Scripture: Topics: Romans Bible Study
The book of Romans Chapter 1:18-32. This is episode two in our series. You are at The Door and I am Michael Pearl. This is sponsored by nogreaterjoyministries.org. You can find a lot of free material there at that website.
We're teaching from the King James Bible, "The words of the LORD." Verse by verse, word by word. "The words of the LORD are pure words. As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them." That is the words of the LORD. "Oh LORD, thou shalt preserve them." The words that are found in the word of God. "From this generation forever." (Psalm 12:6)
So the words of God are preserved today. Every single word, not one is lost, not one has been dropped out. That's what we're teaching.
And about 57 or 58 AD, The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome, from Corinth. At that time in the latter part of Romans, we will read that there are already many converts in Caesar's household, his servants, his maids, his assistants, many of them were worshiping the LORD Jesus Christ, a Jew crucified just 25, 26 years earlier in Jerusalem and raised from the dead. So Paul, not even having gone to Rome, yet others probably from Pentecost had taken the gospel there and it was spreading rapidly. So Paul writes to them and he's going to talk about The Human Condition. This is theology in Romans. Now you'll find the same theology in the book of Galatians, the book of Ephesians, book of First And Second Corinthians, in all of Paul's epistles and even in Peter's epistles and John's epistles. So he's going to talk about the human condition. He's going to talk about universal sinfulness and universal condemnation.
Where we live here in Perry county, the Indians used to live. I looked just yesterday at a box full of arrowheads that my son Gabriel has found over the years. Some of them beautiful obsidian arrowheads and Buffalo river chirt arrowheads perfectly formed. And you have to wonder when you come up on a ledge overlooking a creek and you sit down where Indians used to sit and there, they must have meditated about life, the things of life, about the creator, about the great spirit as they may have called him. And so the question is, how do they stand with God? How do they have to answer to God? What is their condition before him? And then there's today in Papua New Guinea, in Irian Jaya and the Amazon, there are natives that have never heard about Jesus Christ.
There's some living in tribes, running around nearly naked, fighting, warring against each other, dying, weeping over their dead, fearful of death and not understanding about love and forgiveness. What happens to them when they die without Jesus Christ? Why are we sinners? And why does the wrath of God, according to the Bible, fall upon all? That's what Paul's going to answer in this last part of chapter one. We're going to find out that sin is the willful action of individuals. Now you say, "Why would you say that? Everyone would know that." No, 95% of Christianity does not believe that sin is the willful action of individuals. Most of Christianity believes that sin comes from the nature of the individual and is an inevitable act of a sinful corrupted nature. What you're going to find Paul teaching is quite the opposite of that. That men sin because they will to sin, they make the wrong choices in the face of truth even, feeling guilt while they do and they bear the consequences of both their guilt and their choice.
He's going to go into that in a good bit of detail. So there is a universal understanding found in all cultures, all religions, all tribal people, including the tribes in New York and San Francisco and LA called Gangs. That good people are acceptable to God and bad people are rejected. I don't care where you go, this is the common belief. You get a rank infidel and get him close to death and he starts thinking about the afterlife. If his mother dies, he will say to you, "I know my mama's in heaven because she was a good woman." Now she might have beat him mercilessly. She might have been a drug user, but his mama was a good woman and good women go to heaven. Only bad people go to hell. That's a universal understanding in every culture, always has been.
"The entrance of thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple." Psalm 119:130 Now what you're going to see tonight is going to be so simple that a simple person and a simple means sort of retarded, sort of low witted. Even the simple can understand these things from the word of God. So as we open the Bible, what does the Bible say about how one knows God, obeys God and goes to heaven?
Starting in Psalm 24. He asks a question "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or Who shall stand in his holy place?" That's a good question. "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully." Ps 24:3-4 Now he's answering the question, who's going to go to heaven? A person that has clean hands and a pure heart, who's not lifted up his soul unto vanity. There's no vanity in him nor sworn deceitfully.
Psalm 24: 5 "He shall receive blessings from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation." That's universally understood. And the Bible agrees with the heart and mind of people all around the world. Good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell, I've had people say to me. I've said to them, "You're Christian." And they say to me, "I believe if you're just sincere and do the best you can, that you'll go to heaven." Well, I agree with them. If you're sincere and do the best you can, according to the word of God, you'll go to heaven. All you have to do is just don't sin. Just don't willfully commit acts of sin. Don't hurt or harm anyone. Don't be cruel or bitter. Don't be unkind or rude. Don't steal. Just be good through and through. Clean hands and a pure heart.
Then we read in Leviticus 18. "Ye shall therefore keep my statues and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them." It says that three times in the old Testament and is quoted in the new. "He shall live in them. I am the LORD." If a man does the judgments, he will live by doing those things.
Ezekiel 20:11 "I gave them my statues and showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them." So by doing the statues and judgment of God, a man will have life.
Then in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 "And now Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee?" This is the big passage in the old Testament that describes what God requires. That's what it says. What doth the LORD require of thee? "But to fear the LORD thy God." Now, why would you fear God? I fear policemen. I'm not scared of them, but I fear them. That's why I slow down when I see one. And I fear them, I don't break their rules. And when they've told me, "Do this or we'll put you in jail." I've done that and that's happened to me at least one occasion.
So, "fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways," not just the ones you choose. "And to love him and to serve the LORD thy God, with all thy heart and with all thy soul." That's what God requires of you. Just love him. Serve him with all your heart, with all your soul. "To keep the commandments of the LORD and his statues, which I command thee this day for thy good?" He said, "Keep these commandments. You'll go to heaven."
Now, here we come. Luke, chapter 10, where Jesus is addressed by the scribes and Pharisees and lawyers of his day. And the three former passages I just read are going to be alluded to and quoted in Jesus answer and in their answer. "And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Luke 10:25-26 Now that's a very direct question. Isn't it?
There's been many a man laying on the battlefield with one leg blown off, bleeding out, and he's asked the chaplain, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" There's been many a person who's been in the hospital with cancer eating them up, the preacher, the ministers come to see them. And they've said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" "He said unto him," Jesus says to the scribe, the lawyer, "What is written in the law?" In other words, you're asking me but you're a lawyer of the old Testament scripture. So what does it say? "How readest thou?" What do you read?
And he answered and said, this is quote. This lawyer says. this is what the Bible says. He's quoting the passage we just read. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself." And Jesus said unto him, "Thou hast answered right, this do, and thou shalt live." Those three passages in the old Testament and Jesus tags that own to his statement about loving the LORD thy God with all your heart and doing his statues and his commandments. This do and thy shalt live.
Now, remember the question is what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered, "This do and thou shalt live." Do what? Love the LORD, love your neighbor, do the right thing all the time, keep the commandments, don't sin, that simple.
Everyone knows that. Everyone believes that and all religions are based on an understanding of that. Is that not true? If you're a Mormon, Jehovah's witness, a Buddhist, Shinto, a Muslim, Christian, Jew, everyone believes. You just do good. It's in the heart of men.
Matthew 16:26-27, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give an exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then shall he reward every man according to his works." The church of Christ teach that you get saved by faith and works. The Roman Catholic church teaches that you get saved by faith and works. The Episcopalian church, the church of England, the Methodist church in our modern time, all preach that you get saved by faith and works. And that faith that does not have the works accompanying it, will not get you into heaven.
And so no one, they will tell us, knows they're going to heaven until they've lived their life of good works and the works are sufficient for God to accept them. That's the universal belief of 95, 98, 99% of Christianity and the rest of the religions in the world. So he said, "Then he shall reward every man according to his works." Is that true? Yes, it's true. That God will judge you based on your works in the day of judgment.
Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And they were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
Now, if I stopped here and I said, "Okay, we're through." Then you'd feel compelled to go home and start being just as good as you could, with the hopes that you could please God. But you would be much like the man who went to the doctor after smoking for 40 years and found out that he has lung cancer that's metastasized and is now in his liver, in his lungs and in his brain. And he says, "Doctor, what can I do not to die of cancer?" And the doctor says to him, "Don't ever smoke." "But doctor I've already smoked for 40 years." "You ask me what to do to keep from dying of cancer. And I'm telling you don't ever smoke." "But doctor it's too late. I've already smoked." "Then it's too late." So God says, "Yes, this do, and thou shall live." The problem is if you don't do it, you won't live. You'll die.
For the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death." We're going to find the answer to that, not tonight, but starting two nights from now. "And they were judged every man, according to their works." Scary passage. Because I know that if I stood before God right now based on my works. And by the way, I don't smoke, drink, cuss, chew, or go with the girls that do. I don't look at pornography. I've never been drunk. I have never tasted beer in my life. I tasted a little whiskey when my wife made a tincture one time, put some herbs in it and I had a spoon full of it. That's as close as I ever got. I've never taken drugs other than when I had back surgery for one day.
I live a good righteous small life, but if I died tonight and stood before God and he says to me, "I'm going to give you a computer and give you all of your life on it. You got one night to delete everything that you're ashamed of. I want you to get in one document, all the things that you want to get you into heaven."
I would delete and delete and delete and delete and delete. I would put one thing over in my column to get me to heaven. I'd put another and then I'd put another and then I'd go back and look over and say, "No, that's not true. That's not right. I'd take it out. I'd take it out and I'd take it out. Morning time came, God said, "Okay, where's your list?" I'm saying, "I'm sorry. I don't have anything. There's nothing I've done to get me into heaven. I've not been good enough. I've not been righteous enough. I have no hope. I'm lost." Now, I think that'd be true of you too.
Did I read that? All religions are designed to make us better. Good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell. So religion is the corporate activity of men and women seeking to build a bridge to God across the chasm of their sin so that they might find acceptance, forgiveness and sonship. Religion is man's best and highest efforts to be good. But religion fails every time including Christianity. No religion will get you into heaven.
So back to the words of God, beginning in Romans 1:18, where we're starting tonight. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Now, if we stop there and there was no more of that sentence, it would simply say that God pours out his wrath on ungodliness and unrighteousness, right? But it says, "Who hold the truth in unrighteousness." In other words, it qualifies that God's wrath falls, not just on ungodly and unrighteous people, but on a particular class of ungodly and unrighteous people. That class is those who hold truth.
He is telling us that God's wrath does not fall on people who do not hold truth. In other words, God doesn't damn anyone for their ignorance. God doesn't punish anyone who didn't know better. God only brings wrath on those who hold truth in unrighteousness. That is, they didn't righteously handle the truth that they had. So each man has some truth. We're going to show you in a moment where that truth comes from, but we hear people talk about, "That's your truth, this is my truth." But every man's truth condemns him. There's not a person on the earth whose conscience is not pricked by some of his deeds and actions, who doesn't feel ashamed and wish they'd said something or done something differently. So every man's truth faults him.
Some people hold a lot of truth and some people hold just a little truth. There's different degrees of truth. There are many different degrees of truth. Not a different truth but different degrees of truth, as there are people. And God judges you out of that little book of truth that you hold, not out of the book of truth your neighbor holds. So truth is weighed against obedience. If you have 10% truth out of what could be known and you're obedient in that 10%, you wouldn't be damned. You'd be a righteous person who'd never willfully sin.
If your truth is 30% of what could be known and your obedience is 30%, you'd be a man who never failed, never sinned. But if your truth is 30% and your obedience is only 10%, then you're a guilty sinner. You violated your own code of ethics, your own internal principles and you violated the will of God. Even if you don't know the Bible, you've never heard of the 10 commandments, when you violated the truth that's within you, you are then a guilty sinner and a man's own religion will fault him, apart from the Bible.
"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." Daniel 5:27. So each of us is wanting before God. "Shall I count them pure with wicked balances and with a bag of deceitful weights?" Micah 6:11 God is speaking and saying when judgment day comes, he's not going to use wicked balances. That is, something that says one pound, but it's actually five pounds or it's nine ounces. It's going to be one pound.
Ungodliness is a self-imposed condition resulting from wrong choices. Wrath is not visited upon anyone for lack of holding truth. It includes the American Indian and the Savage in Papua New Guinea, or the tribesmen in New York city in the Bronx. Judgment is in proportion to opportunity to know truth.
Romans 2:11 "Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also to the Gentile. But glory honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." This is Romans chapter 2:9 which will cover pretty soon, not tonight. So he is telling us that there's tribulation, anguish, only on people who do evil and there's glory honor and peace on people that work good. "For there's no respect of persons with God." If you're Christian, a Jew, a Muslim or a Buddhist. If you do evil, there's wrath. If you do good, there's honor and peace and glory.
Romans 1:11-13"For as many as have sinned without law”, or not having any knowledge of the Bible shall also per without law. “And as many as have sinned, then the law shall also be judged by the law." So those who don't have the law will not face the law, that is the written law of God, the Bible, in the day of judgment. They will face what? They will face the truth that they held and be held accountable for that.
"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." (Romans 2:13) Again, we see this salvation by works. Now, why was Paul saying that? Why do the old Testaments say that? Because the Bible says in book of Galatians, that the law is our school master to bring us to Christ. That is the law offers us; holds out that carrot.
"If you'll obey me, you'll have life." We come to that carrot in attempt to obey that law. Paul said "The law promised life," in Romans chapter seven. But he said, "When I tried to do it, I found it to be unto death and it deceived me and by it, it slew me." He said, "When the law came, I died and sin revived." So the law is like an x-ray that reveals the cancer. It can't remove it, it only exposes it. So the law is there for that very purpose as a doctor, x-rays you and gives you that terrible news that you've got cancer. So it is the law comes to give you that terrible news, that you are a sinner and in need of something more than your own efforts, pulling at your own religious bootstraps to try to bring yourself up to God. More than building your religious bridge across the chasm of sin to try to appease God. More than praying to statues and saints and walking down on aisle and praying a sinner's prayer. You need divine deliverance.
Romans 1:14 "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law," there it is, "are law unto themselves." A person without the Bible becomes a law unto himself through the things that he knows, the truth that he gets out of his own religion, out of philosophy, out of observing nature, out of meditation.
Romans 1:15 For "which shew the work of the law written in their hearts." That is, if you talked with these heathen people and come to understand them, you would see that in their heart there's a law there. "Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another." What's he saying? He's saying, "Here's these two gang members. One of them messes with the other one's sister, so he cuts his throat." And they said, "Why did you do that?" He says, "He ought not messed with my sister." Now, when a man says, ought not, that's a law. That's saying there's a law, you ought not mess with my sister. When you do, you deserve death. The wages of sin is death. And what did he do? He executed death upon the man that messed with his sister. If you start talking to him about somebody that molested a child, he'd say, "That makes me so angry. I could kill every one of them." So here he is with a righteous thought that child molesters deserve to be put to death. So what happens if someday he messes with a child? He's already condemned himself with his own words, or if someone steals from him, he said, "He's a dirty thief." Then he's condemned thieves. If he ever steals, then he's a law under himself. He condemns himself with his own words, his own conscience bearing witness, his thoughts, the meanwhile accusing or else excusing. What does it mean excusing? That is, he makes allowance for some things because he says that's not sin.
Back to Romans 1:18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness." Now, if you have some of your modern Bibles, they're going to say “resist the truth.” Now, I won't go into katechontōn and the Greek words here for this, but I have done it before. And if I did, I would show you that they're dead wrong and that King James Bible is the right one.
Furthermore, if you were to take this and change it to resist the truth, the rest of the chapter is nonsensical. Because the whole chapter is not about resisting truth, it's about holding the truth and then violating it. There's nothing in the chapter about resisting the truth. So the very context itself demands the word, hold the truth, “because that which may be known of God is manifest in them.” Without the Bible, there's something in them. God has shown it unto them.
How do we come to hold the truth? That's what he's going to talk about now. What is this path of enlightenment? Where people without the Bible, without any religion or some primitive homemade religion, how is one enlightened to hold the truth?
Romans 1: 19 -20 "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him." Invisible things of God, like truth, love justice. "From the creation of the world," that is, by looking at the creation of the world, "are clearly seen." That is, men can observe creation, the stars, plants, animals, "are understood by the things that are made. Even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." No man can say, "I didn't know." Because all men know through nature that there's a creator. They can deny that there is, but they know there is. Their denial is an emotional denial. I've had many an atheist denying the existence of God and then somewhere after about 45 minutes of conversation, they get angry and saying, "If there was a God, why did he let all those children die in Bangladesh? If there's a God, why did he let my wife have a mongoloid child? If there's a God, why did he let my mother die at 52 years old?" You see, it's not that he doesn't believe there's a God. He's just mad at him.
Romans 1: 20 “Things are clearly seen, even his eternal power in Godhead” that is, they know about God the father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit through nature. Look at that. You look at something like a butterfly. Did you know that the Monarch butterfly looked at closely, you can find every single letter in the English alphabet written on its wings? Now, how did God know of the English language and of our alphabet and place every single letter? You say "Well, they evolve from living in a library." That's probably what somebody would say. That's par for the course.
Romans 1: 20 -21 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood." So there's an understanding in that American native, that tribal Indian. "Being understood by things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." So what is the path that men have taken having seen God in nature, having known him that way? "Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God."
Here was a willful choice to sin against the light they had, the understanding that they possessed, to turn from it and refuse to glorify God. Then it says "Neither were thankful." Unthankfulness is the second big sin listed in Paul's category of sin. The first one is, not to glorify God. You know what the worst sin you've ever done is? It's not glorifying God. That's insulting.
When we went to the Grand Tetons, Shoshanna was sleeping. She was about 10 years old or 11 or something. She always slept anywhere we drove. I've seen pictures, I've painted pictures of the Grand Tetons off other pictures, but I'd never stood at the base of them and looked up. It's the most extraordinary, awesome thing. It was like worship to stand at the bottom of the Teton Mountains and look up.
Before us was this big wide valley and then a river, and the valley was filled with flowers. We got Shoshanna out of the car and said, "Look at this." We're just so overjoyed and thrilled. "Oh, I'm sleepy." And she got back in the car. We got her out again. She crumbled, we had to put her back. She never did see the Grand Teton Mountains. She insulted the Grand Teton Mountains. To go to sleep in the presence of the Grand Teton mountains is a total insult to those mountains. She should have gloried in the majesty of that. That's what happens to a 10 year old, I guess, sometimes. Have you seen him since then Shoshanna?
Shoshanna: “I remember yellow flowers, white. It just took me like two seconds to see them.”
Michael Pearl: Oh, two seconds was enough. That's still an insult.
Romans 1:21 "Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations." If you don't just glorify God, just walk out and look at the sunset and just glorify God, just say, "Thank you, Jesus." If you don't look at a newborn baby or a puppy or a kitten or a bunch of little chickens following their mama chicken around and her protecting them and you don't just thank God and glorify God, or catch a bass and a string and glorify God and thank him. I've had many a fishermen who doesn't go to church and not saved say to me, "My church is on the lake." You know they're not just making the excuse. They are experiencing God on the lake. They say, "That's my cathedral out there. Hunting, sitting in a deer stand." Now, they're making an excuse but what they're saying is true.
They feel closer to God in nature than they do in the church house. Frankly, I do too most of the time. And so they are revealing that there's something in their heart that points them to the divine and they glorify him somewhat out there. "But they became vain in their imaginations." Vain Imagination is like a stupid ignorant imagination. It's preposterous imagination. Like, are you for real imagination?
Now, today it's real easy for modern Americans to believe in little strange people from outer space and watch movies of it, all that. And, "Yeah, there probably is." But when you tell them that there are angels saying glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill toward men over the birth of Jesus Christ, come in a virgin. That's nonsense. That's a fairytale because their vein imaginations take them to all kinds of wondrous and strange and exotic things that they can believe in or hope that's true. But when it comes to biblical truth, they reject it. Vain Imaginations is that we evolved from an ape or a slug. I saw a guy I think maybe he evolved from a slug.
Here's the, 21st Century Ever Onward and Downward Evolution. This is the true evolution that's taking place right now in the 21st century. Man is progressing ever onward and downward. That's what they're so proud of. "And their foolish heart was darkened." In other words, something happened. The light that was there discovered through nature and intuitively starts going out. As they get older, they have less light instead of more. There comes a point when the light doesn't seem to shine anymore. At that point, their conscience doesn't bother them like it used to. They molest children, they get drunk, they lie and they watch pornographic movies. And when their wife says something to him about it, they say, "Well, it doesn't bother me." He's probably telling the truth. He's looking for a rush that he used to have and doesn't get anymore because his conscience is seared with a hot iron. As the Bible says, foolish heart darkened.
Romans 1:22 "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." I laugh at the college professors, the liberals in this country, the socialist and the things that they say and do, I won't even go into it. It's too absurd. But their ignorance runs so deep, you say "But you've never..." Listen, I've got 18 years of schooling so I've known a lot of college professors. Now it does count. Does it? When you spent two years in ninth grade, 18. Otherwise it'd be 17.
I've stood before secular professors and I've listened to their jab, and I've heard all they've got to say. The humanities teachers in a secular university and I know what it's like. When I was 18 years old, I laughed at them. I thought people can't be this stupid, but they were. Their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Romans 1:23 "And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like into corruptible man." Listen, if I was making a God, I'd come up with something a little better than that, wouldn't you? "And to bird's, four footed beasts and creeping things."
Men worship idols of men, idols and images of birds as in Egypt, four footed beast as did the Babylonians and the Canaanites worshiping the bulls, and creeping things as in scarabs in Egypt and other little creepy things that people worshiped.
Exodus 20:4-5"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them." As enlightened as America is supposed to be, there's people still going before statues and images and praying prayers and burning candles, thinking that they're coming in contact with God through that image. You can see every year down in Mexico parades of people walking through the streets, carrying images and statues and doing veneration to them, and sometimes cutting themselves and bleeding to try to appease and please God making graven images.
So what does God do? How does he respond to this action of men in turning away from the truth and their heart being darkened?
Romans 1:24 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves."
You see, there was this rise of understanding and enlightenment that grew and grew. Then there's a point at which God starts turning men loose, giving them up and they start that dissent into darkness. He gave them up to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. That's a mark of that downward slide to dishonor your body. The way that men dishonor their bodies is becoming more apparent, men and women every day. God made the body perfect. He made it beautiful, but men are disgusted. They do disgusting things to their bodies. Women do and dishonor their bodies that God made. The gift he made. They say "No, don't like it. Going to change it."
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Know ye not the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived neither fornicators, nor idolaters, adulterers, nor effeminate." Look at that list. Fornicators, that includes all kinds of sexual sin. Usually points more to when they're not married. Idolaters, that covers most of the religions of the world. Nor adulterers, that's sin against your wife or your husband. Nor effeminate, what's effeminate? That's a man being more like a girl or acting like a girl or having girl like tendencies or dressing like a girl, as this man did. He should have worked a little longer. I still don't see anything feminine about that.
But I went up to San Francisco and I saw them going through there and it was disgusting. Someone said to me, "You're homophobic." You better believe I am. I confess, I am. You say, "Why are you homophobic?" Well, I've spent 2000 hours in prisons and I've gone in and I have hugged big guys and little guys and even queers. If they come up and want to hug and just hug three others, you got to. You know? You know what I always did? I made sure they didn't scratch me. You say why? Because I didn't want to get aids and die. I'm homophobic. When we go to rest stops and we get out with the grandkids, I'm homophobic because I've had homos in rest stops... I won't tell you, but they do vulgar and dirty things. Many of them, not all of them, but many of them are preying on kids. So I don't know which ones are and which ones aren't. If there's two, three of them standing around together to urinal looking around, I'm homophobic. That's why I stay prepared.
So I'm going to have to touch them, to dispose of them. Now, I have won people to Christ that are homos. I've led them to Christ and they've become good Christian brothers and sisters. But until they repent, I'm homophobic. Most of America is and anybody that isn't is a fool playing with a loaded gun that'll kill you real slow over a period of time, called aids and other diseases or molest your children. And so, yes, I'm homophobic. God says that effeminate won't inherit the kingdom of God. Now, there's a man dressed up like a woman, but God made what he made and I don't care what you do, you're not going to change it. You can dress it up on the outside, but it's still what it is.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 "Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards..." Thieves and covetous, nor drunkards. "... nor revilers nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." None in that list are going to inherit the kingdom of God. You see, you can go to hell just as quick being an extortioner, white collar crime, as you will being a homo. You can be a thief and just steal things at work and you'll go to hell just as quick as a homo will. Sin is sin and one sin may be worse down here on earth than another, but before God it's equally damnable and blameworthy.
"Abusers of themselves with mankind." There's all kinds of ways people abuse each other with mankind. It's become a fad to practice group abuse and self abuse. "Cutting makes me feel good," a girl sad. I've had to deal with that in the last couple of days. And then there's drugs of all kinds that people shoot up, that's abusing themselves with mankind. That's a girl, six months after taking methamphetamines, and then four years later. You see them running around Lobelville here, skinny, sores all over them, teeth rotting out from the meth.
What has man done with the truth he knows?
Romans 1:25 He said, "Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator whose blessed forever." Men not only worship cows in India, but they also worship stars in America.
So how does God respond to men descending into these vile actions. Romans 1:26"For this cause God gave them up..." Gave them up, turned them loose, quit working with them. Stop showing light to them. "... unto vile affections." There are affections. A lot of people love a lot of things. Some affections are vile. "But I love her. I love him," that can be of vile love. God says there's vile affections.
Romans 1:26 "For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature." What's the natural use of the woman? The man has the counterpart, the natural use of the woman, “but they changed it into that which is against nature.” Women with women, working that which is unseemly. I don't care what the Supreme court says and the law of the land in America. They'll never silence me from teaching the words of God that says homosexuality, transvestitism and sex change operations are sin, damnable and vile.
Without natural affection and vile affections. So don't justify it because you love someone. Someone said to me, "Well, I was born homosexual." I know that's not true, but going along with it since I couldn't argue that point, I said, "Well, that's okay. There's no problem with that. Just don't ever have sexual contact with a man." "Oh, but that's who I am." I said, "Look, I was born loving girls, wanting them, desiring them."
I remember nine years old, just falling in love with a girl, had little red hearts on her petty coat and I even knew her name. I spoke to her one time and she was beautiful. I just would dream about having one of those for myself, not the petty coat, the girl. I got up 18, 19, 20 years old. I knew a lot of girls. A lot of them wonderful, beautiful girls, good friends with them, went out on dates with them, but I never messed with them. Never touched them. I was still a Virgin when I got married at 25 years of age. And had I not been married, I would still be without sexual contact with females. Why? Because it's a sin for a man to have sex with a woman, that's not his wife.
I don't care if you're born, what you're born, just don't have any sexual contact and you'll be all right. He said, "But I couldn't do that." "Well, I did. I abstained. You can too." You see, it's not what you're born with that makes you a sinner. It's what you do with what you're born with that makes you a sinner. It's the act that you do.
Romans 1:27 "And likewise, also the men leaving the natural use of the woman..." Natural use again. "... burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly." Something you shouldn't have to see or hear about. Men with men, ah, we'll censor that because that's unseemly and it's against nature.
This is the words of God. You don't have to believe it, but you will answer for it one day. Not only those who are in these practices will answer for it, but those who condone and condemn this will answer to God. Because God who made man, man and woman, woman, and made the natural use of the man and the natural use of the woman, that God says it's against nature and it's unseemly.
You can call the Bible a liar. You can ignore it. You can turn your back on it until your heart is so dark and there's no more conscience there, but that doesn't change the fact. Your truth will come back to judge you. Not the truth you've darkened now, but the truth you held at one time when you understood these things.
About six months ago, a Christian Rock, that's kind of an oxymoron, singer named Trey Pearson. I'd never heard of him until I saw it in the news. A group called Every Sunday Christian Rock band. Has three children and a wife and he and his wife have been active and speaking defensively of the queer community and showing and expressing love towards them. So he finally came out of the closet and admitted that he was actually homosexual. He and his wife had a nice, sweet parting. She was glad for him to come out in the open. And so he left and went immediately that next week to a queer convention somewhere in New York, where he picked him up I'm sure some little boys to play with on the weekend. So that's Trey Pearson, a Christian.
Here's what he said, "The response has been overwhelmingly positive. It's been pretty awesome to see how many people have come around me to show me love and support." He hopes people of all faiths and backgrounds will come together and stop teaching hate, which they would say I'm doing tonight. "I think that the fundamentalist way that people have been teaching against homosexuality, whether you're Christian, Hindu, Jewish or Muslim, I think it's dangerous."
Well, Jesus was dangerous. Paul was dangerous. Moses was dangerous. The Bible's dangerous. You better believe it's dangerous. Because the wages of sin is death. And if you don't repent, you'll be damned. It's dangerous. "Thou shall not lie with mankind as with womankind: it is abomination." That's what God says in Leviticus 18:22. It's abomination.
1 Kings 14:24 "...sodomites... Did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel."
2 Kings 23:7 "And he break down the houses of the sodomites that were by the house of the Lord." That means there were queers, put up their little pimp houses outside the temple to service Jews coming into the temple. Even in Israel, they descended into sodomy Today, there's higher percentage of sodomites in Israel than most other countries in the world.
Jude 1:7 "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities round about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh..." Man and man is strange. "... are set for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
Homosexuals say, "God made me that way." Now about 15 years ago on the fMRI Machine, they discovered that the brains of homosexuals were different from the brains of straight people. And immediately it came out in the news that the homosexuals showing that they were actually born that way, created that way and so that justified their actions. But even as they were doing that, half of the other researchers were saying, "No, no, no, wait. You're being premature in your conclusions."
So with further research, they looked at children, infants and young people and found that the brains of all of the young people, three, four, five, six, seven, eight years old were alike. There were no queer brains in eight or nine year olds. And there were no queer brains in straight people who weren't acting like queers. The only queer brains were in queers who'd been acting like queers for a while. So looking at that brain and noticing the difference in it, the scientific conclusion was that it was the actions themselves that caused the brain to change. Their actions were not the product of their brain, the brain changing was a product of their actions. That's science.
The Bible says: "And receiving in themselves..." These people practicing these sins receive "... in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." Romans 1:27
Now what that actually says, and the reason that's hard to read is it's written just exactly like the Greek reads, word for word, and it's not interpreted for you. It just reads the way it reads.
They received in themselves. So something came into them, which was a recompense. A recompense is an equivalent return. A recompense of their error, so their error of homosexuality, something happened inside of them and it was meet. It was suited to what they did.
The brain of a porno addict resembles that of a lesbian. They found. If you're doing pornography, your brain is changing to look like that of a lesbian. And in time you will be a different person and you will feel different about many thing. And you will begin, I won't even go into it, but you'll get pretty dirty and rude. "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient." So they didn't like to retain God in their knowledge. America is trying to purge God from the schools, from the colleges and if they could, they'd purge God from the churches.
“Reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.” Now, a male and a female are convenient. One is made to fit the other. I was plumbing one day and had a kid helping me and I picked up a male fitting threads on it. And I said, "Hand me a female coupling, we're going to couple these together." He handed me another male and I said, "This is not convenient. It's inconvenient to have two male couplings. They won't fit together. I need a female coupling where I can screw the male coupling into the female coupling and there'll be a couple then." You get that?
I remember when I was about 18 years old, the first time I walked in a hardware store and I said, "I need a male." And I just I realized, if I say male fitting for the female and I was talking to a girl attendant and I couldn't get it out. It never dawned on me what it meant to male and a female coupling until I started trying to explain what I wanted.
Romans 1:28 And so he said, "God gave them to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient." Now, we won't go into it. But homosexuality is a very rude, crude and inconvenient thing.
"Being filled with fornication." Filled with it, possessed by it. And the word Fornication comes from the Greek word Porneia, which is the word for pornography. I had a pastor just about two months ago tell me that every man in his church is hooked on pornography. Different surveys have revealed that over 50% of all men in the churches, even the Conservative Fundamental Baptist churches are doing pornography. You are seeing, you are living at the end of Christian civilization. It is perishing from off the earth. There cannot be Christianity and pornography cohabiting in the same person.
Romans 1:29 “Being filled with covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, malignity, deceit.” Romans 12:17 "Provide things honest in the sight of all men."
Romans 1:29 “Whisperers.” See kids, when two or three of you get together and you make fun of another kid and you whisper about them, you committing one of the sins that'll damn you. You seven, eight year old, nine year old girl, you get together and you ostracize another girl, you're a whisperer, you're a great sinner.
Romans 1:30 "Back biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents." That's a sin kids, to be disobedient to parents. Inventors of evil things. You adults know that the world invents evil things. It's full of all kinds of evil toys and evil things and evil machines and evil video games and evil... I won't go into it. “Haters of God, despiteful and proud.”
Romans 1:31 "Without understanding." We got so many effeminate goofy guys today who have just laughed away and marked away their conscience and the spirit of God talking to them. They become idiots. Schools full of them. I see them in the dollar store. 10 year old kids are just become total little ignorant fools and their parents make them that way with a television.
"Covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful." Covenant breaker says you'll do something you won't. No natural affection. Natural affection is to love a child as a child with compassion. Unnatural affection is to love a child in an unnatural way. Implacable cannot be controlled. Unmerciful.
Romans 1:32 And "Knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death." So he says the people who commit all these things that he's listed are worthy of death.
There are no innocent, noble, tribal people. New Tribes Missions said this, "The Indians live in fear, in fear of evil spirits, in fear of violent death because it's in their culture to kill." The TV national geographic, they paint a picture of these Indian tribes that's totally a lie. They've never lived in one for two years and gotten to know the people and their culture.
Now, any of these tribes that don't kill you, if you can get into them, they all smile. They're always happy. They're always inviting you around. They're always cheerful and all that, but stay for one of their funerals, stay for when they're not performing for you. When they get angry at each other, when they take out their bows and their arrows and they begin to cut and slash and kill. Stay and watch what they do to their women and to their children, you'll find that they've sinned against their conscience and entered into a state of darkness.
Children know God like they know their mother's milk. But life works it out of us. Life takes away that light, puts it out it sends us into darkness, makes fools out of us.
So here's the Inevitable Universal Understanding. We're summing it up. Now,
This is all we've read in this list. So the truth we hold makes us entirely responsible without excuse.
Here's the Willful Condition of Mankind. Did I go backwards?
Here's the stairway to God.
Hold the truth, know God, see the invisible, understand the Godhead, see his glory, profess wisdom, know judgment.
The only thing is men don't take that stairway. They take the one down to hell.
They hold the truth in unrighteousness, glorify him not as God, not thankful, vain imaginations, foolish heart darkened, became fools, homosexuality, atheism, idolatry, fornication, wickedness, and a number of others.
Finally, the final verse in our chapter, "Who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same." Not only are the people worthy of death, who do what he's described, "but have pleasure in them that do them." In other words, the people are worthy of death, not just the ones who are doing it, but the ones who take pleasure in other people doing it are also worthy of death. You say "I would never be a queer." Would you watch two lesbians making out and take pleasure in it? If the lesbians are worthy of death, so are you for taking pleasure in it. Would you watch two homosexuals in some Hollywood movie that shows how two guys just fell in love and had this real sweet relationship? I've never seen a movie like that, but I've read reviews on them. And think, "Oh, isn't that sweet?" then you're worthy of death.
Or acts of violence, acts of adultery, a movie with somebody going out on their wife because she was so mean. So they go sleeping around and you say, "Well, it got to, she's such a mean woman. He needs a little love in his life." If you take pleasure in other people sinning, you share the same punishment as they do.
So here is the whole chapter. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against..." Excuse me. From verse 18 through 32, the whole chapter, we're just going to read it.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them."
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
21 Because 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.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like an corruptible man, birds, four footed beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worship and served the creature more than the creator who's blessed forever.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women that changed the natural use into that, which is against nature."
27 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 and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient."
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers,
30 back biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.
32Who knowing the judgment of God that, they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."
So we have gone through Romans chapter one and some of you seeing this would say, "Boy, I don't want to hear anymore of that. That's hard, awful stuff." Yes it is, but keep in mind what you had tonight was an x-ray showing you your tumor. You may think, "Well, it's hopeless for me." And it is hopeless for you to go back home, do what you've been doing and be cured. But I have a pill, one pill that'll cure you and take away all your disease. It's called The Gospel and that Gospel of Jesus Christ will cure you.
I don't care how low you've sunk. I have seen lesbians and queers, homosexuals. I've seen them come to Christ, be made pure and live righteous holy lives the rest of their life. I've seen adulterous, fornicators, liars and murderers, thieves, drunkards, meth heads, heroin, pot. I've seen all of them come to Jesus, be born again and life changed and it's a miracle. It's not something you've got to do. It's something God will do to you, but we don't have time to tell you about that tonight. We'll get into that some next time. Okay? So stick with us and you'll get delivered from what troubles your soul. All right, we'll stop there.