Music
Wonderful words of life.
Three, six, three, wonderful words of life.
Music
Words of life and beauty.
Teach me faith and beauty.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Christ the blessed one gives to all.
Wonderful words of life.
Sinnerless to the loving call.
Wonderful words of life.
Also freely given.
Moving us to heaven.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Sweetly echo the gospel call.
Wonderful words of life.
Offer pardon and peace to all.
Wonderful words of life.
Jesus, Holy Savior, sanctify forever.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Wonderful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
All right, at this time we're going to go ahead and go through our announcements.
If you do not have a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand.
Usher, we'll bring you one.
We're still working on Proverbs chapter 31.
And so if you can quote the entire chapter, you can get a prize on the inside your service soul winning times or church stats.
Also the list of expecting ladies, continue to pray for all of them.
We have our upcoming events, the Mexico missions trip.
Please make sure to be praying for that.
Our ladies' Christmas party is nurselings only.
So you guys need to help watch the kids.
On the 11th we have our Christmas caroling.
The 16th we have the Christmas music recital, our children.
There should be a sign up sheet for that.
Also we have a cookie bake off on the 24th.
And then the 31st we have the New Year's Eve party.
On the back is our prayer list.
One other just reminder, friendly reminder.
Our fellowship room is definitely somewhere you can go and fellowship after the services.
Make sure that children are still not running around or horsing around in that area either.
So they shouldn't be running anywhere in the building at all.
Not just the sanctuary area but that area as well.
So please be respectful of that.
We don't want anyone to get hurt or injured.
And sometimes people can be kind of rowdy in that part of the building.
So no problem being in there.
Just make sure that if you have kids in there or you notice kids in there that you're reminding them not to run around or horse around or anything like that to get injured.
So that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements.
We'll go ahead and sing our Psalm of the Week, Psalm 146.
It's in your special handout, Psalm 146.
All right, Psalm 146.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
While I live, will I praise the Lord, I will sing praises unto my God.
While I have any being, put not your trust in Francis, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help, whom there is no help.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish.
That the God of Jacob pour his love, whose hope is in the Lord, the Lord is God.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
Which made heaven and earth the sea, and all that therein is which keepeth truth for ever,
which executeth judgment for the oppressed which giveth food to the hungry the Lord,
who sin the prisoners.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind, the Lord raises them that are bowed down,
the Lord loveth the righteous, the Lord.
Praise the earth with the strangers, he relieveth the fatherless and widows.
Praise ye the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.
But the way of the wicked, he turneth upside down, the Lord shall reign forever,
even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
Praise ye the Lord, praise ye the Lord.
All right, at this time, as the offering plate's being passed around,
please turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter number 13.
Genesis chapter number 13.
Genesis chapter 13, the Bible reads,
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife,
and all that he had, and lot with him into the south.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel,
unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning,
between Bethel and Haai,
unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first.
And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together,
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle,
and the herdmen of Lot's cattle,
and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
And Abram said unto Lot,
Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,
and between my herdmen and thy herdmen,
for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee?
Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me,
If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right.
Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
And Lot lifted up his eyes,
and beheld all the plain of Jordan,
that it was well watered everywhere,
before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
even as the garden of the Lord,
like the land of Egypt dost thou comest unto Zoar.
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan,
and Lot journeyed east,
and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan,
and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain,
and pitched his tent towards Sodom.
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
And the Lord said unto Abram,
After that Lot was separated from him,
Lift up now thine eyes,
and look from the place where thou art,
northward and southward and eastward and westward,
for all the land which thou seest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,
so that if a man can number the dust of the earth,
then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Arise, walk through the land,
in the length of it and in the breadth of it,
for I will give it unto thee.
Then Abram removed his tent,
and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre,
which is in Hebron,
and built there an altar unto the Lord.
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father God, we thank you for the souls that were saved
at our afternoon soul winning time.
And I pray that you would bless the sermon this evening,
and give Pastor Shelley the fullness and power
of the Holy Spirit,
as he preaches his message to us,
soften hearts in the room,
and open ears, Lord,
so that we may be attentive to the preaching of your word.
We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen.
I want to look back at verse 13,
and maybe this is why 13 has bad connotations.
Chapter 13, verse 13, but notice the Bible says,
but the men of Sodom were wicked,
and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
And the title of my sermon is this,
there's something different about sodomites.
There's something different about sodomites.
And you say, why do you say this?
Well, according to the text,
notice that it says that they were sinners
before the Lord exceedingly.
We shouldn't ignore that word there, exceedingly,
as if it doesn't have any kind of special meaning,
or if it doesn't actually add something to the text.
Why didn't God just say,
oh, the men of Sodom were sinners?
Why does he have to say that they were sinners exceedingly?
That shows that there's something different
about these sinners, okay?
And really, I have basically seven points
that I want to bring up tonight
about why there's something different about sodomites.
But point number one is the fact that the Bible tells us
that they were sinners exceedingly.
This is just point number one right off the bat.
The first kind of mention when we talk about Sodom,
we talk about this city, we talk about this group of people,
the Bible is saying there's something different about this group
because they're not only wicked and sinners,
but they're doing it exceedingly,
meaning they're sinning more than other groups of people
than other types of sinners,
and so the Bible is kind of making it,
there's something special about it.
Now, you could kind of think about today,
you know, a similar idea of the sodomites today.
Why is it that the object of their sin,
the symbol, the emblem of their sin is the rainbow?
I mean, this is a symbol of kind of mocking the fact
that God won't flood the earth and destroy wicked people.
They go around gallivanting and celebrating with a rainbow flag
when virtually almost all of them,
virtually all of them say there is no God.
Why is it that they run around with a rainbow flag?
Because they're trying to mock the God of the Bible, aren't they?
And they're not just trying to sin, they're trying to sin exceedingly
because it's one thing to just say,
I don't think that there's a God.
It's another thing to take the rainbow flag
and dance around with it while committing some of the worst sins imaginable,
basically trying to say, ha ha, rubbing in God's face.
We see kind of the same picture today
where there's a group of people that are sinning exceedingly
in comparison to other groups of people.
There's something different about this group of sinners.
When's the last time we saw a group of murderers
walking up and down the street with a rainbow flag?
When's the last time we saw the adultery community
walking up and down the street with a rainbow flag?
I mean, what other type of sin do we see in our culture today
where people are all gathering together
and then taking the literal symbol of the fact that God won't destroy them
and then dancing and parading it up and down the street?
There's only one group doing something like that,
so there must be something different about this group of people.
And I would argue the text from Genesis all the way to Revelation
makes it clear there's something different about sodomites.
There's just something really obvious.
Now go to chapter 19 for a second.
Go to chapter number 19.
Point one, according to the Bible,
sodomites are sinners exceedingly, meaning they go beyond.
What does it mean to exceed?
You could get a ticket today and they'll say you exceeded the speed limit.
What does that mean? You went above the speed limit.
What would it mean to go above sin or go beyond sin?
I believe the right understanding of that would be to say
doing something that's not even a natural sin,
because we all are sinners. We all commit natural sin.
But isn't there some sins that go beyond just sinning
and they get to a gross point, a vile type of sin point,
something that's not normal?
Then we kind of see, well, ours isn't just sinning.
This is exceeding sinful.
This is the epitome of sin.
This is the worst things imaginable, okay?
Now look at Genesis chapter 19.
This is the story of Sodom,
and we have two angels coming down to see how bad it is,
and they end up wanting to know these men,
committing just horrible acts.
Verse 11, the Bible says,
And they smote the men that were at the door of the house
with blindness, both small and great,
so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
In the story of Sodom and Morah,
we have the entire town gathered together around the house of Lot,
banging at the door, saying they want to know these men,
meaning they want to do some kind of a Sodomite type act,
and as a result, Lot tries to kind of intercede.
Lot kind of tries to say, hey, don't do this thing.
This is gross. This is vile.
Don't do such a wicked thing.
But they don't listen to Lot,
and they're going to destroy Lot too.
They say, we're going to even do this to you too now.
But the two men, they grab Lot, pull him back in,
and then the Bible says they smote them with blindness.
Now, again, the things in the Bible are not just accidental.
The Bible is giving us metaphors consistently through the story to picture things.
So what would be a picture of foreshadowing here?
Well, you see all the men of Sodom being blinded,
and then it says that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Well, often the Bible symbolizes Jesus Christ as being the door
and being the way to salvation.
And notice that according to the text, they become blind and they can't find the door, can they?
Which would be, what, a picture of a spiritual blindness
of someone that's incapable of what?
Finding salvation, finding Jesus Christ, getting saved.
And so I would argue there's another issue with Sodomites
is that they're blinded spiritually today.
And we can see this in the world that we live in today,
not just in the biblical text, but we see it today
where they're just completely spiritually blinded,
and they can wearie themselves finding the door,
but they just never seem to find it, do they?
Now, go if you would to 2 Kings, chapter 23.
So point one about there being something different about Sodomites,
number one, they're sinners exceedingly.
Number two, when we read about them in the Bible, they get blinded.
Well, that's pretty unique.
There's something unique about that, that they all get blinded
to the point where they still, though, even after being blinded,
try to destroy these men.
Did you notice that when they got blinded,
they didn't have a reflection period?
They didn't say, wow, that was bad.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong here.
Because there are other people that have moments
where they get kind of punished, or you could even argue get blinded.
Doesn't the apostle Paul get blinded at one point?
But does the apostle Paul then say, you know what?
I'm still going to kill the Christians.
Or does he have a reflection point and say, you know what?
Whatever the Lord wants me to do, I'm going to do at this point.
But did the sinners here in Sodom, did they say, you know what?
What do the angels want me to do?
What does God want me to do?
Maybe I'm on the wrong path.
No, they're still trying to destroy, even though they've been blinded,
meaning that they're, what, insatiable,
that they're incapable of being placated,
they're implacable, that they just want death and destruction no matter what,
and they're going to drag as many people down with them as possible.
Sounds like the devil.
I mean, isn't the devil kind of one that's just trying to drag
as many people down with them as possible?
And so we kind of see in the text that these people are sinners exceedingly,
they get blinded, meaning they can't get salvation,
and even after being blinded,
they still are just trying to do death and destruction as much as possible.
They're not quitting.
They're not giving up.
They're just trying to do it as much as possible.
Now look at 2 Kings chapter 23,
and there's a lot of stories in the text that bring up kings,
how they would break down the houses of the Sodomites
when they would do that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.
But I want to pay attention to this one kind of in detail.
Notice what the text is kind of just talking about in its context.
Look at 2 Kings chapter 23, verse number 4.
And the king commanded Hilkiah, the high priest,
and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the door
to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord
all the vessels that were made for Baal,
and for the grove, and for all the hosts of heaven,
and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron,
and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests,
whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places,
in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem,
them also that burned incense unto Baal,
to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets,
and to all the hosts of heaven.
So we're getting this like cleanup period,
and I know I'm kind of just jumping straight into context here.
I'm just jumping straight into a story.
But what we're talking about is we're talking about the king of Judah.
Josiah has come into power.
They found the Bible.
They're trying to get right with God.
And as a result of trying to get right with God,
he's trying to cleanse the kingdom.
And what does he do?
Well, in verse number four, he gets all of the false religion
that's in the house of God, and he tries to get it out of there.
You know, this would be like visiting the Catholic church,
the Roman Catholic church, and being like,
let's get the Mary statues out.
Right?
What if you bought a Catholic church building,
and you're going to repurpose it to be a Baptist church?
What would you first do?
You'd go in there, and you'd take all the idols,
and you'd get rid of them, right?
You'd destroy them and burn them.
But it's not just physical objects here.
You notice very carefully in verse number five,
and it says, and he put down the idolatrous priests.
So not only that, they got rid of all the false teachers,
false prophets, and the false priests
associated with false religion.
They got rid of the person.
Why didn't they just preach them the gospel,
Pastor Shelley?
Well, you have to understand that there's some people
that it's just too late for.
There's just some people that are just too wicked.
There's just some people that are just children of the devil.
And when you're a priest of Baal, you are a son of the devil.
And what do they do?
They just get rid of you.
And the Bible says they did that which was right
in the eyes of the Lord.
Every time you have the man of God doing that,
which is right in the eyes of the Lord,
he's putting down the false priests,
the false prophets, the false teachers.
This is what we have as context.
Look at verse six.
And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord
without Jerusalem and the Brook Kidron,
and burned it at the Brook Kidron,
and stamped it small to powder,
and cast the powder thereof upon the graves
of the children of the people.
That's an intense statement.
I mean, he's like,
not only am I going to destroy your groves
and all these items,
we're going to take the dust of this
and we're going to sprinkle it on your children's graves, too.
So not only is he ending it at that generation,
he's ending it for all generations.
You and your whole family,
we're putting them down and all your images,
and we're going to take the dust
and we're going to put it in the graveyards.
It kind of makes sense when you think about
how these satanic and occultic type groups,
where do they love to go to worship?
The graves, where their fathers are,
their spiritual fathers,
and do all these weird enchantments.
Why do they love graveyards and all of these weird places?
A lot of times that's a picture of where they're from.
And if you look at verse seven, it says this,
And he break down the houses of the Sodomites
that were by the house of the Lord,
the woman wove hangings for the grove.
Notice they're destroying,
they don't just destroy priests and Sodomites,
they destroy the houses of the Sodomites on top of it.
They don't even let their own structures survive.
That tells me there's something different about Sodomites.
Because, you know, it doesn't say,
And then they broke down the houses of the murderers.
And then they broke down the houses of the adulterers.
And then they broke down the houses of fornicators.
And then they broke down that, it doesn't say that.
It says they broke down the houses of who?
The Sodomites.
Meaning there was something different about Sodomites.
There's something different about their houses.
There's something different about the practices in which they do.
And the location where they're at.
And the associations that they have.
There's something evil about this.
We need to destroy not only them,
we need to destroy their houses on top of it.
Meaning there must be something different about Sodomites.
And, you know, it didn't just randomly change subjects.
Look at verse 8.
And he brought out all the priests out of the cities of Judah.
And defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba.
And break down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua,
the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.
Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem,
but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom,
that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
So he's saying, verses 4 and 5.
Hey, we're getting the images of Baal and priests of Baal.
Then we're getting all the groves and we're breaking down the houses of the Sodomites.
And we're getting all the other priests that just offered incense
and did other kinds of practices with these people.
And we're just putting them all down.
Why is it that you have priests of Baal, and then in the middle, Sodomites,
and then the priests offering all of this other incense to false gods and false religion?
Because there's a connection between Sodomites and false religion
and satanic false practices and satanic false religion.
There's something different about the Sodomites.
And a lot of times it's the same people.
A lot of times it's these priests are the Sodomites,
are these same types of individuals and the same people.
And we're going to see that even more in other texts of the Scripture.
We're going to see there's a strong connection to Sodomites and false religion,
false prophets, false teachers.
And notice he's sandwiching it all right here in the middle.
What is the horrible sin that he's bringing up that these priests are committing?
They're taking children and murdering children in this valley.
They're sacrificing children to the devil.
You've got the priests of Baal, Sodomites, sacrificing children to the devil.
And look, I'm telling you, these people are all related,
they're all buddies, they all like each other.
Why is it that the Sodomite community seems to just really be pro-abortion?
Like they are always seeming to go to the same rallies
and they're just so excited about the abortion rallies.
And then we see in the Bible, it's like,
oh yeah, Sodomites and these false religious teachers
and the people sacrificing children.
They're all connected in the Bible too.
It's not a coincidence, folks.
It's the same thing, it's the same group of people,
it's the same mentality, it's the same heart
because it's the same devil that's inhabiting these people
and causing them to do the worst sins to be sinners exceedingly.
Sinners exceedingly. Why?
Because there's something different about Sodomites.
They're sinners exceedingly, they're blinded,
and you know what?
When men of God dealt with them correctly,
you know what they did?
They break down their houses.
They didn't just say these people are bad.
They're literally destroying their habitations.
And it even keeps going, let's read a little bit more.
Verse 11.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun
at the entering into the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan Belek,
the Chamberlain, which was in the suburbs and burned the chariots of the sun with fire,
and the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz,
which the kings of Judah had made,
and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord,
did the king beat down and break them down from thence
and cast the dust of them into the book Kidron,
and the high places that were before Jerusalem,
which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption,
which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Asherah,
the abomination of the Zidonians,
and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites,
and for Milkom, the abomination of the children of Ammon,
did the king defile.
And it says in verse 40,
and he break in the pieces of the images and cut down the groves
and filled their places with the bones of men.
So he turns all these things into graveyards.
He just destroys them, breaks all their images,
breaks all their houses.
Notice that these freaks had something weird to do with horses and animals.
And this is how false religion always is.
They always are doing weird things with animals
and all kinds of weird acts.
All of this stuff just needs to be completely just destroyed,
just turned into a graveyard somewhere no one even wants to go,
just completely and utterly just desecrated.
Because, you know what, it's gross, it's disgusting,
and there's something different about these people.
And I don't even want to know what it is.
Just destroy it.
Just burn it.
Just knock it down.
We're not selling this San Francisco lot.
It's just, hey, we're just turning it into a graveyard.
And notice again, that coupling.
It's sandwiches.
Sodomites are right in the middle of all this.
Would any Christian think that there was anything normal
about being in the midst of this conversation?
We're talking about bail, children's sacrifices,
false religion, the abominations here.
And is it any coincidence that, notice who's kind of being brought up
at the tail end of this, the children of Ammon and Moab.
Well, who are the Ammonites and the Moabites?
If you actually study it, they come from Lot's daughters.
And where did Lot's daughters come from?
Oh yeah, Sodom, where they ended up learning
a lot of these practices, didn't they?
So do you think there's any coincidence
that a lot of these acts are coming from two women
that learned a lot of stuff about Sodom,
and Sodom was sinners exceedingly before the Lord?
I'm betting the men of Sodom
probably were doing a lot of the same stuff, weren't they?
Probably involved in a lot of these same activities,
as we see kind of coming from the same origin.
And even today, it's the exact same practices.
Now, I want you to go to Jude, in the New Testament.
Let's flip all the way to Jude.
So point one, why do you think there's something different
about Sodomites passionately?
Well, number one, it says they're sinners exceedingly.
Number two, they were blinded in the story about them.
Number three, the righteous men
were always breaking down their houses.
Show me another text where we see another group of sinners
where all the righteous kings broke down their houses.
Oh, and then the king did that which is right in the eyes of the Lord,
and he broke down the houses of the murderers,
and broke down the houses of the adulterers,
and broke down the houses...
You know, it doesn't say that, does it?
But it does say it about Sodomites multiple times.
And they're sandwiched in false religion.
Here's a fourth point, and I'm not going to go to any text on this.
I'm just kind of bringing up this point
because it's kind of a point that doesn't have a text.
That's the point.
Show me a Sodomite who's saved in the Bible.
They're just never saved in the text.
Like, you never see, like,
oh, and there was this one disciple who just was a Sodomite, right?
Or there's this one man of God who used to be a Sodomite.
Or there's this guy over here that's this ex-Sodomite,
or still a Sodomite.
Like, we just never have that.
But we have plenty, plenty of examples of men of God
or disciples having a litany of sins.
And we've got murderers doing stuff for God.
I mean, how about Moses?
Moses the murderer.
Moses kills a guy and then later in life gets used by God.
King David, murderer, adulterer.
We see Samson.
Boy, did that guy have a harlot problem, okay?
I mean, this guy's got some serious issues.
I mean, we see men of God getting drunk.
We see men of God committing murder.
We see men of God committing prostitution.
We see men of God committing all kinds of crazy things.
I mean, Judah, he commits whoredom with a family member.
Like, that was, like, extra weird, okay?
We see all kinds of just crazy sin, crazy problems,
tons of examples of people.
I mean, we even see Ahab, who is super wicked, get saved.
I mean, Ahab humbles himself, gets right with the Lord.
It even appears that Manasseh may have even got right with the Lord
and gotten saved in a later portion of his life.
These guys are super evil into all kinds of horrible sins.
But you know what you just never find is that one Sodomite
who just got right with God and got saved.
That's significant, folks.
There's something different about Sodomites
because they just never get saved.
They're described as being exceeding sinful, as blinded.
We just break down their houses.
They're never saved.
And you know why I think they're never saved in the Bible?
Well, let's look what the Bible says about them in Jude.
Look at verse number 7.
This is describing, you know, really what I'm trying to say here.
But verse 7 says this,
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, notice this, of eternal fire.
Now, this is such an important phrase in your text
because Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed with fire physically,
but that wasn't an eternal fire.
That was just death.
And many people died, just a physical death.
Many people died in fire.
That doesn't mean that they went to hell.
But you know what this text is saying?
If you're suffering the vengeance of eternal fire,
it means you're in hell.
Meaning that what?
All the men of Sodom went to hell.
That means there's something different about them.
And notice he says this is an example to everybody.
Here's an example of people that are going to go to hell,
sodomites.
Why is it that you never find a saved sodomite in the Bible?
Maybe it's because they're always an example of someone that's going to hell.
How about that explanation?
Now, that actually seems to fit what the text literally says.
Show me where it doesn't say that.
Show me another text where the Bible says,
hey, this group of murderers are an example of people who suffer eternal fire.
Oh, you don't have that text.
Because you know what?
There's people that have committed murder that are in heaven.
You see all manner of other kinds of sin where people are in heaven.
And it doesn't say, hey, here's an example of people that are going to always go to hell,
but what is the Bible saying?
Here's a group of people that are an example of people that are going to go to hell,
and they were doing what?
They were going after strange flesh,
meaning they were desiring things that just don't even make sense,
weird, just perverted, queer, however you want to describe that.
But also notice if you pay attention to the context of Jude,
what's the context of Jude?
We're talking about false religion, aren't we?
We're talking about false providence.
Is it any coincidence that when we were in 2 Kings and we were talking about Sodomites,
it was in the middle of what context?
False religion and false prophets.
And then we get to Jude, what's the context again?
False prophets, and in the middle of it, who's it talking about?
Sodomites again.
That's not a coincidence, folks.
Look at verse 3.
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation,
it was needful for me to write unto you and to exhort you
that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered on the saints,
for there are certain men crept in unawares
who were before of old ordained to this condemnation.
You know what that means?
People that are going to hell.
Now, if I was going to write a whole passage saying,
hey, I want to remind you and tell you about people that are going to go to hell,
why would I then bring up a group of people that are not like that?
Right?
I mean, if I'm going to say, hey, I want to write a whole passage
and I want to explain to you how there's this group of people that are destined for hell,
then I'm going to bring up a group of people that are not destined for hell.
That wouldn't make sense, would it?
But, you know, what makes sense is if Sodomites are destined for hell
and then the passage talking about people who are destined for hell,
he brings them up in that passage, in that context.
Right?
I mean, isn't this really clear?
Hey, there's certain people, not everyone, just specific people,
that there's something different about them.
You know what's different about them?
They're destined for hell.
And who are those people?
False prophets, false teachers.
And who are they like?
They're like Sodom.
What does the word even mean in verse 7?
Specifically.
Specifically, Sodomites are people that are destined for hell.
What is verse 8, the first word there?
Likewise.
Meaning he's making a comparison.
Making a comparison of who to whom.
He's making a comparison of Sodomites to who?
False prophets.
Saying that false prophets are the same as whom?
Sodomites.
Likewise, also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh,
despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
What verse 8 is saying is it's saying that likewise,
false prophets also do what?
They also defile the flesh.
They also despise dominion.
They also speak evil of dignities.
So who did that originally?
Sodomites.
Sodomites are the ones who defiled the flesh.
They're the ones who despise dominion.
They're the ones who speak evil of dignities.
And he's saying, just like they did it,
false prophets do the exact same thing.
Meaning there's a really strong connection
to false teachers and Sodomites.
Because they do similar things where they destroy their bodies,
they hurt their bodies, they defile their bodies,
they do gross things to their bodies.
Consistently in the Bible, the prophets,
they cut themselves.
They're cutting themselves, they dress weird,
they're hurting themselves,
they're performing all kinds of perverted acts.
And this is why, you know,
we should discourage our children
from getting into the, like, goth lifestyle
and these emo lifestyles.
Because a lot of these groups and teenagers,
you know what?
They're getting into these weird perverted things, aren't they?
Wearing only black, putting on lipstick,
cutting themselves, listening to weird satanic music,
going to graveyards, hanging there out at night.
They say, look, what are they trying to be like?
They're trying to be like Sodomites
and false teachers and false prophets.
Hey, you know what? We shouldn't be like them.
There's something different about them,
but we don't want to be like them.
Look, there's nothing wrong with being different.
Being different can be good.
But you know what? This kind of difference is bad.
We don't want to just be different to be different for different's sake.
We want to be different because it's right.
But these people are being different
because they want to be evil and wicked.
And there's something different about these Sodomites,
there's not another seminary in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
that's dedicated to promoting a major sin.
There are literal whole seminaries and whole universities,
like Bright Divinity School, that's basically solely promoting
Sodomy is a cool thing, as a good thing,
and they fly the rainbow flags.
I mean, they're pumping out preachers and pastors
who are literal Sodomites.
But show me the university in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
that's saying, hey, we're the pro-murderer divinity school.
Right? We support murderous pastors.
And so there's this stigma against murderers,
and we want to resolve it,
and we want to start ordaining murderers as pastors.
Show me that specific divinity school.
Show me the specific divinity school that says,
you know what, we think that pastors should be hardcore drunkards.
Like, we're pro just drinking as much...
That's the Roman Catholic Church, sorry.
It's like, where's the seminary where they're just saying,
you know what, adulterers are getting such a bad rap,
and we want to make sure that adulterers are being sent out
to be pastors all over the country,
so if you've committed all kinds of adultery,
come here, sign up, and we're going to talk to everybody
and show you how adultery is not a problem.
We don't see that.
You don't see any other major sin being highlighted
in seminaries and Bible colleges around the country
and being promoted, like you do sodomy.
But you do have literal bright divinity school
and other seminaries going around,
pontificating about how they're so much more godly,
and they're going to send out these literal open sodomites
and dykes and lesbians as pastors.
Why? Because there's something different about sodomites, folks.
Why are they so obsessed with being a pastor?
Why are they so obsessed with infiltrating churches?
Why are they so obsessed with putting a flag up on churches today?
Where's the murder flag?
Where's the adultery flag?
Where's the drunkard flag?
Where's all the other sin flags?
There's something different about them, isn't there?
They fly their flag, they're exceeding sinful,
they're blinded, their houses should be broken down,
and their church buildings should be broken down.
And you know what? They're never saved in the Bible.
And you know what? According to the Bible,
they're an example of people that are going to suffer eternal fire.
That's what the Bible's saying so far.
Now, there's a lot more in the text we talk about.
Let's go to Romans chapter 1.
Romans chapter number 1.
So far, we're just bringing up all the passages that talk about sodomites.
You're not painting a very pretty picture, Pastor Shelley.
I'm sorry, I'm just reading what the Bible says.
Do you not like the Bible?
Why don't you preach something loving?
Well, you know what? I love the Bible.
Sorry you don't love the Bible.
Nobody has a problem with negative things in any other context.
They go see movies and it's filled with evil characters and villains
and bad scenes and bad things happen.
Why don't they go, oh, this movie's so hateful.
It's like, look, that's just how the world works.
Some parts are good, some parts are bad.
Some characters are good, some characters are bad.
And look, the Bible has a lot of bad characters.
Who's one of the biggest bad characters in the Bible?
Sodomites. It's consistent.
It's regularly taught about.
Well, that's Old Testament.
We've been in the New Testament so far.
Let's get some more New Testament.
So I've given you five points so far of why there's something different about them.
Here's the sixth point.
The sixth point of why there's something different about Sodomites
is that their sin is described as a revealed punishment.
Their sin is described as a revealed punishment.
Now look at what it says in verse 16.
What does the Bible say?
Number one, it says every single person who believes is saved.
Say, what's your view on salvation?
Every single person who believes is saved.
You're like, oh, you know, the new IFB teaches that you have to do works
in order to not be saved.
And I'm like, what?
And they're like, you have to not be a homo.
Well, first of all, that's not work for me, okay?
If that's work for you, you've got problems.
Number two, no, I've never said that.
There's no, like, adding works to salvation, okay?
And me thinking that homosexuals won't get saved
does not add works to the gospel.
Just like if I said, hey, do you think that Joe Biden can get saved?
I'd ask this question to all these people.
Do you think Joe Biden can get saved?
And you know what they'll tell me?
No.
Oh, so you're adding works to the gospel
because now you have to believe in Jesus and not be Joe Biden.
No, it's not the, I'm just having a personal opinion
about someone I don't think is ever going to believe in Jesus.
If he said, hey, I met a Mormon.
He's been a part of the Mormon Church his whole life.
He's gone on mission.
Hey, Pastor Shelley, do you think this person is going to get saved?
No, I don't.
But you know what?
I'm not adding works to the gospel.
I'm not saying, like, you have to believe in Jesus
and not be a Mormon for a few years of your life.
No, it's just those people just don't want to believe in Jesus
because if you've ever run into them and talked to them,
it's just like, they're a brain-dead zombie, folks.
They're just dead men walking.
They're, as the Bible describes, twice dead.
And you say, I didn't believe that.
Okay, well, you go with me to Utah or to Phoenix
and let's go talk to all these people
and see how many people you get saved.
Good luck.
The people that have done thousands and thousands of hours
soul-winning in these areas and talk to these people regularly,
they realize it's the biggest waste of time.
And, you know, here's another thing.
If I personally don't think someone can get saved or not,
it doesn't determine if they get saved or not.
They could still get saved, couldn't they?
Right?
And doesn't that happen?
Doesn't Jonah kind of not want the Ninevites to get saved?
And then they get saved anyways?
So, you know, oh, Jonah, you're sending everybody to hell.
He didn't want them to get saved.
And then he preached to them against his will
and they still got saved.
You know, and this is what's so funny to me.
People will accuse me of like,
you're sending homos to hell or something.
It's like I have literally given the gospel
to dozens and dozens of homos.
So go figure.
How many of you?
Well, none, okay?
Usually is what they would say.
And it's like if they could get saved,
I've done everything I could do anyways.
I've already done it.
And I guarantee more Sodomites have heard my preaching
than yours anyways.
They've probably heard me accidentally giving them
the gospel so many times it's not even funny.
They could probably quote it by now.
And is it any shock that usually
when you run into these people,
they could usually tell you the gospel
before you even showed up?
It wasn't the fact that they didn't know.
They don't want to believe it.
But what does the Bible say?
It says salvation, the way it gets revealed
is by someone opening their mouth
and telling them the gospel.
And isn't that what we see in our world today?
Show me the person that understands
Show me the person that understands the gospel
that didn't have someone explain it to them.
Where they were just sitting around
eating apples and an apple
fell from the tree and hit them on the head
and they just magically understood salvation.
Sorry Martin Luther, I don't think that's how it works.
People aren't just randomly
figuring out the gospel on their own, are they?
What's helping them figure out the gospel?
A soul winner showing up
and preaching the gospel
and then that makes the gospel what?
Revealed.
Made obvious, it's clear to them.
So what is the text saying?
It's saying something's being made obvious.
The gospel's being made obvious through what?
Preaching of the gospel.
Well, what's the next verse say?
For the wrath of God is revealed.
You have to, if you're going to interpret Romans 1
accurately or care about the text
you have to explain to me
how the wrath of God is being revealed.
Or what is revealing the wrath of God.
Because it's saying something is revealing
the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is revealed.
What is that then?
What is it? Well let's keep reading
and see if it will tell us what that is.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unguilements
and righteousness of men who hold the truth and unrighteousness
because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them.
So he's saying these people
it's obvious to them. Verse 18
I'm sorry, verse 22
Let's skip down a little bit.
Professing themselves to be wise they became fools
and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
Wherefore, God also gave them up
to uncleanness, to the lust of their own hearts
to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
Notice the Bible says in verse 24
that God gave certain people up.
He gave up on certain people.
He's done with them.
Why? Why did he do that?
It says in verse 24
Wherefore, meaning the reason why
What was the reason why?
Because they became a fool
and changed the glory of God
into an uncorruptible God.
Into an incorruptible God.
Into an image.
Or the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corrupt a man.
This sounds like idolatry.
I feel like I remember reading
in 2 Kings when we were talking about
these wicked people
that the first group was the idolatrous priest, wasn't it?
Turning God into images.
Turning God into
something that's corruptible
and worshiping that.
This sounds similar.
Meaning when the king
came to power
what did King Josiah do
with the idolatrous priest?
Did he reveal the gospel
to them to get them saved?
No, he just put them down, didn't he?
Look, if God gives up on you
why in the world am I?
How can I redeem you?
I can't redeem you.
And you know what the righteous king did?
He did that which is right.
He put down the idolatrous priest too, didn't he?
That's the right attitude.
It says in verse number 25
who changed the truth of God into a lie
and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator
who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause
God gave them up
unto vile affections.
So you're saying because they continued
they changed the truth of God into a lie.
They're serving and worshipping these false gods.
God is going to then give them up.
Notice, unto vile affections.
What is it? What is this vile affection?
Specifically, their women did change the natural use
into that which is against nature.
So the Bible is explaining
that because they went down this road
God specifically
gave them up
to do something gross
and what did they choose to do?
They chose to be homosexual.
They wanted to be homosexual
as a result of being given up by God
and hating God so much.
Verse 27
And likewise, meaning the same way the women did it
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman
burning their lusts one toward another
men with men working that which is unseemly
and receiving in themselves
that recompense of their error which was mean.
So if we just
try to be honest with the text
for a few minutes
it says something has been revealed.
The wrath of God. What is the wrath of God so far?
God gives you up.
God gives you up. God gives you over.
And what does he give you up to?
Vile something gross.
And what did they choose?
What was the lust out of their own heart?
To become a homosexual.
So they ended up becoming homosexuals
which is gross, which is vile according to the text
and notice it's a punishment.
So how do you know it's a punishment?
Well here's a really important word
maybe you could circle, underline, copy, memorize
How about in verse 27
that recompense
What is recompense?
It means he's rewarding them.
But you know it's not really a reward
because the reward is negative
it's a punishment.
What was their punishment?
It says in receiving in themselves
that recompense
or that punishment of their error
which was mean.
Meaning that they were punished
with what? Homosexuality.
Their sin according to the Bible
is not a normal sin
it's a punishment.
And what is the punishment
Making obvious or revealing?
Well what does it say in verse 18
for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
It's revealing a special punishment
to people that what?
Hate God
don't want to believe in him
What does it say in verse 28?
And even meaning specifically
as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge
God gave them over to a reprobate mind
to do those things that are not convenient
So he's saying, well hey
if you think about me, fine
I'll just completely reject your mind
I'll just totally give you
such a debased mind
a reprobate mind
to where you're going to do things
that are just unimaginable
And then it gives us a whole list
of the horrible things they do
including verse 30, haters of God
Now the Calvinist
he just says, oh this is just mankind in general
But wait a minute
Are we all just being punished
What does that say, being punished with homosexuality right now?
Is it like
95% of the world sodomites
until they get saved?
That's weird
That's gross, in fact
then it wouldn't even be a vile affection
because that's what everybody does
The reason why it's vile
is because most people think that it's gross
That's what makes it vile
That's why we think it's vile
And that's why it'll also never ever
be worldwide
It's going to be the common thing
because it's just naturally gross
So it's impossible to be widespread
It's only ever going to be
a subset of the population
because it is vile
because it is gross
because it's against nature
What is nature?
It's something you do without trying
You didn't have to tell me as a young man
that women were attractive
I didn't have to be convinced
No one had to explain it to me
I didn't have to go to a class
on why you should be attracted to women
It was just natural's reign
It was just automatic
That's what natural means
No one had to convince me to eat steak
It was great
It was wonderful
Someone had to do a lot of convincing
to tell me, hey, this cricket tastes good
This rat?
It's wonderful
It would take a lot of convincing
and I'm sure I still wouldn't even like it
Things that are just easy, natural
just come about without even trying
and you know what?
It's saying that this doesn't happen that way
There's not something natural about it
There's something unnatural about it
and it's a punishment
Now what other sin
in the Bible
is described as an obvious
punishment and wrath from God?
It doesn't say that
about other sins
It doesn't say, oh yeah, murder is this obvious
other punishment from God
or adultery is this obvious other punishment for God
or drunkenness is this obvious
other punishment from God
No, it's saying, hey, there's one sin
that we're bringing up
and it's in context
It's not questionable what the context is
The context is super clear
talking about men with men, women with women
what they're doing, that it's gross
and that it's a revealed punishment from God
That's the context
Meaning what?
Why?
They're being punished by God
They have the wrath of God upon them
They're reprobate according to the text
I didn't decide
I want sodomites to be reprobate
I just read what the text said and that's what it said about them
And a lot of people
get offended by this
They say, well I don't think that that's true
Well, okay, you can think whatever you want
But that's what the text says
Have we seen anything different
in any other portion of the Bible?
How can you then tell me the Bible, your final authority
if every single place that we bring up
they're not getting saved
And I want to bring up a seventh point
This is not necessarily
based on a specific text
I just want to bring in a little logic too
Because what if
someone just said something preposterous
What if they just said, you know what
I don't think that white people
can get saved
Well, you know what would prove that wrong in about five seconds?
The millions of white people that are saved
Right?
I mean, what if, you know
we live in an area that's like
got a large black population
What if we just said, well I don't think black people can get saved
But then you go and knock on the door
some young black person, you preach in the gospel
and then they believe it
It's like, wouldn't that kind of just throw it in your face?
And wouldn't you kind of get proven wrong just like that?
I mean, wouldn't it just be like, BAM!
And wouldn't be
probably the easiest way to get proven wrong
is doing soul winning
Like soul winning is going to really test
your doctrine
Because if you have something kind of weird
or off about your doctrine
Well, soul winning is going to constantly either confirm
or not confirm what you believe
If you say, I don't think Mormons
can get saved
But what if every single time we knocked on a Mormon door
they just kept getting saved
Wouldn't we be like, well I got to change my view on this
Or what if I said, I think Mormons are the most receptive people ever
And then you start knocking on all their doors
And then you start realizing, wow!
The most receptive people ever!
I mean, doesn't soul winning just instantly
prove to you your views
and your biases
And sometimes we have to shift our opinion
I think rich people get saved really easily
Well, try going soul winning in Southlake
Try going soul winning in Scottsdale, Arizona
Try going soul winning in the richer parts of the world
And you'll start realizing, like, that's not true
And then
You know, we keep testing this theory
Because we keep going to poor countries all over the world
And aren't they the most receptive places you've ever been in your life?
You know what I did?
I looked at all the areas around the Dallas-Fort Worth area
Years ago
And I was trying to figure out, we're going to do small town soul winning
What would be probably the most likely?
And I'm looking, hey, there's, like, Waco
There's Wichita Falls
A little bit north
There's Abilene
There's Ardmore, which is halfway in between
Oklahoma City and here
And we've gone to, like, all of these places
And then I also look, hey, what's the poorest city in America?
That's like a pretty big size city
You know what it said?
Shreveport, Louisiana
I said, I wonder if this place is going to be receptive to the gospel
And you know what?
Any of us that have been on these soul winning trips
And gone places, they realize, hey, Shreveport's better
Than a lot of the other areas we've gone to
It's just more receptive
Which keeps doing what?
It keeps confirming the idea that poor people
Are more receptive to the gospel
So let me explain something to you
If I
Got up here and said, I think that homosexuals
Can't get saved
And we have thousands and thousands
Of soul winners going out every single week
Across this country
Constantly running into these people
You know what would prove us wrong?
Them getting them saved all the time
But you know what we don't see?
Them getting saved
Not only do we not see them getting saved
If they could get saved like regular normal people
We wouldn't find one
We would find millions, folks
Because there's approximately
1% of our population that's homosexual
And if you look at this
What do we have, like 340 million people
Or something like that?
320 million Americans
What is 5% of that?
I mean, just 1% would be 3.2 million
What is that times 5?
We're talking 15 million people approximately
Okay
And in my estimation, at least
Around 5% of people seem to be saved
In America, right?
1 out of every 20
16 million people in any kind of subgroup
You're still talking
7, 800,000 people
That would be saved in that category
If they're the same as everybody else
But you know what we don't find in America?
7, 800,000 saved
Sodomites who believe in free grace
Who believe in salvation by faith alone
We don't find that
That's not even a question mark
If you can find that or not
People are like, well I found someone's cousin's brother's uncle's dog sitter
That's saved, and he's a sodomite
Well, number one
We don't know about that person
And let me ask you this question
How many people of your friends and family members
Would say that they're saved and they're not?
Like, the vast majority of them?
How about
Isn't the vast majority of people in this country
Claiming that they're saved not actually saved?
So then I'm supposed to believe
This super distant relative
Person that you've never met
Who claims to be saved is saved though
For sure
It just isn't, folks
It's not that hard
It's not rocket science to realize
Oh, but I found one out of a million
And they have the right answers
Okay, well you know who also gave the right answers?
Tyler Doka
Tyler Doka used to say that he was saved
And salvation was a free gift
And it was just by faith
Now he's Jesus Christ
So, does that
Hey, I found one person
That doesn't prove anything necessarily
And they didn't believe it
Okay
But let's just admit some fact
If we don't have seven to eight hundred thousand of them
There's something different about them, isn't there?
Then there's obviously something different
Because, you know, when we look at other sins
I know people that have committed a lot of other
Like, adultery, murder
All the things you can list on the map
And they're saved
But I just don't know that sodomite that's saved
For some reason
Why? There's something different about sodomites, folks
Now go into 1 Corinthians chapter number six
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number six
Here's what's funny
Even after all of that
All of the texts of the Bible
There'll still be people
I still don't agree with you
Okay, well, you know what?
You're probably not going to get convinced
I mean, if you can literally hear all of that
And then still say
You know what, I think it's just normal
And natural's rain
It's just kind of brain dead
And there's probably no help reviving you
But there's a couple passages that people
Bring up and they say
Well, I still think sodomites could be saved
And, you know, this is what somebody will
Accuse me if they say
You think that sodomy is an unforgivable sin
I don't think it's unforgivable sin
I think it's a punishment
That evidence is the fact
That you didn't want to believe in Jesus Christ
Okay, but someone could technically
Have been guilty of that sin
Okay, maybe they did it through
The act of being forced
Maybe they were taken advantage of
Maybe they were a child
Maybe they were young and got confused
Obviously it's not the sin that sends someone to hell
But people that are willingly and actively
Participating in that sin
They're a reprobate
They've been obviously given over to that
They're obviously being punished by God
There's something different about that individual
And they're gross
They're super, super gross
So, they'll say
Well, but you just don't believe the Bible
Because in 1 Corinthians 6 it says that
Sodomites are saved
And I'm like, okay, let's read the verse
Verse 9, this is what they bring up
Know ye not that the unrighteous
Shall not inherit the kingdom of God
Be not deceived
Neither fornicators, nor adulterers
Nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers
Of themselves of mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous
Nor drunkers, nor revilers, nor extortioners
Shall inherit the kingdom of God
Wasn't that so clear?
Wasn't that so obvious?
You know, it's kind of funny to me
When they act like their text is so clear
When it doesn't even bring up
What they're talking about
At all
It's a complete second or third type of logic
That they have to appeal to
Whereas all the passages that we brought up
Were the direct context
It was talking about sodomites
Specifically men with men
Saying that it's vile
Then they have to go to obscure texts
To try and say how we're wrong
And this text is just saying people are going to hell
That was the text
Did you read it with me?
Let's read it again
Verse 9
Know ye not that the unrighteous
Shall not inherit the kingdom of God
Saying this group of people that just got brought up
Will not go to heaven
Did you hear that?
This group of people are not going to heaven
This is a proof text
What does it say of people that are going to heaven?
Well it doesn't kind of start off
Saying the exact opposite
It does
Then they say
Verse 11
And such were some of you
But you're washed
But you're sanctified
But you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
By the spirit of our God
So this is their argument
They say, well in verse 9
The last phrase abuses themselves of mankind
Sodomites
And I would say almost every modern Bible
In this text
It does say sodomites
They do change the text to say that
It doesn't say abuses themselves of mankind
Many lexicons
Which lexicon is just another word
For dictionary
Many lexicons will say
That this word means
Sodomites
You break the word down
And it kind of just says like men in bed
But it doesn't say sodomites
It just kind of says that so then it's assumed
As being sodomites again
So I want to approach this
As looking at it from both angles
For a second
One angle would be
Maybe this doesn't mean sodomites
And then let's just say it is
First of all
I want to give my line of thinking
Why I think this is not sodomites
Or could not be sodomites
Number one
Is ambiguous, right?
Abusers of themselves of mankind doesn't denote
If we're talking about men or women
Because it's just saying abusers
Which is just kind of ambiguous
And I would argue that the King James translators
When they approach this underlying
Greek word or translating the Bible
Recognize there's some level of ambiguity
To the text
Therefore they left it as ambiguous
So I don't think
That it's actually clear
That it's sodomites
They just put men with men
It's not like they didn't know how to use that phrase
It's using Romans chapter number one, isn't it?
It's not like they're afraid of making mention of that topic
They made mention of that topic in other places
So if they're going to put
Abusers of themselves of mankind
Leads to some level of ambiguity
And I would suggest that it's plausible
That it is ambiguous
It could just be in reference to prostitution
Okay
That's a very valid interpretation
We know from later in the text
Fornication is a sin against your own body
And let's be honest
Prostitutes are usually abusing themselves
If you look at this in Ezekiel
And you look at the horrors of Ezekiel
The two women, a whole Obama
You know, their sisters
It says they're bruising their teats
Like it's talking about
Abuse
And what they're doing to their bodies
The Bible talks about fornication defiling the body
So it's not a stretch
To suggest that
He's just talking about female prostitution
Okay
Here's another reason why I think
It's very likely
This is not bringing up homosexuals
Is look at chapter 5 verse 1
The Bible says
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you
And such fornication
As is not so much as named
Among the gentiles that once had had his father's wife
This is an important phrase
Because number one
We don't really know what the historical
Context was like in the first century
No one does
Anybody that's gonna tell you
With just absolute certainty
This is exactly what the culture was like
In first century
Is a liar
They have no idea
Now what they will do typically
Is they'll try to take some
Primary sources
And they'll read about their journal entry
Of what the world was like
And then they'll super
Pose that as just history
But there are very few texts
Let me explain something
None of them were written in English
So they obviously had to get translated
And many times these translators have very
Personal biases that they read in these texts
Let alone
Who do we know's diary even survived?
I mean are we gonna trust
Josephus
The first century Christ rejecting Jew
As being the most authoritative subject
I mean what if the only thing that survived
In the future or 2000 years in the future
Was Ben Shapiro's diary
And his viewpoint on the world
Are we gonna really say that that's the most
Accurate reflection of what society was truly like
Or what if we found
Anderson Cooper
His writings or a clip from
The Anderson Cooper show
Or Dave Rubin
Or just any singular person
What if we just found a random Hindu
Or a random Buddhist
Or a random Roman Catholic
Who's gonna be super tainted
You know many people today
That don't live here
They literally think that we ride on horses
To work and wear cowboy hats everywhere
That's what they think
Texas literally is
And many times when we think about foreign
Countries we kind of superimpose
The same barbarism
To them we think of like Africa's
They're all running around in tents
Half naked
You know whatever
You know when we talk about the reservations
Like I'm not joking when Pastor Anderson was talking
About visiting Indian reservations
I'm literally thinking about people riding around on horses
With like bows and arrows
And they're just like
You know
But then you show up and it's just like an apartment
With a guy that looks Hispanic
Like oh okay
You're an Indian? Okay
Whatever
Like you know sometimes we have
The wrong idea of the world
And without travel like we do
With airplanes and cars
And the internet
How ignorant we would be
Of what the world is really like
When we're just so isolated
Yet we're gonna take a singular primary source
That wasn't saved
And then tell everybody the history
Of what the world was really like back then
You know there's an agenda
To also try to say that everyone was
Like a sodomite in the times past
Like every civilization in the past
Embraced or loved homosexuality
The Greeks were just super into homosexuality
And the Romans were super into homosexuality
I've read a lot of things
That contradict that
And actually that the Romans and the Greeks
Were not like that by and large
And that it was only a special small
Group of elites that are kind of like
Your Epstein Island type folks
Where all of society looks down
And hates
So we don't really know
They say oh but look at all the pottery
Of homo art from Greece
And they're like okay well there's 30
Fragments out of a hundred thousand
It's not a lot
I would almost argue that
There's more today
In our art and culture by proportion
Than that
So I think that there's a lot
Of revisionist history folks
But what you can trust is what the Bible says
About the culture of the day
And what does the apostle Paul says the culture was like
He says
Notice very carefully in the text
That this fornication is not so much
As named
Among the Gentiles
Saying that this type of fornication
Did not exist at all
No one
No Gentile
Was guilty of this
No one was guilty of this type of fornication
Anywhere in society
So you expect me to believe
That in this society
No one would have ever been caught guilty
Of this type of fornication
But then there's just tons of sodomites
Walking around
That doesn't make sense at all folks
That would be like saying hey
At this restaurant
They would be super offended
If you serve them quail or rabbit
But they do have
Rat and bugs
And all kinds
Balut on the menu
And you're like who would be offended
By balut
Or a rat
Like can you imagine someone being like
I'm not offended by rat but rabbit's gross meat
It's like no
The person that's willing to eat rabbit
Or the person that's willing to eat rat
Will definitely eat rabbit
You know what I mean? So it's like if there's just
Sodomy in homosexuals is just rampant
In society and it's common in their society
Then this type of fornication
For sure
Not be looked at as being so gross or vile
Or being so perverse
I mean this is
Way more normal
Of a man desiring his father's wife
Than sodomites
So that's another reason why I think
He's not bringing that up
In the next chapter
Wouldn't that be kind of weird
Hey the fornication you guys are into
No one out there would ever dream of doing that
But it is filled with sodomites
It's like what?
That doesn't really make sense
It makes more sense that neither of those things
Were happening in that society
And they would have been grossed out by both
That's my appeal
To say that that's not saying it
Let's just say for argument's sake
It is saying sodomites
You know it still doesn't change my opinion
On anything I've taught so far
Because first of all what did the text say?
None of this group of people are going to heaven
Sodomites aren't going to heaven
Oh can we figure out what the context
Of the first Corinthians 6 is again?
Oh yeah isn't it? If I have a disagreement
With someone in church that I shouldn't sue them
Let's just think of the broad context here
Don't go
And sue your brother at court
Because outside these walls
It's filled with drunkards
And idolatrous people
And even sodomites
And you know what?
Some of us were even in the world
And defiled
And committed bad sins
But now we are not like that anymore
That doesn't mean that he's saying
That people in here are literally sodomites
It's just saying hey
We used to be filled with lots of sins
And if you've noticed the list
It matches first Corinthians 5 almost
Like identically
Where it's bringing up the exact same sins
Idolatry, fornication, extortioners, covetous
And they're not welcome at church are they?
You have to be a repentant
Fornicator, idolater, covetous person
Or whatever to get back into church
So it's more likely that he's referencing
That kind of a context of saying
Hey, don't get judged by the wicked people
That are committing these wicked sins
And some of you might have been engaged in some of those wicked sins
But you know what?
Now you're saved and you're not living that type of lifestyle anymore
You're not doing those type of things anymore
And it's not the meaning that they have to do that to be saved
It's just saying
People inside the church
Aren't allowed to be an idolater
They're not allowed to be a railer
They're not allowed to be a fornicator
So if you have a civil matter
You'd be better off getting judged by
Someone in church
Than these weird wicked people that are out in the world
And you know what?
If you actually enforce a high level of church discipline
You actually make the least member in church
Of a somewhat high status
Right?
Because even just the person in church
They're already identified as someone that's not an idolater
Or a railer
Or an extortioner
Or a covetous person
Meaning that they're qualified to judge
What was one of the qualifications of becoming a judge under Moses' system?
Someone who's hating covetousness
And notice you kind of have to cross that same bar
To be in church
And to be someone that's esteemed worthy enough
To judge in the house of God
But it makes no sense for us to go
To law with one another
Why in the world
Would I ignore the fact that the Bible says
That these Sodomites are sinners exceedingly
They were blinded
Their houses were broken down
They're never saved in the Bible
They're an example of eternal fire
And a manifestation of God's wrath
We don't have the same
Percentage of them saved in our society as we do today
And then I read a text about
Losses between believers and say
Throw all that out, nope, sodomites will be saved
That's not being honest with the text
That's just
That's just really
Flipping the Bible on its head
And, you know, if they're just
Normal and get saved like everybody else
Then you know what people do, they'll start bringing them into church too
Won't they?
And wouldn't they love that?
Wouldn't a bunch of false prophets
And pedophiles and freaks
Love to be welcomed into church
And to try and get them saved
No, hey, if God gave you up
Sorry, I'm done with you too
And just because I don't think they can get saved
Someone can get saved
Doesn't impact their eternity or not
Oh, well, how are they gonna get saved
With people like you
Well, you know what, there's a hundred to one
creatures that believe differently than me
Like the vast majority of them
Don't agree with me, let them get them
Saved then
Right, why do I have to be the person to reach
All of them
You know, I'm not gonna reach them
But I guarantee I'll still reach more than you
Because I still go out soul winning and accidentally give them the gospel
All the time
And they never ever ever
Ever believe
And it's not because I don't want them to
It's because they don't want to
Because, you know, I don't want anyone to go to hell
I don't really have a desire
I don't have a personal death wish towards anybody
I would love for everybody to get saved
And you know what, there was never a point in my life where I just thought
I really hope homelands can't get saved
It's just, just like running into Mormons
That have been out on mission multiple times
You start realizing I'm wasting my time
And here's another big motive though
I hate children getting molested
And you start realizing
It's the same group
I hate children being aborted
I hate children being sacrificed
To false religion
I hate pastors getting up and teaching lies
And oh boy, isn't there a lot of sodomites
That are these fake pastors
And frankly speaking, I think we should preach
What the Bible says about them
And not blush
So I am gonna preach what the Bible says about them
They're an example of people that are gonna suffer the vengeance of eternal fire
That's what it says
If you don't like that
Then you don't like the Bible
But what's really clear
In the text, no matter what you say
There's something different
About sodomites
And you would be a fool
Not to pay attention to the fact that the Bible
Says there's something different about these people
I think you should stay away from them
Completely
Have nothing to do with them
I don't waste my time giving them the gospel
I don't want to be around them
And you know, as a policy of our church
Even if
Even if they could get saved
I don't think they can
Even if they could, they're still not welcome in my church
I don't want
Oh, I'm an ex-sodomite, bye
That's an automatic
Disqualification card for me
Just like being a pedophile
Well, I'm an ex-pedophile, bye
Okay, I'm just not
Church and these children
Are too precious to me
I don't believe you, number one
Even if you were telling the truth, no
I don't care
I do think that in our society
There's going to be a lot of teenagers and kids
That they just say they're a sodomite or something
And they're not
And you know, hey, give them the gospel
I'm not against giving people the gospel
I'm sure a lot of those people could be saved
Just because we live in such a gender-bending, weird society
But I'm telling you what, adults that are living in this lifestyle are done
And I'm done with them
And I want nothing to do with them ever
Ever
And you know what, I have to stand in judgment of God
And I would rather stand on that
And welcome them in here
And flying a rainbow flag
Because there's something different about sodomites
Let's go some prayer
Thank you Heavenly Father so much for giving us the Bible
And giving us warning about evil people that exist in our society
Thank you for not making it ominous
Where we would have no idea
Who's an evil person
But rather just making it super clear
Who's wicked
And I pray that we wouldn't be afraid
To point out the people that you've pointed out to us
That we wouldn't be afraid
We wouldn't be afraid of saying
That people are experiencing the wrath of God
When that's very clearly what you're doing to them
And I pray that we'd actually fear you
And not man
We wouldn't care what man thinks or what man says
But rather we would trust in the Holy Word
We would trust in the scripture
And that we would be aware of evil and wicked men
We'd be aware of dogs
We'd be aware of the sodomites
That we wouldn't have anything to do with them
And I pray that you would help our church
To have the right mindset
And the right attitude about the text of scripture
And that we would look at it as a whole
And not try to cherry pick
Or get led astray
By evil teachers
And I just thank you for all that you give us
In Jesus' name we pray, amen
Alright, for our final song this evening
Let's flip to 472
This is my Father's world
472
This is my Father's world
472
This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres
This is my Father's world
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees
Of skies and seas
His hand the wanderers run
This is my Father's world
The birds their carols raise
The morning light the lily white
Declare their Maker's praise
This is my Father's world
He shines in all that's fair
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass
He speaks to me everywhere
This is my Father's world
Oh, let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems off so strong
God is the ruler yet
This is my Father's world
The battle is not done
Jesus who died shall be satisfied
And earth and heaven be won
Thank you all for coming, God bless, you are dismissed
Thank you, God bless, you are dismissed