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It's great, I got some of them. I'm going to play a little bit of piano. Over a thousand tongues you see, my great redeemer's praise. The glory of my God and King, the triumph of his praise. My righteous minister and my God, assist me to proclaim. To spread the law of the earth above, he honors of my name. He's just a name that charms our fears, that wanes our sorrows sees. This music in the sinner's ears, is life and health and means. He breaks the power of castle sin, he sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the palace clean, is but a veil for me. On the last year, he kept his praise, he dove for lucid tongues and void. He lied behold your sinners known, and he delayed for joy. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Taste the promise of God, hold salvation to him. But to him who on Jesus his son will believe. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Oh, that may be only with dangerous truths. But only Jesus is able to carry me through. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. I believe on the son, I am saved by the crucified one. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. There's a part in that forest for you and for me. And the theme of our praises forever will be. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. Hallelujah tis done, I believe on the son. I am saved by the blood of the crucified one. All right, welcome to Strong Old Baptist Church this Wednesday night. This time we'll go through our announcements. So if you don't have a bulletin, you can slip your hand up real high. One of our ushers will make sure that they get one to you. And if you open up to the first page, you'll see the service items listed there as always Sunday morning. At 1030 Sunday evening, again at 5 p.m. Wednesday night 7 is of course our Bible study. We've got the soul winning opportunities listed there as well as the salvation and the baptisms for the month of August as well as for the year. Let's go ahead and count up if there's any salvations to report that haven't been counted yet. Just let me put your hand up real quick. Monday? Monday. All right. Two for Monday. Anyone have anything else? Very good. Keep up the good work preaching the gospel. We've got the offering totals listed there through the month of August as well as then that that new event that we started at 1 o'clock here after the morning service on Sundays. For children doing the sword drills and Bible memory and trivia. All kinds of fun stuff there. We just got a whole bunch more prizes in stock today. So there's more things added to to incentivize the kids and give some some prizes out. So still waiting to get back on the other prizes I purchased for everybody else that completed the challenges. So now it's a waiting game on that. But you're used to that anyways. Right. So. All right. Continuing on, let's go to the prayer list because there's we've added a bunch of people and let's go over the list and see what we have going on here. So. Of course, to pray for all the ladies who are expecting. And then, of course, all the people who have been continuing to experience the pains and diseases and things that they've been going through. Many of these that are on the list are going to be on the list for a while. So please don't forget about them and continue to pray for their comfort and health. And then we added Donnie Lawrence, who has lost a father and a grandfather within a real short period of time to pray for his comfort. Braid in Paris has an abscessed tooth and is going to be getting an extraction. Done to help with that. So pray for him and his discomfort. And then brother D.J.'s cousin, extended relative Dominic, was diagnosed with severe skid, severe combined immuno deficiency. So very serious there. Pray for all of that. And then continue to pray for Mrs. Logan. She's in a lot of pain and discomfort as well. So obviously they haven't they haven't been in the services for a little while because of these issues. So please, please pray for her. And, you know, if you live by him and you're able to help him out, too, with anything, I'm sure they would appreciate that as well. They haven't asked for anything from me or from the church, but I know that it's not easy for them right now. So we're definitely pray that that they'll figure out the source of her ailments and even more importantly, pray that God will heal her and just help her and help the family and bless them and bless them for their faithfulness. Great family serving Lord here. So please, please pray for them. Does anyone have any updates to update us with for a prayer list? All right. Well, continuing on, of course, down there, bottom there on the prayer list, Pure Words Baptist Church is and that's going to remain the name of the church. So the pastor, once he's ordained, Alvarez, Evangelist Alvarez is going to retain name. Makes sense to me, but they'll be fully independent. And it's exciting to hear about that ordination. So I'm looking forward to them. But pray for them. Pray for the church and the ministry and pray that God will bless all that's being done down there in Houston. All right. Fundamentals Conference is like a week away. It was a week and a half. So a week and a day, I guess. It starts Thursday, the 22nd, a week from tomorrow will be the first service. Hope you can make it out for that. It'll be kind of a long stretch of church if you're able to make it. We'll still have our Wednesday night Bible study. We'll have Thursday night service. We'll have Friday night service. We'll have Saturday soul winning. And then we'll have a Sunday to top off the whole fundamentalist conference. So really looking forward to that. It's going to be a lot of fun. Hope you can make it out to that. And then the following weekend is Labor Day weekend. So then you get a little bit of a break. Normally we do the soul winning marathon and event on the Labor Day weekend. We do a Labor for the Lord. But this week we're going to let you get that break for the whole weekend. And because we're putting in a lot of effort the week prior. So really looking forward to that. It should be great. Come come here, Pastor Reyes. Come here, Pastor Mejia. And support them. And I'm sure you'll get a blessing for whatever it is that they're going to be teaching on at that conference. So please come out for that. Men's preaching class is announced here Saturday, September 7th at 10 a.m. right here. You must be a soul winner if you want to preach. So just keep that in mind. But prepare a 5 to 15 minute sermon in length. And yeah, all men are welcome to attend the class. So hopefully you can make it out to that. Bible memory passage is there. Hebrews 12. We're about a third of the way through. So we should have memorized up through verse 10 by the end of this week. And of course, you'll be able to earn a prize if you could quote the whole passage before the deadline. You've got to quote it word perfect. You can't go back and look things up and be like, hold on a minute. You know, you've got you've got to quote all 29 verses from memory. It's got it's got to come out all at once. And all correctly, by the way, too. You've got to have it down. It's got to be word for word. So now, if you did catch a mistake on your own that you make, you can correct yourself. But, you know, if you've got someone checking you and you're like, no, that's not right. Like, wait, let me try again. Oh, no, that's not right. No, let me try again. No, that's then you've got to get it down a little bit better than that. All right. I don't cover the rules that often, but because we do the honor system here. But it's that's that's what I'm expecting when you say you've memorized the passage, is that you can actually quote the whole passage without stumbling and tripping and over over like all your words or whatever. So, yes, it's work. It's not always easy to get it done, but that's what we were expected to get the prize. So we'll maintain that standard. Down at the bottom of the page, we've got the upcoming birthdays and anniversaries. And what day is today? Today's the 14th. The 14th. You just barely got out of it. Miss Nye's got a birthday tomorrow. So happy birthday in advance. I hope you have a good day tomorrow. And then you can see, of course, the rest of the birthdays and the anniversaries for the rest of the month of August there. And then on the back is just a spot for your sermon notes. You want to take some notes while the preaching is going on. I encourage you to do that. And tonight, if you're not familiar with the subject of the reprobate doctrine, I definitely encourage you to take some notes because we're hitting a lot of different passages that will prove the doctrine that's believed here at this church. And, yeah, there's definitely good references you're going to want to go back and study later. Like I said, especially if it's something newer to you and you're unfamiliar with it, please take the notes. Look up the passages later. Make sure you understand and you know that that you're understanding scripture right and that I'm teaching it right. So it's your job to make sure that's what's happening here. Yeah, that's about it for the announcement. So I don't think I have any other bits of housekeeping. So, well, if I do, it's escaping my attention now. Brother Peter, please come up and lead us our next song. Who will go and work for me today? Who will bring to me the lost and dying? Who will point them to the narrow way? Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I'll be quick to answer thee. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I will answer, Lord, send me. When the halls of fire have touched upon him, Making him as pure as food can be, When the voice of God says, Who will go for us? In the answer here am I, send me. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I'll be quick to answer thee. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I will answer, Lord, send me. Will he's now in sin and shame or dying? Listen to the sad and bitter cry. Hasten, brother, hasten to the rescue. Quickly answer, Master, here am I. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I'll be quick to answer thee. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I will answer, Lord, send me. On the last? Soon the time will be, it will be over. Soon we'll gather for the harvest, Lord. May the Lord have harvest all upon us. May we hear his blessing child well done. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I will be quick to answer thee. Speak, my Lord. Speak, my Lord. Speak and I will answer, Lord, send me. Ask ushers if they could please set up for Wednesday evening offering. My church will be offering plates for being passed around. If you could please hold them from your by-boards to Jeremiah chapter 6. That is Jeremiah chapter 6. And as we do customary hear something about this church, we want to read the entire passage of the Bible recording. Amen, church. Once again, that is Jeremiah chapter 6. The Bible reads, O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethlehem, for evil appearth out of the north and great destruction. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. The shepherds with their flocks shall come on to her. They shall pitch their tents against her roundabout. They shall feed every one in this place. Prepare ye war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us, for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces. For thus have the Lord of hosts said, Hear ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem. This is the city to be visited. She is holy oppression in the midst of her, as a fountain casted out her waters, so she cast it out her wickedness. Violence and spoil is heard in her. Before me continually is grief and wounds. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine. Turn back thine hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their air is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach. They have no delight in it. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord. I am weary with holding in. I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the agent with him that is full of days, and their houses shall be turned on to the others, with their fields and wives together. For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness, and from the prophet, even unto the priest, every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed an abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed. Neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths. Where is the good way? And walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifice is sweet unto me. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them. The neighbor and his friends shall perish. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughters of Zion. We have heard the fame thereof, our hands wax feeble. Anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail. Go forth into the field, go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way, for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes. Make thee morning, as for an only sun, most bitter lamentation, for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know, and try their way. They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders. They are brass and iron, they are all corrupters. The bellows are burnt, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melted in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver, shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the King James Bible and for this church. We thank you also for the Church of South Carolina. Thank you for like-minded churches around us, God, that we can be able to preach the word and also be able to teach and show others the errors of the way, but also, God, that this world will be able to turn to you and also that you can be a light in all the dark places, God. We just praise you and thank you that we can bring the gospel to many creatures and to make sure that everybody is able to hear and to also know who you are. God, we also thank you for Pastor Burz. That we may be able to rightly defy this word and for us to be able to take in the word and take copious notes that we can take home with us. We praise you and we thank you for all that you do. We say this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. All right, so in Jeremiah Chapter 6, I'm actually going to go a little bit more quickly through some of the verse by verse because I do want to just focus on the content, the doctrine, where we find that very last verse. It says, Reprobate silver, shall men call them, because the Lord has rejected them. But we're going to still go through this, but ultimately from a high level, there's not too much different from what we've already seen and really this ending couple verses in Chapter 6 is almost like a culmination of what's been coming forth in the past few weeks anyways. If you were here last week, you're going to remember, hopefully remember, what I taught last week and how the reprobate subject just came up naturally, like it's just in the text. And if you weren't here for that, I recommend you go back and listen to that too because it truly is important establishing the context, right? That we're not just jumping, I'm not just going to jump to this one verse and then just teach a whole doctrine on it. It literally is providing the foundation with then the terminology being used here at the end and we'll even see this leading up to in this chapter as well. So it was last week, this week, where things are kind of coming to a head with just the wickedness of Judah, the wickedness of Israel and Judah. Actually, they're both preached against even though Israel has already been judged. They're still being preached against and receiving the word of the Lord. So all that being said, let's dig in here with verse number one. The Bible says, O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem and blow the trumpet to Noah and set up a sign of fire in Bethacharim for evil appearth out of the north in great destruction. This is the prophesying of the destruction that's coming to Jerusalem. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. The shepherds with their flock shall come unto her. They shall pitch their tents against her round about. They shall feed everyone in this place. Prepare ye war against her. Arise and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. Why is it? Because it's getting dark and there's, you know, the forces are coming. The troops are coming. And now the woeful day is approaching. And, you know, just the illustration of the shadows getting longer, it's getting darker in the day. The time is getting closer of their destruction and that kind of impending doom is what's being illustrated here. Verse number five, Arise and let us go by night and let us destroy her palaces. For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees and cast a mount against Jerusalem. This is the city to be visited. She is wholly oppression in the midst of her. So Jerusalem is being described here, and we're going to continue to see this, like as just being corrupt kind of to the core. So it says she's wholly oppression in the midst of her. They're not being oppressed. They're doing the oppressing even within their own gates. Like there's this oppression going on within Jerusalem. Verse number seven says, As a fountain casteth out her waters. I mean, think of a water fountain and it's spraying up and it's shooting up that water. As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness. So, again, illustrating the level of wickedness, like it's just being put out on display. I mean, big fountains of water, they're so beautiful, they're nice. You put in the center of a courtyard or something, like, hey, everyone, look, this is kind of the centerpiece, and everyone looks at that. Well, the centerpiece of Jerusalem is just a whole bunch of wickedness just being spewed out. Violence and spoil is heard in her. Before me continually is grief and wounds. And, you know, this is, I would say this is a similar condition to Sodom, when, before God rained fire and brimstone upon Sodom, because there were prayers that the people were going up and ascended up to heaven of all of the abuse and all of the wickedness that was going on. That's why he sent his two angels just to verify, not that God needs, you know, extra verification, but obviously for mankind's sake, he gives a story, Jesus goes with the two angels and confirms that, yes, all these things are happening, he goes to save Lot out of it, you know the story. And I'm not going to get into that, except it is somewhat relevant, because Sodom was obviously a reprobate city that God just completely wiped out and destroyed. So we're seeing at least a very similar synopsis of the year. Now, maybe they weren't all Sodomites in that regard, but they are being treated as being rejected, as being reprobate. And again, this is still, I believe, talking about the whole group of people, the whole city as a whole, the community as a whole, or even God's people as a whole, for that matter. There's more illustration going on with this as well than just the wickedness of Sodom. It's not a one-to-one likening, but it's similar. Let's keep reading, verse number 8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee. So the warning is, unless my soul is going to depart from you, it hasn't happened yet, but the writing's on the wall, so to speak. Lest I make thee desolate, desolate, just empty, a land not inhabited, where I just completely take you away. And with Sodom, he did that with fire and brimstone coming down from heaven. In this case, he is completely just removing them out of the land and transplanting them and just putting them captive into a land that's not there as far away where they were going to be bondservants. Verse number 9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, they shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine. Turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the basket. So he's saying they're going to glean you like they would a vine. Like you think of when they go to harvest grapes, you harvest the fruit from a vine. You know, the gleaning is making sure that you've got all of it. Like every last little piece of fruit, the gleaners would come in and just wipe it bare. And again, that's the illustration being used here to Israel, to Jerusalem, as like they're, you know, they're going to completely just remove you. Like you're just going to be gone. It's going to be even gleanings taken out and removed. Verse 10. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised. And again, figurative language. It's not talking about literally cutting your ear. You know, like maybe it's this part of the ear that they have to cut off. No, they're not hearing. They're not hearing the word of the Lord. And this also, I'm going to do a better, I guess a more thorough presentation of the reprobate doctrine, but this is all plays into it because this is all in the context. It's people here where he's saying basically, who can I even give my warning to so that they can be warned and that they can hear? Because their ear, they're not hearing. Like they just already can't hear. Their ear is uncircumcised. They cannot hearken. They can't hear what I'm saying. So who can I even give the warning to because they're already not listening and they can't hear because their ear is uncircumcised. Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach. They have no delight in it. Despisers of God, despisers of God's word. They want to have nothing to do. This is the characteristics that's being given here, right? And we're going to compare this with other scriptures soon, but just kind of absorb that, take it in as we're reading so you can see the context here because it all does matter and it definitely supports the doctrine I'm about to teach more fully. Verse number 11. Therefore, I am full of the fury of the Lord. It makes God really angry when his word is a reproach and the people can't even hear when he's trying to warn them and they just want to have nothing to do with it and they hate the word of God. I am weary with holding in. So God's reaching his tipping point to wrath because God is long-suffering. He's merciful and over and over again the praises, especially in the book of Psalms, of God's long-suffering, right? It is tremendous and we probably can relate to this maybe even personally. I know I can to the long-suffering of the Lord. Just like, wow, it's incredible how much space God gives us to repent, how much space God gives us in general with the mistakes that we make, the things that we do. So for God to be at his tipping point, you know it's really bad and he's full of furies. I'm weary with holding in. I will pour it out upon the children abroad and upon the assembly of young men together, for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. So it's just, his wrath is just going to come out on everybody, basically. There's no one that's going to be spared. Verse 12, and their houses shall be turned unto others with their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. Verse 13, even unto the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely. And man, what a bad situation you're in when even all the prophets and priests are dealing falsely and everyone's just full of covetousness. And, you know, that covetous sin, you know, it's so bad because there's no, like, you're never satisfied. The person who's covetous is never satisfied with whatever they're covetous over, and it's oftentimes will then spill into other areas of life that you'll also tend to be covetous into. So if you start off covetous over, say, just like money itself, oftentimes that leads to other things and maybe even people and relationships. You start becoming covetous, covetous, covetous in many other parts of your life other than just one. It's like a cancer. It spreads. And the worst part is that you just, like, with some sins, you could kind of, like, you could do it, realize, man, that was stupid. It wasn't fulfilling. It didn't do what I thought it was going to do, whatever, you know, whatever sin that you get yourself involved in. But the covetousness is just like this. It will just continue and continue and continue because you can never be satisfied. But this is the situation that they're in. Verse 14, they have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. And I covered this, I think it was last week, talking about the false prophets and what they were saying, and these are the prophet and the priest dealing falsely because they're giving a message of peace. And it says, yeah, they healed the hurt slightly because it always feels good to hear a message of peace, but it doesn't really help because it's a lie. So if you're hearing this good news message, and, like, yeah, in the really short term, it's going to make you feel at ease and make you feel more peaceful. But it's a big lie. So it's a false hope, it's a false sense of security, and it doesn't really heal anything. Verse 15, were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. And this is, again, illustrative of a people that they're just so given over to their iniquity and to their sin that when you ought to be embarrassed, when you ought to blush, when it ought to be something that's like, oh, man, I don't want anyone to find out about this, these are people that have gone so far that they just don't care at all. Like, there's just no concern, no care. It's like they have no conscience. Like, I don't care what people think. I'm just going to keep doing this and doing whatever and doing whatever filth and abomination, and I'm not even going to blush about it. That's a really, really bad place to be, and you know what? Watch out for people when they're in that condition, because it's a very good possibility that they could be a reprobate if they're just able to do. And I'm not talking about necessarily something that might be a smaller thing. You know, maybe someone's involved with drinking, and they get to the point where they don't care if anyone knows that they're drinking or something like that. That's more common. And that's not the same as other sins and other immoralities, right? Now, look, it's wicked, it's wrong. No one should be a drunkard. I'm not condoning it whatsoever. But people who are out in the open over that, over a sin, is not the same as someone that just is committing abomination, because the Bible doesn't talk about drinking being an abomination the way it talks about a lot of other things being an abomination. So, and that's what verse 15 says. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore, they shall fall among them that fall. At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein. And ye shall find rest for your souls. Now, that verse, that might come up in our fundamentals conference. I don't know, it's one of the verses that is commonly used when we talk about fundamentals and the fundamentals of faith, and hey, look, we need to get back to the old ways, and we call ourselves an old-fashioned Baptist church. Jeremiah 6 16 perfectly illustrates that example, saying, look, man, you know, all this new stuff and newfangled things, like we don't need the new stuff, God already spelled it out for us, old-fashioned, old ways, that's the good path, that's the right way, stick to the old ways, stick to the old methods, stick to the old word of God, stick to, you know, stick to these old things. That's the good way, that's the right way, let's, let's, let's, let's, the tried and the true, let's stay with that, let's stand in the ways, and ask for the old paths. Hey, what are the old paths, what's the right way? Seek out that way, and walk therein. And you know what God says? You'll have rest. Then they will have the peace. See, the, the false prophets were saying peace, peace, but they weren't offering them peace, because they weren't offering them the old paths, they were just saying, they were just trying to let them know that everything's fine, no matter what path they're on, that they're going to be good. No, you're not going to be good, but if you do walk in the old paths, if you look for the good ways, then you will have rest for your souls. You'll find that, the, the rest for your souls. But, but what was their response to this message? But they said, we will not walk therein. Nope, don't want it, don't want anything to do with your old ways. You old fashioned crazy people, don't you know how old that is? You dummy. I mean, come on. Don't you know that the Bible was written by these goat herders, that didn't even have flushing toilets? I don't know how many times I've heard that stupid comment. And it is really dumb, it's just a really ignorant thing to say, like, you know, they had a lot of things figured out, if they were in this book, if they're in this word of God, and nonetheless, still also, the people who are used as human instruments, it's the word of God. Does it matter if David was a shepherd? Nope. I think David was really wise. He became a king, right? But it doesn't matter anyway, it's the word of God, the word of God that matters. But yeah, these are the old paths. But you know what they said? Nah, we don't want that. We're not going to walk therein. They heard about it. They heard from Jeremiah. They were hearing from Isaiah, they were hearing from other prophets, you know, before, after, whatever, similar time frames, but didn't want it. They are rejecting the old paths, aren't they? When they say, we will not walk therein, what are they doing? They're not accepting it, they're rejecting it. They heard the right way, they heard the message, they understood it. Nope, don't want it. Verse 17, again, keep that in mind as we continue. Also, I sent watchmen over you, saying, harken to the sound of the trumpet, but they said, we will not harken. So God is sending his messengers, God is sending the watchers, God's sending the people who ought to be sounding the warning, sounding the alarm. Hey, repent. Hey, wake up. Hey, this is the right way. God did his part. God sent the people. But they heard and said, nope, don't want to listen. Nope, sorry, I'm uncircumcising my ears. Not that that's an actual thing, but their ears, the Bible says uncircumcised, so, you know, they're just closed off, they don't want to hear it. They're doing this, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, I can't hear what you're saying. That's the mindset. And, you know, well, I'll make the application now anyway. That is the group of people that I'm going to be preaching against, the reprobates. That's how they are. And you've seen it just as much as I have. You've probably seen the videos of people out in public, whether they're pro-lifers or whether they're preaching the gospel or whatever they're doing, you know, you've got the people that just want to drown them out and yell and scream and they can't talk and they can't have any rational arguments. They're just going to make everything really loud and they're the really hateful ones just trying to silence anything good and holy and righteous, especially anything that has to do with God and the Bible. Those are the reprobates. That's how they are. They don't want to hear. They want to have nothing to do with it. This is the condition that's being described in the scripture. Let's keep going. Verse number 18. Therefore, hear ye nations and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words nor to my law, but rejected it. They rejected God's words. They rejected God's laws. Verse 20. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba and the sweet cane from afar country? And, you know, this is just really interesting because they still continue to offer sacrifices and offerings, but they want to have nothing to do with the word of God and his law. It's the people who are just religious or spiritual and they have no problems with some aspects. And, oh, yeah, I could go to church. But don't you tell me anything about God's law. Right? They're fine with the sacrifices and probably because they partake in the sacrifices, too, I would imagine, with the offerings and stuff that they get to, you know, it doesn't say that, but it says, you know, to what purpose cometh there to be incense from Sheba? So they're bringing the top quality incense in from far land and the sweet cane from afar country, you know, the sweet stuff. Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. He's saying, I'm not accepting what you're offering. And this illustrates, too, how your works and your sacrifices do nothing for God. Like, especially when your heart's not there. You want to not hear what the word of the Lord is. You want to not hear what God has to say and you just want to do what you want to do and you want to be self-willed and you want to give and expect for your works and your sacrifice and your contribution to be accepted. God's saying, absolutely not. That's not how it works. Not how it works. I mean, imagine a child. You're telling your child to do this, this, this, this, this at home. And then they just decide, say, yeah, you know, I don't want to hear any of that. I don't want to do any of that. And then it's like, oh, hey, look, Dad, I did this. No, I told you, like, I'm not accepting that. I told you to do this, this, this, this and this. Because it's so disrespectful to not obey and hear what they're being told, right? Their authority is telling them to do something and they're just completely going off and doing their own thing? No. I mean, imagine if someone did that on the job. They'd be fired. It doesn't matter what they're bringing in and be like, yeah, but what did you spend your time doing? Well, I did this. Yeah, but I told you to do these things. You're not doing what you're told. Get out of here. It's not accepted. And this is what the people are doing. They're bringing offerings. They're going far. They like to get the incense. They like to get the cane sugar, right? The real organic cane sugar. They're not bringing in the high fructose corn syrup. They're like, nope, we got the real deal. We're going to offer up the cane sugar. It's organic. And here you go, God. And God's saying, I'm not accepting this. Why? Because their heart's not right. Verse 21. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish. And you know, the last place you want to be is somewhere where God is putting stumbling blocks in your path. And again, you know you're getting, you've gotten to a really bad point of God is putting stumbling blocks there, because God wants everyone to be saved. God wants you to come to Him. But if you've made it to this point, there may not be any coming back. And that's what we're teaching about today. Verse number 22. Thus saith the Lord, behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war. Against thee, O daughter of Zion. So he's bringing in a people, and he says they're merciless. They're going to come in and not have any mercy on you. And that's who God is using to bring judgment on Jerusalem. Verse 24. We have heard the fame thereof. Our hands waxed feeble. Anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail. Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way, for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes. Make the morning as for an only sun, most bitter lamentation, for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. And now this is describing the dread of the impending doom and destruction. And it's just totally dreadful to even consider that. Like the morning as for an only sun. Like an only sun that dies, the amount of mourning that you'd have for that is tremendous, right? Most bitter lamentation. But why are they mourning so much? Because the spoiler. Because the destruction's coming upon them. Verse 27. I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all grievous revolters. That's how the people are being described. They're grievous revolters walking with slanders. They are brass and iron. They are all corrupters. The bellows are burned. The lead is consumed of the fire. The founder melteth in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. Now, as I said, I want to go more in depth on just the subject of a reprobate and what that actually means further going into Scripture and just kind of outlining this doctrine. The whole chapter in context supports what I'm going to continue to teach about this subject. Jeremiah 6.30 is the first time that the word reprobate is used in the Bible, and what you'll find in many, many occurrences with words, especially with some difficult words, is that the first time a word is used tends to have a built-in, like, dictionary, a built-in meaning of what that word means. Not in every case, and it's obviously some words can be slightly different depending on the context, so you can't just exclusively say. I've heard people say it's the law of first mention. I'm going to keep on preaching this until I don't preach anymore, that I don't consider it the law of first mention. It's more like a principle or an idea. It's something that, generally speaking, is pretty accurate but not a law, because there's instances where you could go to things the first time it's used, and then it's used in a different context, have a different meaning somewhere else in the Bible, so you can't just be applying that all the way through. But the word reprobate is, this is very valid, and it makes perfect sense here. It's not a word that's used commonly in language today, and the only people that use it specifically are generally talking about spiritual things, right? So they're not talking about just the term in general. So when the Bible says here reprobate silver shall men call them, it gives you the understanding of the word. Why are they called reprobate silver? Because the Lord hath rejected them. So the word reprobate means rejected. Bottom line. They say, well, why do they call them reprobate silver? Well, from the verse previously, the Bible says in verse 29, the bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire, the founder melteth in vain, for the wicked are not plucked away. It's giving the illustration of someone who is heating up and purifying a metal, right? And when you would heat up a metal, the impurities will rise, and then they get rid of the dross, is what it's called. They get rid of the impurities to refine and make whatever metal they're working with more pure. So they do that with gold, they do that with silver, where there's usually an amalgamation of different metals mixed in when they mine it, and then you bring it in and you refine it further, you heat it up, you get the stuff that's not valuable out of there and you retain the good stuff. I mean, that's how the process works. But they're saying here that the lead is consumed of the fire. The bellows is like the pipe that's used in the process of doing the refining, and that's broken, it's burned. The lead is consumed of the fire. The founder melteth in vain. So he's not able to purify it. Why? Because the wicked are not plucked away. The bad stuff is not being removed. So hence, reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord hath rejected them. So the reprobates are rejected, and we see clearly in this passage, they rejected God first. They don't want to hear. They reject the law. They reject the ways. They don't want the old past. They want to have nothing to do with God. The Word of God is a reproach unto them. That's the heart. That's the attitude. They're full of wickedness. It's like a fountain spewing forth in the midst of them, and that's when God finally, they're just called, yeah, they're rejected. You're rejected. And he entreated them earlier and was like, hey, come back to me. I know you've done this sin. You've committed this wickedness, but I want you to come back to me, right? But then it gets to a point where that stops, where God stops saying, hey, I still want you to come back to me, and where he just says, okay, you're rejected. Now I'm done with you. And this is a concept that happens. It's found in multiple places throughout the scripture. I'm going to first just cover the concept because this is a foreign concept, especially for a lot of people in our era that come from church in general, and you hear the teaching, and I've heard this, and I'm sure you've heard this too, where people say, you know what? It's never too late to get saved. I mean, you can get saved all the way up until your last breath. I've heard that so many times, and when you hear things over and over and over again, and you hear from people, it doesn't get challenged, generally people will just come to accept that. So when they hear the reprobate doctrine that, no, for some people there's actually a point to where they could no longer be saved, it's like, whoa, it sounds weird. It's like, no, wait, that doesn't feel right even. Why? Because you've been reinforced with one way of thinking for so long. And again, as a side note, this is also why it's important not just to go off of a feeling when you're determining what's true. You might be conditioned one way into thinking when you hear things that sound contradictory to what you've heard or learned in the past, you need to be able to just determine with your sense, with the word of God, whether or not something's true. And your feeling has to be set aside. Now, look, gut intuition, things like that are good things in general, but you can't just use that as your whole basis as to whether or not you're gonna accept or reject something. What you ought to have, if you're hearing something that doesn't sound right, is the word of God ringing in your mind going, wait, that doesn't sound right because of this verse, this verse, this verse. That's what matters more than just, oh, I don't like the sound of that or that's not anything I've ever heard before, right? That's not as valid of an argument because these things can be taught and when no one's teaching anything else, it's easier to just be fully accepted. Make sense? But here's what I'm gonna submit to counter that first initial going, whoa, wait, you're saying that some people are rejected by God and they just can't even be saved? Yes, I am, but turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 12 because I'm gonna give you three examples of people where the Bible is clear, crystal clear that once certain things happen, these people cannot be saved. They are doomed for hell no matter what, okay? And that is before they breathe their last breath, before they die. You have to be able to look at the word of God and I'm gonna give you three examples in which people have their fate sealed prior to death. Now, most people, I can't even say all, unfortunately, because some people have really weird beliefs that think that even after you die, you still have an opportunity to get saved. I've heard this, more people believe that than you'd probably be surprised at how many people actually believe that that's the case and that happens because nobody wants to preach the gospel and they just wanna have their conscience appeased into thinking that, well, if I don't even do anything, at least they'll still have another chance because Jesus will somehow give them another opportunity. That is a lie out of the pit of hell. Don't be deceived by that. Don't you dare think for a second that anyone's gonna have a second chance after they breathe their last breath. No, they won't, okay? It's done. All of your opportunities to get saved are 100%. They're done when you take your last breath on this earth. That is a fact, okay? Now, for some people, the event in which a person can get saved actually happens before they breathe their last breath, and I'm gonna prove that from Scripture, okay? And you already have to understand this. Throughout the world, people are dying at different ages all the time. You have people who are from zero to 100 and whatever. All the spans of years, all the possible ages, there is someone dying in each one of those groups, right? So if you want to talk about fairness, like, oh, well, this person only lived to be 10. Well, this person only lived to be 20. This person only lived to be 30. Well, look, but salvation's the same for everyone, and no one gets a second chance. Now, thank God those that are real little and don't know the difference between right and wrong and they're still in their innocence, hey, God doesn't judge them as a sinner because they don't know anything. They don't know the law. They don't know any better. They're innocent, right? So they haven't spiritually died because they haven't committed sin, so praise the Lord those people just go to heaven. But for everyone else, you don't know what's gonna be on the morrow. You don't know what a day's gonna bring. You don't know when it'll be your last day, so you need to get this settled now, and for some people, another day or year isn't gonna help them anyways because their fate may already be sealed. So let's look at those examples. Matthew chapter 12, probably the most famous one and the most absolutely clear, like, I don't think it could be any clearer. I don't even know how you could twist this to mean anything other than what it says. Verse 31, the Bible says, Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. Right? Jesus died for all sins. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. So if you have a sin that is not forgiven and shall not be forgiven, then what happens? What happens when you die? You're going to hell. You're in your sin. I mean, right? This is a sin that says, it shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh the word against the Son of Man. You can speak against Jesus, and people do it all the time, right? It shall be forgiven him. And those people, they can receive forgiveness. People speak, they blaspheme the name of Christ. They'll take the name of the Lord in vain. They'll say bad things about Jesus, but it doesn't mean that they can't be saved. He says, you know what? We'll offer forgiveness for that. But whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him. Look at this. Neither in this world, neither in the world to come. So you won't be forgiven here, and you won't be forgiven in the world to come. There's one place for that person. It's hell. It's hell. And Jesus died for everyone, but it's clearly saying that you're done. There's no hope for you, okay? There's just no forgiveness at all. So if someone blasphemes against the Holy Ghost, they can't be saved. Their fate is sealed at that moment. And I'm not even going to go into what it means to blaspheme the Holy Ghost and everything else. It's a little outside the scope of what I want to teach tonight, but it should be sufficient to show you that can happen to someone. And their fate is sealed. If they do this one thing, whatever that one thing is, blaspheme the Holy Ghost, whatever that means, if they do that, can't be saved. They are destined for hell because they can't get forgiveness for that. It's a fact. It's what the Bible teaches. And the next verse, there, verse 33, gives us more of an indication of the type of person who are guilty of this anyways. Either make the tree good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt for the tree is known by his fruit. And this goes back also to what Jesus was teaching in Matthew chapter 7, how you're going to know them by the fruits and he's usually talking about knowing a false prophet. False prophets are reprobates. False prophets are described in 2 Peter chapter 2 and in the book of Jude. If you want to make note of those, you can write those down. We're not going to those places this evening either. I doubt we'll have time for it for sure. We're not getting to it. But they describe false prophets and they describe them as twice dead, plucked up from the roots, brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, the raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame. All of these are given attributes to the false prophet which are reprobate. Just like Matthew 12 is referring to someone, a tree that, hey, you can judge them based on their fruit because a good tree can't bring forth bad fruit and likewise a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. So the corrupt trees are a sign that they are reprobate, they are rejected of God, they have blasphemed the Holy Ghost maybe and they have no forgiveness. Revelation chapter 14 is the next place we're going to look at for one more example of where there's a concept of a person who can no longer receive forgiveness for a particular sin. And again, some people might want to mix all these together and say it's all one thing. I'm not going into that. It doesn't matter as long as I can at least establish and you can agree to say, yeah, okay, this is clear that these people are going to hell according to the Bible and there seems to be no forgiveness. Matthew 12 literally said there's no forgiveness. Revelation 14 verse number 9, the Bible says, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, two conditions being met, worshiping the beast in his image and receiving his mark, whether it's in the forehead or in the hand, you receive the mark and you worship. If anyone does that, if any man does that, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Now, this hasn't happened yet. This is prophesied about future times that when there's going to be the Antichrist comes into power, there's a one-world government, one-world religion, there's going to be an establishment where you have to take the mark of the beast in order to buy and sell and things like that, and anyone who takes that mark and worships the image, they will be in hell. Clear, right? That's what the Bible says. Revelation 22 is the last place we're going to look at. And don't worry, at the end of the sermon, I'm going to just cover briefly how there can't be a contradiction with those who have eternal life because people who are rejected can't get saved, but people who are saved can't be rejected because once you're saved, you're accepted. You're accepted through Christ. All of your sins have passed. They've all been washed away. They've all been cleansed through the blood of Christ, so you are accepted now because you have an advocate with the Father. You have a propitiation for your sins. It's done. It's sealed. You're sealed with the Holy Spirit. On and on and on about the eternal security stuff, right? You are good until the day of redemption. So, no need to worry about that. However, for people who are unsaved and then commit one of these things, they are bound and they are destined for hell and that is unchangeable. Revelation 22, at the very, very end of the Bible there, verses 18 and 19, the Bible says, For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. So, in the book of Revelation especially, but I would believe also in the book of the Bible, but even if we applied this just to Revelation and said, okay, all this stuff is talking about the kingdom and the heaven and the holy city and all this stuff, the place that you would have had there is gone. You don't have that place. That's removed for you. In that book of life, you don't have a place in there either. If you take away from God's word or you add to it, that's it. God draws a line there and says, nope, you can't do that. So, three instances in the Bible, if someone does one of these things, and right now you can't take the mark of the beast, it hasn't happened yet, doesn't matter though, the fact that this can happen to people where their fate is sealed, they're doomed, is a fact. There's three witnesses here that can at least show you that that should be the case. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter one. That's the concept of there even being such a thing as a reprobate. Now, I don't believe that these specific things are the only possible instances in which someone can become a reprobate, but definitely in all three of those instances, they do become rejected. They do become a reprobate. Okay, that is for certain. Romans one is going to give us more characteristics and a lot more just information of how people become reprobate. Those other examples give those illustrations. We're going to start reading in verse number 18 of Romans chapter one because this actually has a reference to the word reprobate and, Lord willing, with the time that we have, I'm going to get to all the rest of the references to the word reprobate because it only happens a handful of time in the scriptures. Okay, Jeremiah six being the first one, so let's continue here. Verse number 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. So let's talk about God's wrath against the people who hold the truth, but they're holding it in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them. There's people who have received, in a sense, the word of God and the fact that it's been shown unto them. The way of salvation has been shown unto these people. They're not ignorant, and this is a key understanding for the reprobate that they are not ignorant. They've known, but they've known and rejected. That's what happened in Jeremiah chapter six. This is what we're also looking at here in Romans chapter one. Look at verse number 20. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. There is an element of just God's existence that no one has an excuse to reject the eternal power and Godhood or Godhead of God. This should be abundantly evident for everyone in creation, that God is real and that God exists. His creation testifies of that. It should just be clearly known and you have to be a fool to blind yourself to the truth of their being at least a creator, right? Verse 21. But, you see, verse 20 doesn't, that doesn't end the thought or the sentence, so that they are without excuse, verse 21. Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. So, again, this is a people that knows God, but they don't like it. They don't regard Him and then they darken their foolish heart. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God. I mean, God is uncorruptible. God is holy, right? That's another word. Uncorruptible is one way of looking at it. Holy is another way. Holy is without spot, without blemish, completely set apart, you know, without sin. Corruptible would be, yeah, you could get screwed up and messed up and dirty and sinful and, you know, whatever. The uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, a sinful man, and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. So these people, basically what they do, they made up their own God. So they did. Oh, yeah, I know about God, but I don't like that, so I'm gonna make up my own God. Because I don't like what I hear about the real God. Verse 24, Wherefore, which means for this reason of what we've just read here in the context, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. And this is talking about in a carnal way. That people are dishonoring their bodies between themselves. Why? Because they heard about God. They didn't like him. They wanted to make up their own God. And God says, okay, now I'm going to give you up to do really bad, abominable, disgusting things. This is what the scripture says. Before I even continue, it's gonna spell it out even more, but, I mean, at this point, you should already be understanding, like, yeah, I think I know where this is going. For people who've never even read Romans 1 before, at this point, with what you've already seen in the world, you should be able to look at this and be like, yeah, I think I know what it's talking about. Without any further clarification, people who are dishonoring their own bodies between themselves, I think I got a good idea what this is talking about. Verse 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, why? Because they changed the truth of God into a lie, because they made up their own gods, because they're worshipping the creature. For this cause, God gave them up unto vile affections. Now he's gonna lay it out there. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. The natural use of a woman is to be with a man and to produce children. That's how God designed men and women, is that you have a man and you have a woman that are able to come together and produce offspring and reproduce, and then we can have more humans, right? That's the natural order of the human race. But these people who changed the truth of God into a lie God gave them up unto these vile affections, meaning that naturally they didn't have the vile affections, but then God gives them up unto these vile affections to do these things that are against nature, and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another. Men with men working that which is unseemly or disgusting or vile, right? And receiving in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat, meat meaning suitable. And even as they, look at verse 20, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, they don't want to have anything to do with God, God gave them over to a what? A reprobate mind. Reprobate meaning rejected, as we already saw from Jeremiah chapter 6. So to do those things which are not convenient, so they reject God, God rejects them. Now, you can't ignore all the languages being used here because we know God's merciful, we know God's long suffering, we know that just because someone might hear something one time and not receive it, right? It doesn't mean that all of a sudden God's just like on his hair trigger to reject people, right? That's not in God's nature, that's not who God is. Everyone gets a chance, everyone gets to hear the word of God and gets to decide for themselves, right? And some get better, get to hear about it more than others or whatever, but you're going to have that opportunity and God's not wanting people to die and go to hell. However, he did give us a will and there is a point which you can fully understand what is being presented and you can fully understand the truth and you could know about God and just say, nope, I want to have nothing to do with that and just decide to make up your own God. And when you reject him and you don't even want to keep him in your knowledge, he rejects you. So passive versions, who's reprobate? Well, these characteristics already, you should have a formation in your mind. Yeah, I've had experiences with people like that before. It's going to be the people who are going to be the most vile against God and against the things of God and that want to have just absolutely nothing to do with God. You know who I'm talking about. And yeah, the alphabet people, they really typify this, but it's not just someone who calls themselves that. But the reason why they typify this more than anyone else is as we see in the scripture here, hey, God gave them up unto those vile affections to decide on their bodies between themselves and that's what they're doing. And they're the ones that have no shame and can't blush. Again, don't get me wrong. Just because someone isn't a homo doesn't mean that they're not necessarily a rebel. They're not necessarily a reprobate because you can still be a reprobate. You can still reject God. You can still make up your own concept, your own God, whether that be yourself or anything else and have full rejection of God and Him rejecting you and that person not falling into that category of perversion. Right? They're out there. There's people out there that are like that do this type of immorality, but here's the thing. When God gives someone over to a reprobate mind, it says there in verse 28, to do those things which are not convenient, now from verses 29 through 32, these are the characteristics. This is what's going to typify that person. And just because you may see something in here that someone who's not a reprobate can do, which is almost all of it, right, like almost everything in this list, this doesn't mean that everyone who's unsaved is a reprobate as the Calvinist will teach. That's not what that means. What this is saying is that these things, like, all embody a person who's a reprobate. Like, all of these things are kind of included as a package deal as to this is who this is. Just because you might be guilty of one or two, you know, like one of these things, that's not like your characteristic of all of these things. So in that very first part here in verse 29, it says, being filled with all unrighteousness. Now, you know, average people aren't just filled with all unrighteousness, but the reprobate is. The reprobate's full of all unrighteousness, which is described also about the false prophets that have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin. That's the state of a reprobate. It's like, you just can't stop sinning. Why? Because you're filled with all unrighteousness. And then it just lists off a whole bunch of things. Fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness. And look, in some of these things, too, I mean, they're full of being filled with all of these things. Not just all unrighteousness, but being filled with covetousness. Well, wasn't that in Jeremiah chapter 6? Yes, it was. Maliciousness, that's malice. That's like doing really wicked bad things to people, kind of hurting other people. Full of envy, covetousness, right? Murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God. That's the ones that despise the word of God, who have nothing to do with it. They hate God. Despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents without understanding, covenant breakers without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. So implacable means that they can't be placated. They can't be satisfied. Like, it's just not, they can never get to a point where it's enough. They're implacable. They just cannot be satisfied. And, of course, unmerciful means they won't ever stop giving out the bad. Like, they can never just show mercy on people. This is descriptive of the reprobate. That's what the reprobates are like. That's what the sodomites are really like, okay? They're going to want to show people one side of themselves because they want to be accepted, but make no mistake, this is what they are all about. This is what they're like for real. Verse 32, who, knowing the judgment of God, they know. And, oh, man, I mean, I don't know how many times I've even just had any type of interactions with a reprobate, with a sodomite. They know where they're going. I mean, you just go out soul-winding. You knock on the door. I've knocked on the door I don't know how many times, and I've heard someone say, oh, yeah, I know I'm going to hell. Right? Now, occasionally I'll get someone who says that, that I don't think is a reprobate, but they just feel like they've just done a lot of bad things in their life. Usually I've had some, you know, I've talked to someone maybe who was like, I've had Vietnam vets say something like that before, like, oh, man, you don't even know, like, how bad it was and the things that I was involved with. Like, I don't think I could be saved, okay? But that's coming from a normal mind of just understanding, like, yeah, these things were really bad, and they do have shame, and they do have regret, and they do, you know, they don't have their conscience seared. But then the people who just, they're like, well, yeah, I mean, I know for sure I'm going to hell. Why is that? Well, because I'm a homo. Because I'd like, you know, whatever, women or guys or whoever, you know, depending on who you're talking about, it's like, oh, yeah, well, yeah, I guess you know then. You know where you're going. See ya. Who, knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, so not only do they do it, like, hey, I know that God has a death plan and stuff, and they do it anyways, but they have pleasure in them that do them. So it's like, not only are they doing it, but like, yeah, I like when other people do it too. It's pleasurable. That's how far from godliness the reprobate mind is. Because even people who are unsaved aren't that far removed where their mind is so corrupt like that. That is total depravity. That is reprobate. That is rejection. Turn to II Corinthians chapter 13. And these other references I'm going to go through a little bit faster. Romans 1 is obviously, like, it's a real critical passage because it goes into the most depth and gives a lot of detail on this. And I just want to be clear on this one thing too because people always misunderstand this one thing. If you hear me say that all homos, all sodomites are reprobate, it's not because the sin of lying, like a man lying with another man is going to be unforgivable. That's not the reason why. It's because they've only become that way because they first have become a reprobate by rejecting god. That's when god gives them over to the reprobate mind. So the homosexuality is not the cause, it's the symptom. It's the sign that shows you, oh, this already took place. So people are saying, oh, well, homosexuality is not the unforgivable sin. I agree, it's not. And you know what? I will just say this too. There are people who have committed that act, I'm sure, that have not been reprobate and have still gotten saved. Now, the Bible talks about people who have burned in their lust one towards another. So it's easy to just broad brush because the vast majority of people that we're talking about, that's who they are, that's who we're talking about. It's the out and proud crowd. But the people who, and again, there can be all these various possible situations in which someone could become involved into something really, really, really wicked like that, where they're not just burning their lust and rejecting god. So just keep that in mind. But those who are like, I found the love of my life, it's another man, and we're getting married, and like, sorry, no. I think that's close enough to say you're burning in your lust towards some other, yeah, it's pretty obvious. They've been given over to a reprobate mind. As opposed to someone that's drugged or drunk out of their mind that was involved in something really wicked and abominable, but whatever, something happened and that's it. Two totally different things. 2 Corinthians 13, look at verse number 5. The Bible says this, Examine yourselves whether ye 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? So obviously a reprobate doesn't have Jesus Christ inside of him. And he's given this to them. Like, look, you examine yourself. You know if the faith is in you and prove your own selves. Don't you know for yourself that Jesus is in you? I mean, unless you're a reprobate. And why would he even question that? He says, but I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Now I pray to God that ye do know 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. So this passage gets a little bit confusing in the way it's worded, but it's not that hard to understand. He's saying, first of all, you should know for yourself whether you're saved, whether you have the faith. And the only reason you wouldn't have Jesus Christ in you is if you're a reprobate. And he says, and I trust that you know that we're not reprobates, like there should be enough evidence there, especially because they're the ones that were like preaching the gospel to them and getting them saved. So a good tree can't produce bad fruit and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So if they're getting saved by these guys, I trust you know that we're not reprobates, because it's like, well, then how did you come to faith? Now I pray to God that ye do know evil. So he's saying, look, I don't want you guys doing evil, getting involved in the sin, and it's not just so that we could live just so that we could look like we're approved, like that you're good fruit of ours, just to approve our work of you being good. He says, but that ye should do that which is honest. He says, though we be as reprobates, so even if we were reprobates, I want you to do good for your good, that you can do that which is honest and sincere, like regardless of it reflecting on us, is what he's saying. So even if we were reprobates, you still should just be doing good. And then he says, for we can do nothing against the truth before the truth. Turn to 2 Timothy 3. But why would he be even addressing the church as if, like, unless you're a reprobate? Well, because there are a group of people who are calling themselves believers. But does that mean there can't be a reprobate in the midst? No, of course there can be, because oftentimes the reprobates will come and infiltrate. And that's what the Bible talks about, the wolf in sheep's clothing. So they put on the sheep's clothing, they want to look like one of the brethren, and they're not in their heart because they're just a really wicked bad person who's come in to destroy and be a predator or whatever. 2 Timothy 3, verse number 1, the Bible says, this know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. Now, we're not going to do this side by side, you can do this later, but check out 2 Timothy 3 compared to Romans chapter 1, you're going to see, like, tons of the same attributes being listed here. Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures, more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power there from such turn away. Having a form of godliness, like the people of Jeremiah, who are offering up sacrifices in their cane, sugar, and the incense, but denying the power there, they want to have nothing to do with the word of God. This also is talking about the last days, perilous times. Also, in Matthew 24 and other places, the Bible talks about the last days being like the days of lot and the days of Noah. Both instances, people were really, really wicked and kind of wanted to have nothing to do with the Lord. Definitely in the days of Lot, right? And this is also going to be the pattern for the time right before Jesus comes back, is that they're going to be in this condition, which, by the way, from such turn away. Don't invite them into your houses and into your churches. Turn away from them. We don't have the everyone welcome here sign because the Bible says from such turn away. From who? The lovers of pleasures more love themselves. Who? Those that are without natural affection. Romans 1 describes what's natural and what's not natural. Yeah, sorry, I'm turning away from you. For of this sort are they which creep into houses and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So here it's saying they're incapable of coming to the knowledge of the truth, no matter how much they learn. Verse 8, now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. They're rejected concerning the faith. They can't be saved because God's already rejected them. They can't believe just as much as they can't come to the knowledge of the truth. No matter how much they learn, no matter how much they try, they can't be saved. They are rejected. Verse 9, but they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifest unto all men as theirs also was. Titus chapter 1 is the last place where the word reprobate's used in the Bible. We're almost done, I'm going to wrap it up here. Verse 15, the Bible says unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. So now the immediate context here says to every good work they're rejected, right? But I still think this is talking about people who have their mind and conscience defiled, they're abominable, they're disobedient. This still lines up with people who are reprobate that are overall rejected, but again, just for full transparency, it says unto every good work reprobate, which still means that they can't do anything good. It's every good work. I mean, just can't do anything good. Sounds like a reprobate to me. Examples of reprobates, but I want you to look at one more thing. Turn to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. We have examples of reprobates in the Bible. Pharaoh is a good example. I've had someone ask me about that recently. You know, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but when you read the story, and again, you could study this out later, look it up for yourself, and I encourage you to look it up for yourself. Look at how the wording is done in Exodus regarding Pharaoh when Moses went to him with the word of the Lord, and he first says, like, well, who is the Lord, right? Kind of mockingly, but still just like, well, who is the Lord? Well, at the beginning, Pharaoh is hardening his heart. There's some verses you could read it where you don't know who's doing the hardening where it just says his heart was hardened, and you can't tell, well, was Pharaoh hardening his own heart or was God hardening his heart, right? But clearly, the Bible says, well, Pharaoh hardened his heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart, and then you're gonna start seeing where God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and that is indicative, that is illustrative of how God works where you have the choice to reject God first before God rejects you, right? So God doesn't just go around rejecting people until they reject him first. It's not this, you know, just for no reason, people just become reprobates, and people aren't born reprobates. They become reprobates. I already mentioned the false prophets are examples of reprobates in Jude and 2 Peter 2, and I just want you to understand this, too. It's impossible to be saved and then become a reprobate because once you have eternal life, you'll never see death, right? And while we all will die physically one day unless Jesus comes back first, if you have life, Jesus said, you know, whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And he clearly wasn't talking about physical death because if he was talking about physical death, then that was a lie because the people he was talking to physically died that lived and believed in him. But he was talking about hell because that's where death is because at the second death, hell is not the second death. The second death is when death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. That's the second death. But death is in the heart of the earth right now. It is the place of death. It is known as death. Just like when Jesus died, he was dead, and he was in the place of death for three days and three nights in the heart of the earth where the dead are because he was dead too. But that's a whole other sermon. Don't worry. I'm not opening up that can of worms and going down that rabbit trail tonight. But it is impossible to be saved and then become a reprobate. It's impossible. You say, but what happens? So I brought up multiple examples of what if someone who's saved tampers with the word of God? What if someone takes the mark of the beast but they're already saved? What if someone's already saved and they blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Well, here's what I say. It is impossible. It is an impossibility, even though we have free will, for a believer to ever do those things. And whether you want to accept that or not, it's a fact. It's true. And look, it's not that there's no evidence from Scripture to prove this either. So speaking of just specifically the one example of taking the mark of the beast, Matthew 24, look at verse number 23. Because he's going to claim to be the Christ. He's anti-Christ. But he's going to claim to be Christ. Verse 23, then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders. And if you know anything about the anti-Christ from the book of Revelation, he shows a lot of signs and wonders, lying signs and wonders to deceive the whole world, to deceive people into accepting him as being the Messiah. But Matthew 24 says, yeah, there's going to be false prophets. They're going to show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, the very saved, the very believers. The phrase, if it were possible, means it is not possible. It is impossible for the elect to be deceived by these false prophets. So the reason I'm bringing up, because what someone would say then, what someone could say is, okay, well, they're not deceived, but that doesn't mean they won't take the mark of the beast. Well, it's impossible to be deceived, first of all. So there's something that's impossible for believers. It is impossible to be deceived. Why? Because when you believe you have the Holy Ghost residing in you, it is impossible, and look, that Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost within you, don't, you can't discount the impact that that will have, that that does have on a believer's life. Now, I think for most of our life, you know, you're walking through, it might be more unnoticeable, but I think if you were to find yourself individually going down this path of maybe getting close to committing something that would be, that the Bible says, has no forgiveness, you're definitely going to hell, the impact of the Holy Spirit on you is going to be so tremendous that you would not be able to bring yourself to go through with that. So no matter how hungry you get, no matter how much you want to buy and sell, no matter how attractive that is to get that mark of the beast, the believer will be so vexed within themselves by the Holy Ghost that they will not be able to bring themselves to bow down and worship what they know to be the Antichrist and to receive that mark that they just literally won't be able to do it. It'll be impossible. And on top of that, if needs be, I believe that God could just make sure, then, that you die before you went down to receive that mark. Because you can't have contradictions within the Word of God. Because it is the Word of God. And this isn't some inherent contradiction. It absolutely, easily is justifiable to say, yeah, you simply can't have these things too. Someone who is eternally damned, someone who is eternally saved, they can't cross over one way or the other. So just as much as you can't have a believer who does something to become a reprobate, it's also likewise impossible for someone who is a reprobate to get saved. And this is why, and this is the last reference I'm going to give you, is John chapter 12. Because there's impossibilities for believers. It's just not possible for you to ever do an unforgivable sin. It's impossible to blaspheme the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is residing within you. How are you going to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? That's just, it's kind of stupid. The Spirit bear with us with our spirit that we are the children of God. There's no, and you should know this for yourself. Under what set of circumstances could you ever find yourself even coming close to committing one of these things that the Bible says you have no forgiveness of, you know? And for me, and maybe you've had a really strong spiritual life since the moment you got saved, and I would say praise the Lord for that. But as someone who got saved and then lived a really world life and was in sin and was totally backslidden and was not serving the Lord, I could still tell you that even in that condition, in my worst state, I'd never even dream of doing any of those things. Never. Absolutely not. Because the Spirit has that much influence to not allow that to happen. It's just enough to be like, no, I don't like this. I'm not going to do this. John chapter 12, it's also impossible for the reprobate to get saved. Because you say, but getting saved is so easy, right? You believe in easy believism, right? Yeah. You just have to put your faith on the Lord. You just have to trust Jesus as your Savior. OK, well, what if someone who has taken the mark of the beast puts their faith in Christ? What if someone who's blaspheming the Holy Spirit puts their faith in Christ then? Then you've got a dilemma. You've got a problem, right? Because now they're going to have eternal life, but yet they don't have forgiveness. How does that work? Well, they can't. They can't. They can't get saved. John 12, 37, the Bible says, But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed are reported to whom at the arm of the Lord been revealed. Therefore, look at verse 39, they could not believe. They could not believe. Why does that matter? Because that's the only thing you have to do to be saved, but they could not believe. Why? And here's his proof from scripture. Because Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. When they made the choice to reject God, God hardened their heart. And when God hardens the heart, you can't fight against that. When God hardened Pharaohs, that's why we see the extreme nature of all the things, all the plagues in Egypt. I mean, it got so bad, all of his counselors, everyone's saying, just like, what are you doing? Egypt is just completely destroyed. Like, he's so maddened, and he's just gone mad, because his heart is hardened by God, that he can no longer even be rational about it. Because God hardened his heart, and he couldn't even accept the word of God anymore at that point. It was just impossible for him. So, it's impossible for everybody to get saved. It's impossible for those who are saved to become reprobate, because your fate is sealed. Just as much as my fate is sealed today, I'm a child of God. Amen. I'm born again. I've got eternal life. God sealed me with the Holy Spirit of promise. I'm his. Until the day of redemption, I belong to him. Amen. He bought and paid for all my sins. Well, you know what? I'm a child of God. There's people who are children of the devil, and they're born again, like, twice dead. They're cursed children. That's right. We're blessed with faithful Abraham. They're cursed children. Okay? They are what the Bible calls reprobate. They're rejected. Their father's the devil, and they can no longer now switch families from being a child of Satan to a child of God. You've got a small group of people who are saved that are children of God. You've got a small, I would say probably even a smaller group of people, maybe, who are reprobate, who are children of the devil. Right? And then you have a whole vast majority of people in the middle. They're not children of the devil. They're not children of God. They're the general unsaved, like you and I were before we got saved. They're out there. That's the harvest. That's what we're trying to go out into and reap. Okay? So, we read about this. It's just important to understand and put in context that, like, you know, the reprobates are still a very small minority of people in general on this planet, but they do exist. It is a real thing, and it's all the more reason to go out, preach the gospel, and get people before they ever get to a point to where, even though they're still alive, they can't believe, and they can't get saved. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word. We thank you for this chapter. I pray that you please help us to continue to learn and grow in our understanding from your word, Lord, and be able to teach the truth, whether people like it or not. We love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Sorry I went a little overtime on that, but it's an important subject, and I'm going to turn the service over to brother Peter who can lead us in our last song. All right, church. We are now going to open up the envelope, and we'll be singing the part of the Bible. You should have a sheet with you that says, Song 139. Song 139. Song 139 of the first. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Depart from me, therefore ye bloody men. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate them. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate them. Hear thy plea with those at my self against thee. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee wickedly. And thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate them. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. Hear thy plea with those at my self against thee. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. On the last, I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I can't help them, thine enemies. I can't help them, thine enemies. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. Hear thy plea with those at my self against thee. Do not hate them, O Lord, that hate thee. .