Tonight we have three warning
examples. We'll start here in verse three
and read down to verse seven. Jude. Beloved, when I gave all
diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints. For there are certain men, crept
in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness
and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I
will, therefore, put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how
that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels,
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under
the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over
to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth
for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. You know, the last message I
brought, we saw that the most treacherous, subtle enemy is
the one that's on the inside. Certain men crept in unawares,
crept in unawares. And the greatest enemy is the
one that's already inside. And that's why, you know, Paul
told Timothy, says, you know, the time will come when men will
not endure sound doctrine, but you keep on preaching the Word.
The instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke with
all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap to themselves,
bring to themselves, teachers, having each in ears, and shall
be turned away from the truth and be turned unto fables." Men
say this. They'd rather hear a fable and
a story and be entertained as to hear the gospel, hear the
Word of God. And you know Satan, in fact, Satan sows his tares
among the wheat. You remember in Matthew 13, our
Lord Jesus Christ says, you know, the Word of God, the Kingdom
of God is as a man who sowed seed in his field, good seed
in his field. But while the men slept, an enemy
went and sowed tares among the wheat. And they got up the next
day, and then after a while, when it started to come up, they
said, where did these tares come from? We sowed seed in him. He
said, the enemy, while you slumbered and slept, he came and sowed
these tares. And he said, what are we going
to do about it? He said, you just let them along. The Lord will do
the separating. And so we're not here to root up tares or
anything else. God will do that. He'll separate
his people. And that's what he's talking.
That's why our Lord warned about, beware of false prophets who
come in sheep's clothing. But inwardly, they're ravening
wolves. So we see here that that's why he says, now earnestly contend
for the faith, because there's people that creep in unawares.
They're men, and here's what they do. They turn the grace
of God into lasciviousness. They turn the grace of God into
a license to give themselves over to any kind of thing they
want to do. And then they deny. This is the
thing that's awful. They deny the only Lord God and
our Lord Jesus Christ. They deny the only Lord God,
Jesus Christ. And He is the only Lord God.
That's what it means here, that He's God. He's the only God we'll
see. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the Savior of sinners. And so they deny Him. They deny
His power. They deny His grace. They deny
His blood. They deny His rights. They deny
His sovereignty. They deny His deity, they deny
His eternity. Now, they deny Christ. And they
deny the gospel. If you deny the Lord Jesus Christ,
you've got to deny the gospel. Because He is the gospel. The
gospel's not a plan, the gospel is a person. Coming unto Him
to whom coming is unto Him. Come unto Me. He didn't say come
to a gospel, He said come to Me. And the gospel is concerning
God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you deny Him, you deny
the gospel. And then when you deny the gospel,
you've got to deny the grace of God. They deny the grace of
God because they turn it into lasciviousness. And the grace
of God does not give anybody a license to sin. In fact, the
grace of God is one of the greatest motives in the world for us to
honor and bless and live to the glory of God, because God did
everything. And I'll tell you this, when
you deny Christ, When you deny Christ, I don't care how big
a preacher you are or how faithful a church member you are, to deny
Christ is to be without hope in this world. It's to be without
hope. And though they deny the truly
redemptive work of Christ, that's denied. That's denied. Now the apostle says here then
in verse 5, he says, I will therefore, when you see that therefore,
in light of everything that's been said, I will therefore put
you in remembrance. Though you once knew this, you
knew these things, but I want to remind you about them. How
that the Lord, having saved his people out of the land of Egypt,
destroyed them that believed not. And you know, even though
you already know these things, and that's what he's talking
about, there's a certain fearful looking of judgment for those
who don't contend for the faith. That's what he says, you know,
he's talking about apostasy. about false teachers coming in
and people coming in. And so he says, now, if you don't
contend for the faith and the common salvation that was once
delivered unto the saints, said there's nothing but a certain
feel for looking of judgment and condemnation to those who
don't contend for the faith. That's why, beloved, that's why
Elijah says, you know, Lord, I'm the only one left. And sometimes,
you know, you look around and you think, is there anybody anywhere
preaching the gospel? And you come to find out, yes,
they are. But they're getting farther and farther and fewer
and fewer. When's the last time you heard
of a young man starting preaching? God called him and he entered
the ministry. When's the last time you heard of anybody going
to a mission field with the gospel of the grace of God? When's the last time have you
heard of a new grace work starting someplace? Huh? That's what our Lord says,
strengthen the things that remain. And I'll tell you something that
men can't do. When He told you, you know, contend for the common
faith which was delivered unto the saints. Contend for it. This is what God delivered to
Abel. It's what God delivered to Noah.
It's what God delivered to Abraham. Abraham had the gospel before
preached unto him. And men cannot contend for what
they don't know. Now, is that not right? You cannot
contend for what you don't know. And yet they'll be without excuse.
These fellows crept in unaware, and God, He says, but these were
before of old, ordained, condemned and ordained to this condemnation. And it must needs be that error
come that the truth may be made manifest. And so he gives us
three warnings, three examples, three great warnings as to why
we should contend for the faith and what happens to people who
don't contend for the faith. And, oh, the danger of those
who are falling away from the truth, the danger of turning
from the common salvation from the faith that was delivered
unto the saints. And he gives us three illustrations
here, great warnings. First is, is there the murmuring
of the children of Israel, have God save them from Egypt, and
then destroy the majority of them. And then there's the angels.
Angels, apostate angels. How in the world can an angel
become an apostate? Well, that's what it says here,
the angels that kept not their first estate, reserved an everlasting
change, reserved unto darkness against the judgment of that
great day. That's the second. You think you can't fall if an
angel can fall? Oh, this is dang, this is just
serious business. I'm talking about, you know,
apostasy is an awful thing. And then there's Sodom and Gomorrah.
He gives us the third example. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the series about them in like manner, giving themselves over
to fornication, going after strange flesh, set forth as an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Now look here, you keep
Jude, look over here in 1 Corinthians 10, which is just a minute. These
are examples. And I'll tell you, it's a, you know, I've known several
folks that's, to me, as far as I'm concerned, they're apostates.
When a man starts out preaching the gospel, then he ends up denying
the Redemptive work of Christ. He calls himself a fore-pointer
and says, you know that Christ died for every man, gave every
man an opportunity. That's denying the gospel. That's
the heart and soul of the gospel is the redemptive work of Christ,
the particular redemption of Christ. You take that part out
of the gospel and you've got no gospel. Because if he died
for every man, then his death's effectual means he's not as depraved
as the scriptures say. Some way you have to have a part
in it. And so there's lots and lots of people that are apostates
from the gospel. And it says here in 1 Corinthians
10 and verse 11, and this is where God destroyed some of the people.
He says, now all these things they've given to us. Now look
back up there in verse five, but with many of them, God was
not well pleased. For they were overthrown in the
wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent
we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Neither be our indulgences for some of them. As it is written,
the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up and danced
around that fire. Neither let us commit fornication,
as some of them committed, and fell one day three and twenty
thousand." And watch this. Neither let us
tempt Christ, as some of them did, and were destroyed on the
surface." When they says that, you know, God sent those five
serpents, it says here they tempted Christ there. That was Christ
they were tempting? When they were murmuring against
Him and complaining against Him, and God sent those five serpents,
He says, you're complaining and holding Christ in contempt. And
then what else? He says, neither murmur ye, as
some of them also murmured. Oh my! God caused murder in one
of the greatest sins there ever was. What murmuring here doesn't
mean just murmuring and complaining over a headache or something.
What it means is murmuring against God, His providence. Murmuring
against the way He deals with you in this world. Saying, this
ain't fair. It's not right for Him to do
this. It's not right for Him to treat me this way. I don't
like the way He treats me. I don't like the place He's put
me in. I don't like the way He's, the preachers He's given. I don't
like the church I'm going to. Just murmuring against all that
God's done for you and complaining about it. God said, He'll destroy
you for that. And he goes on to say here now,
Now all these things happened unto them for examples, and they
were written for our admonition, our warning, and upon whom the
ends of the world are come. All right, back over here in
Jude. Now, their destruction, their destruction, all these
things here that's given us this warning, should make us be still. I read it this morning, be still
and know that I am God. Just be still. Just be restful.
Oh, you're God. I don't want to raise my mouth.
I don't want to raise my hands. I don't want to raise my heart.
I don't want to raise my will. I don't want to raise nothing
against you. I just want to be still and peaceful
and restful before you. Because God's justice is the
same now as it was then. It's the same power that destroyed
then is going to be the same power that destroys now. You
know, Timothy says that if we deny him, he abides faithful,
he cannot deny himself. And what that means is that God
will not deny any part of his character, any part of his nature,
no matter what anybody else says about him. He will abide faithful,
he cannot deny himself. He cannot deny his justice, he
cannot deny his grace, he cannot deny his person, he cannot deny
anything about him. Men may deny him. They deny Christ,
too. But he ain't gonna deny himself.
And with all the changes that goes on in this world, and they
go on fast, I mean, my soul. Twenty years ago, it was unheard
of to see homosexuals parade down the streets. Now, it's one
of the biggest things going on in America. They're fighting
in court over whether they can be married or not. And God says
that's an abomination. He destroyed a multitude of cities
for that one sin. And with all the changes in the
world, God's not changed. He that struck Ananias and Sapphira
down for lying, and made Zechariah John's daddy
dumb because he didn't believe that he was going to have a child,
and kept Moses out of the promised land because he muttered a few
words that he shouldn't have said, and turned Mark's wife
into a pillar of salt because she just looked back. That's all she done. He said,
don't even look back. She just looked back. Bam! She
turned into a pillar of salt like that. Moses, God's servant,
the meekest man on the face of the earth. God said, you're not
going into the promised land. You didn't sanctify me among
the people. You said something you shouldn't
have said. You never honored me like you should have honored
me. You never brought glory to my name like you should have
brought it. Now you get to go over and look up, stand up on
that mountain and look! But that's all you're going to
get. Oh, that's what he says here
in verse 5. I'll put you therefore in remembrance.
You know, that's what a preacher's calling is. And we should do
to one another, put one another in remembrance. That's a preacher's
calling, to put people to remember. Though you once knew this. Look
back over here in 2 Peter. That's John and then there's
2 Peter. And look over here in verse 12. Though you once knew this. 2
Peter 1, verse 12, it says this, Verse 4, I will not be negligent. That's exactly what Jude said,
I will not be negligent. I'm not being negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things. And still he said
this, though you knew them. I want to remind you, I want
to put you in remembrance so you know them and be established
in the present truth. And that's why Paul told Timothy,
and he sent down a whole list of things. He said, if you put
these things in remembrance, if you tell these folks and warn
them about these things and put them in remembrance of these
things, he said, you'll be a good minister of Jesus Christ. He
said it over and over and over. And you know that's the secret,
and I heard Scott say this one time, if it's worth saying once,
it's worth saying twice. And the greatest secret to teaching
anything is repetition, repetition, repetition. And boy, he says,
put them in remembrance of God's mercies in Christ. Put them in
remembrance of the great free salvation that he provided. And
our Lord Jesus Christ, he said, as often as you eat this bread
and drink this wine, do it in what? Remembrance of me. And so I tell you, that's what
we do, and that's what I've done this for. How many times have
I preached on the free grace of God and salvation to the Lord? And we just hear it over and
over and over and over. And we're glad to hear it over,
glad to be reminded. And one of the works of the Holy
Spirit is bring thanks to our remembrance. You know, you think,
well, what was that scripture? And I would say, next thing you
get talking to somebody, next thing the scriptures just begin
flowing, and you begin to talk about the things of Christ, and
you say, oh, and the Holy Ghost brings those things to remember.
And the reason we have to be reminded is because we're so
forgetful. We're so forgetful. You're not
that way. I know you're not. That we must be reminded because
we're so forgetful. And that's what he said, I'll
put you in remembrance. Watch this, though you once knew
this. How did we know it? How did these people know it?
First of all, they knew it from the Scriptures. They had the
Old Testament Scriptures, and that's how we know it. We know
it from the Scriptures. And secondly, they knew it from
being told. How many times have they been
told? Christ said the same thing over and over. Moses said the
same thing over and over. The prophets said the same thing.
And they had these things because of what they were told. Do you
remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Do you remember what happened
before the flood? And all people tell these things.
And what did they know? Well, it says this is what they
knew. How that the Lord, how that the Lord, they knew this
from the scriptures and they knew this from being told, how
that the Lord, having saved the people out of Egypt, out of the
land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Now how
many times have you heard that? We're going to talk about, we're
going to put you in remembrance of this. That's what he said,
I want to put you in remembrance. You know, here's the Lord, he
had to save the people. He told Abraham 430 years before
they ever went down in Egypt, he says, you know, you're Your
family, your people, my people's going to be delivered into a
strange land and be in bondage down there. But in 430 years,
I'll go down and get them and I'll bring them back. Now, he
told him that, made that promise 430 years. And they were God's
chosen people, God's covenant people. And he says, Abraham,
they're yours and I'll go get them. 70 people went down into
Egypt. Two million come up out of there.
And they were God's people. They were a holy nation, an elect
nation. They had the Law, they had the
Prophets, they had Moses. And he went down there and miraculously
saved them out of Egypt. He's facing the signs that God
gave, the ten plagues that He gave to Israel, and then He brought
them up, and He took them out with all kinds of wealth and
riches. And He parted the Red Sea, and away they went on dry
land. and then destroyed everyone that
was over 20 years of age that came out of Egypt because of
their unbelief and hard-heartedness and rebellion after all they'd
got. Do you think you'd turn against
God after you walked through the Red Sea on dry land? Do you think you'd turn against
God when He looked up every morning and there was food for you to
eat? And then you got, you know, and then you said, well, I want
some meat. And then all of a sudden he fills your belly with quails
come down and you pick them up every day. You think you'd turn
against God when the clothes that you had on and the shoes
that you wore did not wear out for 40 years? But God destroyed them. God destroyed
them. Look over here with me in numbers.
Numbers 14. Numbers 14. And I tell you, this
just absolutely, it puts the fear of God in me,
these things do. I don't know about you, it puts
the fear of God in me. You know, there's no outward
privilege or profession that will keep a rebel from the wrath
of God. Numbers 14 and verse 35, look
what it says. I, the Lord, have said, I will
surely do it unto all this evil congregation that are gathered
together against me in this wilderness, that they should be consumed,
and there shall they die. And the men which Moses sent
to search out the land, who returned and made all the congregation
to murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land. Even
those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died
by the plague before the Lord." They went down there, and they
brought back them grapes, you know, that had the caramel poles,
they're so big. Said, there's a land down there,
full of milk and honey, it's a wondrous thing. Everybody else
come back and said, oh, no, no, we can't take that, they're merely
too fierce. There's giants down there, and they're just dark.
Turned everybody against it. God said, I'm going to destroy
every single one of them. I'm going to destroy them. And, oh,
beloved, how dangerous. And here's these people that
went down into the promised land to spry it out. And they came
back with all the evidence and proof that there was everything
that they could possibly want, everything God promised them
it would be and was. But oh my, no outward privileges,
no profession will keep a rebel from the wrath of God. And how
dangerous, how dangerous to sin against mercies. All promised. And they provoked Him. The Scripture
says they provoked Him at the Red Sea. Here they was, as backed
up against the Red Sea. Here come the army, and they
says, Moses, what in the world have you done to us? They see
the clouds, the dust is rolling. Moses, what have you done to
us? He just said, just stand still. Just stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. And that's the same thing, be
still and know that I'm God. Be still. God's gonna save you. He said He's gonna save you.
He's gonna save you. And oh beloved, and because of their, you know
what the cause of their destruction was? They believed not. That was the cause of their destruction.
They believed not. Now I want you to, I've quoted
this so many times, and I know it will make you look at something,
but look at Mark chapter 6 with me, just a minute. Mark chapter
6. They believed not. Look what
our Lord says here about faith. About people not having faith.
Mark chapter 6 and verse 5. Nothing, absolutely nothing honors
God more than faith. Nothing does. But nothing dishonors
Him more than unbelief. Because to not believe Him is
to make Him a liar. And look what our Lord said here
in verse 5. Mark chapter 6, And he could
there do no mighty works, save that he laid his hands upon a
few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their
unbelief, and he went round about the villages teaching. Couldn't
do anybody worse down there. Why? Because they just did not
believe. Just did not believe. You know, when he cast all those, that legion of devils into those
pigs, you know what's the first thing those people told him?
Leave us alone. Get out of here. We want you out of town. We don't
want you around here. You've got too much power. You'll
destroy our living. We don't want you in the East
Coast here. Just leave." And that's what he did. He did. And I tell you, nothing dishonors
God more than unbelief. But faith justifies God. Do you
remember when they said, if you're the Christ, tell us plainly.
And he said, I told you. I told you. But you know why?
You don't believe. Because you're not of my sheep,
you believe not. And you know the Scriptures.
Our Lord says, God, there's never been a woman born of A man born
of woman, John the Baptist, is as great as John the Baptist.
And the scripture says that the publicans and the sinners believed
John's testimony and justified God. It said God sent John, and
we believe the message of John. We believe what God says through
this man right here. And they justified God. But the
Pharisees and the Sadducees rejected the counsel of God. And it says
what? Against themselves. Oh, my, I don't do that to you. So there we have it. This is
the first thing. I'm going to put you in remembrance
how the Lord saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed them that believed not. Now, here's the second warning
in verse 6. And the angels, which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath
reserved an everlasting change under darkness, under the judgment
of the great day. This is just How in the world
does an angel fall? How does an angel in his first
estate? It's like Adam having his first
estate. His first estate was in the paradise. Fellowship and
communion with God. Walking with the Lord Jesus Christ
in the cool of the day. Lord over creation. Named everything
that was named. And they kept not that. Here
they God put him up here with himself. They dwelt in the presence
of God, in the light of God. They once dwelt in heaven itself. They were higher beings, honorable
beings, happy beings. And it says here, what it is
saying, but left it. They had a habitation in the
presence of God, a habitation in heaven, and they left it.
We get astonished that somebody could leave the gospel. But these
angels left the very presence of God, the habitation, a place
where they dwelt and lived, they said, we leave it. They deserted their places of
honor. Why would they do that? They
were unwilling to be subject to God. Unwilling to, you know,
they're like Lucifer, said, I'll ascend above the throne of the
Most High. And God says, you won't. You won't. And He turned
them out of heaven. Oh my, He turned them out of
heaven. Look what it says there. And He hath reserved an everlasting
change. He's reserved them. You know,
we have a place, a reservation for us. Eternal in the heavens. We have a reservation. God's
got us a place set for us in glory. We're going to sit down
with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to guard Himself and
serve us. We're going to the Merry Supper of the Lamb. But
these folks here have got a reservation and this is an everlasting change
unto damnation and eternal damnation of the judgment of the great
day. And right now, this means this, even right now, what it
means is they drag their chains around with them. They're not
in hell, they're reserved to that day. But they're right now,
they got their chains, they got that chain of knowing their eternal
damnation and condemnation where they once dwelt in the light.
They're dragging them around with them. That's why they said, Jesus,
have you come to torment us before our time? They got their chains,
they got their, they know, wouldn't it be awful to know that you're
gonna be damned forever once you dwell in the presence of
God? Huh? And oh beloved, wherever they
go, they got them chains with them. And to turn from the grace
of God and to forever be damned. It's awful to think about. Look
over at Hebrews 4 with me just a moment. This puts the fear of God in
you. It does me. I don't know what it does to
you all. Hebrews 4. He says this. First of all, it
says, We which have believed, in verse 3, do enter into rest.
We which have believed do enter into rest. As he said, I have
sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest. Although
the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
The work was done. For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh
day from all of his work. He didn't rest because he was
tired, because the work was done. The work was finished from the
foundation of the world. And again in this place, if they
shall enter into my rest. Seeing, therefore, it remaineth
that some must enter therein," some are going to enter into
it, "...and they to whom it was first preached entered not in,"
why? It's because of unbelief. But
he said some are going to enter in. That first people that had
a priesthood in them, they didn't enter in because of unbelief. But he says there's some, and
he started out saying, we which have belief do enter into that
rest. I don't know. All right, let's look back over
here. Here's the third warning. Here's the third warning. Another
example. And everyone has heard of this. In fact, they've got laws on
the books, and this is some of the language, sodomy laws, that
they've got on the books and everywhere. But look at what
he said here in verse 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and
the cities about them in like manner, there was the cities
of the plains, Zoar and and some other cities, and like men are
giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh,
are set forth for an example," so there we are, set forth for
an example, "...suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." And
you know people will, this is what gets me, people will read
that stuff and continue on in that very particular sin and
say that God still loves them and that they still believe that
they're Now you think God ain't blinded men and reprobated men,
that they can look at something like that and still say, you
know, that God loves me and I can be saved and live like that?
Uh-huh. And they even got churches where
the preachers are that way. Lots of homosexual preachers
now. And oh, this is one example, warning. And everyone's heard
of this. He said, I'll put you in remembrance, know you know.
And every one of us has heard of this and have heard of this
example. And this testifies that God will
judge and punish all the ungodly. When people pervert God's gospel,
they pervert God's grace, pervert His laws, and do the opposite
of what He desires for man to do and be, it will bring upon
them eternal damnation and condemnation. And Sodom is a word that's used
for sexual perversion. And they've got lots of books
on the law, and it goes against nature. That's what he says,
giving themselves over to fornication, going after strange flesh. When those angels went down to
get Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah, those fellows went out there
and banged on the door and said, bring those men out to us. And Lot says, oh no, I'll give
you my daughters. They didn't want his daughters,
they wanted those men. And they got around the door and those
angels went out there and struck them blind. You think man ain't a wicked
human being? And all give themselves over to fornication, going after
strange flesh. And I'll read it to you. You
don't have to look at it, but I'm going to read a couple of
verses of what God said about it. Thou shalt not lie with mankind
as with womankind, it is an abomination. And he says this, If a man also lie with mankind
as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.
They shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them.
But now look with me in Romans chapter 1 and see what God says
about this. And you see people deal with
this stuff all the time and excuse him. Romans chapter 1 verse 26. And these things are set forth
for an example. You remember Abraham when he
came down to destroy, when God came down to destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah, he sat there in the tent door. Three of them did. And he said, we're going to tell
Abraham what we're fixing to do. Go down and destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah, the cities of the plague. Oh, Lord, would you destroy
the righteous with the wicked? No, no, I'm the judge of all
the earth. I'll do right. I won't destroy
the righteous. He said, what if there's 50 righteous
down there, would you destroy them? Nope. If you find 50 down
there, I'll save them. Maybe there'll be 40 down there.
First 40 down there, will you save them? Yes, sir, I will. Maybe there's 30. Would you save
it for 30? I will. He got down to 20. Would you save it? I will. And finally he says, Oh, forgive
me, me who am but dust and ashes for saying this, but would you
save it for 10? He said, I would. And then he just shut his mouth. And you know how many righteous
people they found in Sodom when Christ went down there? When
I saw a priest here a few weeks ago on Christ searching for faith,
you know how many people they found down there that knew the
Lord? One man. And you'd think Sodom had a profound
effect on him and his daughters. His daughters ended up being
perverted, as them people was down in Egypt, or down in Sodom.
But here in Romans 1 26, look what it says. For this cause God gave them
up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use to the woman, burned in their
lust one to another, men with men, working that which is unseemly,
and receiving in themselves that recompense of the error which
was made. God says, you know, I'll just
give you over to reprobation. You want that in your heart,
I'll give you that perversion in your heart. And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind. And a reprobate mind means to
have no sense of judgment of what right or wrong is. What you and I would say is wrong,
they say, there's nothing wrong with anything we do. And, oh,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which
are not convenient. And, oh, beloved, back over in
our text, it says this, that they went and gave themselves
over to fornication. And you know, this is another
thing, and I don't want to harp on these things, but nowadays,
most people live together. I don't know how many people
live together and don't never get married. They think it ain't
nothing to live together. Just live together. I'm a significant
other. And these are perversions. And
people find no shame about it. They find no guilt about it.
If you say anything about it, they get mad at you and say,
you set yourself up to be a judge over me. Well, I'm good-hearted. You know, there ain't no sins
getting buried. Oh my. And it says here that
these are set forth for an example. And boy, I tell you what, people
think just because they're getting away with it right now, and that
they're fighting in the courts and fighting in the religious
world over all this stuff, and they're facing the past laws.
You wait and see what I'm telling you. They'll pass laws where
if you ever speak against homosexuals or any kind of perversion, that
they'll end up being able, if they catch you speaking against
them, they'll be able to take you to jail and get you for hate
speech. They're trying their best to change them laws like
that. Yeah. Yep. And they set forth for an
example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Fire fell on
them. Fire fell on them. They say, well, it was an oil
well that spewed up down there. And all the sulfur and stuff
from that oil well destroyed them. They didn't say an oil
well broke up, did they, Gary? They said a fine brimstone fell
from heaven. And that land over there where
Sodom and Gomorrah is, you couldn't raise a cactus on it. It's just
like the Bonneville salt flats. It's absolutely good for nothing.
And in all these three examples, where there was unbelief, where
there was pride, where there was place to corruption, all
these creatures, now listen to me, all these creatures at one
time or another enjoyed a revelation from God. All of them did at
one time or another. And they were all at one time
exposed to His truth. But now they'd rather believe
a lie. And one last verse of Scripture that I'll leave you
with this and leave myself with is Hebrews 3.12. Hebrews 3.12. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart. of unbelief and departing from
the living God.