Good evening. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 187. 187. Blessed be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above. Before our father's throne, we
pour our ardent prayers, our fears, our hopes, our ♪ Our comforts and our cares ♪
We share our mutual woes ♪ Our mutual burdens bear ♪ And often
for each other flows the sympathizing tear Be sated well saying him number
361 361 Sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour
of prayer That calls me from a world of care My Father's love make all my
wants and wishes come. In seasons of distress and grief,
my soul Relief and oft escape the tempter's
stare By thy return, sweet hour of prayer Sweet hour of prayer, Sweet hour
of prayer, Thy wings shall my petition bear, To Him whose truth
and faithfulness to bless, and since he bids,
we sing his praise. and trust His grace I'll cast
on Him my every care and wait for Thee,
sweet hour of prayer. ♪ Sweet hour of prayer ♪ ♪ Sweet
hour of prayer ♪ ♪ May I thy consolation share ♪ ♪ Till from
Mount Pisgah's lofty heights ♪ and take my life. Even though one day I'll come
and rise to seize the ether, If you have your Bibles with
you this evening, I'd like to read 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not
for that we would be unclothed but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for
the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest
of the spirit. Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent
from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by
sight. We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body than to be present with
the Lord. Wherefore we labor, that whether
present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone
may receive the things done in his body according to that he
hath done, whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord. We persuade men, but we are made
manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your
consciences. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, to give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that
you may have some what to answer them which glory in appearance
and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves,
it is to God, or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that
if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth,
Know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. to wit that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the world of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God,
for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Lord God Almighty, our most high
and heavenly Father, Almighty, all-powerful, all-righteous,
All loving and all gracious, Lord, all love and all grace
comes from thy hand. We come into your presence through
your blessed son. We thank you for your gospel
message. Thank you for the message of free grace and salvation found
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for bestowing
this word to us. To a multitude that no man can
number. Lord, you give us. An unexplainable
peace. Piece of this world has. Not even a glimpse of. No, we
can't begin to explain. Lord, we thank you for peace. We thank you for your grace.
We thank you for your mercy, for the love that you've shown
us, for the love you've given us for one another, and for the
love you've given us for you. Lord, we only love you because
you loved us first. Lord, though our spirits rejoice
for the passing of our dear brother, Joe, our fleshly hearts are weak and weary. Lord, we just
ask that you would give us grace to cause us to support one another. Pray for those who will be traveling,
Lord, that you would allow them traveling mercies. Pray that you'd be the strength
to stay for my dear mamaw and the rest of my family. Lord, we pray for our lost loved
ones that you'd show the mercy unto them too. Lord, we ask that
you would cause service to run well here this night, cause your
gospel to go forth and prosper. Lord, meet with us if you would.
We ask that will be done for Christ's sake. Amen. Hymn number 298. In shady green pastures so rich
and so sweet, God cleanses dear children of old. Where the water's cool flow bathes
the weary one's feet, God cleanses dear children of old. Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives a song In the night season and all the day long Sometimes
on the mount where the sun shines so bright God leads his dear
children along Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads his dear children along. Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all In the night season and all the day long Though
sorrows befall us and Satan oppose God bleeds his dear children
of old Through grace we can conquer,
defeat all our foes. God leaves his dear children
alone. Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives a song In the nice season and all the day long Away
from the mire and away from the flake God leaves his dear children
alone Way up in glory eternity's day. God leaves his dear children
alone. Some through the water, some
through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all In the nice season and all the day long. Romans 1. I swore I was going
to preach Wednesday night, but I didn't. So Romans chapter 1. I want to mention Shirley's sister. Her name's Karen. She's in the
hospital now. She's the second time. She has
carcinoid tumors in both of her lungs. And she can't breathe,
and she coughs all the time. And she just can't breathe, so
she's in the hospital, and she gave her something to help her
breathe and stays in there. And one of her sisters had her
lung removed on account of that, but she's got them in both of
her lungs, and she can't breathe. And she had radiation on them, and they're
not healing right. And that's why she's having a
hard time breathing. She's trying her best to stay
off of a vent if she gets put on a vent. It's not good, but
please remember her sister. You know, just say, Lord, have
mercy on that poor girl. Karen's her name. And she's a young woman. She's relatively
young. Relatively young. All right. Let's go here in Romans, and
I'm going to Start reading in verse 24 and read to the end
of the chapter. Wherefore God also gave them
up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to
dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth
of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause
God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change
the natural use into that which against nature. And likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use to the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another, men with men, working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of
the error which was made. 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, being filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, 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." Talk about God's judgment. The
words we just read now, you could apply it to the day
we live in. It's just like watching the news
and watching what's going on in the world. and watchin' how
this world has become so perverse. It's just like readin' the newspaper,
readin' what's goin' on in the world today. And I tell ya, this,
you know, it's like readin' today's news, viewin' today's society,
viewin' today's society. Things that used to be hid is now made manifest and
clearly just practiced publicly anymore. it s today s philosophy,
from the white house to the poor house and everything in between,
today s philosophy. And oh, this is one of those
places in God s Word, just like reading what s going on in our
world today, exactly what s like you re reading. And the apostle
already stressed the fact that where revelation is rejected,
where men reject light, there remains nothing but condemnation
and wrath. Look what he says back up there
in verse 18. Remember this? For the wrath
of God revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, unrighteousness
of men who hold down the truth, truth, and there without excuse,
So God, He takes men, and because that which may be known of God,
God showed it to them, they clearly see, and they re without excuse,
and they knew God, they didn t glorify Him as God. So He s
already showed us here that when you reject God s Light, when
you reject God s Word, when you reject God s Creation, you reject
God s providence, when you just reject God and you take the truth
and you hold that truth in unrighteousness, when you unfree willism is holding
the truth in unrighteousness. Salvation by works is holding
the truth in unrighteousness. Morality is holding the truth
in unrighteousness. Being saved by your own merit,
your own works is holding the truth in unrighteousness. going
to the cross to get saved and then going back to the law to
be justified and to learn how to live right, that's holding
the truth in unrighteousness. And God says, I'm not gonna put
up with it. You don't want me? He said, this
is what I'm gonna do for you. This is what I'm gonna do for
you. This is what he says. And when men hold unrighteous,
there's a progress to the awful judgment of God. He said in Hebrews
10, 26, if a man, if you sin willfully, After you receive
the knowledge of the truth, you reject the truth, you have this
knowledge of the truth, and you go back out and you just willfully
reject that and willfully sin against light. He said there
is no more sacrifice for sin. You want to live without God?
God ain't got another sacrifice for you. And I tell you what,
and that's what he's talking about here. And I tell you what,
to look here what God does. When you reject the light, you
reject God s creation, and it says those things that are clearly
seen, clearly seen, look what happens. Wherefore God also gave
them up. You got to be in a bad, bad condition
for God to say, I give up, I give up, I m not going to do a thing
for you, I give up, I give you up, I give you up, I'm not going
to speak to you again, I'm not going to give you any more light,
I'm not going to give you any more word, I'm not going to do
nothing for you ever again. You don't want ME, so I don't
have to bother with you at all. And oh my, and that's what he
says here. God gave them up to uncleanness,
uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor
their own bodies. And it says three times here
that God gave them up. Oh, look in verse 26. For this
cause God gave them up. God gave them up. Look down verse
28. And as they did not like to retain
God in their knowledge, God gave them over. Three times! Three times. That's God's judgment. God gave them up. You know, look
over in Psalm 81 with me. You know, when God gives somebody
up, it's a sad, sad day. It's Psalm 81. You know, He said in Acts 7 and
2, it says over there that God gave them up to worship the hosts
of heaven, and they made them a god, and they called Him Moloch,
and they made another god and called Him Rephidim, and God
gave them up. You want to worship THEM? Go
ahead and do it. Go ahead and worship the stars,
go ahead and worship creation, go ahead and worship this Moloch,
and go ahead and worship Rephidim. If that s the gods you want,
I m going to let you have them. And look what he said here in
Psalm 81 and verse 12, So I gave them up unto their
own hearts lust, and they walked in their own counsels. Now the
margin says, their own hearts, to the hardness of their hearts,
or imaginations. God said, I'll let you, you want
a hard heart, I'll just let you have it. You want evil imaginations,
I'll give them to you. This is the principle of God
Almighty that one act, one act That he does an effect that a
person has leads a man God on to go ahead and cause a connected
to another and effect their effect that you know, they turned off
the light and That effect that that affected them. It caused
God to say I give you up You know the truth and unrighteous.
I give you up you hold down the truth. I give you up You don't
like to retain God in your knowledge. I give you up. I give you up
And that s like a person, one lie leads to another to prop
up the first until a man weaves himself a web of his own destruction,
and God will, God will do that. And oh my, and that s what He
says. Look at this awful, awful impurity
that God says He gives them up. Wherefore God also gave them
up to uncleanness, up to uncleanness through the lust of their own
hearts. desires of their own hearts, to dishonor their own
bodies between themselves. When men have the wrong thoughts
about God, this is necessarily what comes from it. It says there
in verse 24, They changed the glory of the incorruptible God,
made Him like a man, images, four-footed beasts, and creepy
things. So God said, Listen, Listen, you changed my glory,
you changed me into some other image that you can see and touch
and taste and sit on your shelf and that you can have all these
idols in front of you. He said, I give you up to that
lust of your flesh and the uncleanness of your heart that you want an
idol instead of me. You want something to look at,
something you can touch, taste and handle instead of an invisible
God that you want. And oh my, What an awful judgment. Where there is idolatry, men
always, always end up yielding to the flesh. And I tell you,
the judgment of God, and that's what happens. You know, nobody
likes to hear this stuff, but this is the day in which we live. You know, they say this is the
way the people was back then. Human nature don't change. Human
nature don't change. And then look what else it says
here. Look at the gross, gross idolatry. It says in verse 25,
they dishonored their own bodies between themselves. Now what
in the world does that mean? They dishonored their own bodies.
You know, God made us a temple. We're stewards of our own bodies.
We're stewards of, God made us stewards of ourselves. You know,
he gave us a body and he said, a man that's given to gluttony,
it'd be best just to soon cut his throat. And so he gave us
this body and these people take their body and they dishonor
themselves with their bodies. Dishonor themselves among themselves
with their own body. And then look what he goes on
to say in verse 25, who changed the truth of God into a lie. Here's God's truth, but I'm gonna
change it. I don't like it. I don't like
what God says. I don't like that truth. I don't
like that truth of election. I don't like that truth of sovereignty.
I don't like that truth of sovereign grace. I don't like that truth
of free grace. I don't wanna be left out of
my own salvation. And oh my, they changed the truth
of God into a lie. Oh my, and that's, you know,
we read that about the Pharisees when they had their traditions
and they changed the whole Word of God and made it of none effect
through their traditions. Remember that? And that's what
he says, you change the truth of God into a lie. And what happens
when they do that? Well, there's false worship.
There has to be a judgment. Look what he says, and worshiped,
worshiped and served the creature. more than the Creator who is
blessed forevermore. Worship, you know, everybody,
does anybody here know what humanism is? Humanism is man being everything. Man is the one old preacher, and he taught in a
Bible college, an Armenian Bible college, he says, Man s the captain
of his own soul, captain of his own fate, but humanism makes
man to be EVERYTHING. I mean man has got this great
ability, this great power THIS GREAT LIGHT, THIS GREAT INTELLECT,
MAN IS THIS WONDERFUL PERSON, AND SO HUMANISM IS, EXALTS MAN
AND FORGETS GOD ALL TOGETHER, GOD'S NOT EVEN MENTIONED, AND
THEY CHANGED THE NATURE, THEY WORSHIP THE CREATURE, AND OH, LISTEN, WORSHIP THE CREATURE
MORE THAN THE CREATOR, WORSHIP A BULL, WORSHIP A SNAKE, WORSHIP
AN ANGEL! And I heard, I don t know how
many times today, I heard people say, Boy, I tell you what, so-and-so
is already in heaven and they re up there with so-and-so, and
the next one, when I go, I m going to be up there with them. That
s worshiping the creature more than the Creator. There s not, listen, They say, well, when we get there.
They don't have a concept. That's changing the truth of
God into a lie. When we leave this world, whatever
way we fall, that's the way we're going to stay. And they worship
the creature. And God's the Creator. And He's
blessed forever. But oh my, my mommy, my daddy,
my brother, my sister, my granny, Oh my, I tell you what, I know
they're in heaven. I know they didn't love God.
I know they never attended a worship service. I know they didn't know
God. I know they never prayed. I know there's drug addicts,
but they still are going to be in heaven. Change the truth of God. Worship
the creature more than the Creator. Oh my, and where there's idolatry,
oh my goodness, awful, awful. They served and worshipped, and
it says SERVED! Served, worshipped, and SERVED!
SERVED THE CREATURE! SERVED THE CREATURE! Oh, my! I tell you, and then look what
happens. God s blessed forevermore, Creator is, for THIS CAUSE! Again, you see, they just progress,
they just get gradually WORSE! And they worshiped, searched
the Creator, so God s FOR THIS CAUSE! because they worshiped
and served the creature more than the creator. And for this
cause, God gave them up to vile affections. Vile, vile, vile
affections. When the scripture says, set
your affection on things above, where Christ sits at the right
hand of God. God gave them up then to vile
affections. We all got affections. We all
have affections. We all have love for people.
We all have a great affection for one another. We have these,
and affections. I have great affection for my
wife. She has for me. But oh, listen, give them up
undefiled affection. And he says, for even their women,
this is what happens when God gives you up. Women did change
the natural use in that which is against nature. Women did. Women did. And here's... We see it every
day now, everywhere. I don't want to get... I mean,
you know, you'll see a woman cuts her hair and shaves it like
a man, wears men's clothes, men's suits, dressed up like a man,
won't act like a man, and then takes another woman. That, you know, when you see
that, all you can say is God gave them up to that. God let
them do that. When you serve the creature more
than the Creator, God says, you go ahead. You want a woman? Get
you a woman. I'll let you go against nature
itself. And that's what they do. They
go against nature. And I tell you, we see this all
the time anymore. This is as common as spitting
on the ground. This is as common as anything
now, giving up women with women, natural use of a woman, and they
go against nature itself. And then there's men that want
to be women. Can you believe that? I can't get my head around that
kind of stuff. I can't. A man wants to dress up like
a woman. Call yourself a woman. That's as unnatural, that's as
unnatural as, oh, it can't be more unnatural than that. And
oh my, look what else he goes on to say in verse 27. Oh, you're
talking about, you say, how can people sink so low? I don't, cause God gave them
up. Cause God gave them up. Look
what else he goes on to say. And likewise, also the men. He
said, you think it's just the women, but the men. leaving the
natural use of a woman. God made a man and a woman and
said they two shall be one flesh. They shall forsake their father
and the mother, and their two shall be one. That s the natural
order of things. But oh no, they don t like the
natural order of things. They don t like to know God.
They ve rejected the light, and look what happens. Also the man,
leaving the natural use of the woman, burned burned in their
lust one toward another. I mean, not just had lust, but
burned in it, was on fire and their hearts acted. Oh my, one
toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly
and receiving, and this is what God said, this is exactly what
happened, getting just exactly what they deserve, receiving
the recompense of their error which is necessary. God said,
they going to get paid for just exactly what they are. They get,
you know, this is what you want. This is your recompense. This
is your reward. You want a man? I'm going to
let you have one. You want to burn in your lust toward another
man? I'll let you have it. I'll give you up to that. Let
you have it, go ahead and have your way. You know, when we look
back on creation, when the flood came, when the flood came, you
know it says man's heart was only evil continually and the
imagination of his heart was only evil, only evil. And the world got in such a sad,
sad state that God said, I'm gonna destroy it. I'm gonna destroy
it. We was coming home the other
day from the airport and we looked up and big old rainbow in the
sky. First thing we said, that's God's promise. Ain't gonna destroy
us with the flood. That's a faithful promise of
God Almighty. He put a bow in the sky and said,
listen, I'm not gonna do it. You know how he's gonna destroy
it this next time? He gonna burn it up, burn it up. But oh my,
and here's what's happened. When you change the truth of
God into a lie, when you change and hold down the unrighteousness,
hold down God's worship and worship servitude, look what happens.
God gave them up. And oh my, and they receiving
in themselves that recompense, what then their error, which
was necessary. He said, everything they're doing
is error. And they getting the recompense. This is the recompense
for what they want. And look what this says in verse
28. Oh my. And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge. Don't mention God to me. I don't
believe in God. I don't need God. I don't need
God. I don't need God to judge me. I don't need God to condemn me.
I don't need God to tell me how I can live. I don't need God
to tell me what's right and what's wrong. I know what's right and
what's wrong for me. Even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, oh my God, this is the final
nail in the coffin. And even they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, they said, oh listen, I'm not
going to acknowledge. In the margin it says, I'm not
going to acknowledge God. That's why it says, I'm not going
to acknowledge Him. I'm not going to acknowledge that there's a
God. I'm not going to acknowledge Him. I'm not going to acknowledge
His power. I'm not going to acknowledge
His rights. I'm not going to acknowledge His judgment. I'm
not going to acknowledge anything about Him. I'm not going to acknowledge
God. What do you think God ought to
do with a person like that? He's already let us know by what
they do. And oh my, look, he goes on to
say this, this is the final nail in the coffin, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.
When men lose their distinction between right and wrong, This
is what it means that God says, I'll give you a reprobate mind.
And you know what a reprobate mind is? It don't have the ability
to make the right judgments. He said, I'm going to take your
mind away from you, and you cannot make a judgment. Your judgment
will be entirely wrong. Every judgment you make will
be wrong. I give you up and you ain't got sense enough to know
what's right and wrong. You ain't got sense enough to
know what a man should do and what a man shouldn't do. You
override your own nature. You override the way God made
you. You override everything about
how God made you. You override that and do what
you want to do because you don't want to acknowledge God. And he said, I'm going to give
you a reprobate mind. And I'm telling you, every time
you see somebody like that, you say, God gave them mine. They ain't got mine. You know,
that old saying said, I ain't got sense enough getting out
of the rain. These people ain't got sense enough to know what
kind of person they really are. And I tell you, you start. And hatred, oh my goodness, hatred. But it's just, it's everywhere.
You can't go anywhere and not see it. You can't go anywhere
and not see it. Oh my. Oh, they completely surrender
to self. I'm gonna give myself up to self. What self wants. What self desires. What my flesh wants. Oh my. I tell you, you know,
this is depravity in this awful, awful way. And then look what
it says. They do the things which are
not convenient. And that word to do things which
are not fitting. That word convenience, not fitting. Do those things which are not
fitting, not right that people should do. Evil is always unsuitable
and unfitting, always is. And now look at these words that
God uses to describe these people. You know, in Galatians 5, 17,
there's 19 words over there that describe the flesh. In Galatians
5, it tells the 19 sins of the flesh. And this is what God, this is
what happens, this is the way men are when God gives them up.
He said, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, which is not,
because they do those things which are not convenient. And
then he says, listen to this, being filled, filled up. We're complete in Christ. You
can't put nothing else in. We're complete in Him. These
folks are filled up. We're filled up with the righteousness
of Christ, the fullness of Christ, and the glory of Christ. We're
filled up with those, but these people are filled up with all
unrighteousness. They're full of it, filled with
it, unrighteousness, and oh my, and fornication. wickedness and
covetousness. And covetousness is always idolatry. The scriptures tells when you
covet something, you have an inordinate desire for something. He says, it's idolatry. And they
have a covetous nature. They want what everybody else
has and they covet that. And this maliciousness, maliciousness. Malice is a horrible thing, but
malice means that you want as bad as what can happen to a person
as could happen to you. Maliciousness means I wish that
the worst could ever happen to them would happen. And if I could
do it, I would do it myself. That's what maliciousness. Oh,
they're so malicious. And look what he goes on to say.
Full of envy, full of envy. Jealousy is crueler than the
grave, full of it, full of envy. Oh, I want this, I want that,
I want that. I'm jealous. They're jealous
of everything and everybody. Oh, my. And I'll tell you, murder,
murder, murder. I can remember, too, that we
had a preacher murdered just a couple of weeks ago. A preacher,
a dear preacher friend of mine was murdered. murdered. But I can remember two instances
of famous murders in my lifetime where parents killed their own
kids. And this is what I'm talking about, murder. This is where
God lets a man up. There was a woman, I don't know
if y'all remember or not, her name was Smith. And she had a
boyfriend, this boyfriend didn't want kids. So what she done,
she put her two little boys in her car, put them in their car
seat, got up on this thing and let that car go and go down in
this water and drown both her little boys. And then she said
a black man took the car away from her. But they caught her. She killed two little boys, little
three and four year old boys, her own boys. Because some man
didn't want her kids. She'd rather have, that's worship
and serving the creature more than the creator. You know what
sign that is? God gave her up. She committed
murder. And then there's a woman in Texas,
a woman in Texas, had five kids, five of them. She took them one
by one and drowned them in the bathtub, all five of them. What happened? God gave them
up. God gave them up. And that's what happens, murder.
And you don't have to, And when it talks about murder here, it
means murder. It don't mean just murdering
somebody's character. It means murder. And oh, my,
look what else he goes on to say. Debate. They want to argue
over everything. Have you ever heard anybody say,
you know, they'd argue with the fence post? There's people that like to argue
so much, they'd argue with a fence post, and that's the way these
folks are. They love to argue over everything. You mention
something, oh, that ain't the way it is. You mention that,
that's not only, you know, just want to argue over everything.
Everything you mention, they want to, oh, that's not right,
that's not right, this ain't right. And oh, just want to argue,
want to debate and argue over everything. And oh my, look what
else. Deceit, they're so deceitful.
Oh, they're full of deceit. You know, I read something the
other day that said, ìDonít bother me so much that you lied to me,
but the thing is, Iíll never be able to trust you again.î
And these fellows full of deceit. And look what else he goes on
to say. Malignity. Oh my. Malign other peopleís
character. Malign everybody else and, you
know, we got our way and everybody else that says something, they
malign us. Whispers all my whispers. I tell you what. Did you know
this address whispers? And I tell you what didn't listen
to this one back biters back biters That's the way these people
do You know, they'll they're all over one person and after
a while they not they don't like them and then they back bite
them Bite them in the back Say things about them. It's that
they shouldn't say about them One day they love them, next
day they hate them. Back bite, back bite. Oh my. And then look what's in this.
Haters of God. Haters of God. Haters of God. I know folks that are haters
of God. I know several folks that's haters of God. I mean,
they hate him. And if they don't want to acknowledge
Him, they hate Him. They hate Him. They hate Him
with a passion. Hisar wasn't out of Egypt three days, and
they said, Take us back to Egypt. Take us back. Take us back. And oh, my. And oh, they're despiteful. They're full of spite. They're
despiteful of everything and everybody. God said six things I hate, and
the first one is pride. You know what the second is?
A lying tongue. Pride and a lying tongue. And
these folks here do it all. That's where they started out
at, lying tongue. And look what he goes on, proud
boasters, oh man, they brag about what they're like, brag about
their independence, brag about their freedom, brag about their
sin, brag about how free they are, brag about how I can do
anything I want to do, brag about it. And inventors of evil things,
oh my, boy, you hang around, you think you've seen it all,
listen. Just hold on, you may see something else, or just even
worse thing. Old timers used to say, I never
seen the beat in my life. You ever heard anybody say that?
I never seen the beat. Well, you ain't seen nothing
yet. He said these folks invent things,
and they lay awake and invent things to do, evil things to
do. Evil things to do. Oh my. And look what God said, He classifies
this with all these other sins, disobedient to parents. He classifies that with murder,
deceit, despitefulness, haters of God, and disobedient to parents. You ever seen any child be disobedient
to their parents? I've seen kids kick their parents. You're not going to tell me what
I can do. You can't tell me where I'm going to go. You can't tell
me who I can see. You can't tell me who I can be with. You can't
tell me what time to go to bed. You can't tell me nothing. I'll
tell you if I can't tell you nothing, you're not going to
live under my roof. Ain't that right? Oh my, look what else
he goes on to say now. Oh, this is. And oh my. And then he goes on
to say they don't have understanding. You know, how can you have understanding
when God's gave you over to a reprobate mind? They're without under any
understanding at all of what's right or what's wrong, what's
right or what's wrong. No understanding and covenant
breakers. That means that they'll shake
hands with you and tell you that they go, I promise I'm going
to do this. I promise I'm going to do that. And then you find
out that they don't do anything. They say they're going to do.
You can't trust them. I've said this about a lot of
people, if their lips are moving, they're lying. And that's the
way these fellows are, they're covenant breakers, covenant breakers. And I'll tell you, and the thing
is, is that you're a covenant breaker if you go out here and
make a big bunch of debt, and you got this covenant to pay
that debt back, and you don't pay that debt back, you're a
covenant breaker. You're dishonest. And look what else he says, and
he goes on without natural affection. Without natural affection. They have no natural affection
for anything. Oh my. Without natural affection,
implacable. I mean, you ain't gonna move
them. You ain't gonna move them. They're implacable. And look
what it says here. Unmerciful. Don't show no mercy. Don't show no mercy. Don't show
no mercy, oh my! And when you go through this
list, you see sins inwardly, sins that's in the heart, sins
that's outwardly, sins of thought, sins of your mouth, sins with
your hand, sins against yourself, sins against your neighbor, sins
against God, sins against ANYTHING that s right and just and true,
sins against EVERYTHING and they GLORY in it and don t care and
don t want NOBODY to talk to them about it. And I said 19
things in Galatians 19, it s 17 sins of the flesh over there,
17 sins of the flesh. And oh my, sins against love. Oh my goodness, people sins against
love. You know how many children have
sins against the love of their parents? You know how many men and women
have sinned against their selves since their parents? Oh my. And
then look what the culmination of man's sin and in God's judgment.
Look what it said in verse 30, who knowing the judgment of God.
They know that God's judgment, knowing the judgment of God,
they KNOW this! Where do they know it at? They
know it in their conscience. They've seen it happen all around
them who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit
such things are worthy of death. They're knowing that God's judgment,
that everybody that lives like this and does all the things
that God said, they're worthy to be killed. THEY ARE WORTHY
OF DEATH. THEY ARE NOT FIT TO LIVE, THAT
IS WHAT GOD IS SAYING HERE. THEY ARE WORTHY TO DIE. THEY
ARE WORTHY TO DIE. AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF EVIL DOES
NOT DETER MEN FROM DOING WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO. LOOK AT WHAT
HE SAYS HERE NOW. AND THEY THAT COMMIT SUCH THINGS
ARE WORTHY OF DEATH. THEY UNDERSTAND THE JUDGMENT,
KNOW THAT THEY ARE WORTHY OF DEATH, NOT ONLY DO THE SAME THINGS
THAT ALL THESE PEOPLE DO, But look what it says. They ENJOY
them doing it. They ENJOY it! They have pleasure
in them that do that. They ENJOY their sin. They consent
with them that they are doing evil. You know it says over in
Ecclesiastes 8 and 11, it says over there, Because the judgment
of God is not executed speedily, it is the sons THE HEART OF THE
SONS OF MEN IS SET TO DO EVIL. THEY SAY, WELL, SINCE GOD AIN'T
JUDGED US AND IT DIDN'T COME SPEEDILY, WELL, THAT MEANS, LISTEN,
HE'S GONNA LET ME GET BY. AND THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE THINK.
GOD'S GONNA LET THEM GET BY. AND HE'LL LET YOU GET BY UNTIL
DEATH. UNTIL DEATH. UNTIL DEATH. AND OH MY, THEY ENJOYED IT. AND
LET ME GIVE YOU THREE, THREE SOLEMN TRUTHS that we ought to
pay attention to from what I've said tonight. The first one's
this, the awful, awfulness of sin. The awfulness of sin. Sin starts with you neglecting
the light that God gives you. And then when you neglect that
light, then you reject that light. And then what happens is it leads
you to satisfaction and enjoyment of doing evil. Doing wrong, doing
wrong. Some think it's not possible
in the life we now live now, but oh no, no, no. It's here now. It's everywhere
we look. I told you about those women.
You know, when you think somebody, I know I've took too long. Can
you all give me about five or six minutes? I want you to see
something about, in the Old Testament, look with me in 1 Kings. I think
it's 1 Kings 3, verse 17, talking about this murder and how far
down people go. And this is nothing new. 1 Kings
3, verse 17. Oh my! Oh, people say, I couldn't
do those things, I couldn't do those things. Well, you all know this story. It says in I Kings 3.17, And
the woman said unto my lord there before Solomon, I and this woman
dwell in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her
house. And it came to pass in the third day after that I was
delivered, that this woman was delivered also. And we were together,
and there was no stranger with us in the house, just us two. And this woman's child died in
the night because she laid on it. She overlaid it, she smothered
it to death. And she arose at midnight, took
my son from beside me while line handmaid slept, and laid it in
her bosom, and laid her dead child in mine. And when I rose
in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead, it's
dead. And when I considered it in the
morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the
other woman said, no, no, but the living is my son and the
dead is thy son. She said, no, no, but the dead
is thy son and the living is my son. Thus they spake before
the king. Then said the one, saith, This
is my son that liveth, and thy son is dead. And the other saith,
No, but thy son is dead, and my son liveth. The king said,
Bring me a sword. They bring him a sword. He said,
Divide that living child, give half of it to one woman, give
half of it to the other. And then that woman whose living
child was under the king, her bowels, her heart just hurt her
so much. And she was just so upset. And
she said, my Lord, give her that living child. Give it to her.
Don't kill it. Whatever you do, don't slay it.
But the other said, divide it so it'd be neither mine or hers.
She gave herself away right there. The mother that was that child
said, give it to her. I'd rather that child live and
somebody else have it as me. And let me show you another in
2 Kings, over in 2 Kings, talking about how bad this murder and
stuff is. 2 Kings chapter 6. You know, we see these people
doing that to their children and things, and oh my, they'd
offer them in fires to Moloch. But look what it said here in
verse 24. And there came to pass this,
that after Benedict king of Syria gathered all his hosts and went
up and beseeched Samaria, there was a great famine. And they
seized it, and an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces
of silver, something to eat, an old donkey's head. And the
fourth part of a cab's dung was for five pieces of seven to burn
in the fire. And as the king of Israel was
passing by upon the wall, a woman cried unto him, and said, Help
me, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not
help thee, whence shall I help thee? Out of the barn floor,
out of the winepress. And the king said unto her, What
illeth thee? And she answered this, this woman
said unto me, give thy son that we may eat him today, and we'll
eat your son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did
eat him, and I said unto her the next day, give me thy son
that we may eat him, and she hath hid her son. She hath hid
her son. Oh my. Man's a mess, ain't he? I mean, you can go, how far down
can you go? A long, long way. All right,
and here's the second thing, awful, awful thing we ought to
pay attention to. There's a definite, definite
responsibility for sin. When you sin, you know, when
God gives you light, there's a responsibility to walk in that
light, to respect that light, walk in that light. And if God
had not made Himself known to these people, had not made Himself
known in creation, in nature, in conscience, and in His providence
in this world, then all these things wouldn't have mattered
to anything. Oh, my! And here's the third thing that
is absolutely sure, the absolute sureness of the punishment of
God Almighty. Oh, man, they think they're getting
by with something. Oh, nobody's getting by with
nothing. There's an old, old preacher who preached years and
years ago, payday someday. Well, as sure as there's cause
and effect, so is sin and punishment. God's punishment, it is sure
and certain for those who continue in unrighteousness. It's sure
and certain. And it's happening every day all around us. every day somewhere. I don�t
like to preach on those things, but I mean that�s what the Scripture
says, we�re looking at it. And you know when you�re watching
a TV show and a man and a man�s�it�s everywhere, it�s You know, I'm gonna have to start
being like a Pharisee, get me some blinders and put on here.
The Shechemite Pharisee, put some blinders on. All right. Our Father, oh, our Lord and
our God, blessed God and Father by Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we
read these scriptures tonight, tried to deal with them truly
and faithfully. And Lord, this is where we live. This is the day and the hour
we live in. We see it everywhere. We see
it in society. We see it in our government.
We see it on our jobs. We see it when we go to the stores.
When we see it, we go out into the world. It's everywhere. And oh Lord God, Keep us, oh
Lord, please keep us from dishonoring you in any way. And help us not
to be mean or cruel to anybody. Lord, you've already gave them
up, so what we would say would not change a thing. But Lord,
let us be kind, let us be gracious, let us not be judgmental and
critical, because it won't change a thing. But help us please honor
you and glorify you, not only what we say, but what we think
and how we live in this world for Christ's sake. Amen, amen. Okay, well, I was gonna sing
a song, but we're gonna go. I'll tell you what, I went overboard
tonight, didn't I? I really did. I'm sorry, but
I, you know, I had it to say, what are you going to do? I say,
well, I love you, good night, and God bless you, and as quick
as we know about Joe's, we'll put it out on the website, out
on the Lantana Grace, and thereby know. See you Wednesday, God
willing.