It's disgusting to me to hear
programs, I'm talking about religious programs, on TV, over so-called
Christian radio stations, where the subject of homosexuality
comes up, and listen to men who are supposed to be representatives
of the Lord, and the word which He has committed to them, completely
ignore what the Bible has to say about the subject. You just
don't hear it discussed from a biblical point of view. Once
in a while you'll hear a person condemn it, but he never describes
the reprehensibleness of it by the use of Holy Scripture. Now, we have a few who are here
tonight that were not here this morning. And I'll not relate
the illustrations that I gave to begin with, and they're not
on tape. I gave those before we started an exposition. But
as a result of all these things that I've been subjected to in
the last few weeks, and then reading so much in the papers
recently, and especially the one yesterday, even though I
had already prepared the lesson, But when I saw this in yesterday's
paper, Gay Pride Week in Houston, that was a climax for me. I'd like for us to read tonight
once again verses 24 through 28 of Romans 1. We will not read
verses 18 through 23, which describes the general revelation of God
But before we begin reading with verse 24, I'd like to make a remark about
God's general revelation. If the abandonment of God's general
revelation, as described in verses 19 through 23, resulted in God abandoning those
who abandoned general revelation. How much more serious is it for
people today to not only abandon God's general revelation, but
His special revelation in Holy Scripture? So if God abandoned Those people,
because they rejected general revelation, you can imagine how
much worse it is, how much more reprehensible it is, how much
more heinous it is for people to reject both God's general
revelation and the testimony of God as revealed in Holy Scripture. Personally, I believe we're living
in the last days, and I think what we are now witnessing in
this particular area is I'll point out tonight in discussing
a few statements found in 2 Timothy 3, which we read this morning
in connection also with the 6th chapter of 1 Corinthians. But
keep in mind, please, general revelation and the special revelation
of God's mind in Holy Scripture. Now for the reading of verses
24 through 32, and we'll be discussing tonight verses 27 and 28 after
a brief review of what we discussed with you this morning. Wherefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lust of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. who exchanged the truth of God
for a lie." You'll notice I changed the wording and did it for a
reason. "...and worshiped and served
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections." And
I'm going to read it as it is in the original. For even their
females did change the natural use into that which is against
nature, and likewise also the males, leaving the natural use
of the female, burned in their lust one toward another, males
with males working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompense of their error which was meat. 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, the result of which is, listen, being filled,
being filled. How wonderful it is to be filled
with the things of God. How awful it is to be filled
with the things described in verses 29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness,
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy,
murder, debate, deceit, malignity, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents
without understanding, covenant breakers. And we'll be looking
at this statement, without natural affection. And you must think of that statement
in connection with verses 24 through 28. Implacable, can't
be appeased, unmerciful, 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." In other
words, they give hearty approval of those things and those who
practice sin. The outline that I gave based
on verses 24 through 28 this morning was as follows. God gave
them up to themselves, verses 24 and 25. In other words, He
gave them up to self-love. Secondly, as a result of this,
He gave them up to sensuality, verses 26 and 27. And finally,
God gave them up to a worthless mind, in verse 28. are, as Dr. Macbeth said, we
have wrong loving, wrong living, and wrong thinking, and that's
true. Now, I'd like to review briefly, just briefly, and I'm sure you realize that
we did not spend as much time as we could have or really should
have, but I think we'll cover the subject well enough for the
time being. This is not a pleasant subject
to discuss, but one I think all of us need to hear. We need to
know what the Bible has to say about the subject. Young people
today need to hear it, and they need to hear it not in the gutter,
but from the man of God as he expounds the Holy Word that has
been delivered to him. We showed this morning, and this
is a review, just as brief as I can make it, beginning with
verse 24, on which account, that is, on the account of their abandoning
the general revelation of God. God gave them up. I showed that
the Greek word that is used for God giving up does not mean that
God impelled them to do evil. Neither does it mean that God
simply permitted them to do evil. But thirdly, The biblical meaning
of the word which is translated, God gave them up, means that
God positively withdrew all providential restraint from them, thus letting
them go on and express and do what their depraved hearts inclined
to do. Without any restraint, without
any providential restraint, Now let's go a little further. God
gave them up. It means all restraint was removed. And this refers, of course, to
his providential restraint. Gave them up to uncleanness through
the lust of their hearts. The Greek word for uncleanness,
akatharsia, is used three different ways in the scriptures. Here
it is used in a moral sense. In two places it is used in a
physical sense, and it is used in the sense of unclean motives,
and I'll not give you the references. Then we look at the word lust.
The word lust comes from the Greek word epithumia, and it
means desire, craving, longing for that which God forbids, or
that which is forbidden. And the consequences of this
lust of the heart is what? There is no fear, no shame, and
no remorse. And this we see on every hand
today with an increased intensity. Then we come to verse 25. They
exchange the truth of God for a lie and will not review what
we gave this morning. Then coming to verse 26, I will
say that verse 25 is a repetition to a great extent of verse 23.
And now this brings us down to verse 26, and we'll get right
into verse 27, because we were discussing the last part of verse
26 this morning when we closed the service. Verse 26, "'For
this cause,' or for this reason, God gave them up,' or He gave
them over, He gave them up unto vile affections, or he gave them
over to degrading passions. Now, I should mention this concerning
the lust of the heart. I showed the difference this
morning between the lust of the heart and the lust of the flesh.
The lust of the heart is more serious because it will continue
after the lust of the flesh has been destroyed in death. And,
beloved, that really says something. But now God gives them up. to degrading passions. And that's
exactly what we're witnessing today, degrading passions. Now, when we see such things
in the paper, Gay Pride Week, and they're accepting this today
as another way of life. Well, look at Wayne Hensley. Is that a way of life? Don't
forget about the more than 20 boys that were killed by homosexuals. Don't forget about the fellow
in Chicago. I have forgotten his name. And
16 or 17 boys found underneath his house. Way of life, huh? Beloved, I can't talk about the
riches of God's grace in a monotone. I can't talk about that, which
is so precious to me, neither can I talk about the reprehensibleness
of sin in a monotone. You might be able to. If you
can, that's your business. It's like this member was telling
me, said they were discussing with some of their friends recently
the subject of abortion. You know, they're gradually raising
it. Now you can abort pregnancy up to five months, I think, or
they're discussing this, or maybe six months. He said, well, after
all, you've got to look at abortion clinically. Doesn't that sound
good? You mean you've got to look at
murder clinically? How ridiculous! How ridiculous! Beloved, I hope to tell you something
tonight. You may not agree with this, but we're not very many
steps behind Nazi Germany in the attitude
concerning the sacredness and the importance of human life.
Just don't forget that. And before I get through tonight,
I want you to know we're not very far away from the judgment
of God upon this nation and how it would be administered, I do
not know. But I assure you it's going to be administered. Did you know homosexuality can
be traced back As far as Genesis 19, some go back further than
that, but I can't prove it, but I can as far back as Genesis
19. Do you know what happened as
a result of homosexuality that was practiced in Sodom and Gomorrah? God destroyed both cities. Why? Because they were given
up. to this subject. Read the 19th chapter of Genesis
when you have time. I may refer to them briefly tonight. 18 and 19, especially chapter
19. So for this cause, God gave them up. God gave them over to
degrading passions. We discussed the words, the important
words of this verse this morning, passions of dishonor. evil affections
of the mind, passionate desire. And then we showed the reason
why that we should call the women females rather than women, and
the men males rather than men. And you know why? Because they
had degraded themselves to the extent that Paul could not even
use the word that referred to a woman as a woman. and to a
man as a man, but he used the Greek words, females and males in the same
sense that you would talk about a female animal of some kind
or a male animal. And that's interesting. And I
checked all the words on that, but I won't go any further than
that. So even their females, females, did change that which
they should have used normally and naturally into that which
is used unnaturally. And to what does that refer?
It refers to lesbianism. So the sex that is naturally
most shame-faced is called here what? Shameful. shameful, for even
their women did change a natural use into that which is against
nature." And the word, as I stated this morning, is the word for
female, and the word for man is the word for male. And then we looked at the last
part, para fucin, or para fucis, against nature. So that which
is against nature's laws, in the light of the context, this
has reference to what? Sexual sins. Now verse 28. We got to this
verse this morning. Let's read verse 27. It also
proves that verse 26 talks about women in general, that is, females
with females. And now in verse 27. and likewise
also the males, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their
lust one toward another, males with males working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of
their error which was meat." I like the New American Standard
Version translation of this, even though I Spent the time
to go into all the major Greek words this last week, which really
is the best commentary of all. I like this, and in the same
way also the men, and I personally think that they should have used
the word male here, abandon the natural function of the female
and burn in their desire towards one another. So I would say that
if they had done it correctly, there is some improvement, but
they should have used the word for male and the word for female,
instead of using women and men. Now, look at the word burned.
Let's spend a little time on this. They burned in themselves. So likewise, also the males,
leaving the natural use of the female. burned in their lust
one toward another. The word for burn here is a very
strong word, in fact. It is a much stronger word than
that used in 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 9, turn to it. Now, I'm
not afraid to say what I'm going to say. And if anyone wants to
interpret it wrongly, that's your problem, not mine. I know
what I'm saying, I have basis for it, and every human being
knows exactly what I'm talking about. Now, the Apostle Paul,
in the 7th chapter of 1 Corinthians, is talking about the relationship
in the home, and who should marry and who should not, and so forth.
So, beginning with verse 1, we'll get the connection. Now, concerning
the things whereof ye wrote unto me, It is good for a man not
to touch a woman. Now, that's not to be taken in
the absolute sense, beloved, but if you look further on in
the chapter, it is in the light of the present distress through
which Paul was experiencing at that time, and the time may come
again in our lifetime when it would not be good for a young
man to even think about getting married. And it might be well
that a young woman not even think about marrying in the light of
the present distress. Now verse 2, Nevertheless, he
says, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife,
let every woman have her own husband, let the husband render
unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto
the husband. The wife hath not power of her
own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband hath
not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one
the other, except it be with a consent for a time, that ye
may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and shall come again
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak
this by permission and not of commandment. For I would that
all men were even as I myself, but every man hath his proper
gift of God, one after this manner, another after that. I say therefore
to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide
even as I, Paul, at this time was not married." Now verse 9,
"...but if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better
to marry than to burn." Now, I want you to underscore the
word burn in verse 9. Beloved, there is a lawful, there
is a legitimate burn. You know what I'm talking about?
Every one of you knows what I'm talking about. I said there is
a burning that is natural. There is a desire that is natural.
Now, there is a burning that is unnatural. And I want you
to see the difference between the two. That's why I said the
burning in Romans 1, verse 27, is an unnatural burning or desire. Now, let's look at this. I won't
even take the time to go into the Greek words. That isn't necessary.
You can look it up for yourself. But I'm pointing out the truth
of the passage, and I'm willing to stand on it. Now, let's analyze
it. When you put these two verses
together, In Romans 127, there is an unnatural burning. In 1
Corinthians 7, verse 9, there is a natural burning or a natural
desire. Now, what's the difference? It's
very simple. In 1 Corinthians 7, 9, it's natural. In Romans 127, it is unnatural. Why? Because it is a man or it's
a male with a male. It's a female with a female.
That's unnatural. That's unnatural. Even animals
will not do that or do not do that. Do you see what I'm talking
about? Even animals will not do that. So when a male wants to cohabit
with another male, that is unnatural. Even animals will not succumb
to that. Now let's look at something else.
The indecency of the unlawful burning in Romans 127 is unblushingly
perpetrated today and is being accepted as another way of life. But you're looking at someone
who by God's grace will never acknowledge it. I'll never accept
I'll never give my approval because it is contrary to the mind of
God. And when you think about the
indecency of these people today that is being perpetrated, it's
almost more than I can take sometimes. Beloved, even ten years ago,
Even though it existed, it has always existed. It existed in
the closet. But today it's no longer in the
closet. It's on the television screen
right before our eyes. It's in the newspapers when we
pick them up. Did you see this article in yesterday's
paper? Methodist Court Asked to Resolve
Gay Pastor Issue. So when we see the unblushing
attitude of all of these gay movements today, then I read
to you this morning the persons who are going to speak at the
gay movement, and many of them right here in our own city, I
want to tell you something. I don't believe, beloved, that
a person could be a speaker and uphold such a belief unless he
was guilty of it himself. If not overtly, he's guilty. But no person, no person who
knows what the Word of God teaches, who has the grace of God, I'll
go so far as to say who is not one or who would like to be one, could give his approval by speaking
at such a program. So homosexuality is looked upon
today as being another way of life. Well, it was a way of life
in Sodom. Turn with me, if you will, please,
to the 19th chapter of the book of Genesis. This is as far as
I can personally go back. There are some who go back further
than this, but I can't do it, in all honesty. Therefore, I'll
not even give the passages. Look at this, and we all know
what sodomy is. I'd like you to look at verse
5. In order to get the connection, go back to verse 1. And there
came two angels to Solomon even, and Lot sat at the gate of Solomon,
and Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself
with his face toward the ground. When you go back to the 18th
chapter, you have those three persons who came. Now beginning
with verse 4, But before they lay down, the men of the city,
even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and
young, all the people from every quarter. And they came unto Lot,
and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee
this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. I'm assuming you understand the
meaning of the word, no, here. Then look at verse 14. Well,
verses 13 through 14. And the men said unto Lot, Hast
thou here any besides, son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters,
and whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this
place. For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them
is waxen great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath
sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto
his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up,
get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. And the Lord did that very thing."
Why? Because of Sodom and the Sodomites. It was a way of life, a way of
life in that awful city. Now notice the next part of verse
27. Well, I'd like to give you one
other verse from the Old Testament. Turn, if you will, to the 18th
chapter, I believe it is, of the book of Leviticus in verse
22. Leviticus 18, 22, I think it is, and I'm hoping that I'm
right here. If not, I'll just have to give
it another time. Yes, it is. Thou shalt not lie
with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. There it is. That's the Old Testament. Now look at the last part of
verse 27. In your King James Version it reads, men with men,
or males with males, working that which is unseemly, unseemly. Now let's stop with that. The word from which we get the
word unseemly, means one's nakedness, or one's openness, or one's shame. And did you know it is used only
here and in Revelation 16, verse 15, whereas in the verb form
it is used in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 36 and 1 Corinthians 13,
verse 5. So it's used only four times
in the Scripture. Unseemly! One's neck in this, one shame. I gave you the references, I'll
give you all the references if you want to look at them. Revelation
16, 15, 1 Corinthians 7, 36 and 13, 5. Then the recompense. Males with males working that
which is unseemly. and receiving in themselves that
recompense, that recompense, which was me." The word recompense
comes from the Greek word antimystheia, which means a reward given in
compensation, requital, due penalty, due penalty. You know, there's
just something about sin. Sin is the punishment of sin.
Sin is the punishment of sin. In other words, sin punishes
sin. And it is used in a bad sense
here in this passage, but it's used in a good sense, recompense
is, in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 13. So sin is its own punishment. Sins mentioned in this passage
are senseless, they're filthy, They're inhuman and they're God
dishonored. Their effects are what? The dishonoring
of the body results in the conscience being seared, that we'll talk
about in a few minutes even more, all sensibility being lost, and
the extinguishing of the mind to the point of what? Of being
reprobated. destitute of judgment. Now let's
look at verse 28. Wrong loving, wrong living, now
wrong thinking. And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, and this still has to do with
what? Knowledge of what? Knowledge
of general revelation, according to the context, and don't insert
anything else into it. So just as they did not see fit
to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them up. God gave them
up. They saw the general revelation of God,
but they didn't want any part of it. They didn't want to acknowledge
God. So God gave them up. They did not like God's approval,
and they did not think God worthy to be kept in knowledge. They wanted to get away from
any knowledge of God. Now, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind. We're going to study this word,
reprobate mind, for a little bit. In other words, God gave
them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are
not even proper. So God gave them up to a reprobate
mind, gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which
are not proper, not proper. All restraint is removed. Now
let's look at the word for reprobation. It is the Greek word adhokimos,
which is the very opposite of dokimos, just like moral and
amoral. The Greek word, the Greek letter,
the Greek character, alpha, is placed in front, which means
disapproved, ad hocimos. And I want us to look at a few
verses tonight where it is used. I'll give you a few. Ad hocimos
is used in Romans 128, the verse that we're investigating, 1 Corinthians
9.27. 2 Corinthians 13, 5, 6, and 7,
and we're going to look at that passage in a moment, 2 Timothy
3, 8, Titus 1, 16, and in Hebrews 6, verse 8, the same word is
used, but it is translated in your King James Version by the
word rejected, but it is adokimos. So Paul passes, if you'll notice,
when we come to verse 28, He passes from the sensual to the
mental. He has been discussing the sensual.
Now he passes the sensual to the mental. God gives them up
to a reprobate mind. So they're reprobated. Their
mind is worthless. They can't even think straight.
can't even exercise a sensible judgment. I'd like you to turn
with me to 2 Corinthians 13. The word of Dr. Moss is used
three times here in three verses of Scripture, and you'll see
the contrast between being approved and disapproved. Let's begin
with verse 5. I'm not going to say too much
about some of the things because I have a message to follow this
one that I'm giving today next Sunday morning. on the approval
of God. Paul said, examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith. The word examine means to test
yourselves. Prove, and here it means to examine. The Greek word used here really
means examine. Examine your own selves. So test
yourselves, examine yourselves. Know ye not your own selves?
How that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates. Except what? You fail the test. Verse 6, But I trust that ye
shall know that we are not reprobates. Verse 7, Now I pray to God that
ye do no evil, not that we would appear approved. Now the word
is documash here, approved. So adocimos is the opposite of
docimos. So he says, but that ye should
do that which is honest, though ye be as reprobates. So you have
both words used, docimos, approved, adocimos, disproved, not approved. Now let's go back to Romans.
So as the apostle passes from the sensual and gets into the
mental, he turns them over to a reprobate mind. And the reprobated
person has a mind that is void of judgment, he has a heart or
a conscience that is seared, and he is past feeling. I'd like to give you the two
references. other than this one in this passage. First of all,
he has a mind that is void of sensible and sane judgment. He
has a seared conscience. That's 1 Timothy 4, verse 2.
He not only has a seared conscience, but he is past feeling, and oh,
what a strong word that is. Turn with me to Ephesians 4,
verse 19 again. Let's look at that word for a
little bit. Ephesians 4, verse 19. The average preacher today
will shun this He'll pass this by as quickly as he can, but
we must accept what the Word of God says. And in 419 we have it, "...who,
being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness." Past feeling. Past feeling. Oh, what a strong
word. We'll get into that a little
more. Now will you turn to I Corinthians, chapter 6. Is there any hope for a homosexual,
one who has been reprobated? Well, the Lord did save some. How many I do not know. But He
saved some, just like He saved some whoremongers, some fornicators,
some adulterers. But now we'll look at the passage
that describes these people. And we cannot investigate all
the different words that are used here. We simply want to
restrict our discussion tonight to the subject of sexual sins.
All right, verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, that
is, be not led astray, neither fornicators. The word
for fornicators here is the Greek word pornoi, which is the plural
for pornea. And what does it mean? It means
whoredom, a whore, a prostitute, a hooker, as she's called today.
That's, I guess, the highfalutin name they've given to her. She's
a fornicator. It means lewdness, uncleanness,
It means one who has prostituted or is prostituting the body to
the use of another. I'm giving you the actual meaning
of the words. Unlawful sexual intercourse. And, beloved, the only lawful
sexual act is within the marriage state. Every act outside is a sin. And
yet people are living like animals today, and worse than animals. I'd also like to say that the
word porneia is used symbolically for idolatry in the Scriptures. In other words, the Lord uses
these sexual sins, these unnatural acts, to describe sin. the heinousness, the reprehensibleness
of sin. So pornea. Now, he says, be not
deceived, neither fornicators nor idolaters, I'll not go into
that, nor adulterers. Now, we have an entirely different
Greek word, therefore they are not used synonymously, as so
many say. The word is moikos, or here,
the plural word here is moikoi. And moikos, what does it mean? It means to have an unlawful
intercourse with another man's wife. That's what it means. It
is also used symbolically, and rightly so, of the unfaithfulness
of the Christian to his Lord. Now, what would you think of
me if you became so unfaithful I walked up to you and I said,
You're an adulterer. You'd be ready to knock my block
off, but that'd be true. That's exactly what every unfaithful
person is to his Savior, to his Master, to his Lord. He is a
spiritual adulterer. You see, today we're using all
of these fine terms, and we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. And so what do we have today?
Churches literally filled with unsafe, ungodly people who are
living like the devil and claim to be Christians. Christians. I'm going to get
into another in a minute. Will you turn to James 4.4? I'd
like to prove my point on about spiritual adultery. James 4,
verse 4. I think that's the verse that
I want. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a
friend of the world is the enemy of God." Whenever the Christian
becomes friendly with the world, he is a spiritual adulterer,
for she is a spiritual adulterer. unfaithfulness to our Lord. And if you want a vivid biblical
description of it, read Ezekiel 16. Unfaithfulness to our Lord. And if you want a vivid biblical
description of it, read Ezekiel 16 when you have time. Now, let's
go a little further, because we're discussing sexual sins. The next word is effeminate.
In verse 9, effeminate. The Greek word is malakos. Of course, it is plural here
because all of these are in the plural, so it is malakoi. Malakoi. What does it mean? It means men who submit themselves,
that is their bodies, to unnatural lewdness or lust. It means effeminate, unmanly
traits and habits. Now the word is used in the following
references. only in Matthew 11, 8 and Luke
7, 25, and in the passage which we're studying. These are the
only places. And it is translated in Matthew
11, 8 and Luke 7, 25 by the word soft, soft. Talks about soft
clothing, soft raiment. Here, of course, it has reference
to an immoral act. Now, let's look at the last part
of verse 9. Here are five words in your King
James Version, but there's only one word in the Greek. Only one
word. He says, "...abusers of themselves
with mankind." The one Greek word that is used here is a compound
word, and I'll break it down. A compound word. And what is
it? First of all, it is the word
for male. That's the first part of the
compound word. Arsene. Arsene. Male. And the second part of
the word, this compound word, is coete. Coete. And it means cohabitation. Now look at it, if you will.
That's the meaning. Look it up for yourself. Here's
a compound word. Arsene, male. Coete, cohabitation. So here is a male cohabiting
with another male. That's sodomy. That's homosexuality. Now look at verse 11. We'll skip by verse 10. Well,
I'll just mention verse 10 as we read on. Nor thieves... Now,
by the way, this will be interesting to you. Have you ever heard of
a kleptomaniac? Well, the Greek word that is
used here for thieves is kleptase, from which we get kleptomaniac.
We'll go on. And just read them because we're
not discussing other things tonight other than sexual sins. "...nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall
inherit the kingdom of God." Now verse 11, "...and such were
some of you." Now look at the catalog of things that he mentioned.
Now I must say this. Beloved, whenever a person has
been saved by the grace of God, I don't care what he's been,
I don't care what she's been in past life. Whenever a person has been saved,
the sins are under the blood. And I don't believe that that
person should ever refer to those past sins. Are you with me? I want to illustrate something.
I want to say something that's very, very important. A child
of God, one who is a Christian who has been saved by the grace
of God, he is not to go back and talk about all the things
that he was guilty of before he was saved. And I said that
to say this, beware of these evangelists today, beware of
these people who are giving their testimonies today, and all they
want to talk about are the sins they committed before they were
saved. I'll tell you what, they're still getting a sense of satisfaction
out of it. And I doubt the genuineness of
the salvation of any one of them. I talked loud then, didn't I?
Why? Because I wanted to drive that poet home. But I'll tell you something,
we are to confess. As we become the children of God, when I sin,
I am to confess it. We are to confess our sins, the
sins we commit as Christians. And sometimes they're to be confessed
openly, sometimes they're to be confessed to the church, sometimes
they're to be confessed one to another. But did you get the
point? All of those things before we
were saved, it's nobody's business. He's been saved by the grace
of God. But the sins committed after we're saved, they are to
be confessed. And sometimes openly, sometimes
to the church, sometimes to the preacher, sometimes to individuals,
sometimes one to another. But look at verse 11. But such
were some of you. Now notice the conjunction, but.
But ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name
or upon the authority of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
God. And by the Spirit of our God.
Let me point out some things when we come to this section
of Scripture. In the first part of 1 Corinthians
6, Paul talks about lawsuits. And from lawsuits in the first
part of the chapter, he turns to sexual laxity. Now notice this. He had already
dealt with a specific case in 1 Corinthians 5, the man who
was guilty of fornication. Now in chapter 6, beginning with
verse 9 through the end of the chapter, he discusses or deals
with a general principle. In dealing with this general
principle, he talks about Christian liberty in verse 12. The believer
is free, yes, thank God he's free, but here's where I have
to depart. from so many so-called Calvinists
today and many, many others. And I make no bones about it. The person who is free, yet, beloved, he is not unmindful
of the moral issues involved. And that's what Paul is talking
about. Look at verse 12. All things are lawful unto me, but
all things are not expedient. And that means what? Profitable. So Paul would not allow himself
to come under the sway of anything or anybody because he was a bond
slave of Jesus Christ. And that's my attitude. I'm not
going to become enslaved to any one of you or to anybody or to
anything by the grace of God. Why? Because I'm a born slave
of my Savior and glad that I am, grateful that I am. Well, let's
go a little further. But, but, such were some of you
but. And then he says, you've been
cleansed. You've been sanctified. And you have been justified.
Now I'd like to raise a question. Is Paul contradicting himself
by the order of sanctification and justification in this verse?
When you compare this, and this couldn't help but come to my
mind, when you go to the book of Romans, the outline of Romans
is condemnation, justification, and then sanctification. But
here, The order is reversed. Cleansing, sanctification, and
justification. Why the reversal of the order?
Very simple. Very simple. There is positional
sanctification and there is conditional sanctification. Positional and conditional. Now, positionally, Paul was in
Christ, and they were in Christ by being sanctified. And since
they were positionally in Christ, they were to sanctify themselves. Now, there is a cleansing that
is positional, and there is a cleansing that is conditional or practical. Let's look at the first word
in the 11th verse. Year washed. Year washed. Yes, we were washed positionally
by God, and we didn't have any part in it. But we are to cleanse
ourselves. Let's see if we are. And I'll
tell you something, that person who is willing to cleanse himself
and to make some effort in cleansing himself, I don't care if he does
claim to be a Christian, he's not a Christian. And I'll tell
him he's not a Christian. Look at 2 Corinthians 7-1. And
I know a lot of folk today. They brag about being Christians.
They know they're doing a lot of things that are wrong. And
they justify themselves in doing those things instead of seeking
to cleanse themselves. Here's the answer. Having therefore
these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So there
is a position of cleansing. And then our practical cleansing,
we cleanse ourselves because we have been positionally cleansed,
and we could not do so apart from the grace of God given us
in positional cleansing. Now we'll read on a little bit
to show you what Paul's talking about here before we go to the
last passage. He says in verse 13, he's talking about the principles
now, moral principles. Meats for the belly and the belly
for meats. God shall destroy both it and
them That is he'll do away with both of them Someday the Lord's
going to do away with these bodies as we know them now Do away with
the food, but he goes on to say now the body is not for fornication The body is not for fornication As it is for food Did you know
that I've even had so-called Christians stupid enough to tell
me that they believe it was justifiable to go to some prostitute or something?
After all, I have the desire. And I've got to fulfill this
desire. Why did God give us these things
if He didn't intend for us to use them? Can you imagine? A child of God, a recipient of
grace, talking in that manner? You might be soft for someone
like that if you want to with someone like that. I'll say,
don't talk to me about being a Christian. You need the grace
of God. So what is Paul saying in verse
13? The body is not for fornication as it is for food. As it is for
food. but for the Lord and the Lord
for the body. And he'll give the answer for
it in a moment. Verse 14, And God hath both raised up the Lord,
and will also raise us up. He's talking about the resurrection.
Time is going to come when these old bodies, they'll go back to
the dust of the earth. If the Lord tarries His coming
and we go through the process of death, or if we're living
when He comes, we're still going to be transformed into the likeness
of Jesus Christ. Verse 15, Know ye not I'll call
attention to this. In verse 9, no you're not. In
verse 15, no you're not. In verse 16, no you're not. In
verse 19, no you're not. Now look at verse 15. Know ye
not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Beloved, these
bodies of ours belong to Jesus Christ. And that means we cannot
do with them as we would like to sometimes, or might desire
to do. He goes on to say, shall I then
take the members of Christ and make them the members of Enharlot?
God forbid. Favorite expression of Paul.
Verse 16, what? Know ye not that he which is
joined to Enharlot is one body? For two saith he shall be one
flesh. But he that is joined to the
Lord is one spirit. Then he says, flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is
without the body. But he that committed fornication
sinneth against his own body. Verse 19, Know ye not that your
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you? And, beloved, when I think about
my body being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and if I really
realize that is I should, don't you think I'm concerned even
about the way that I conduct myself and take care of myself?
And what I put in my body, which is in you, which you have
of God, you're not your own. Look at the last statement of
verse 19, you're not your own. You hear these women today, I
can get an abortion if I want to. I can do what I please with
my own body. And you and I might be surprised
how many so-called Christians are getting abortions. You're not your own. You know
what that means? Listen to what one of the Puritans
said about that phrase. No one can be his own unless
he is supreme, absolute, independent, and self-existent. I'm not my own. You're not your
own. And no one can be his own unless
he's absolute, supreme, and completely independent. For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your
body. My soul has been redeemed, my
body has not yet, but it's going to be. And in your spirit which
are God's. Now turn for the conclusion,
II Timothy chapter 3. Here is the day in which we are
living. Here it is. I'll read and make a few comments,
but I want to call attention to one statement that's found
here and compare it with the same statement in verse 29 of
Romans 1. This know also that in the last
days perilous times shall come. Now, most of us know that there
are two different Greek words for love. One is agapeo, which
is the verb, and phileo, the verbs. Now, the word that is
used throughout this passage is not agapila, but it's phileo,
or the lesser of the two. Beginning now at verse 2. For
men shall be lovers of their own selves. Philatoi, which means what? Self-lovers. The very next word,
covetous, is another word that is also, that is the main stem
of the Greek word for love is used here and it means money
lovers. We got a lot of folk who love
themselves and love money. Now verse 3, without natural
affection. Now this is what I want us to
look at for a few minutes in connection with that statement
in Romans 129. without natural affection. There
has always been a certain amount of unnatural affection manifested. But it's worse today than it's ever been. There's
more of it today than ever. And this is one of the signs
of the very last days without natural affection. Did you know
the word is used only twice? Romans 1.31, 2 Timothy 3.3, without natural affection. Now there are two words that
I'd like to discuss with you in connection with this, since
we're talking about without natural affection. One is the word which
means love of kindred. And this word that is used here,
means the very opposite of that in the Greek, astorgas, astorgas. It's a spell, A-S-T-O-R-G-O-S,
astorgas. And what does it mean? It means
unnatural love. That's the word that's used here,
astorgas. Now, the word that means love
of kindred is storge, storge, it is spelled s-t-o-r-g-e, and
the e is a long e in the Greek, storge, love of kindred. Now when you look at this statement
that is used here, without natural affection, whenever a person
manifests unnatural affection, he doesn't have any love for
the kindred and that which is natural, He's so in love with
himself. He's so in love with pleasure.
He is so in love with sin that everything is unnatural. So what
is it? It is astargus love. That's the word that's used,
unnatural. Now you can see why that a person
would leave family and leave everything that is natural and
do that which is unnatural. astargas, affection. Now, he goes on to say, truce
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, we're not discussing these things,
just reading them, fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors,
heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure. Now, here is the word
again where that secondary Greek word is used. And here, phile
de noi, What does it mean? Pleasure lovers. So we have self
lovers, money lovers, pleasure lovers. That's descriptive of
our day, isn't it? And I'm afraid there are too
many church members who are self-lovers, money-lovers, money-grabbers,
and pleasure-lovers. More than, get this, lovers of
God. Oh, all of these have a form
of godliness or piety, but denying the power thereof. You know why?
You know how they deny the power? There's no power in them to work
out. In other words, there is no manifestation
of the grace of God in their lives. So there's no realization
of power because it isn't there. There's no manifestation of the
power of grace because it isn't there. Oh, they have a form of
piety. They go to church, they sit,
They give a little money now and then. They'll give the Lord
a little time after they've given all that they have to themselves.
I'm a Christian! I'm a Christian! But they're
self-lovers, money-lovers, pleasure-lovers, more than lovers of God. If God
does not come first, if you do not love Him more than self,
more than money, More than pleasure, it's not love. We're living in the last days.
How I'd like to see, don't know if I'll ever see it or not, I'd
like to see a real, a real manifestation of the grace of God throughout
the Church of Jesus Christ.