, someone who's filled with these kind of sins to come and infest this church. Why? Because of them? No. Because of you. Because I love you that much, and I want you to be safe, and I love our children so much that I don't want them to become victims of these people. It's not about them. It's about you. You know? And if I'm the pastor, I'm the bishop of this church, I'm not going to let these vile offenders come in and hurt our people here. Okay? And how many stories do you know? How many stories do you know of our churches? They let these people in, and then they've got the victims. And they're still trying to protect these people. They don't care about the victims. And look, it's going to keep happening. You're going to keep hearing report after report after report of these reprobates coming into churches and defiling the young people. Okay? Committing sodomy, committing pedophilia. I mean, it happens even in the independent Baptists, guys. Even in the independent, fundamental Baptists. Okay? Don't think it's just the Catholics, the Roman Catholics. No. Even in our circles, it happens. Okay? And that's why I don't have a Sunday school class with some guy that I don't know teaching the kids. I don't know what that guy could be doing behind closed doors. And that's why I want our kids here because they are smart enough to understand the Word of God. Okay? And parents, you can watch them. All right? Parents, protect your own kids, you know? Now, let's understand what we just read in Romans 2 once. Sorry, got on a tangent there. But it says at the end of there, for they that judge us do us the same things. Oh, so see, some of these people who get saved were also committing homosexuality. No. No, no, no, no, no. That's not what it's saying. Okay? The same things that we can do that comes from chapter one is that list that homosexuals are filled with. Okay? Let's have a look at that list again. I'll just go back a little bit. I'll just read it. Actually, I'll just read it from the Bible. Verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication. Maybe some of you have done that. Wickedness, covetousness. These are things that people, sort of anybody can do, right? Militia, full of envy. Have you ever been jealous of other people, envious of other people? That's what it's about, you know? Murder. Now, I'm hoping none of you guys have murdered anybody, but this is what homosexuals can do. This is what's in them. Okay? Murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, investors of evil things. This will be an interference. I mean, at least you can all acknowledge, you can all admit that you've been disobedient to your parents at some point in your life, right? Okay? So, when we get to chapter two, Paul is warning, hey, just don't be this judgmental Christian, because hey, don't be a hypocrite, right? Don't go around saying, hey, look at that person. They're disobedient to parents, and you're being disobedient to parents, right? Or turn around and say, look, that person's so proud and so boastful, but you're so proud and so boastful. That's you being hypocritical. Okay? That's what chapter two has been teaching us, is don't be a hypocritical judgmental person, you know, just like what Jesus taught. Take the beam out of your own eye first before you can help, oh, the moat, was it? Remove the moat out of your eye before you can help, you know, what was it the other way around? Anyway, you know, take the beam out of your own eye before you take someone else's beam out of their own eye. Otherwise, you're being hypocritical. And that's what chapter two is teaching us. Hey, you know, you've done some of these things that these vile homosexual people have done in their lives. Okay? Now, I hope that makes sense. If you've got questions about that in chapter two, please let me know. I'm going to conclude right now, okay? I've heard these arguments by well-meaning Christians. I'm sure they're well-meaning, okay? I'm sure. They'll say, well, hold on. So you're saying there are people that cannot be saved. So that's going to prevent you from preaching the gospel to certain people. And the Bible says preach the gospel to every creature. Now, first of all, I believe that command. Preach the gospel to every creature. And that is the goal of this church. Our goal is to knock on every door on the Sunshine Coast at some point. Who cares how long it takes, okay? Who cares if aura outgrows our efforts? We're going to keep knocking aura, okay, as that grows. So we're preaching the gospel to every creature. I don't knock on someone's door and say, hey, have you blasphemed the Holy Ghost? You know, hey, have you changed the Bible? Are you one of these modern Bible editors that have added and removed things? Hey, are you a homosexual? Because I want to know this information before I give you the gospel. Is that realistic? We knock the doors. We give them the chance to hear the gospel. There's been many times that I had some doubts of that person. There's been many times that I think, hey, this person could very well be a reprobate. But hey, I don't know. It doesn't matter. I'm going to preach the gospel anyway, okay? That's my goal. And if they're reprobates, they're just going to reject it anyway, okay? So I mean, it doesn't hurt just preaching the gospel. It gives you more practice anyway, if that person is not going to get saved. Okay, so it's just this ridiculous argument. And it's like, oh, well, what if they say to you, oh, I want to hear the gospel, but I'm a homosexual. All these hypotheticals. Look, I've been preaching the gospel door to door for about seven years, maybe more. I've lost track now. In seven years, I've never knocked on the door and someone say to me, I'm a homosexual. Can you give me the gospel? Never. Oh, but maybe the next seven years. Look, that's the stupidity. You're just trying to find something stupid, you know, because I've heard these arguments. I've heard people say, you know, I can't go to that church because they don't believe homosexuals can be saved. And I believe they can be saved. I've heard that argument. Well, my response to that is, well, what efforts are you making to reach the homosexuals? Look, I'm not going to go to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and preach the gospel. I'm not going to go to the gay and lesbian sodomite bar, pub, whatever, and preach the gospel. Is that what you're doing? I mean, are these people that look at us and rebuke us and hate us for having this position, are they going out and preaching the gospel to the homosexuals specifically? No, they're not. In fact, I've probably preached the gospel to more homosexuals than these people that criticize us for believing what we believe. So let's say I'm wrong and they're right, right? They can still come soul winning with me because if that person does end up not, you know, being a homosexual, hey, we're giving them the gospel. If you're right, then they have the chance to be saved, right? I mean, practically speaking, it makes no difference is my point. So people make these excuses and criticize you and they're always criticizing you about your soul winning, aren't they? They don't criticize you about other things. They criticize you about preaching the gospel, which is just ridiculous. Man, you don't have to believe the reprobate doctrine to go soul winning with me. You don't have to even believe what I'm teaching right now for you to be a member in this church and for me to love and appreciate you, okay? But it's my job to teach you what we learned on Sunday, that there are workers of iniquity that God hates and people can get to the point where God hates someone so much that he's rejected them. Is that hard to believe? I mean, why else would God reject him if he doesn't hate him? He loved them at one point in time. The gospel was available to them. It was manifest to them. They knew God, but they rejected God, okay? This is not Calvinism. I don't want the predators coming to this church, all right? I don't want these people coming here. I don't want homosexuals here. I don't want people that have blasphemed the Holy Ghost here. I don't want people that want to change our Bibles and add and remove things here. I don't want any of these people here in this church, okay? None of these people. Now, I have a thought, but I can't think of it right now what it was. How can I wrap this up? Any suggestions? I think I've covered all bases. If there's anything else, I'll cover it in some other sermon. But yeah, look, guys, any questions, please let me know. And again, listen, this is a secondary doctrine. If someone doesn't believe this, please don't attack them, okay? Don't criticize them. It is a hard saying. It is hard preaching, okay? It's not for everybody. I understand some people need a lot of time to absorb this information, okay? Because it's something they never hear. They don't hear it preached. Or if they've heard it preached, then the same pastor will turn around and say, well, anybody can be saved till, you know, the deathbed. And so they get bits of information here and there, contradicting information, and they don't know what to believe anymore. But guys, my job is just to preach the Word of God without compromise.