(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, so tonight I'll be preaching one of the doctrines that you might consider one of the more controversial doctrines that, oh well I believe, at least I know some of you do believe this, I don't know if you all believe this doctrine that I'm going to preach, but it is controversial and there aren't many people that preach this and the reason is because it's not lovely to the ears. You know, a lot of believers like the idea that everybody has till they die till their very last breath to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, not everybody's like the thief on the cross. With the thief on the cross, it's a wonderful story I love, it's one of my favourite conversion stories. With the thief on the cross, look to Jesus Christ and say, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom and Jesus says today, verily, verily, say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. And so we see the thief on the cross had pretty much at his deathbed, you know, the opportunity to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you see that he put his faith on Christ and Christ promised him eternal life. Hey, that thief on the cross could never go to church, that thief on the cross could never get baptised, he could never do any great works for God. He simply died but hey, he went to a better place, he went to paradise with Jesus Christ that very day. And so, you know, we love that idea, we love that thought that everybody has till they die to believe on Jesus but that is not true. And in fact, there are so many passages that teach that people do not have till they die to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at John chapter 12 there and look at verse number, we'll start there with verse number 9, John chapter 12 and verse number 9. It says, much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there and they came not for Jesus' sake only but that they might see Lazarus also whom he had raised from the dead. So we know the miracle of Jesus having raised Lazarus from the dead. Hey, people were curious, hey, Lazarus is alive again, hey, we heard these guys come back from the dead, hey, let's go check out Lazarus. He wasn't just for Jesus' sake but also to check out Lazarus. And then it says there in verse number 10, but the chief priest consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death. That makes me laugh because he already died and the chief priest, let's try to kill him again. Let's try to put him back to death. But then it says here, look, why do they want to put Lazarus to death? Because that by reason of him, many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. So many Jews saw Lazarus dead, they saw that he came back to life, they saw this amazing work of Jesus Christ, this amazing miracle take place and for them it was like, man, this must be the Messiah. This must be Jesus Christ and they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. That would be the right response where God performed such an amazing miracle only God can do and for people to believe on Jesus Christ. So that's the right thing to do. You see the chief priests weren't happy with people believing on Jesus so they sought to kill Lazarus. Now drop down to verse number 37 in the same chapter, verse number 37. It says, but though he had done so many miracles before them, speaking about the chief priests and the Jews that would not believe on him, it says here, yet they believed not on him. Wow, what an amazing thing. So Jesus does amazing miracles but for some, you know, even though he does so many miracles, supernatural things that only God can do, they would not believe on him. That's crazy. Verse number 38, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which is spake Lord who have believed our reports or to whom have the arm of the Lord been reviewed. Look at verse number 39, therefore they could not believe because that as Isaiah said again. So the title for the sermon this evening is they could not believe, they could not believe. Even if they wanted to believe, the Bible tells us they could not believe. Did you know there are people that walk this earth today that even if they had a desire to go to heaven, they cannot believe. Say why, how can that be? Well if God performs so many miracles and they reject Christ over and over and over again there comes a point of the time in their life when they can no longer believe on Jesus Christ. They can no longer believe his miracles, they cannot believe his works, they cannot believe his word. Hey, even if God were to raise someone from the dead, they would still go and seek to kill that person. You know, that they hate God that much, they hate Jesus Christ so much and they cannot believe. You say why can they not believe? Well keep reading there, verse number 40. It says here, he have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. Someone has blinded their spiritual eyes. Someone has hardened their hearts. Who could possibly harden the hearts of men? It's only the Lord God. This is a prophecy that was being fulfilled. These people could not believe because God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts. Say wow, I've never heard that before, that's what the Bible says, look at this. That they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts and be converted that I should heal them. What does that say, look, verse number 41. And these things said, Isaiah, when he saw his glory and spake of him. What is this prophecy about? Jesus says look, I don't want to heal certain people. There are some people that I don't want to be converted, I don't want them to be saved, I don't even want them to believe in me, I don't want them to believe, and if I did all the works and the miracles in front of them, I don't want them to believe. And so in order for them to not believe, I'm going to blind their eyes and I'm going to harden their hearts. Have you heard this teaching before in your independent Baptist churches in the past? You would say no, but I've actually heard it before. I've heard it before because actually a lot of people do give lip service to this doctrine that God can get to a point where he gives up on people and he even steps in and causes them to never believe again. I've heard that taught in many churches. In fact, I would say every Baptist church that I've been in where I've been in any length of time, I've heard that being taught. But not clearly, not clearly, I'll get to you in a minute where that comes from. Because the first time I heard this doctrine being preached behind the pulpit was by just our average Australian mainline Baptist church. But if you came to them and said hey, listen to Pastor Kevin's preaching tonight, they're probably going to say yeah, I disagree with that. But I know it's been taught behind their pulpits. So you see here that there are some that God will harden. Look, God hardened their heart. Why is that so important? Because in Romans chapter 10 verse 9, it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine hearts that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Hey brethren, how are we saved? We have to believe with our hearts, don't we? That if God hardens their hearts, they cannot believe. And then it keeps going. It says in verse number 10, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with a mouth confession is made unto salvation for the scripture saith whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. So brethren, if salvation requires us to believe with our hearts, not some vain belief, but we truly believe the gospel with our hearts, that's what saves us, then if God is hardening people's hearts, what is he doing? He's causing them to not believe, as we saw there in John chapter 12. Can you please turn to Matthew 13? Matthew 13. Just in case you think, well, Pastor Kevin, that sounds so unusual to me. You know, surely you're misunderstanding this one passage. Let's turn to Matthew 13 verse number 10. Matthew 13 and verse number 10. Matthew 13 verse 10 reads, and the disciples came and said unto him, why speakest thou unto them in parables? That's a good question. Jesus Christ many times went out preaching and teaching with parables. The disciples go to Jesus, Jesus, why are you teaching in parables? You know, because parables are hard to understand. I was teaching the men here on the Fridays, hey, don't build your doctrines on parables because they're there to be darkening, darken people on purpose. You have a look at this in verse number 11. It says, he answered and said unto them, why does he preach parables, why? Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Wow, think about that. Jesus said, look, I'm teaching parables because if you're saved, this is something for you to know and understand, but for those that are unsaved, I don't want them to know. Jesus Christ is saying, I'm hiding certain truths from them, that's why I'm preaching in parables. Let's keep going. Verse number 12, for whosoever hath, to him shall be given. Listen, if you're saved, Jesus wants to give you all the knowledge of the Bible. Praise God for that, okay? And he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away, even that he hath. So he's saying, look, they've listened to parables, but because they don't understand it, it gets taken away from them. The knowledge that they may have received, it got taken away from them, okay? That's why I'm teaching in parables. Let's keep going. Verse number 13, therefore spake I to them in parables, because they seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. Look at verse 15. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, and the next word is so important, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Jesus says, look, the reason I'm preaching in parables is so they don't understand. There is a wax gross. They've made a decision to not believe in the word of God, and of course, you know, before God hardens the hearts of people, people have first hardened their own hearts against God, and then God says, well, if you want to harden your heart, let me harden it even more for you, okay? That's what Jesus Christ does. That's what the Lord God does, but again, let's read verse 15 once again very slowly. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have been closed, lest. What does the word lest mean? Now normally when we are, as Australians, we have Anzac Day, one of the common phrases in Anzac Day is lest we forget. Have you guys heard that before? Lest we forget, okay? So lest means at the fear of or at the risk of. So the idea is that as Australians, we celebrate Anzac Day to remember, you know, soldiers and whatever, right, the soldiers, the reason they do it every year is lest we forget. In the risk of, in the case of us forgetting what the sacrifices of these soldiers were, we're going to celebrate this thing once a year, okay? So it's done for the risk of not forgetting soldiers. Okay, now, let's, verse 15, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, don't we want people to see with their eyes, don't we want their spiritual vision opened? That's why we go door to door, because we want to open up their spiritual eyes, right? It says in here with their ears, you've got to hear before you can believe and should understand with their heart. That's what we want, right, and should be converted. We want them converted, and I should heal them. We want Jesus to heal them. We want Jesus to forgive them and give them, you know, for their sins to be remitted of and for the righteousness of Christ to be imputed on them. That's what we want. But you see what Jesus says? At the risk of them getting saved, what is he saying? I don't want them saved. I don't want them converted, Jesus says. I don't want them healed. That's why I teach in parables. At the risk of them actually understanding, getting converted and believing on Jesus Christ and being healed. There are some people that Jesus Christ will hide his truth from them because they become so wicked. They've rejected God so many times, and Jesus says, I don't even want to risk them getting saved. Therefore, I'm going to preach them in parables, and they're not going to understand what I'm saying. How many times have you heard this preached on? And again, I've said I've heard it preached before, and in fact, as I said, I've heard it preached from the very first time in a mainline, independent, fundamental Baptist church. And I remember the pastor getting behind the pulpit and teaching, you know, there are some people where God has been working in them, the Holy Spirit has been working in their hearts, they've been hearing the gospel, maybe they've come to church, people have given them the gospel over and over and over again, and they've rejected the gospel over and over again, there comes a point he said, when God says, well, if they want to keep rejecting it, I'm going to go and help somebody else, I'm going to work in somebody else's life, I'm done with you, and your chance to be saved is over. I've heard that from a mainline IFB church. I've heard that in several churches, in fact. In fact, many times, when preachers get their evangelists, they're traveling evangelists to come behind the pulpit and preach the gospel, the evangelists will many times say, listen, today could be your last day, this could be your chance. What they're trying to put the fear of people in is there could come a day when God rejects you, hey, get saved today. That's what they're trying to say. It's important. Look, I've heard this preached, and yes, they're touching the surface of this doctrine, but they don't like to go all the way. They don't like to go all the way, and look, it's just the way it is. But I think I've shown you twice where Jesus Christ does not want certain groups of people to believe the gospel, otherwise He would have to save them. He would have to heal them, and Jesus says, look, enough, no, it's not going to happen. I don't want them. I don't want even the risk of them getting saved, therefore I'm going to teach them in parables so they don't understand. Now you're in Matthew. Let's go to Matthew chapter 12. Let's just go to the verse before that, sorry, the chapter before that. Let's go to Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 22, and if this still sounds unusual to you, well, the passages that we're about to read should open your eyes, should make you understand that there are some people God does not want to save, and we're not teaching Calvinism here. Calvinism teaches that before God formed the earth, before creation, God in His full knowledge already chose who was going to be saved and who was not going to be saved depending on nothing, just His own chance, whatever God felt like doing. That's not what it's saying. These people had the miracles. These people had the opportunity. They had the Word of God before them, but they've hardened their hearts, therefore God has hardened them even further, and God has rejected them. So this is different from Calvinism. We believe that everybody, for God so loved the world, that we believe that Jesus died for the sins of all men, especially them that believe. So don't misunderstand me. Everybody has an opportunity to be saved. Jesus died for all their sins, but there comes a point in their time, in their life, when God has rejected them, God has given up on those people. Matthew 12 verse 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 dumb both spake and saw another great miracle that took place. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? So again, another great miracle, people are realizing, wow, this must be the son of David. This must be the Messiah. This must be the one that's been prophesied to come. So people are waking up to this, right? Look at verse number 24. But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. So what are the Pharisees saying? Well, the reason Jesus can command the devils and to leave a man is because he's doing it out of the power of Beelzebub, which is another name for the devil. So they're not saying that Jesus is doing this by the power of God. The Pharisees are saying that he's doing it by the power of the devil. Okay, let's keep going, verse number 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? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges, verse number 28. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. So of course, Jesus Christ cast out devils, of course, by the Spirit of God, okay? Let's keep going, 29. 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 gathereth not with me is scattered from board. I want you to notice the next two verses, pay attention to the next two verses. 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. Hey, there is a sin that can be done that will cause Jesus Christ to never forgive you. Okay? That sin to never be forgiven, that's the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. Say what is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? It's not complicated. Let's go to verse number 32. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Hey, if you say something nasty about Jesus, just a general nasty comment, hey, even that can be forgiven, but then it says here, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. And notice the next words, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Jesus says, not only will you not be forgiven now in this life, but for all eternity, you will not be forgiven for speaking against the Holy Ghost. Listen, if you cannot be forgiven for your sins, brethren, then you're going to end up in hell and the lake of fire, you're going to burn forever and ever. And so anybody that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost has lost their chance to be saved. Hey, I've heard that taught in Baptist churches. If you blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, yeah, you can't be saved, right? That's not unusual. This is a common teaching. You say, what is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost? Well, what were the Pharisees doing? They were saying that the power that Jesus Christ had was the power of the devil. That's the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. If you say, not just say something nasty about Jesus, but you say, hey, you know what? Jesus was possessed by the devil. Jesus was a minister of Satan. If you all go around believing that and teaching that and expressing that, now you're blaspheming the Holy Ghost. Because it was the Holy Ghost, it was the power of the Holy Ghost, it was by the Spirit that Jesus Christ was performing those miracles. Most religions in this world, at least even if they don't believe he's the Son of God, they believe Jesus is some good man or some good prophet, but the people that really believe that Jesus Christ is some type of devil are those of Judaism. I mean, they're the ones that are truly blaspheming the Holy Ghost several times. Many of those people, many of those Jews have become reprobates, have become hardened in their hearts, just like the Pharisees did here. So you blaspheme the Holy Ghost, you cannot be saved, and you're going to spend eternity in hell. You say, Pastor Kevin, I'm a bit concerned, I don't know, maybe I blaspheme the Holy Ghost. Well, don't forget what we covered before. If you can believe the gospel, then you are not one of these reprobates. You are not one of these that God has hardened their hearts. Maybe you've said some foolish things in the past, you know what, but if you can believe the gospel, you've been forgiven for even those foolish things that you've said. These people, what was the title of the sermon? They cannot believe. They could not believe. So if you can believe the gospel, brethren, you don't have to worry about it. You're not a reprobate. Let's go to the book of Revelation, Revelation 22, verse 18. Revelation 22 and verse number 18. So blasphemy of the Holy Ghost will cause you to be someone that is hardened to the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. God will step in, harden your heart, and you will not be able to believe and be saved. Revelation 22, verse 18. Revelation 22, verse 18 reads, for I testify unto 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. Look at verse 19. 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. Brethren, listen, if you're somebody that removes things from the Bible, you add things to the Bible, God says, I'm going to remove your part out of the book of life. That person has become reprobate as well. That person has lost his opportunity to be saved. You say, well, what about if a saved person, a saved person would not do such a thing. A saved person would not change God's word. Listen, Westcott and Hort, those two men that brought in a new Greek manuscript by which most, pretty much every or most modern English translations are translated from, they purposely changed the word of God. They purposely added and removed and did whatever they wanted to that manuscript. They've lost their opportunity. Their names, their part was removed out of the book of life. Those men cannot be saved. And we have so many churches today reading from the NIV, reading from the ESV, reading from the, what else, NLT, I forget all the Bibles now, they're reading from these Bibles from men who have had their part removed from the book of life. How can you get God's word from men who are reprobates, from men who are rejected by God? Listen, those men, Westcott and Hort, were not saved men. In fact, I can't remember right now the history, I stated it before, one of those men at least was dabbing into occultist practices anyway. They were children of the devil, okay, and they've corrupted God's word. So hey, those kinds of editors that changed God's word, they've lost their opportunity to be saved. Their hearts are darkened, okay, their hearts are hardened, and they cannot believe the gospel. Of course they can't believe the gospel, that's why they want to corrupt God's word, because they don't want others to believe the gospel, right? Revelation 14, please, Revelation 14 and verse number 9. Revelation 14 and verse number 9. Who else has lost their opportunity to be saved? Revelation 14 and verse number 9 reads, and the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if a man worship the beast, that's the antichrist, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand. Now let me just quickly say, brethren, this mark of the beast is not just something you take. What if I take it accidentally? It's not going to happen, okay? Those that take the mark of the beast also are people that worship the beast and his image. That worship, in another passage, says they worship the dragon. These are people that worship the devil. Listen, you as a believer, you're not going to worship the dragon. You're not going to worship the devil. You don't have to worry that you might accidentally take the mark of the beast, okay? A lot of Christians that come to realize that you're going to go for the tribulation start worrying, well, what if I take, well, what happens if I get forced to take the mark of the beast? It's not going to happen because you're not going to worship the antichrist. You say, oh, but, you know, you can only buy and sell the mark of the beast, and what if we get hungry, and we give in to temptation, we cave in. It's not going to happen. Jesus said that if you said, uh, if, uh, uh, forget the phrase, sorry? If it were possible, they would deceive him in the leg, so it's not possible, hey, but even if you think you might go hungry during the tribulation, it says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The context of that is your food and raiment, so there's no fear, oh, what if we take the mark? It's not, why worry about that? It's God's business to feed you food. If the mark of the beast is, it comes in our lifetime, brethren, don't be panicking, what am I going to do for food? Just say, God, can you please rain some manna from heaven, because I know you can do that, and you promised me that's your responsibility to provide my food and raiment. It's not going to happen, right? Anyway, obviously some people do take the mark of the beast, verse number 10, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, now that's important to remember, these people that have been rejected by God are facing the wrath of God, alright, 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 torments ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name, brethren, those that take the mark of the beast have lost their opportunity to be saved, okay, those people have lost their opportunity, and they're going to be tormented forever and ever in the lake of fire, okay, they've lost their opportunity. Now let me just quickly say, at the end of verse number 10, it says, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. Let me just cover quickly another false doctrine, people say, well hell is a separation between man and God, no, no, no, no, no, lake of fire, you are in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb, who's the lamb? Jesus Christ, and I don't have time to show you now, but the fires that light up hell fire are the fires that are coming from Jesus Christ, okay, you know, we're going to receive new resurrected bodies, we're going to be able to stand in the presence of God in all his glory, we're going to be able to put up with that, but right now in these sinful bodies, if God just turned on his glory, if God just, the Father just turned up and shot, we're going to be demolished, right, we're going to be wiped out, well these people that go to hell, hey, they're in the presence of God, they can't stand the glory of God, they're going to be burning in his fire, in his fiery wrath, okay, Jesus Christ is watching people go to the lake of fire, okay, it's his righteous judgment on the wicked, so we got three groups there, number one, those that blaspheme the Holy Ghost, they've lost their chance to be saved, those that add or remove words from the Bible, they've lost their opportunity to be saved, and those that take the mark of the beast are guaranteed to go to the lake of fire, they've lost their opportunity to be saved, okay, do you see how this doctrine is not, it's not like some cryptic verse, where it's just like, oh, that's just your interpretation, Pastor Kevin, it's just, it's clear, over and over and over again, you can get to a point in this life where you are rejected by God, and in fact, everyone that goes to the lake of fire, everyone that goes to hell, at that point, at least, you know, when they open their eyes in hell, they have been rejected by God, at least at that point in time, everybody, okay, it's just that for some people, that rejection happens before they go to hell, okay, and they're facing God's wrath, now, let's go to Romans chapter one, I think brother Tim wanted to read from Romans chapter one, he looked a bit disappointed when I got him to read from John, Romans chapter one, Romans chapter one, there is another group of people that have been rejected by God, okay, Romans chapter one, and look, I think, you know, everything that I've pretty much said so far, I think I've probably, I'm pretty sure I've heard all these verses preached from churches in the past, and you know, even though they might not like it, even though today they might admit they don't really believe that, it's definitely out there, you know, these are verses that you just can't twist, okay, but when it comes to Romans chapter one, this is the one that for many Baptists today, they just can't accept, hey, but Baptists of a previous generation accepted this teaching, it's just that we live in a strange world, we live in a world where good has been called evil and evil has been called good, okay, so when that happens and you're brainwashed by this world, it's hard to receive what God's word says, but in Romans chapter one, verse number 16, let's start there, 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, how do we have to believe again? With our hearts, right, so this is the, this is great news, you know, the power of the gospel, now look at verse number 17, it's really important for you to notice this, it says for therein, for therein what? Well the gospel, okay, for therein, if they're in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed, and that's important to understand, the righteousness of God was revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith, so how was the righteousness of God revealed to us that belief? By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the great love of God, right, that he came and sent his son to die for us, that's how it was revealed to us, it's something that can be, that was observed, there were many witnesses of this and we have the record for us in the word of God, amen. Let's keep going, verse number 18, now we see the contrast to this, for the wrath of God is revealed, so now we have another revelation, this one's not his righteousness, it's not his love, it's God's wrath, so well how was God's wrath revealed? For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, so you can see the contrast, right, the righteousness of God was revealed by the gospel and we see that God's wrath is revealed against all ungodliness, now it's going to explain to us what that is, let's keep going, verse number 19, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God have showed it unto them, listen God has shown these people his word, they have, he's revealed himself to them, he's given them opportunities, you'll soon see they know God, how? Verse number 20, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, the bible's telling us here that as soon as we look at creation, when we look at everything that God created, we are without excuse, as soon as we see creation we know there must be a creator, there must be a God, and brethren that's where we start, as soon as we realize there must be a God, the next question is, well God tell me who you are, how do I go to heaven? And I promise to you ask that of God, he's going to lead someone to you to preach the gospel, the power of God unto salvation, okay? Now you would think they would turn, but you know we're looking at the people who God's wrath has been revealed to, right? Verse number 21, because that when they knew God, did they have an opportunity to know God? They had, they knew God, they've known about God, all right? I've lost my space, verse number 21, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, now look at the next phrase, and their foolish heart was darkened, hey we saw before that your heart gets hardened against God when you reject him, well these people knew God, but they decided not to worship him as God, and so their hearts now are darkened, hey how do you believe again? You believe with your heart, if your heart has been darkened, how can you possibly believe? You can see how they've, they should know about God, they reject God, they don't want to know him, and their heart gets darkened, let's keep going, verse number 22, professing themselves to be wise, oh they think they're so smart, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, so they say well, you know, instead of believing in a God, a creator of all things, they believe the creation is God, so the animal is God, the elephants is God, isn't, is it, which religion worships the, not an elephant, the cows, is it Hinduism? Yeah, oh the cow, that's, that's holy, right, that, you know, it's, everything's God, that's what, that's what they start thinking, right, they think the creation is God rather than creator, and before you know it, they think they're God, because they're part of the creation, right, so they don't worship God properly, and then it says here, look at verse number 24, wherefore God also gave them up, let's stop there, brethren, if you give up on something, what are you doing, you know, some people have the bad habit of smoking cigarettes, and you know, those that have been able to overcome that habit, they say look, you know, there came this point in time, and I gave up on smoking, I gave it up, all right, hey, that means you don't want anything to do with that anymore, right, it's gone, it's out of your system, you want no part in that anymore, well God has given up on these people, I don't want anything more to do with these wicked people, but notice how it says God also gave them up, so by also it means that because they gave up on God, because they rejected God, well God also gave them up, okay, how did God give them up? To uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, so these people that God has given up on, they dishonor their own bodies, you say what does that mean? Well here's the thing about what we're about to read, this portion gets repeated for us in three different ways to add another layer of understanding, okay, what we see here, they dishonor their bodies, what does that mean? Because I mean, it does, you know, taking drugs, I guess that dishonors your body, but is that what God is speaking about here? Well let's keep going, verse number 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie, did they have the truth of God? Yes, they changed it to a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever, amen, look at verse number 26, for this cause or for this reason, because they rejected God, for this reason, for this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections, vile means disgusting, I'm giving you up, you can do disgusting things if you want, they defiled their own bodies, what is it that they do with their own bodies? Look at this, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature, hey these are the lesbians, these are the sodomite women, okay, they've gone after them, this is what it is brethren, the homosexuals are those that God has given up on, so I don't think so Pastor Kevin, let's keep going, verse number 27, 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 meet, so it's not just women and women, it's the men and men they've given up on the natural use of the woman and they've lusted out for the same sex, hey these are the homosexuals, these are the sodomites, God has given up on these people, this is how God's wrath has been revealed, how was God's righteousness revealed? By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the gospel message, how is the wrath of God revealed to these that are wicked, the homosexual life, listen as soon as you see a homosexual you know well God's wrath has been revealed in them, the reason they go after these vile affections is because God's wrath has fallen upon them already and that even before they've gone to hell, okay it's already fallen upon, that's why they do vile things, that's why they do disgusting things, okay these people are filthy, they're haters of God, say Pastor Kevin you shouldn't preach this, well I'm not going to rip out Romans chapter one out of the bible, it's there for a reason, let's keep going, verse number 28 and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, remember again they don't want to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenience, what's not convenience? Homosexuality, homosexual acts, that's not convenient for a body, that defiles the body, listen there's a reason why homosexuals commit suicide at an alarming rate because they know they're filthy, they hate their bodies, there's a reason why they die so early, there's a reason why they're full of aids and all kinds of disgusting diseases, God's wrath has fallen upon them already, okay God gave them over to a reprobate mind, verse number 28, what's a reprobate mind? A mind, what does reprobate mean? It means rejected, we saw this as we were going through Jeremiah chapter six, all right, I'll just read it to you, Jeremiah chapter six verse 19, here o earth behold I will bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their thoughts because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my law but rejected it, so we saw that Judah rejected the laws of God, right, and then in verse number 30 it says reprobate silver shall men call them, why? Because the Lord hath rejected them, can God reject people, can God get to a point where it says look I want nothing to do with you, you know what, lest you even believe I'm going to preach to you in parables, I'm not going to allow you to understand, I'm going to harden your heart, your heart's going to be darkened and I'm going to give you a reprobate mind, a rejected mind, hey these homosexuals don't think like a normal human being, their natural senses have been removed from them, they've got a rejected mindset, that's why they get into these filthy disgusting sins, okay, they're reprobates, they're rejected, and look I mean this is God's word, it shouldn't make us uncomfortable, if we love God, if we love his word, you know, this is what it says, okay, this is what it says, now in Jeremiah chapter seven in verse number 29 it says cut off thine hair o Jerusalem and cast it away and take up a lamentation on high places for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath, so the rejection is again the revealing of God's wrath, okay, and we see that this generation of Judah as a nation, now many of those people in Judah were saved, right, of course, we know many were saved, but the nation as a whole, that generation as a whole was rejected by God, but that's where we learn the idea of the reprobate which is the rejection of God, but now we're looking at this at an individual basis, one on one, someone that has a reprobate mind has been rejected by God, now you might say well Pastor Kevin, you know, I've got some homosexual friends, I hope you don't, and you know, I know this homosexual, they're so nice, they're so funny, listen that's just an act, they're not that way, they're just pretending, they're psychopaths, okay, they're just pretending, look at verse number 29, Romans chapter 1 verse 29, it keeps going, we haven't finished, these people that have a reprobate mind, these people that defile their own bodies, men after men, women after women, it says in verse number 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, listen, these homosexuals are filled with all these sins, okay, unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, oh yeah, gay pride, marching around with a gay pride, oh we're so proud of what we are, yeah, the Bible told us you're full of pride, you're full of this sin, okay, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, listen they've got a reprobate mind, they can't understand properly, covenant breakers, without natural affection, their hearts don't beat properly, their hearts have been darkened, their hearts have been hardened, they don't have natural affection, they don't know what love is, they say love is love, they don't even have natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, implacable, you know what implacable means, it means there's nothing you can do to placate them, there's nothing you can do to satisfy them, you know, they want a same-sex marriage, the government's getting them to save the sex marriage, that's not going to satisfy them, they're going to want more things, they're going to want other disgusting things that they can do, say pastor Kevin you shouldn't preach this, you know, just satisfy the homosexuals, what's the point, I'm never going to satisfy them, they're implacable, so we just teach what God's word says and we just leave it out, that's what God's word says, okay, praise God for his word, I love his word, it's beautiful, these are beautiful words, okay, these are the words of God, pure words. Look at verse number 32, who knowing 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, what is the Bible saying, they're worthy to die, the death penalty, you know what, God puts the death penalty as the punishment for homosexuality, that's why I just told you, they're worthy of death. Now some people have a misunderstanding of what we just read and they say no, no, homosexuality is just one of the sins in this list, if you read it carefully it's not saying that, it's saying that the rejected, reprobate homosexual is filled with all these sins, because some of these sins you and I have done, right, I'm sure we've all been proud, I'm sure we've all been disobedient to parents, I think we can all admit to that, right, at some point we were disobedient to parents, I'm sure at some point we were covetous in certain things, right, I mean there's probably other things in that list that you might say full of envy, that's, you know, but listen, are these sins worthy of the death penalty? No, it's not, so when it says that they are worthy of death, it's speaking about a sin which is a crime that is worthy of the death penalty, which is homosexuality, okay, some people believe that when it says worthy of death there, they think it's like Romans 6 23, you know, for the wages of sin is death, and so it's like, ah, well all sin, you know, you know, is worthy of death, that's not what, you know, that's not what worthy of death is, can you please keep your, no, you don't need to keep your finger there, please go to Deuteronomy now, go to Deuteronomy chapter 17, Deuteronomy chapter 17, this phrase worthy of death appears 11 times in your Bible, 11 times brethren, and what I just read to you in Romans chapter 1 is the 11th time, so before Romans chapter 1, the phrase worthy of death appears 10 times before then, so, you know, as we read the Bible, we should understand what worthy of death is, we get to Romans chapter 1 worthy of death, okay, they're worthy to die, the death penalty, now just in case someone misunderstands me, I'm not saying that we should go and kill homosexuals, I'm just saying that if we had a righteous government that at least followed the laws of God, this would be a crime, in fact it was a crime, you know, before the 2000s, it was a crime, homosexuals would be put in prison, and before federation, the crime for homosexuality in Australia was a death penalty, it was called the Buggery Act, okay, so, you know, I'm with my fellow Wazis here of the past, okay, I'm on the same page as my fellow Wazis of the past, look at Deuteronomy chapter 17 in verse number 6, Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse number 6, this is the first mention of the phrase worthy of death, 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, so you can see there, being worthy of death means you should be put to death, okay, that's the first time we see that phrase, please go to chapter 19, same book, chapter 19 and verse number 6, Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 6, it says 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, whereas he was not worthy of death in as much as he hated him not in time past, I haven't got time to explain all this here, but this is speaking about accidental death, if someone accidentally killed somebody, somebody out of rage might desire to kill that person, you know in Australian law we call that manslaughter, and you know manslaughter according to this is if you've committed manslaughter, you've killed somebody but accidentally, you know, then you're not worthy of death, like if you're driving a car and you hit a pedestrian and they die by accident, you're not worthy of death, again you're not worthy of the death penalty, you can just see how that phrase is used again and again in the word of God, go to chapter 21, same book, chapter 21 verse 22, Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse number 22, Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse number 22, it says here and if a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be to be put to death and thou hang him on a tree, so again we see that being worthy of death is someone that is going to be put to death, it's a death penalty, right, let's go to the next chapter, chapter 22 verse 25, chapter 22 and verse number 25, Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse number 25 reads, but if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field and the man force her and lie with her, this is rape, if a man forces a rape on a woman, look at this, then the man only that lay with her shall die, hey what's the punish, what's God's punishment for rapists? Death, the death penalty, all right, verse number 26, but unto the damsel, so the victim, thou shall do nothing, there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death, there's the phrase again, she's not worthy of death, she's just a victim, you shouldn't put, you know, the woman that got raped to death, for when a man rise up against his neighbor and slave him, even so is this matter, all right, now I just want to show you the consistency, we're not going to go through all 10 times the phrase worthy of death comes up, but I do want you to go to one more, please go to Luke 23, go to Luke 23 verse 13, Luke 23 verse number 13, the reason I'm doing this is because this is an unpopular teaching and people are going to try to, you know, twist the scriptures to make worthy of death mean something else, you know, homosexuals shouldn't be put to death, that's not what God really meant, it's what God meant and he told us 10 times before we get to Romans chapter 1, so we know what he means by worthy of death, but you're in Luke 23 verse number 13, Luke 23 verse number 13, I wanted to show you at least one another reference in the New Testament, it says and Pilate when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people said unto them you have brought this man unto me as one that perverts of the people and behold I have examined him before you and have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof you accuse him, so Pilate look, Jesus is innocent, you know, look at verse number 15, no not yet Herod, not even Herod's found something wrong with him, for I sent you to him and lo nothing worthy of death is done unto him, so Pilate's saying look, he doesn't deserve to die, he's done nothing that is worthy of death, okay, again time and time again, every time, 10 times before Romans chapter 1 worthy of death means a death penalty and he cannot be talking about some of the, you know, just every sin that's in that list in Romans chapter 1, it's talking about the homosexual who is full of these sins and what did we learn about the homosexual, that their heart was darkened, we see that God has given them a rejected mind, we see that they're haters of God, we see that God's wrath was revealed, that when you see a homosexual out and proud displaying all his filth, you know, that's just God's wrath that has fallen upon him, that's how God's revealed his wrath, all right, they're haters of God and we see time and time again, God gave them up, God gave them over, God got sick and tired of these wicked people and God just let them do whatever they want and they're worthy of death, they've been rejected by God, they've been rejected by God. So brethren, this is a doctrine that is called the reprobate doctrine, I don't care what we call it, you know, I think reprobate doctrine means is fine, okay, it's someone that is rejected by God, but you can see this is definitely a doctrine of the Bible over and over and over again, where God has certain wicked people, he says, look, I don't even want them to be saved and in fact I'm even going to cause them to not even believe, not believe, listen, I've come across these people, we go door to door soul winning, you know, sometimes I come across a homosexual, they know the gospel, I say to them, hey, because I don't know, you know, knock the door, I don't know, we don't know, I say to them, hey, can I, can I, you know, can you give me a few minutes to show you what the Bible says, I can't tell you how many times they said to me, I already know what it says, and I'm like, they're not going to know, and they tell me, they tell me the truth, so you guys just believe that, you know, a teacher says, by believing on Jesus Christ, and I'm like, yeah, where'd you hear that, oh, you know, I heard that at church, I heard that, blah, blah, blah, I said, do you believe that, no, I don't believe that, and once the conversation develops, they're a homosexual, their heart has been darkened, even though they know what the gospel is, they cannot believe, I remember I spoke to an atheist once, remember, these are like atheists, right, because they deny God, they worship the creature more than the creator, you know, and they deny the existence of God, and I believe a lot of atheists are reprobates, I'm not saying they're all reprobates, I'm just saying, you know, going time and time, seeing God's creation, and denying, well, there's no such thing as God, that's a stupid thought, you know, they keep denying God, well, you see, that's the downward spiral that they take, I remember talking to an atheist, he didn't know the gospel this time, he let me explain the gospel to him, and he said to me, boy, I've never heard the gospel so clearly taught like that before, he goes, that sounds excellent, you know, wow, that's amazing, and I'm thinking, I didn't know he was an atheist at the time, I'm thinking, man, this guy's going to get saved, this guy seems so excited that I was able to show him the gospel, and I said to him, hey, you know what, well, if you believe the gospel right now, you call upon Jesus Christ, you can be sure of going to heaven, you know what he said to me, he goes, even though it sounds wonderful, even though it's so clear to me, I understand it now, he said to me, I cannot believe, I cannot believe, I said, what do you mean you can't believe, he goes, inside of me, I know what you're saying is true, he goes, but I cannot bring myself to believe it, he said that to me, hey, they know they rejected these people, they know that they've rejected God so many times, and God has hardened their heart, and even though it makes sense, I kind of, yeah, I get the gospel now, even if I wanted to, I can't believe it, I'm sure some of you guys have experienced that as well, some examples like this, with these people, there was one homosexual that claimed to believe the gospel, I didn't know it was a homosexual, claimed to believe, I thought he was saved for so long, he messages me one day, tells me about his wicked sins, and he says, man, am I a reprobate, and I said, just like you, I said, well, if you believe the gospel, you know, the reprobate cannot believe, and he said to me, yeah, but I don't know if I really believed, you know, I don't know if I really believed, he said to me, do you think God will accept me if I just live good for the rest of my life, that if I just follow God's word accurately, if I just follow every commandment, you think God will accept me then, I said, man, this guy is definitely reprobate, he also knew the gospel, but he realised, I believe that, and he's trying to find his own way to heaven by following the commandments of God, these people are reprobate, they really exist, they really exist, and when you study your Bible, I haven't got time to go through this, the Bible also refers to these people as children of the devil, children of Belial, you'll read about that in the Old Testament, you know, when you're saved, we're all born into this world as children of Adam, you know, children of your parents, right, and then when we get, and you'll never be unborn out of that, you'll never be unborn out of that family, once you're born into that family, you're part of that family, no matter what happens, right, and then when you get saved, you're born again, you're born into God's family, hey again, that's eternal life, because once you're born into God's family, you can never be unborn, amen, well, there are some people that are born into the family of the devil, that's why they're referred to by Jesus as children of the devil, and once they're born into that family, they can never be unborn out of that family, I haven't got time to go through all that now, but if you study your Bible, you come across those phrases, children of Belial, children of the devil, those are reprobates, those are people that God has hardened, and spiritually speaking, they become children of the devil, okay, so I hope that's given you a few things to think about, brethren, now you say, well what about if I go door to door, so I have some suspicions that this person will reprobate, you know the Bible tells us to preach the gospel to every creature, you know, I just, you know, I'm not, I don't go knocking on the door and trying to figure out, is this person reprobating or not, that's not, listen, I just knock the door, if they give me the opportunity to preach the gospel, I'll preach the gospel, and if they believe, they're not a reprobate, all right, and look, just because someone rejects the gospel from you, it doesn't mean you go and call them a reprobate, doesn't mean you go around and say, oh that guy's rejected, I've seen that, I've seen, you know, this one woman who would go door to door soul winning, and every time someone said, I'm not interested, she would say, oh that person's a reprobate, some people need to hear the gospel over and over again, right, it takes time to sink in, especially when you've been taught a lot of foolish doctrines, a lot of fake things, it's hard for some people to give up on what they used to believe, and to have the ears open to believe the gospel, so look, brethren, you know, when it comes to our door to a soul winning work, nothing changes, we knock every door, and if they give us the opportunity to preach the gospel, we preach them the gospel, amen, okay, let's pray.