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Good evening everyone, let's all take our seats.
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Let's all stand for this first song if you're able.
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Song number 191
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Song number 191
in my heart that rings a melody
on that first.
🎶🎶🎶🎶 I have a song that Jesus gave me
in the same from heaven above.
There never was a sweeter melody.
Tis a melody above.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody
where that is hard to hear.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody of love.
I love the Christ who died on Calvary.
For he washed my sins away.
He put within my heart a melody
when I know it's there to stay.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody
where that is hard to hear.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody of love.
It will be my endless theme in glory
with the angels I will sing.
It will be a song with glorious harmony
when the courts of heaven ring.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody
where that is harmony.
In my heart there rings a melody
there rings a melody of love.
Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off the service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day, Lord.
I thank you for our service this morning.
I thank you for the preaching, Lord.
I thank you for the souls that were saved today out so winning.
And I ask that you would just bless the service, Lord.
Bless the singing, bless the preaching.
And I bless us with your spirit, with attentiveness as we listen
that we may leave here changed, Lord.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Turn your hymnals to song number 197.
Song number 197. You may be seated.
Singing, I Go. Song number 197. On that first.
The trusting heart of Jesus
clings for any ill-forbought.
But at the cross of Calvary City
praise God for lifting loads.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
Praising the Lord. Praising the Lord.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
For Jesus just lifted my load.
The passing days were many years.
Fear not, I hear Him say.
And when one hears or turns to rest
the burden slips away.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
Praising the Lord. Praising the Lord.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
For Jesus has lifted my load.
He tells me of my Father's love
and ever-swarming eye.
My everlasting King alone
will all my needs supply.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
Praising the Lord. Praising the Lord.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
For Jesus has lifted my load.
When to the throne of grace I flee
I find the promise true.
The mighty arms upholding me
will bear my burdens too.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
Praising the Lord. Praising the Lord.
Singing, I Go. A long, blessed road.
For Jesus has lifted my load.
Alright, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening.
Which will be, it's blank.
What's the next song? 248. 248, if you want to get
that ready in your songbook. I think this might need to be turned down a little bit.
Our services are as follows. Sunday morning is at 1030. Sunday evening
is at 5 p.m. and then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
We will be in Acts chapter 12 this coming Thursday, so make sure you don't miss out on that.
There are some amazing times and teams there as well. If you want to learn how to preach the gospel
you can see me after the service to be placed on a team.
And you see the list of expecting mothers there, please continue to pray for them.
Some of the upcoming church events, as I mentioned in the last two services, we're actually postponing
the Samaria missions trip for a future date due to the current events.
But I will let you know what that date will be and where exactly it is that we're going to go, so just keep that in mind.
It will not be this coming Tuesday, or excuse me, tomorrow.
And then we have the men's prayer meeting resuming September 25th at 7 p.m. here at our church.
Men, we encourage you to bring your sons with you, to pray with you, and it's going to be a time of blessings.
We're taking blessings as well as prayer requests, and so we're looking forward to that.
You see there the Midwest Fundamentalist Conference is coming up, October 1st through the 3rd.
It begins October 1st at 7 p.m. and we're going to have different preachers coming.
I'm going to be preaching there, Pastor Tom Nick McMurtry, Pastor Jason Robinson,
Dave Berzins, and Pastor Joe Jones, and so we're looking forward to that.
The location will be Cincinnati, Ohio. I know the vast majority of you are not going to be able to make it to that,
but we're going to seek to actually attempt to livestream the services.
And so, starting on Thursday all the way to Saturday, looking forward to that.
Please pray that we see a lot of people saved, too, because there's going to be a lot of soul-willing going on during that time.
I heard Cincinnati, Ohio is very receptive, and so pray that we see a lot of people saved.
And then the fall program begins October 4th.
We're looking forward to this, five weeks of different themes that we're going to be having at our church.
Pie-baking contests and the like, and so it's going to be great.
We're looking forward to it, but we're also going to have a contest.
And we will have a sheet prepared the following week to let you know what the point system is and how it is that we're going to do this.
But basically what it is is that whoever brings the most visitors at the end of those five weeks will receive a first, second, and third prize.
The first prize being, we'll pay for your missions trip, for a future missions trip that we're going to be doing here at First Works.
And so, we're excited about that.
And as I mentioned also, we typically finish off the fall program with, we typically finish off the fall program with the Thanksgiving banquet.
And we did that last year, it was great.
But unfortunately because of COVID and all that's going on, the venue that we typically would go to is actually closed down.
And so if you know of anybody who is willing to open up their venue for a group of people to meet in for Thanksgiving, please let me know so we can use that there.
Alright, and so be in prayer over that.
And then you see we're going to be celebrating the October birthdays on October 4th as well.
Looking forward to the fall and as well as the winter coming up.
And as I mentioned this morning, just keep in mind that the mother baby rooms, mom and dads, if you can do us a favor and make sure that you are supervising your children in the mother baby rooms.
Don't let them be there unsupervised and if they make a mess, make sure you clean up after them.
There should be no food in there unless you yourself are feeding the little ones.
And then we don't, make sure you want to keep out the toddlers out of this room right here which is for nursing babies and the little ones.
And the only time they can be in there is if they have their parents.
So basically you always have to just be with them if you're going to be in either or those two rooms, alright.
And so that's pretty much it for our announcements.
Let's go ahead and take some soul winning numbers from, let's go ahead and take them from Monday up until Thursday.
So any salvation team captains from Monday to Thursday?
Any salvation? Yes. Two, okay.
Anybody else? Yes.
27 in Oaxaca.
That's Brother Gami, right?
Brother Gami was out there, so that's pretty cool.
It was pretty receptive out there, huh?
But you said there was a lot of Mormons. Mexican Mormons.
Good night. Como? Just kidding.
That's great. So 27 salvations. Anybody else?
Yes sir. One. Alright.
Three on Thursday. One.
Are you counting the, his salvation? Okay, good.
Because John got saved too, I'm just kidding.
No, you saw someone save, yeah.
Alright, anybody else for Monday to Thursday?
Okay, how about Friday to Saturday? Any salvations for Friday to Saturday? Two?
Okay, anybody else? Friday to Saturday?
And then this afternoon, salvations for this afternoon?
One. Your nephew got saved?
Yeah, I could basically do a nephew, right?
So we're talking about in the Hispanic culture, if you have like a second or third cousin, we just automatically call them our nephews for some reason.
I don't know why we do that.
But he got saved and he got baptized, so that was awesome.
Yes, Brother Marcos?
Eight.
Alright.
Three.
Sorry.
Two.
One.
Okay.
Three.
Great. Anybody else? Did I miss anybody?
Going once, twice, oh wait.
The one that you counted, is that?
Okay, okay, great, great, great. Awesome.
Okay, great. Keep up the great work on soul and let's go ahead and sing our next song.
248. Song number 248.
So, 248, now I belong to Jesus.
Run that verse.
Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever.
From Him no power or evil can sever.
He gave His life to ransom my soul.
Now I belong to Him.
Now I belong to Jesus.
Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone.
But for eternity.
Once I was lost in sin's degradation.
Jesus came down to bring me salvation.
Lifted me up from sorrow and shame.
Now I belong to Him.
Now I belong to Jesus.
Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone.
But for eternity.
Joy, flood, wrestle for Jesus has saved me.
Free me from sin that long had enslaved me.
His precious blood He gave to redeem.
Now I belong to Him.
Now I belong to Jesus.
Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone.
But for eternity.
Amen. Wonderful. Singing the angels. We'll now collect the opera.
We'll now collect the opera.
Turn your Bibles to second Corinthians, chapter 13.
Second Corinthians, chapter 13.
Second Corinthians chapter 13, the Bible reads,
this is the third time I am coming to you
in the mouth of two or three witnesses
shall every word be established.
I told you before and foretell you
as if I were present the second time
and being absent now I write to them
which heretofore have sinned and to all other
if I come again I will not spare
since he seek a proof of Christ speaking in me
which to you word is not weak but is mighty in you
for though he was crucified through weakness
yet he liveth by the power of God
for we are also weak in him
but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith.
Prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves
how that Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates
but I trust that you shall know
that we are not reprobates.
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil
not that we should appear approved
but that ye should do that which is honest
though we be as reprobates
for we can do no thing against the truth
but for the truth
for we are glad when we are weak and ye are strong
and this also we wish even your perfection.
Therefore I write these things being absent
lest being present I should use sharpness
according to the power which the Lord had given to me
edification and not to destruction.
Finally, brethren, farewell.
Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind,
live in peace and the God of love and peace
shall be with you.
Greet one another with an holy kiss.
All the saints salute you.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost
be with you all, amen.
Let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, Lord.
We pray that you just fill Pastor Mihayo with your spirit.
Allow him to preach clearly and boldly, Lord
and also give us ears to hear the preaching, Lord
and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Okay, look at 2 Corinthians chapter
number six, it says but I trust that ye shall know
that we are not reprobates.
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil,
not that we should appear approved
but that ye should do that which is honest
though we be as reprobates
for we can do nothing against the truth but for the truth.
And the title of this sermon this morning
or this evening, excuse me,
is a systematic teaching on reprobates,
a systematic teaching on reprobates.
I wanna preach on the subject of the word reprobate
in the Bible.
Now let me give you a couple introductory statements
as far as why it is that I'm preaching on this.
First and foremost, let me say this is that
I believe it's important to define words
based upon its biblical definition, right?
You know, when we think of words,
we don't wanna just flippantly use words
and use a modern definition of it
in relation to the Bible, right?
We wanna make sure that we go to the word of God
and see what God has to say about it,
how he defines it or as the Bible will put it,
to compare spiritual things with spiritual, right?
Sometimes a word in the Bible
actually has multiple meanings.
You know, you have one specific word in the Bible
and it's often associated with a specific doctrine
but it can have multiple meanings
based upon the context that it's found in
and that is definitely the case with this term,
this word reprobate.
Now I believe we should use the words
for their, you know, in their primary definition
but as well as in their connotation.
Because of, you say why?
Well, because of the fact that, you know,
it's important to use the word and its definition
but today in 2020, the word reprobate
has basically gotten a connotation
of one of these definitions
because when we think of a reprobate,
we think of someone who has passed the, you know,
the hope of salvation is one means
that they can no longer be saved.
It's not the only definition though
but here's the thing, in 2020, because it's so prevalent,
because there's so many wicked people out there,
because psychopaths exist, this is a common term
that we use frequently to describe these types of people.
It's the most prevalent definition of the word
that we find and that we use.
Now with that being said, the term reprobate
is a word that most of us are aware with
and are familiar with but let me just say this
is that we never wanna be so familiar with the term
that it basically loses its severity, right?
You know, we never wanna throw it around
to the point where it begins to lose
the gravity of its definition,
the severity of the definition and when we use it,
we talk about those who are beyond the hope of salvation,
we never wanna just flippantly throw that on any individual
because of the fact that that's a severe,
severe condemnation.
We're talking about someone who can no longer be saved,
someone who the Bible would describe as a devil, okay?
And so, you know, I don't believe we have
that type of culture in our church.
I don't believe that people in our church,
you know, if we were to look at it as a whole,
go around calling individuals reprobate
or saying that they're just a bunch of devils,
I don't think we have that type of culture in our church.
I believe the kind of culture we have in our church
is that we know that these people exist, you know?
And when these people show themselves to be devils,
they show themselves to be wicked individuals
and they begin to exert those qualities
or those attributes of a psychopath,
we have no problem saying this individual is a reprobate,
okay?
But we never wanna use it with such familiarity
that it kinda just loses its severity
because it's a very condemning term to use, right?
But on the other hand, you do have people who, you know,
oh, by the way, let me say this is that
when that happens, you actually weaken the word, right?
You weaken the word and the severity of its meaning,
et cetera, but on the other hand, you have a group of people
who claim that people reprobate people, okay?
And I know we've heard that term thrown around quite a bit,
where it's just like, oh, they're just trying
to reprobate this individual, they're just trying to rep,
and what they're basically saying is you have individuals
who they look at another individual
and based upon some of the wicked acts
that they've committed, they say,
well, that person's a reprobate, okay?
And I believe that's wrong.
I believe it's wrong to use it in that manner.
And I'll be honest with you, when I think of that,
the thing that comes to mind is a tactic
that liberal leftists use, okay?
You say, what do you mean by that?
We've gotten to the point in 2020 where if you say,
if you opinionate on anything,
you're automatically labeled a what?
A racist.
You talk about any social,
on any social forum, on any political view,
if you vote Trump, it's just like, oh, you're a racist.
And look, racism obviously does exist in America,
and I don't think anybody could deny that.
Now, in our church, we don't care for racism
because of the fact that in Christ,
there is neither Jew nor Gentile, right?
Bond or free for all are one in Christ Jesus.
But here's the thing, wouldn't you agree
that the left has used that term so loosely
that it's almost as if that's their last resort
to use as an insult?
You're like, oh, you know, I'm for conservative values.
Oh, so you must be a racist, kind of thing, right?
And they kind of just throw that out there.
They just fling that insult as a last resort
to try to just label you as a racist.
Well, that's stupid, and it's wrong.
But you know what?
That's kind of how I see this being thrown around,
where people will often disagree,
or they'll call an individual wicked,
and they're like, oh, well, you're just trying
to reprobate that person.
No.
Look, if I wanted to reprobate,
first of all, I don't reprobate anybody.
God is the one who reprobates them, okay?
That's first and foremost.
Let's just make something very clear.
I don't have an ability to reprobate anybody.
And I'm talking about cause someone not to be saved
to the point where they're beyond the hope of salvation.
I don't have that power.
I'm not God, okay?
The one who has that ability is God himself.
What we do is we look at the biblical definition
of a reprobate, what that individual,
the qualities that that individual exerts,
and based upon that, we assess,
okay, this person's probably a reprobate, okay?
And so we don't want to be either or.
We want to be balanced Christians, right?
Where we don't ignore the term,
but we don't abuse it either,
and then we don't try to condemn others who use it.
And the reason I say that is because we don't want to,
we don't want to, how should I put this?
We don't want to shame people on the internet
from using that term.
Because what can happen is a culture can be built up
where people are actually afraid to actually expose
actual reprobates, psychopaths as reprobates, right?
For fear that the mob or whatever is gonna say,
oh, you're just trying to reprobate that individual.
You understand?
So it has its proper place, it has its proper definition,
and we need to use it as its fit in the context
of whatever situation we're dealing with, okay?
So when they do that, they also weaken that definition
where we don't want to use it anymore.
Look, I'm for using the term reprobate, it's in the Bible.
But I'm just saying that we need to make sure
that we use it in its biblical context,
use it appropriately.
We never want to be immature in the Lord
and just throw words out there without thinking,
without investigating, without examining that individual.
Now there's people obviously that we can look
in high places who we can say,
oh yeah, that person's a reprobate for sure.
Ruth Bader, reprobate.
Fact, okay?
These false teachers who teach a false way of salvation
who damn people to hell, reprobates.
Joel Osteen, reprobate.
Rick Warren, reprobate.
Robert Breaker, reprobate.
These people are for sure reprobates,
because you say, well, how can you say
that you're just trying to reprobate that person?
I'm not reprobating, I'm just confirming the fact
that they're reprobating, I can't reprobate them.
I'm confirming the fact that these people
have already been rejected by God
based upon the words that are coming out of their mouth.
And look, folks, you said, well, they're just misled.
Well, I guarantee you, sometime throughout their ministry,
they had a man of God confront them and say,
hey, you're wrong about this, this is what the Bible says,
and they just kind of like said, no.
At which point, God says, okay,
then I'm gonna reject you then.
So it's not like they're mistaken.
Folks, the Bible teaches that there are false prophets
and false teachers out there who literally,
on purpose, teach damnable heresies,
and this is a category known as reprobates.
Of course, that's not the only term for them,
but that is an appropriate term for them,
because of the fact that it's referring to a person
who's been rejected by God, they can no longer be saved.
They didn't lose their salvation,
because you can't lose your salvation.
But it's an individual who can no longer be saved
because they hate God, and this is a reality.
So I wanna preach a pretty basic sermon tonight
on what a reprobate is in the Bible,
and I wanna break it down into three parts,
for people to understand.
So the three parts will be this,
the beginner level of reprobate, the intermediate level,
and then we have the advanced level.
This way, you can remember each of these.
So let's talk about reprobates in the Bible.
Now go with me, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter number six.
Most of these scriptures you're familiar with,
most of these concepts you're familiar with,
but if you're not, you're gonna learn something today
regarding this.
Now let's do reprobate 101, okay?
The beginner level.
At base level, what is a reprobate?
Well, the term reprobate simply means rejected.
We're not talking about anyone in particular, by the way.
Whether saved or unsaved, we're to just take that word
at base value, what is the definition of the word?
It simply means someone or something that is rejected, okay?
It doesn't even mean rejected by God, by the way.
Because it can be rejected by God, by another individual,
by a group of people, it simply means to be rejected.
It doesn't mean sodomite.
Though today, we would definitely use that connotation,
and it is an appropriate connotation for them.
Because someone who is a sodomite, according to Romans one,
has a what?
Reprobate mind, according to the Bible, okay?
So these are the connotations that is picked up
because we frequently use these terms to describe
these wicked individuals, and it's appropriate.
I mean, I believe we should continue to use
those definitions to describe these people.
But if you were to look at the dictionary definition
of a reprobate, they would often say,
well, it's someone who's depraved, unprincipled,
or a wicked individual.
And look, I've read books, literature,
like from 50 years ago, 60 years ago,
and they would often describe a wicked person
as a reprobate in their literature.
We're not talking about Christian literature either.
We're talking about just regular literature,
whether it's historical literature,
or just some sort of biography,
or a story that you're reading.
Sometimes when they are describing a wicked individual,
they'll often refer to them as a reprobate
because it has a connotation of an individual
who is just wicked, they're depraved, okay?
Now, look at Jeremiah chapter six and verse 28.
Just to prove this point that reprobate
simply means rejected.
And by the way, the individual that's being rejected,
excuse me, I got a little bit of cold,
so if I crack, forgive me, okay?
My nose is just stuffed.
It doesn't necessarily mean that just an individual
is rejected, it could mean a group of people are rejected.
Look what it says in Jeremiah 6.28.
They are all grievous revolters walking with slanders.
They are brass and iron, they're all corruptors.
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire.
The founder melteth in vain,
for the wicked are not plucked away.
So what is Jeremiah talking about here?
What's the sermon that he's preaching?
Well, Israel is involved in idolatrous practices.
Israel has gotten away from God,
they're completely backslidden.
Of course, at this time,
they are the chosen people of God.
But the problem is here is that they've become wicked, okay?
They've become idolatrous and covetous
from the least of them to the greatest of them,
from the leaders to just a regular Joe Shmuel on the street.
Everyone has become a corruptor, the Bible says.
So what God did is that he brought judgment upon the nation
in order to chastise them
with the desire to bring them back to the Lord,
bring them back to the way of serving God.
But they refuse to get rid of the wicked out of the land.
That's why it says in verse 29,
the bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire.
He's burning them.
He's allowing judgment to come upon them,
he's burning them, he's chastising them.
But, it says there, the founder melteth in vain.
Why?
Because they're still not rectifying their ways.
They're not correcting their manner and their ways.
Look what it says in verse 30.
Reprobate silver shall men call them
because the Lord hath rejected them.
So, when we see this term silver being used,
it's appropriate with verse 29
because you think of something
that is being burned and consumed,
you think of silver and gold
that is burned in order to remove the dross, right?
You burn something in order to remove the dross,
remove the impurities, that's the purpose of burning it.
But sometimes, it can get to a point
where you just burn something
and it doesn't remove the dross, it just perishes.
It's just completely rejected.
And the founder, the person who's melting that silver,
says, well, this is rejected, this cannot be used.
Therefore, it is rejected, I will not use it anymore.
So, what God is basically saying here
is that Israel is like that silver
that has become rejected, it's become reprobate,
it can no longer be used.
Now, we understand, we believe in our church
the doctrine of replacement theology.
And this is not a sermon on replacement theology,
but we believe that believers, not the church,
because we don't believe in the church,
we don't believe in a universal church,
but believers have replaced the nation of Israel
as God's chosen people.
You can prove that many ways throughout the New Testament.
But even in these days, there was a new Israel
that would replace the old Israel, if you think about it.
Because this generation,
who gave themselves over to idolatry,
what happened to them?
They became reprobate.
Doesn't mean they became sodomites and wicked people
that can no longer be saved,
but as a nation, as a whole, they were rejected of God.
And they required, 70 years afterwards,
those who were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar
to be brought back and they began to serve the Lord.
So what we see is that multiple generations would come up,
they stopped serving God, then what happened?
They would be rejected, they would be reprobate,
and then a new generation would rise up
who would serve the Lord.
This is referring to a specific nation.
So the point that I'm making
is the fact that as a nation, as a whole,
they were reprobate.
From going to heaven?
No.
Because I guarantee you there's people here in Israel
who were saved.
Okay, just like America's being reprobate right now, right?
It's being rejected by God, but you know what?
There's still 7,000 prophets
who have not bowed the knee to Baal,
but folks, because we live here,
we're gonna suffer the consequences of America as a whole.
You understand?
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 13, where we began.
So the word reprobate simply means to be rejected, a reject.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 13,
let's give some further proof here, verse number six.
This is where we began.
It says, but I trust that ye shall know
that we are not reprobates.
Now I pray to God that ye do no evil,
not that we should appear approved,
but that ye should know, excuse me,
but that ye should do that which is honest,
though we be as reprobates.
Now people try to use this to try to prove,
oh, see, you know, even Christians can become,
is to pray people,
because Paul's saying here, though we be as reprobates.
But folks, remember what I said in the beginning,
various definitions.
And what he's specifically stating there is that
to the Corinthian church, he's a reprobate.
What is that?
He's rejected of them.
In fact, through 1 and 2 Corinthians,
he's like trying to approve himself.
He's like, hey, I'm the one who got you saved.
Should I come with you, you know, with a rod
and to chastise you?
And people were rejecting his leadership,
they were rejecting his authority.
Therefore, he's constantly just chastising them
through these letters.
And he's saying, look,
but that ye should do that which is honest,
though we be as reprobates, though we're rejected of you.
It's a sad thing to see that the Corinthian church
were rejecting the leadership of the Apostle Paul,
but this is true here.
So he's not saying, though we be as some Sodomite,
though we be as some wicked individual,
he's saying, though we be rejected of you,
because you're not accepting us.
You're not accepting me as your leader.
You know, though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ,
yet ye have not many fathers, the Bible says,
for, you know, in the gospel I've begotten you, right?
The Apostle Paul was the one who won
a lot of these people to the Lord.
He's the one who got them saved.
But yet, we see later on, the same people
are actually rejecting his leadership,
rejecting his apostleship, really.
Now go to Acts chapter four, if you would, Acts chapter four.
So at a beginner level, what does reprobate mean?
It simply means to be rejected.
We see this with Israel as a whole, which is a nation.
We see this with the man of God, such as Paul.
He's not involved in sin here.
He's not doing anything wrong.
He's not, you know, doing something very wicked.
He's simply saying, I am rejected of you.
Though we be those that are rejected of you,
I still want you to do no evil,
not that we should appear approved,
but that ye should do that which is honest,
though we're rejected.
In other words, what he's saying here is like,
just keep serving God, even though you're gonna reject me,
is what he's saying, okay?
But here, let me give you some further proof
that that's what this word means.
Look at Acts chapter four, verse number 10.
It says, be it known unto you all,
and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom ye've crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
This is the stone.
Now, when we talk about the stone,
who is that referring to?
Jesus, right?
This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner.
Now, here in Acts 4.11, in the King James Bible,
it says, this stone which was set at naught.
However, when you reference this with Spanish Bibles,
for example, I read Spanish, I have Spanish Bibles.
In fact, I have a parallel Bible right here.
The term that is actually being used here
is actually reverbate.
So the term naught, because you know,
this is the same phrase that we'll see in Mark chapter 12,
where it says, you know, the stone
which the builders rejected,
the same has become the head of the corner.
Well, the term that he used for rejected
is reverbate.
And in fact, it says,
la piedra reverbada, okay?
You don't need to know Greek for that.
I mean, you can hear it there, right?
Reverbada, okay?
Or for your English speaking folks, reverbada, okay?
Amen.
So what is it saying?
Jesus is just some wicked reverbate?
Obviously not.
What it's saying is that Israel as a whole
rejected Jesus Christ, right?
They've reverbated him, they've rejected him,
they set him at naught.
That's what that's referring to there.
So point number one, at a beginner's level,
when it comes to defining what a reverbate is,
we need to have a clear understanding
that that simply means rejected.
And in order for us to understand what's being rejected
or who's the one rejecting,
we need to look at the context.
So we can't just look at every time a word is used
as reverbate and say, well, it's always in reference
to, you know, being rejected of God, okay?
Now go to 1 Corinthians chapter nine.
1 Corinthians chapter nine.
Talk about reverbate in the Bible.
At a beginner level, we understand that
it simply means to be rejected.
Number two, let's look at the intermediate level.
It also means to be just cast away by God.
Now I'm gonna specifically talk about Christians
being cast away,
because this is actually what this is referring to.
Now, let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter nine, verse 24.
It says, know ye not that they which run and erase
run all, but one receiveth the prize,
so run that ye may obtain.
And every man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate in all things.
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown,
but we an incorruptible.
I therefore so run, not as uncertainty,
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.
Now what is the Apostle Paul stating right here?
He's comparing the Christian life to a race.
And he's basically saying like, hey, we're all in a race,
we all need to run, and we need to run for the prize.
And the prize is not eternal life, by the way.
Eternal life is given at the beginning.
When we believe on Jesus Christ, we're given eternal life.
The Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
but with the mouth confession is made into salvation.
Verse 13, for whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And that is a require for you to run a race.
That requires just for you to believe.
For by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves, the race is of yourself.
Salvation is not.
It is the gift of God, not of works
that any man should boast, okay?
So it's important for us to know that.
And look, folks, we have people in the Bible
who got saved and they were just completely incapable
of running the race.
How about the thief on the cross?
Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Today thou shalt be with me in paradise, Jesus said.
That guy got saved, and he had a hard time
running that race, because he was nailed to a cross as well.
He was tied up to a cross.
But you know what, he was still saved.
Now, you know, we on the other hand,
I'm looking at a group of individuals
who still have an opportunity to run a race.
Who are either running a race,
or have not yet run the race,
but you still have an opportunity to run it.
So this is what he's comparing it,
he's comparing it to running a race, okay?
Look at verse 27, but I keep under my body
and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means
when I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway.
So he's saying, look, as I'm running,
I gotta make sure that I'm keeping under my body,
I'm bringing it into subjection,
I gotta make sure that I'm doing that
because when I preach to others,
I wanna make sure that I'm not castaway out of the race.
Now, this is not a Greek class, so don't freak out
because I'm going back to the Greek or anything like that.
But if you were to go back to the Greek,
the word there for castaway is reprobate.
Now here's what's interesting, there's a guy
who in times past, he wanted to argue with me
about the reprobate doctrine,
because I was telling him, hey, reprobate,
people can't be saved, if they're reprobate,
they're beyond the hope of salvation,
this is what the Bible teaches,
and he just hated that teaching.
There's a lot of people who just hate that teaching,
and I can't really understand why
a saved person would hate this teaching, okay?
Because it's pretty black and white, right?
It's pretty clear.
And he just scoured the Bible, and he was just like,
in Greek, and by the way, mind you, he did not agree.
Is the in Greek castaway is reprobate?
Are you saying the Apostle Paul,
Apostle Paul is saying that it's potentially
he can become a reprobate.
Yeah, but folks, here's the thing,
not concerning the faith.
And we'll get into that on the advanced level,
which is third point.
The castaway that we see here is referring to
that he's rejected from the race.
He is disqualified.
If someone's running a race, and they begin to gas out
because they had too many cheeseburgers or whatever,
they're eating all unhealthy before the race,
and their body is heavy, and they gas out,
what's gonna happen?
They're not gonna be able to run the race with patience.
They're not gonna be able to endure the Christian life.
So what happens to an individual that is not capable
of enduring the Christian life?
They become a castaway.
They are castaway into the world.
They go back to old sins, or they go back to old friends,
or they just live a mediocre Christian life
where they don't really come to church,
they're not reading the Bible,
they're not really serving God,
at which point they become a castaway.
And the Bible would use it as saying reprobate.
Now, I don't think it's a good idea to say that
about Christians who are castaways.
Why?
Because we already have a strong connotation
of what a reprobate is,
because of the day and age in which we live.
Okay?
And look, the King James Bible says castaway,
so it'd probably be more appropriate to use castaway
than reprobate, okay?
But just so that you understand
that this is what the Bible means when it says that,
in case someone tries to come to you and say,
yeah, but in 1 Corinthians chapter nine,
the Greek word there is reprobate.
How do you explain that?
Well, yeah, what are your reprobate concerning what?
Just the race.
Paul's not saying, oh yeah, I'm gonna become some sodomite
if I don't keep under my body.
Because by the way, this is the argument
that people have, right?
You have these Christians who literally believe
that people can get into such bad sins
that they can eventually become a sodomite.
It's ridiculous.
Folks, that's not a sin that is common to man.
That requires a reprobate mind
to do those things which are not convenient.
And Romans one tells us that the reprobate mind
is the individual who hates God.
Folks, a person who is castaway doesn't hate God.
They don't hate God.
They're just a sinful person.
They have sinful habits.
They walk after the flesh, as we talked about on Thursday.
They have a carnal mind.
They're just being led of the flesh,
which ultimately leads them out of the race.
Go to John 15.
So he's saying, look, I'm gonna keep under my body.
I wanna bring it into subjection.
Let's find a means when I preach to others,
I myself should be a castaway.
In other words, he's saying, I don't wanna be a hypocrite.
I don't wanna spend so much time telling people how to live
and just completely forsake,
making sure that I'm living a right life.
I'm not being a hypocrite.
You know what I mean?
I wanna make sure that I have the breastplate
of righteousness and the helmet of salvation,
that I'm girding my loins with truth,
that I have the sword of the Spirit,
that I have my feet shot with the preparation
of the gospel of peace.
I wanna make sure that I'm living right
because of the fact that I wanna save others,
but myself also, from being cast away.
And look, folks, we need to be aware of this danger here
of being a castaway.
Look at John 15, verse five.
Jesus speaking here says,
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit,
for without me ye can do nothing.
That's an awesome promise.
The possibilities are endless.
The sky's the limit, right?
He's saying, look, if you abide in me,
you can do so much, you can bear so much fruit,
but without me, you can do nothing, right?
Without me, you can't win many souls to Christ.
You can't rear a godly family, you can't be a good leader,
you can't be successful because without him,
you can do nothing.
If you abide in him as a branch abides in the vine,
you will become fruitful, is what he's saying.
Look at verse six.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch
and is withered.
Now, what does it mean to wither?
It means to die.
Branch breaks off and it just, it lands there,
it doesn't bear any fruit, it's not attached to any vine,
so it begins to wither and die.
It says, it goes on to say, and men gather them
and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Now, people try to use this as a proof text
that people could lose their salvation, right?
Oh, it says that men will gather them
and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Folks, you can't take a parable too far.
Because in that case, are we all made of wood or something
or what?
Are we all branches?
Are we all twigs?
You know, I know some of you might be, you know,
I'm just kidding.
I'm definitely not.
We can't take that parable too far.
What this is referring to is the fact that
when an individual is no longer abiding in Christ,
they're not following his commandments, you know,
listen to the sermon from this morning,
if they're not behaving like a Christian,
they become worthless.
Because they're no longer bearing fruit.
So what are they good for?
Just to be cast out.
Go to Matthew chapter five.
They're burned.
You know, a Christian who's not in church,
who is not reading the word of God,
they're not winning souls,
they're just kind of living their life.
Folks, I'll just be honest with you,
they're a worthless Christian.
That's harsh.
Well, it's actually biblical.
They're actually worthless.
Okay?
And look, people can get to a point where, you know,
obviously people are out of church,
or they're not serving God or whatever it may be,
and they're just worthless,
but others, the Bible says there is a sin unto death.
I do not say ye shall pray for it.
You know, when people get backslidden,
we pray for them that God will restore them
and bring them back.
Because there's hope for them.
But there's actually individuals who are so rejected,
they're so cast away, that God actually says,
well, I'm just done with you,
I'm just gonna take you home early.
And he definitely does that.
Look at Matthew 5, in verse 13.
Ye are the salt of the earth,
but if the salt have lost its savor,
wherewith shall it be salted?
It is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out, you know, like cast away,
and trotted under the foot of men.
These are the words of Jesus.
Jesus is the one who's saying, hey,
you are good for nothing.
Because you've lost your savor,
you're not, you've lost your salty properties.
You're not a salty Christian.
Get salty!
And if you're not salty, you're just good for nothing.
It's a lot different than what Jesus portrayed today,
is it not?
You know, God is a God of second chances, for sure.
But you know, he's also strict.
And he tells it like it is.
And here's an example of that.
I don't wanna be someone who's good for nothing.
I want to be useful, right?
Go to Romans 11.
Romans 11.
So here's an example of when a Christian
can become reprobated.
They become rejected, but in English,
we would say they're cast away.
They're no longer useful.
They no longer have a position of being a servant.
They're not serving their purpose in this life.
And therefore, God is done with them.
Not for salvation, but for service.
And here's the big thing, folks.
This is how you can distinguish this.
When it comes to Christians becoming reprobate,
it's not for salvation, it's for the service of God.
Not for salvation, but for service.
Look, don't we have examples of that in the Bible?
How about Saul?
Wasn't that man rejected from being king?
And in fact, isn't that exactly what the prophet told him?
That God had rejected him,
the kingdom was taken from him
and given to someone who is better than thou, he said.
Which is David.
Harsh words.
But you know, God believes in replacement theology,
so he replaced Saul with David.
He says, I've rejected you from being king.
The kingdom shall be taken from you
and given to someone who's better than thou.
Ouch.
You know what?
Saul was rejected.
He got to a point in his life
where he was getting counsel from some witch, right?
The witch at Endor, getting counsel from some wicked witch
that in times past he would condemn.
When he actually approached this witch,
he was like covering his face
and making sure that no one saw him,
but then she's like, oh, you know, I can't do that
because Saul put out all the witches
and he's just like, I am Saul.
I've gone back on my promise here, okay?
I need your help.
But this is how cast away he was.
To the point where he's getting counsel from a witch.
You know what God said?
I'm done with you.
I'm through with you.
And look, folks, I'm not saying that if you go out
and get counsel from a witch,
by the way, I don't recommend it at all,
that you're just gonna die a horrible death.
One of the reasons why Saul died such a horrible death
for going to the witch at Endor was why?
Because he was a king.
He was an important leader in Israel.
So he had a lot of responsibility.
And you know what?
He had a lot of influence.
And so the higher up you go in authority and in position,
the more influence you have,
the more you're responsible for.
To whomsoever much is given of him
shall be much required.
So that's why God had him die such a horrible death.
You know, he went to the witch at Endor
and Samuel came up and was just like,
thou and thy son shall be with me.
He's like, you better get ready,
because tomorrow, thou and thy sons shall be with me.
And it doesn't matter how he tried to avoid it
and just escape the judgment of God.
It still came upon him.
Look, the Philistines were gonna kill him.
He killed himself, but it doesn't matter.
Even if he didn't kill himself,
the Philistines would have gotten him.
And wouldn't you say he died a dishonorable death?
Aside from the fact that he took his own life,
the Philistines came, decapitated his head,
took his torso, impaled it upon a wall.
I mean, they just completely mutilated his body.
It's a horrible way of dying.
But why?
Because he was rejected of God, okay?
How about Samson?
Samson is an example of someone who was rejected of God.
He was gonna be used of God, he was used of God,
to be a judge, one of the best judges of Israel.
Wouldn't you agree?
I mean, the spirit of God will come upon him.
He was one of those twigs
that I was just referring to earlier.
But you know what?
When the spirit of God would come upon him,
he would be able to rent a lion and twain.
He was able to destroy the Philistines.
I mean, he is an example, a spiritual example, so to speak,
of how we, how God can use us to be strong in the Lord
and the power of his might.
He was supposed to be used as a symbolic figure
what it is to be filled with the spirit
and the exploits one can do.
But you know what he did?
He just completely ruined all of that.
Because he wanted to fornicate, he wanted to do wicked things
and you know what the Bible says?
That we are the temple of God
and if any man defile the temple, him shall God destroy.
And what happened?
You know, the spirit of God went from him
and he wished not that the Lord was not with him.
The Philistines came to gouge out his eyes,
they made sport of him and ultimately, yeah,
the spirit came back upon him to commit suicide.
Yep.
This is someone who's rejected.
This is someone who God says, you're cast away,
you're done, it's time to look for someone else.
Folks, I don't want that in my life.
I do not wanna be a castaway.
I do not wanna be thrown away
and just be a Christian who's just good for nothing.
I'd rather just do the best that I can.
Be a great repenter, continue to grow in God's word
and tread lightly in this Christian life.
Look at Romans 11, verse one.
I mentioned this earlier, Israel was cast away, right?
Look what it says, I say then,
had God cast away his people?
This is the Zionist's favorite verse.
When they do the devotions, they start with this.
They don't start in Genesis one, they're like,
go to Romans 11, God forbid!
And then you just completely forget
the rest of the chapter, right?
The rest of the verse for that matter.
I said then, had God cast away his people, God forbid!
For I also am in Israel,
the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people, which he, what?
Forknew.
So what does God say, what is Paul saying?
He's saying, look, I didn't cast away
my people who are saved.
Because folks, those who he foreknew,
he also did predestinate.
Those who he predestinated, he also glorified, right?
He justified them.
This is referring to saved individuals.
What you not, what the scripture saith of Elias,
how he maketh intercessions to God against Israel's saying.
Now skip down to verse 13.
Anytime someone brings up this passage
to prove Zionism to God, you know,
God's not done with Israel,
he's gonna use them in the end times
and restore them and all this John Hagee nonsense.
God hath not cast away his people.
This is what I show them, verse 13.
For I speak to you Gentiles,
inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,
I magnify mine office.
If by any means I may provoke to emulation
them which are in my flesh, I might save some of them.
Look what it says, for if the casting away of them.
Why, I thought you said they weren't cast away.
Here it says, for if the casting away of them,
be the reconciling of the world.
Now let me ask you, is the world being reconciled
to God right now?
Absolutely.
The gospel has come to the Gentiles.
Gentiles are being saved.
The focus is no longer on Israel
because they failed to be a light unto the Gentiles.
But how is it that the light of the glorious gospel
came to the Gentiles?
By casting away Israel.
For if the casting away of them
be the reconciling of the world,
what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?
Now people wanna use that and say,
well there you go, you know, he's gonna receive them.
Read closely.
What shall the receiving of them be
but life from the dead?
It's referring to the fact the only people
I'm gonna accept who are Israelites
are those who were saved from like back in the day.
Right?
Because when is, when shall all Israel be saved?
When shall all saved Israelites be on this world?
At the millennial reign.
At the resurrection, you have Daniel and David and Abraham
and all these people resurrecting from the grave
and at that point God receives them into that kingdom
at the millennial reign.
Now you say, why bring that up?
Well, because it's just cool to look at, you know,
and talk smack about Zionism, right?
No, I'm just kidding.
No, because of the fact that we see that Israel
was cast away, they were rejected.
Now why is that?
Because they refused to be a light unto the Gentiles,
that's why.
They didn't do the work.
So, you know, God is no respecter of people, right?
If he rejects one individual,
he can also reject a nation and is based upon
the work that they're doing.
That's why he tells them just as he told Saul
that the kingdom of God should be taken from you
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
What is he saying?
I've rejected you, you're done.
You're no longer God's chosen people
because you failed to be the light and the testimony
to the Gentiles.
So this is referring to an individual
who is basic, go to 1 Corinthians 3,
who has been cast away.
This is a person who's been reprobated.
A Christian.
Now you can cut that and clip it and say,
oh, pastor, he is saying that, you know,
Christians can become reprobated.
Listen to the context.
Not from salvation, but from service.
Plenty of examples of that in the Bible.
And again, there are those who are cast away,
they can be reconciled, they can be, you know,
we can recover them, but there are those
who can no longer be recovered.
Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 14.
It says, if any man's work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss,
but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells within you, in you?
If any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy.
For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
So what is it saying?
You begin to defile the temple,
God says you can potentially destroy your life
and cause me to destroy you.
He said, well, what specifically though?
I don't know.
Kind of leaves room for interpretation.
It kind of leaves you wondering, well,
I don't even want to get close to even defiling my body.
Because I don't know where that can lead.
I will say this, two chapters afterwards
in 1 Corinthians 5, we have an individual
who is involved in fornication in the church.
He's cast out of the church and given over to Satan
for what?
The destruction of the flesh.
But I don't care.
I mean, it doesn't matter what sin it is.
I'd rather just glorify God in my body,
which is God's, you know?
And so I think he leaves some room there for interpretation
to kind of strike fear within the heart of a Christian
to say, you know, I just want to make sure I live right.
No drinking, no fornication, no adultery,
no idolatry, no extortion, no covetousness.
Because I don't want to potentially destroy my body
and have God destroy me because of it, okay?
So when we talk about the term reprobate,
this is just, at a base level,
simply means someone who's rejected.
But when we go to the intermediate level,
we see that a Christian can become reprobate or what?
Cast away.
They involve themselves in sin, they get into the world
and to such a point where God says,
I'm just done with you.
You know, you're out of church,
you're not even serving me anymore.
I'm just going to take you home early, okay?
And look, folks, I know people from my old church
who were castaways.
You know, there's an individual who was in our church,
Brother Albert knows him.
He, like, when I first came to church,
he was like one of the biggest influences in my life.
I mean, like, I mean, as far as like Christianity
was concerned, like he invested time in me
and he was very kind, but you know,
he became a castaway.
He destroyed his life with drugs.
And then I remember he came back,
but it was probably too late for him.
His habits had overtaken him, basically.
And he ended up committing suicide that week, you know?
That's what people say, maybe he committed suicide
or maybe someone killed him.
We don't know.
But we do know this is that he caused himself
to be a castaway.
And the guy had a lot of potential.
I mean, what Christian does not have a lot of potential?
Any Christian who serves Christ, serves God,
loves the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind,
and strength has a lot of potential
to do great works for God.
God wants to use every one of us.
But with this individual, I mean,
he was already being used greatly,
but you know what, he made some bad decisions in his life
that caused him to be cast out of the race.
And you know what, unfortunately,
he died a dishonorable death, okay?
That's not what we want for our lives.
So beginner level, reprobate means to be rejected.
Intermediate level, a castaway.
And here's the advanced level, okay?
This is the go-ro around, okay, mortal comeback.
This is the individual that has been rejected by God
and is beyond the hope of salvation.
This is not referring to a saved individual.
Because we can't, once we're saved,
we cannot be rejected by God and God's not gonna be like,
well, man, I regret saving you.
Good night.
You know, it's not gonna happen.
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
He made a promise by two immutable oaths, the Bible says.
In hope of eternal life, which God, they cannot lie,
promised before the world began, you understand?
So God gives us eternal life,
and once we have it, we can never lose it.
But you know, the individual prior to that,
go to 2 Corinthians 13, can get to a point
where they become reprobate concerning the faith.
Now faith, a synonym for faith is to believe.
To place your faith in something
means to believe in something.
So get this, God, you can actually get to a point,
and when I say you, I'm referring to just unsafe people
in general, can get to a point where God actually removes
their ability to believe.
That can be proven up and down in the scriptures.
We see that all the time in the Bible, okay?
You say, well, how does God remove
someone's ability to believe?
Well, the Bible says that he sears their conscience.
And when you sear conscience, the symbolic meaning there
is that he basically numbs it,
where they can no longer reason or understand the truth.
In fact, not only can they not understand the truth,
now they're susceptible to any type of lie.
He sends them a strong delusion that they should
believe a lie because they rejected the gospel.
Now why does this happen to certain individuals?
Well, this is why.
Because individuals, all individuals in this world
are given light of God, right?
I don't mean like a literal light.
I'm talking about, you know, he gives you
a little bit of truth here and there.
We're born with truth in us.
And as we go on in this life,
we're given more light, we hear about Jesus,
we hear about the Bible, we hear about biblical concepts.
And as we respond to the light that God gives us,
the goal is that eventually we'll reach that point
where we're ready to be saved.
Some individuals, though, get to that point
where they know what the gospel says
and they're right on the edge.
Someone gives them the gospel and they say, no.
Now I don't know when it is when God just shoves them
over the edge and just says, okay, you're just reprobating.
We don't really know, but we know it happens.
We don't know how many times an individual hears the gospel
before they become reprobate.
People ask me that, how many times does someone hear it
before they actually are rejected of God?
I don't know.
It could be years, it could be, I don't know.
We, there's never been a case study on it, okay?
I don't think you can do a case study on it.
But the reality is is that it happens.
Now when you think of like, for example, sodomites, okay?
Here's my theory on this.
Because sodomites, they're not going around
teaching religious doctrines to say like, hey God.
How do they recruit people?
By molesting people, right?
They molest others.
So, and typically those who get molested,
sometimes they become reprobates themselves.
They become sodomites themselves.
And if you're sodomite, according to the Bible,
that means it's just a fruit, pun intended,
to show that you've already been reprobated.
You understand?
So when you look at some flaming sodomite out in the world
and they're doing just the most disgusting filth
known to mankind, you can say with the surety,
okay, that person rejected Christ a long time ago.
We don't know how long ago, but we know that it happened.
You look at a tree and you can't tell what type of tree
it is, when it begins to bear fruit, it's like,
okay, now that's always been an apple tree.
That was an apple tree when it started
coming out of the ground.
It's not until it bore fruit that we realized
that's an apple tree.
Well, in like manner, when you see a wicked person like that
or someone like Ted Bundy, we say,
oh, that person rejected the gospel long ago, okay?
And they became reprobate.
But here's my theory, is that sometimes what happens
is when an individual gets molested, for example,
they can become very bitter towards God, okay?
And that happens.
Where they become bitter towards God,
now, it goes both ways.
Sometimes people, they don't become bitter towards God,
that actually causes them to seek after God
for healing, for answers, and they get saved,
and man, they live happily ever after with the Lord, amen?
But others sometimes take the wrong way
and they begin to hate God.
And you know what, God in His compassion and His love
begins to send them the gospel through individuals,
begins to send them the truth, and you know what?
That person's bitterness often blinds them
and causes them to reject that
to the point where they hate God, and God says,
okay, if you don't want me, then I don't want you either.
And some people think that's cruel, but think about that.
How can that be cruel?
If someone hates God and says,
I don't want you in my life, I don't want your son,
I don't want salvation, it's cruel for God to say,
okay, then I don't want you either.
He's not gonna force Himself on anybody.
That would be cruel.
That would completely negate free will.
He wants people to choose God and His Son.
I remember long ago, and I'm not saying this individual
was a reprobate, but I remember long ago,
you know, when I was still working in the secular realm,
we used to have friend day at our church,
and we liked friend day because we'd buy a bunch
of people to church, people would get saved,
but I remember I used to invite all my coworkers,
and every year I'd just invite coworkers,
and in the beginning it was just a lot of girls
that I would invite to church, okay, you know?
And I remember this one particular girl,
she came, and she was interested in me a little bit,
and I said, well, if you're interested in me,
you gotta come to church, you know?
But my trick was, as soon as they came,
I would hand them off to some other individual
or some girl to sit with them and have them disciple them.
So this girl came, and my pastor would preach
like a salvation message for a friend day,
and I remember seeing her off in the distance,
I was like, okay, cool, she came, hopefully she gets saved.
So I went up to her after the service,
and I said, hey, so what'd you think?
She says, that was great, that was awesome,
like, you know, the gospel and all this stuff,
she was just like, she said this was great, I loved it.
I was like, awesome.
Now she was like in a hurry, she ended up leaving,
but then literally the next day, I see her at work,
and I'm excited, I'm like, wow, this girl, you know,
she got saved, she seems to like the church,
not only could she get saved,
maybe she could become part of the church,
and she, I see her, and I said, hey, so and so,
so you like the church, huh?
She goes, that was okay.
She goes, but that whole thing about Jesus sending,
God sending his son to die on the cross
is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.
And I was like, I was plowed.
It just completely, like, completely blew me over.
I was like, come again?
She goes, oh yeah.
The whole story about God sending his son, Jesus Christ,
on this earth to die for our sins
is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.
And I remember looking at her like saying, okay.
I didn't, honestly, I didn't know what to make of it.
It was like, from one day to the next,
it's almost as if she just completely,
she like hated the doctrine.
She hated the fact that God sent his son to die for us.
And it confused me.
I didn't understand why.
Now, if I were to assess that situation today,
maybe friend day was her last chance to be saved.
You understand?
And maybe she had been given the gospel
multiple times already.
Maybe God had been trying to get ahold of her many times.
Maybe he sent multiple soul winners.
Maybe she's been to multiple churches,
Baptist churches where they preach the gospel,
and she just never gets saved.
And then finally, she gets this clear presentation
of the gospel, because my father-in-law would do that.
And then she just rejected it.
And God says, all right, you know, I'm done.
I'm gonna reprobate you.
You don't, you're lying.
You don't want my son.
And you know what?
That's the only way I can make sense
of the statement that she made.
Because the day before, she's just like, that was great.
You know, that's great.
You know, oh, yeah, God said.
And then the next day, he's like,
that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.
I'm like, whoa.
Now, look what it says.
Have you turned to 2 Corinthians?
By the way, keep in mind that, like,
when I talk about the castaway,
a person, you know, they're cast away.
Well, let me read to you from 1 Timothy 1, 19.
It says, holding faith and a good conscience,
which some, having put away concerning faith,
have made shipwreck.
So you think of someone who's cast away,
there's still potential to reel him back in, right?
But someone who's made shipwreck,
it's like that ship can never be repaired, it's destroyed.
Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander,
who have delivered unto Satan,
that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Look at 2 Corinthians 13.
2 Corinthians 13, I would say, is the chapter
that is like the nail in the coffin
for the reprobate doctrine.
And any time I run into some old IFB individual
who wants to refute what I believe in this regard,
I always bring this one up right here.
This is the best one, in my opinion.
It says in verse three,
Since ye seek proof of Christ speaking in me,
which to you art is not weak, but is mighty in you,
for though he was crucified through weakness,
yet he lived by the power of God.
For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him
by the power of God toward you.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.
Prove your own selves.
Now look what he says here.
Know ye not your own selves,
how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
So what is he saying?
Christ is in you, you're a saved individual,
unless you're a reprobate.
So what's the insinuation?
Reprobates don't have Christ in them.
That's what he's saying.
You can flip that around,
and basically what he's saying is this.
If you're a reprobate, then you can't have Christ in you.
You have Christ in you,
unless you're one of those reprobates.
Now why is he saying that to the Corinthian church?
Because of the fact that it's a church.
You know the place where reprobates
are often made the most?
Church.
The second after that is Christian school.
Actually, this Christian school
could actually be more than church,
because they actually meet every single day
for hours on end, getting Bible preaching hours on end,
and students are forced to be there by their parents
to listen to Bible teaching,
and what happens is that they get a reprobate mind.
And I've known many of them who that's happened to.
But he's telling them, look, you might be a reprobate.
Now why?
Because first and foremost, it's a church,
but look who's writing the letter.
Paul.
I mean, we're talking about the apostle Paul
is the one who's teaching them doctrine,
writing this letter, giving them biblical instruction.
I mean, folks, none of us got the apostle Paul.
We never got any apostle, right?
These people got someone who's gonna be
in the word of God for all of eternity.
It's a big thing.
So he's saying, look, Christ is in you
except you're a reprobate.
So the proof there is that some people
regarding reprobates who are reprobate concerning the faith,
they don't have Christ in them,
nor can they have Christ in them.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter three.
2 Timothy chapter three.
We'll finish with this.
So that's the third one.
The advanced level is this,
is that some individuals in this world
can just be rejected to the point
where they can no longer be saved.
Not referring to Christians, that's intermediate level.
Advanced level is an unsaved individual
who is given the gospel to the point,
they're rejected to the point where God says you're done.
I'm through with you.
And folks, it happens.
And if you don't agree with that,
then you need to explain to me
why billions of souls are in hell today.
Those are a bunch of individuals
who rejected the gospel, right?
They're reprobate, they're rejected.
Oh yeah, just say that, you know, God loves everyone.
Well, can you really say that God loves
the ones who are in hell today?
Think about that.
If you think that God loves the individuals
that are in hell today,
you have a screwed up definition of what love is.
You're like some sadist or something.
Or it's just like, that's not an expression of love, folks.
We don't burn people we love for all of eternity.
That's weird.
For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever believed in Him
should have everlasting life, right?
Look at 2 Timothy 3, verse seven.
He said, well, what happens to an individual
if they become a reprobate, but you keep giving them,
why don't we just keep giving them the gospel?
Well, you can give them the gospel all you want.
Look what the Bible says, verse seven.
They can be ever learning and never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth.
So you can teach them doctrine,
you can get them to memorize the entire Bible,
but if they're a reprobate concern in the faith,
they will not be saved.
You're actually just making their condemnation
that much worse, which in some cases, amen.
Look at verse eight.
Now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses,
so did these also resist the truth,
men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
What is it saying?
These individuals, God has actually removed their ability
to ever believe on Jesus Christ ever.
That's not right.
Folks, it was because of their decision
to not want to believe in them in the first place.
The Bible says they didn't want to retain God
in their knowledge.
And this is what I ask people
when we talk about this reprobate doctrine,
I say, look, so you're trying to tell me
that someone who doesn't want to retain God
in their knowledge can potentially still get saved?
They don't want to retain him.
They want nothing to do with God.
Oh, we just got to pray that they get saved.
They hate him.
It says that they hate him.
You're only going to tick them off more.
You're not going to be able to placate these individuals.
They hate the Lord.
And they're reprobate concerning the faith.
So God just removed, he just made it easier for them,
in other words.
So instead of constantly fighting,
God just says, here, I'll just help you out.
Why don't I just remove,
why don't I just cut your brakes?
Now you don't have to worry about pumping the brakes.
Why don't I just remove your ability to believe?
Now you don't have to struggle with it to believe or not.
You just will never believe.
But he doesn't do this to every individual who is born
right off the bat.
He does it to only individuals who receive the gospel
over and over again.
They just reject it.
And they're given over to a reprobate mind.
Now everyone who's given to a reprobate mind
doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to become
some sodomite either.
Maybe in the long run they will.
We don't know.
But there's individuals that are given to other sins
worse than others.
You know, Judas wasn't a sodomite, right?
But he was the son of Perdition.
He was definitely a reprobate.
Balaam, the son of Bozor, wasn't a sodomite.
He was just this guy who loved money.
You understand?
So what's the sermon for today?
Well, it's simply just to say this.
Hey, we need to make sure that we use this term
in its biblical context and not just use it flippantly,
you know, because that's a very severe
and condemning word to say, right?
But in like manner, people shouldn't say
that we reprobate people.
You know, I don't have anybody in my church
who reprobates anybody.
You're giving them a little too much power.
Okay?
A little too much power.
No one has the divine ability to reprobate anybody.
Well, you know what we mean.
You're just trying to say that they're not saved.
No one's saying that anybody's not saved.
Folks, we as a church, we know what this word means.
We know who it's designated for.
And let me just say this just to close with this, okay?
Anybody in my church who makes comments
on a public platform to anybody listening,
just know this, before you criticize what they say,
just remember this, they probably got it from me.
So think about that for a second.
Before you go on and criticize the individuals in the church,
you know, just recognize they're probably repeating
what their pastor has said.
They're probably standing in the same position
that their pastor is standing in.
And look, I'm not saying we can't disagree.
We can definitely disagree, respectfully.
Respectfully.
Where you can say, you know what, I disagree with your,
I heard what your pastor said about that.
I disagree with that.
You know, but hey, let's keep serving God.
Let's keep soul winning.
I love your church.
I love what you guys are doing.
That's a respectful way to disagree, right?
But just keep in mind, if you rebuke someone from my church
who makes a statement, just know this,
their pastor probably believes the same exact thing.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And Lord, thank you for the admonitions.
Just as a Christian, we don't want to be castaways.
We want to be used of you, Lord.
I want to continue to win souls.
I'm looking forward to the millennial reign.
I pray that you help us, Lord.
And I know there's individuals in our church
who used to be in our church
who maybe have been cast away.
They've gotten into sin, they've gotten out of church,
and Lord, we pray for them that you would chastise them
in order to bring them to repentance, back to church.
And Lord, we pray, God, that you'd help us
and give us understanding and help us to have discernment,
not to use this word flippantly
and just throw it to any individual
who we deem as being just a wicked individual.
Lord, we know that even Christians can become wicked.
They can begin to act in an evil manner sometimes.
Saul did, Samson did, many individuals have.
And Lord, help us to have discernment, to have maturity,
and bless us as we go on our way.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Please turn to your hymnals, the song number 147.
The song number 147, leaning on the everlasting arms.
The song number 147, on that first.
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
What a blessedness, what a peace it's fine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all the wars.
Leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
What a sweet joy, what a gift it's built with.
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Oh, how great the path grows from day to day.
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all the wars.
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
What have I to turn, what have I to fear?
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
I have blessed the beast with my words of fear.
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all the wars.
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
Amen.
We'll see you are dismissed.