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Let us open our Bibles to 2 Peter 2:10-16: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. Our Father, in Jesus’ name tonight, fill me with Thy Holy Spirit to preach Scripturally, plainly, and simply. I pray, our Father, that our hearts might be alerted. Oh God, give us the minds of men, women, boys, and girls in this day of deception. May our desire be to follow the Word wherever it leads us. In Jesus’ name, Amen. In the second chapter of this book, we see the destructive heritage of the apostate in verses 1-3. We have seen their doom in verses 4-10. We see their depravity in verse 10. Tonight, we come to their lifestyle, the apostate’s lifestyle. In the latter part of verse 10 which I spoke on last week, we see two things: the lust of uncleanness and despised government. Then, it gives a third characteristic of them: Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. (That word dignities means glory.) Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. This is a very difficult verse. By comparing Scripture with Scripture, we will read some verses in just a moment from the book of Jude. This simply tells us that these folks are irreverent. . . . they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. There is nothing too sacred for them to blaspheme. They have no fear to intrude into any sacred institution or individual. To them nothing is sacred. A good book to read and a profitable book to read is the book of Jude. Please turn there. Verses 15-16 say something about the matter of irreverence. . . . they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Jude preached about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 14: And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (He is coming again.) Verses 15-16: To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly . . . (Look at how many times the word ungodly appears.) . . . to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. Go back to 2 Peter. . . . they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. This talks about speaking evil of angels. This is a very difficult verse to make a practical application. Let us see what the Bible has to say about these angels and the reeling accusation against them. Let me read the book of Jude again. Jude 8-9: Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel . . . (He is the archangel, not Gabriel. Archangel means that there is only one.) . . . when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. What about the body of Moses? Deuteronomy 34:5-6: So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. Now, the incident recorded in Jude 9 talks about Michael disputing with Satan, or contending with the Devil, about the body of Moses. People make idols of everything in the world. They have got enough wood today saying that it is a part of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, they have sacred hair, sacred clothes, sacred wood, and all of these things. That is idolatry. In 2 Kings, you remember the serpent lifted up in the wilderness, a brasen serpent. They made an idol out of it. I read about it in 2 Kings 18:4: . . . brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. Probably, that is the reason you and I do not have a copy of the original Word of God that was given. Why? We would worship it. We would bow down and worship it. The Word reveals God. People make idols of things that are sacred, that are supposed to point to God. Maybe that was a possibility. I have a quotation on Deuteronomy 24:6. It stated that the grave of Moses was given into the special custody of Michael. Ancient Jewish tradition speaks of the contest of Moses’ soul at the time of his burial. According to ecumenists, the tradition read that God had charged Michael the Archangel with the burial of Moses, that Satan opposed him bringing an accusation against him relative to the murder of the Egyptians in consequence of which he was unworthy of such an honorable burial. Something happened with Michael and the Devil in a dispute about his body. Regardless of what that may be, Michael the Archangel — the word means who is like unto God — shows his reverential awe of the Creator. Satan, the adversary, shows his antagonism to God. But, Michael said to the fallen creature: The Lord rebuke thee. That shows his reverence. There are several passages of Scripture about Michael. I will not take the time to read them. You will find it in Daniel 10, Daniel 12, and Revelation 12:7-9. I am going to skip that. The Lord rebuke thee. He did not call the Devil a lot of names. Sometimes, I am afraid some of these little songs that we sing and teach these little boys and girls are in violation of the Scripture. I read this quotation from Vincent: “A judgment of railing.” He explains the sentence saving of imputing his dignity. Michael remembered the highest state from which he (Lucifer) fell and left his sentence to God. He did not revile him. He did not call him a long list of names. I know a missionary on the mission field who said that the Devil had really attacked him. One day, he just got fed up, and he called the Devil everything that he could Scripturally call him without profaning, without blaspheming, without swearing, or without cursing. He called him, “You dirty, low-down . . .” — a bunch of names like that. I will tell you what happened. It brought him home from the mission field for four or five years before he got back on his feet again. Something happened. Sin makes us rebels. We do not bow to anything. A holy angel refused to rebuke, call names, or revile even a fallen creature because of the fact that God made him and clothed him with majesty, and he fell into sin. You and I are commanded to resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. That is a command. You and I are not to get out of Scripture. I remind the Devil that he is a liar. I do not call him a liar. He is a liar because God said he is a liar. I have every right in the world to call him everything that the Bible calls him because that is a sentence pronounced upon him by God, and not by me. When I transgress and begin to call names, I am violating the Scriptures. Now, there may be other Scriptures, but this is very difficult to make a personal application. Possibly, these false prophets or these apostates are having reference because we used angels in verse 4, fallen angels. We have talked about the deliverance of Lot in verse 6. Do you know that it was holy angels that came to Sodom and Gomorrha and brought Lot out of that city and prevented the destruction of Lot? It was very obvious that the audience, that Simon Peter was preaching to, knew what he was referring to. I say publicly that I do not know the public application of what he was talking about, but it does say this that they are not afraid to speak evil of dignity. That is glory in the Greek word. They are not afraid of that. They are not afraid to curse anything. This is a day when they are not afraid to damn anything. You and I are commanded in Titus 3:2-3: To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. We are not to speak evil of anybody. Man is made in the image of God. You and I are commanded to not call any man common or unclean. The man in Africa is not to be common or unclean. Why? God made him in His image. He looks that way because of what sin has done to him. If sin had not done that to him, then you would see a person upright and a person that would be very wonderful to meet and to know. There are people in this state today. We see people disfigured by polio. We see them disfigured by multiple sclerosis. We see all that. But, wait a minute. That is not the real person. You are seeing what the disease has done to the body. If they did not have that disease, their body would not look like that. Sinners, regardless how far they have fallen into sin, would not look like that if it had not been for the disfigurements of sin. Man was made in the image of God. When you saw a man, it was to remind you of God. That was the purpose of man. This is a verse of scripture in 2 Peter. These folks, the apostates, are irreverent. They trod in where angels fear to tread. They blaspheme holy things. They blaspheme high, exalted things. That shows they are irreverent. Verse 12 says: But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not . . . Again, in Jude 10, it says: But these speak evil of those things which they know not . . . Another mark of the apostate is that he is ignorant. He claims to be smart. He thinks those that believe the Bible are dumb, but he is ignorant. The Bible says he is ignorant. He distorts knowledge. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed . . . They act and live like animals of the field. They move by instinct. They do not operate by reason. They are governed by their passions and their instincts, and not by reason. They are like the four-footed beasts that eat out in the pasture. We deliberately kill them to supply food. These folks are headed for the slaughter. They are what? They are animals. They are naturalistic in operating on instinct and not reason. They reject the supernatural. They are using their reason. Reason tells you that a body cannot walk through a door. Reason tells you that dead people do not get up. Reason tells you that you cannot walk on water. Reason tells you that you cannot take five loaves and two fish and feed five thousand. But, that is where your reason is faulty. There is something higher than that, and that is God Who is not above reason, but God Who is all-powerful. When we come to the Word of God, the Word of God is not against reason, but it is superior to human reason. All that they know is what they know naturally. They do not know anything spiritually. 1 Corinthians 2:14: But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The Bible is a closed book. They do not have a receiving set. They cannot understand spiritual truth. They may be a PhD, but spiritual truths are hidden from them because they are not born-again. When a man is born-again, the Spirit of God Who wrote the Word of God comes into their heart and life. The Word of God becomes alive and sweet and precious and real to his heart. He understands the Scripture because of the fact that the Holy Spirit of God is in him and helps him to understand. The apostate is not saved. He is not a Christian. He walks among Christians. He claims to be a Christian. He is under the guise of Christianity, but he is not a Christian. In spiritual matters, he has no more intelligence than the four-footed beast that we raise for the purpose of food. That is what Peter said. I have an article that I could have many quotations about, but there are several things along here that I wanted to share. It goes along with the first part from Doctor J. Vernon McGee: “Out of a pole of 700 preachers, the following results were given: forty-eight denied the complete inspiration of the Bible.” — You have Sunday School teachers. You have deacons. You have preachers. You have musicians. — “Twenty-four percent reject the atonement. Twelve percent reject the resurrection of the body. Twenty-seven percent did not believe that Christ will return to judge the quick and the dead.” A Washington, D.C., minister said, “We liberal clergy men are no longer interested in the fundamentalist, modernist controversy. We do not believe we should even waste our time engaging in it. So far as we are concerned, it makes no difference whether Christ was born of a virgin or not. We do not even bother to form an opinion on the subject.” An Arlington, Virginia, minister said, “We have closed our minds to such trivial consideration to the question of the resurrection of Christ. If you fundamentalists wish to believe that nonsense, we have no objection, but we have more important things to preach than the presence or absence of an empty tomb twenty centuries ago.” A leading minister in Washington, D.C., said flatly, “In our denomination, what you call the faith of our fathers is approaching total extinction. Of course, few of the older ministers still cling to the Bible; but among the younger men, the real leaders of our denomination today, I do not know of a single one who believes in Christ or any of the things you classify as fundamentals.” Now, that day and hour is upon us. They are everywhere. You say, “Where are they?” They are everywhere. They are everywhere. What does God say in 2 Peter? He said: But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not . . . They do not understand what it means to believe in a living Christ in hours of crisis, and how He walks with me and talks with me. But, I do. They do not understand. Because they do not understand, it does not make it false. I do not understand electricity. I believe it. I do not understand; I could not explain the computer. I cannot work one, let alone explain one. There are a lot of things that I cannot explain. Because I do not understand it and my puny brain said, “It is not so. I cannot understand it,” that is not very bright. That is not very sensible. They set their brain up as the ultimate test of what is right and wrong. Since their puny brain cannot understand it, they said, “It cannot happen because our brain is the judge of all experience in human lives. Since we cannot understand it, we reject it.” There are a lot of things I accept that I cannot explain. Not only that, but they are great on humanistic education. 2 Timothy 3:7: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They think education is the thing. I want to tell you that education is not the answer to the problems of mankind. The answer to the problems of mankind is dealing with the sin question. It is not the environment. It is what is on the inside. Adam fell in a perfect environment. There was nothing wrong in the garden of Eden. There was nothing wrong with Adam and Eve, but they succumbed to the temptation and fell in a perfect environment. Clean up all the slums, and they will become slums again. We have never had such an educated society as we have today. We have never had so much crime involved and sin as we have had today. Education is not the answer. Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. I say not boasting tonight, but listen. If a man walked into the White House and if it was allowed him by law and he said, “We are going to follow the teachings and principles of the Word of God,” I want to tell you that America would have an about face. Why? Not because that guy is smart, but because the Word of God has the answer. This is going to shock some of you. There is a fellow on television. He is Christianity’s number one TV preacher. He is watched on nearly 200 TV stations each Sunday by an audience of nearly three million. He is a prolific author. His books are on the best-selling list. He is now reaching more non-Christians than any other religious leader in America. His influence is enormous. His gospel of success is being accepted and preached by increasing numbers of Christian leaders. I will call his name in just a minute. It used to be common knowledge that the besetting sin of the human race was pride. Now, we say, “No, it is not pride. We just have poor self-esteem. That is what is wrong with us.” The Word of God says: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Philippians 2:5 and 8: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: . . . he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. This individual’s name is Robert Schuller. What does he say about this? “Jesus knew His worth. His success failed His self-esteem. The cross will sanctify the ego trip of yours.” I will go a little further. The Bible says that Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. Robert Schuller writes: “I do not think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and hence counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and un-Christian strategy of attention to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition.” There are many preachers who tell men and women that they are sinners and lost. This fellow is speaking for himself. I am just quoting what he said. If he is ashamed of what he said, he ought not put it in print. I am simply quoting what he said. Folks sit with their mouths open and shell out the money. Wait a minute. What he said does not match with what the Word of God said. He speaks great swelling words out of men’s persons and admiration because of advantage. The message I preached this morning on hell would not be acceptable. Whether it is acceptable or not, there is a hell. Christ died to save us from sin. If you do not repent of sin, you will go to hell. . . . except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Our problem is that we are sinners. When God saves you, He makes us sons of God. We are no longer sinners; we are sons of God. We are somebody. We are somebody who remembers where we came from. We are sinners saved by the grace of God. We do not have anything to make us strut around about. We are saved by the grace of God. What does the Bible say? They speak evil of the things that they understand not . . . They are great on education. Not only that, the news media concentrates on the big mouths of false teachers and refuses to hear the still small voice of the simple preacher of the Gospel. These folks are willingly ignorant. 2 Peter 3:3-4: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? They willingly are ignorant. Here, folks are ignorant by choice. Why? Because of the fact that they decided with their mind truth from error instead of letting the Word of God correct their thinking. They are destined to destruction. Their very nature: And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness . . . and shall utterly perish in their own corruption . . . Their very nature will one day drown them in destruction. He said the dog returns to his own vomit, and the sow that was washed was wallowing in the mire. These are not pleasant words, but these are words relative to the matter of apostasy. Some of the most scathing passages of Scripture in the Word of God came from the mouth of the Son of God. Read Matthew 23. Peter uses very descriptive phrases. The Word of God is up to date. They are here today. They were there present in the days of Peter and the apostles. That day has increased. The apostasy is upon every hand around us. That is one of the true marks of the fact that Jesus is coming. I do not know when He is coming, but He is coming. Look at 2 Peter 2:13. This gets a little more personal. We not only see the matter of ignorance, not only the matter of irreverence, but also luxurious living. Verse 13: And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Those words riot and sporting from the Greek word have the same meaning. It means luxurious living. I am quoting now from a Lexicon: “Luxurious living; expenditure; to live in luxury; to revel in luxury.” They love luxurious living. They count it pleasure to live in luxury in the daytime and are worse than the heathen who use nighttime for banqueting. A Greek scholar had this to say: “These count it a pleasure to live a luxurious life in the daytime, which means that they do not work for a living but live off of the money they get from those whom they lead astray in the false doctrine. They live luxuriously at a time when men are supposed to be sober at their daily occupations.” I want to tell you that apostates live in luxury. That luxury comes from their followers. It does not come from their industry, but it comes from their followers who are baited by their message. That is what Simon Peter said: . . . they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. . . . (They live in luxury during the daytime.) . . . sporting themselves (living in luxury) with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Look at 1 Timothy 6:3-5: If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, (Now, this is the verse.) Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: We have gone crazy in America on a success gospel. You hear that everywhere. Why? “Follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and all your problems will be solved, and you will be financially secure.” The Bible says: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. God promises to prosper. God promises to bless. Wait a minute! You do not determine a man’s godliness by how much money he has in the bank! You do not determine a man’s godliness by how healthy he is or how wealthy he is. You determine a man’s godliness by his relationship with his character and relationship to the Son of God – by godly living! Everywhere in the world is the success gospel. Jesus was a poor man. . . . though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor . . . There are times in life that God does it, and it is good for us. God allows us to have lean days and lean years. He does that for our own good. Some of the greatest blessings of life have come out of the lean years and not of the fat years. Everywhere is the prosperity gospel. I started tithing in 1946 – I believe that was the year. I came out of the service and went home. I heard preaching from the Gospel. I began tithing in 1946 – I believe that was the year. I have been tithing ever since. I did not tithe in order for God to make me a success. I tithe because the tithe is the Lord’s. It belongs to Him. It is His. Change may come and go. Times have been good, and times have been deep, deep times of trial. I would not resolve to take that which belongs to the Lord. When a man is tithing, it is not an expression of liberality. It is an expression of honesty. It belongs to the Lord. Whether I have much or little, I intend to return to the Lord that which belongs to Him. God has blessed. God has tried, and there are trying hours. A lot of folks are brow beat by the success crowd. “If you are living right, you will not have sickness.” That is not so. “You are just living right. Brother, all your financial problems are solved. If you send me sixty dollars, I will tell you how to solve your financial problems.” Why did Peter write this? He wrote this in order that they might know them and not be carried away with them and that they might not support them financially. There are millions of Christians who are supporting apostates. They do not know it and will get angry with you if you take the Word of God and say, “Now, wait a minute. Here is what the Word of God says, and this is what these folks say.” Verse 13: . . . Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Spots refers to moral default or moral blemishes. Blemish refers to disgrace. They are a disgrace to society and a disgrace to Christianity. Jude goes a little further with this. He says: These are spots in your feasts of charity . . . In those days, Christians – folks who had been blessed financially and materially – had love feasts. They invited the poor believers in who did not have much. They set the table and put all on the table because of their love for the Lord Jesus and their love for the brethren. These poor folks were brought in. Their needs were supplied. These apostates sit in the feast. Jude said: These are spots in your feasts . . . (They are moral blemishes. They are a disgrace to the Christian circle.) . . . when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: Instead of feeding the flock, they were feasting the flock. They were gluttonous false teachers in the midst of the sacred institution of the love feast. They are irreverent. The Scripture says that they are deceiving themselves. Look at 2 Peter 2:13: . . . sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; It is bad to be deceived, but it is bad to be deceived by yourself. If you tell a lie enough, after a while, you will believe lies. They are deceivers. They are hypocrites. They are deceiving themselves. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Another mark of the apostate is sensuality. Look at 2 Peter 2:14: Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin . . . The immorality across America is seen tonight under the guise of Christianity. Right and left, preachers, deacons, musicians, and members – it does not make any difference – it has become a lifestyle. It is no longer an embarrassment. It is no longer a shame. If you are right with God, you would be ashamed about the thing. You would be embarrassed. You would be humiliated. There is no humiliation. There is a grasping for power still. They have eyes full of adultery. They attend feasts and defile them for two reasons. Number one, to satisfy their own lust. When it says eyes full of adultery, the Greek scholar says that it means they cannot visualize a woman only as they look at her as a sex partner. No way in the world will they visualize a woman in marriage or anything about the home. They can visualize a woman that can satisfy their sexual passion. These men are teachers. Did you get that? They are unable to stop. Why? Verse 19 says they are in bondage: . . . for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. The world says, “I am free.” You are not free. You say, “You Christians cannot do anything.” I guarantee you I am free; I am not a slave. The druggie is a slave. The sex addict is a slave. The alcoholic is a slave. The man who is a swearer is a slave. He cannot stop. Do not talk to me about freedom. Do not talk to me about that. I do not have to do any of that stuff. I do not have to do one bit of it. Why? If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. The Christian is free. They are sensual. They satisfy their own lust. 2 Timothy 3 talks about the last days in this matter of character in verse 5: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof . . . (They have the name Christian, but they do not allow the power of God to interfere with their lives.) . . . from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Their eyes are open, and they are looking for loose women. They are looking for a bait. They are looking for somebody to satisfy their lust with. What is their bait? Look at 2 Peter 2:19: While they promise them liberty . . . Young people, there are folks that will laugh at you. “Man, you go to Calvary Baptist Church. Come over to our church, and you can do anything in the world.” I want to tell you that somebody has lied to you under the guise of liberty. “Why, it is all right to shack up. It is all right to take drugs if you want to. It is all right to follow the rock crowd. It is all right to do anything that you want to. Our preacher does not preach that way.” They get their slaves by offering them freedom. That is what we want today – “my civil rights.” “I want total freedom to do everything that I want to do.” Somebody in the religious sphere told them that it is all right. It is not all right! Oftentimes, kids will go to a straightlaced church trying to stay with the Word of God and go to school with those who do not take a stand. Those who are from those churches ridicule and laugh at them, “Ha! Ha! Ha! You go to that church out there.” What happens? The young people get embarrassed. You ought not to be embarrassed. You ought to thank God, “Our preacher tells it just like it is.” Whether you like it or not, I intend to tell you like it is. If you like it, Amen. If you do not like it, I am sorry for you. But, I am not going to change it whether you like it or not. It will not determine whether I preach it or not. Having eyes full of adultery . . . They are slaves. They cannot cease. Look at 2 Peter 2:14: Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls . . . They have a hook, and they bait it with this thing called liberty. They beguile unstable souls. Let me give you the verse of Scripture that Jude warns about in Jude 4: For there are certain men crept in unawares . . . (They came in the side door.) . . . who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. They deny the Lord. They turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. They say, “Well, you are saved by grace. That is wonderful. The more sin that you do, the more grace you will experience. So, let us sin in order that we will glorify God with more grace.” God says that is turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness. If you use salvation as an excuse that you go around and live a loose life, then you have abused the doctrine of grace. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; If you are saved and you play with sin, the grace of God will teach you in the woodshed. They say, “We are saved by grace. We are not under the law. We just do whatever we want to.” Somebody has lied to you. They do not have your interest at heart. Peter calls them sensual. They satisfy their own lusts. “Well, you have fulfillment. You do your own thing.” I want to tell you today that this wicked, vile thing called homosexuality, God calls it an abomination. Our lawmakers need to take a stand on this and quit worrying about the next election but be concerned about the next generation. It is not a civil rights issue. It is a health issue. They will not touch it. Why? It is too political. You do not understand the rottenness of our nation and the contribution to the matter of homosexuality. I have tried to get homosexuals saved. I told you the other night of a former homosexual who called me about his deliverance and thanked me. I have tried to get them saved, but homosexuality and lesbianism are vile, unnatural sins. It was called sin and was contrary to nature until 1961 when political folks erased it from the books. Still, our country called it sodomy. It is not a lifestyle. It is not an alternate lifestyle. It is a lifestyle, but it is not an alternate lifestyle to marriage; it is sinful. I read in today’s paper about a person – I forgot which church – but they want to try her because she is a lesbian. Isaiah said – and this ought to tell you about the last days. Isaiah 3:9: The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. The perverts used to stay hid. They were embarrassed. Now, they cannot blush anymore. They parade that. I want to tell you to check history. When homosexuals come out of the closet in any nation, that nation is on the bottom. Our nation is on the bottom tonight morally. I wish I could take the time to show you how the influence that the apostate has helped it hit the bottom. The clergy, the world council of churches, the national council of churches – they are sensual. Look at the last one in the book of 2 Peter 2:14-16: . . . an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. They are covetous. Another reason for them attending the love feast was to capture converts for their cause. Verse 14 says they have exercised their heart with covetous practices. The word exercised is a word that comes from our word gymnasium. They worked at this matter. They are experts in greed. They are experts in manipulating people. I am not stretching the Scripture. That is the Greek word. They have exercised their heart. This is a quotation from the Regular Baptist Press: “The methods employed for their infamous businesses are called covetous practices.” It means literally having been exercised in greedy desire. The word exercised is a Greek term from which we derive the English gymnasium. The gymnast goes through his routine with vigor until he achieves near perfection. The clever and deceptive methods of the apostates are not the activities of novices. These men are exceptionally well-practiced and trained in the art of making gullible believers their unwilling dupes. How many millions of dollars are poured out by the believers who listen and are carried away and do not have discernment to understand that they are supporting apostasy. I am not going to give my money to where I do not know where it is going and who is handling it. I tried to find a way in this matter of the famine in Africa. I tried several mission boards like that. Those are pitiful things – those starving children. I want to have a part in ministering to starving children, but I am not going to give my money unless I know who gets it and what they do with it. If you knock on my door and say, “Will you give to the United Fund?” No, I do not give to the United Fund. I give my giving through Calvary Baptist Church. I am not going to give to mission boards. I am not going to give to sap stories. A missionary came here from India. He said he was a missionary from India. He claimed that some pastor recommended that he come here. He showed up here, and he had no credentials. I had no way in the world of checking him out. He wanted the service, and I offered him the service because of the fact that I thought he was legitimate. I do not know who he was or where he came from. I gave him an honorarium and put him on the bus to go to his next place. Why? I do not know who he was. I am not going to drop my money on a television or a radio or somebody standing on the corner. I am not going to do that. I am not going to give it to the cooperative program that supports infidelity. I am not going to do that. That is why we became independent. Oh, you say, “I give it to them. It is their business.” It is not their business. You will not get away with that. You are responsible. They have exercised their heart with covetous practices, and they are in it to get and not to give. The ministry is no place for a man to get in to get. If he is a crook, he has got a conscience. God called him. The ministry is not a place to get but to give. They have covetous practices. Their character curses children under divine curse. That is their character. Verse 15: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, They have abandoned it. In the present tense, it means a habitual action. Daily they have forsaken, and daily they choose a wrong way. The last mark is the commercialization of a divine calling. It is what they pretend to have. What? It is the way of Balaam. Turn to Numbers 22. We have a man named Balaam – same character. One day, Balak, son of Zippor of the Moabites, saw that with this man what he said came to pass. So, he decided to go down. Numbers 22:5: He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt . . . Verse 6: Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. Verse 7: And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand . . . In verse 8, Balaam sounded good. He said, “Well, you stay here tonight. I will find out what the Lord has to say about this.” That sounds good, doesn’t it? It was good up until this point. Verses 9-10: And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab . . . He tells Him what they told him. Verses 12-13: And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD refuseth to give me leave to go with you. The princes of Moab went back and told this story. Verse 15: And Balak sent yet again princes, more, and more honourable than they. They came to Balaam and said, “Don’t let anything hinder you now. Come on!” Verses 17-18: For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. It sounds good. It sounds great. Verse 19: Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more. What did God tell him in the beginning? “Don’t go.” “Well, maybe God will tell me a little different tonight.” Verse 20: And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. “Okay, if the men call you, go with them.” And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass . . . and went off. He did not wait for them to come. What did he do? He went down the road. Then you read the story about the donkey. The donkey just would not go. He hit the donkey, and the donkey talked to him. He was so angry with that donkey that he did not know that the donkey was talking back to him. He was carrying on a conversation with that donkey. He was so angry. God showed Himself. God would have killed him if it had not been for that dumb donkey. Balaam went down there and tried three times to curse the children of Moab, and God would not let him. You have to read verses of Scripture. I will read two verses of Scripture. I am going to tell you what he said. He said to Moab, “Now, I cannot curse them, but I will tell you what to do. You have a feast. Man, you have a shindig.” Look at Numbers 25. This is what happens. I will show how Balaam told him to get it done. Numbers 25:1-3: And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. What happened? Balaam said, “I will tell you what to do. I cannot curse them, but I can tell you how you can get God to judge them. You have the daughters, your women, to dress up pretty and have a real feast, invite them over to supper, worship their idols together, and really have a first class shindig.” Israel went down there, and God killed a bunch of them. Look in Numbers 31:15. God judged them and commanded them to slay. Numbers 31:15-16: And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor . . . He gave them counsel. Let me give you another passage in the book of Revelation. Let me read. Revelation 2:14: But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Balaam could not curse the children of Israel, but he said, “I sure would like to have that money. I will tell you how you can get God to judge them. If you will just get them to join and worship your idols, then God will judge them. You will get what you want, and I will get what I want.” Turn back to 2 Peter 2. Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, would take and sacrifice anything for money. An apostate will cut and trim their message. They are switching their message, methods, music, and anything to get a hold of the thing that they want, the thing that is in their heart of covetousness. They trim their message. They trim their music. Why? People are gullible. He gets what he wants. That is commercialization. Balaam rides again. There are many folks who commercialize that are wrecking havoc with our young people, not only with the message but with the music. You heard me. I am going to say it again. Rock music is a curse to the American youth. Young people, I want to tell you that you cannot stand tonight and call it Christian rock. I do not care what you call it. You cannot stand and tell me tonight anything holy and good that rock music has done for you. You cannot say it. Let me just quote you some things. This talks about how the Beatles introduced rock music in 1964. John Lenon’s fortune said they include more than 150 million real estate holdings alone. The BeeGee’s went beyond that. It talks about five billion dollars in sales of records and tapes in the United States. Pink Floyd made twenty million dollars last year – British group. This is what I want you to hear from Lower Heart: “Early in 1980, in what may prove to be a significant move, several of the big secular recording companies announced the signing of Christian artists to introduce gospel music into the mainstream of the national music scene.” Here is the question, Why would the secular industry be interested in having Christian musicians sing songs about Christ? Why would the world be interested in listening? Is the world going to evangelize the world? Everybody ought to be able to see that. The reason is apparent: money. It is reported in the music scene in January or February of 1980 speaking of the Christian recording industry: “Gospel music is a flourishing multi-billion dollar enterprise. Prominent artists can realize more than seventy-five thousand unit sales for a given album.” It is a matter business. The secular companies are only interested in adding to their profits from what they see is growing in the lucrative market. Why do men who know the truth promote another gospel in their songs? A partial answer might be found in the conversation I had with a representative from Word Publishing Company. I was surprised to hear that from this man that Word is now owned by the American Broadcasting Company. Did this mean that ABC was setting policy? He assured me that it did not. The only requisite which ABC had made was that Word made a profit. Naturally, even a Christian company does not want to stay in the black, but when profit becomes the main goal of a business which produces what essentially should implement the Word of God, it is strictly a commercial enterprise. When the pressure is on to make money, the composer, arranger, or lyricist will turn to what he knows will sell. Today that means pseudo religious words and pop sounding tunes. These songs in folk music are being written by well-known Christians, published by well-known Christian publishing houses, and being sung enthusiastically in churches that would not tolerate such mishmash from the pulpit. If I came to the pulpit and preached the theology that comes from the rock crowd, the Christian rock crowd, you would not tolerate that. You say, “That is not so.” It is no more right to sing it than it is to preach it. The composers and song writers may have the right motives and the best intentions, but if these examples are typical of their Christian concepts, they are being deceived, and they are passing on the deception to thousands of young people. Why has the popular Christian music become so appealing to the secular market? Does the music provide the answer to spiritual needs? Or is it merely another source of entertainment? Four factors lead me to believe that the entertainment is the primary set and point. Number one, Christian music has lost its distinction. Contemporary Christian music has incorporated the world styles into its songs today. There is no difference in sound. Number two, Christian pop stars live from one world to the other. Many of these musicians entertain in nightclubs on Saturday night and sing in church on Sunday. Their fans accept them in either place with equal enthusiasm. Number three, the gospel has been diluted, because the message found in many current Christian songs is rigged. The gospel is no longer the true gospel, and no one is offended. Gospel music is merely a pop style of singing. Number four, commercialization. Christian companies often treat the message of salvation as if it were just another product to be promoted. Such phrases as these abound in trade journals: the gospel music industry, the Jesus music scene, the Christian market, the top twenty gospel hits. The secular companies have taken their cue from their Christian counterparts and say, “If they can do it, so can we.” Bill Cole, vice president of Life Records, weighed the pro’s and con’s of the successes of such a remark: “If for the sake of the world’s approval the message is softened, if Jesus’ name is omitted lest it offend, then I question whether it could succeed. Someday, Christian artists, executives, or even consumers will be held accountable. Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon. Christian artists and executives are looking to market instead of uncompromisingly proclaiming the Gospel of Christ to play into Satan’s hands. What better scheme could the god of this world devise to display the false gospel of God’s smiling approval upon everyone — using Christians to propagate the message through the mass media of music because Christian Contemporary music so closely resembles the world’s own. Because the offense of the cross has been removed from the message, the world will listen. Christians will then be fooled into thinking that they are fulfilling God’s great commission.” Last December, the Second Annual International Gospel Music Conference attempted to bring gospel musicians and their secular counterparts closer together. In Contemporary Christian Music magazine, Dick Asher, the deputy vice president of CBS record, said, “I will not pretend that we are here because of some new birth of religious faith. We are here because of the potential to sell records in the gospel market.” Former Chicago music critic Thomas Willis observed, “The secular competitive professionals are more concerned with the market than the main word. Plainly the key word is availability.” This rock-and-roll from our universities is mentioned in the Summit Journal, January 1983. Allen Bloom is the professor of the committee on social thought. In the college of the University of Chicago December 10 issue of the National Review, he wrote an article entitled, “Our Listless Universities.” Bloom supplies an analysis of rock-and-roll music in the present university generation that is enlightening. Now, this is not a Christian, as far as I know, talking. He says, “Many students do not watch much television while in college, but they do listen to music.” You watch today; everybody has got a headset. If they are jogging, they have got a headset. In the car, they have got the things blaring. Constantly, day in and day out, what are they doing? They are brainwashing themselves, listening to this thing beat in its message. I read on, “This is the audio generation. From the time of puberty and earlier, music has been the food of their souls. Classical music is dead, at least as a common taste. Rock music is all there is. It is a music that moves the young power immediately. Its beat goes to the depth of their souls. It expresses articulate longing. These longings are sexual. The beat appeals most exclusively to that. The words make little difference. The motive of it all is eroticism. The youngsters know this perfectly well, even if their parents do not.” Many a parent will stand up and defend it. Dad and Mom, you do not know what you are doing. It grieves me to see little boys and girls with haircuts like the rock stars. You do not know what you are doing. That is a possession. That is obsession. That is an idol. You are not to do that. It is your boy or girl. I love them, but I grieve. I know who they have been listening to and what they have been watching. “The youngsters know this perfectly well even if their parents do not. The most powerful informative influence on children between twelve and eighteen is not the school, not the church, not the home, but rock music and all that goes with it. It is not an elevating but a leveling influence the children have as their heroes, men on drugs and sex-ridden gutter snipes who promote rebellion not only against parents but against noble sentiments. This is the emotional nourishment they ingest in those precious years. It is the real junk food.” Who is saying that? Allen Bloom, professor of the committee on social thought from the college of the University of Chicago. They try to communicate the gospel using the essential sounds of the world that will only communicate sensuality. This is because pop music has a meaning of its own. It overrides the meaning of the words. Author Jeremy Lonner believing that it is a rhythm of rock that carries its psychic message relates this incident: “In our recording studio, I heard one of the most gifted rock-and-roll song writers recording a trial version of a popular gospel song. As he sang, I became increasingly aware that the subconscious thrust of the rhythm was completely undercutting the conscious intention of the lyrics. When ‘Amazing Grace,’ ‘Oh Happy Day,’ and ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ were played on rock stations, there was no uprising of condemnation from rock fans. They in fact accepted them as theirs, keeping them near the top of the charts for several weeks.” They have not changed toward God. Young people are not at all offended by their message. It mattered little what the words were. The beat was there. That is all that counted. Can you imagine the irate calls the local diskjockey would have received if one of these songs had somehow slipped by traditionally sung? Can you imagine any young person listening to the rock versions responding to the message? The music completely counteracts any effect of the words. The rock magazine Rolling Stone claims Bob Dillon’s 1980 album, “Slow Train Coming,” is one of his best. The magazine’s assessment of the problems of religious content was this: “The words finally don’t matter after all.” I do not care what words you put to it. The beast will override it. That is the whole thing. I have heard the beat. I have been in the mission fields years and years ago. I have heard pagan music, and now you hear it in churches. People come from the mission field and say, “What in the world are you doing? Man alive, that is what the witch doctor’s use over there.” They come back, and it is in the house of God. Young people, I tell you this tonight because I love you, and I am going to keep on telling you. Rock music will injure your spiritual, your moral, and your marital life. If you love yourself, then you need to get rid of it and have nothing to do with it. Somebody is making a killing off of you and cares not what it does to your moral. It cares not what it does to your home. It cares not what it does to your spiritual life. They do not care. I say flatly and emphatically tonight that Balaam rides again in many choirs and many youth groups that come for commercialization to get the crowds of young people. If it takes that to get the crowds, I will not have a crowd. People get angry tonight. I would not be surprised that the young people pretty well know that, and they are willing to do it because they like it. How would you think if I was up here to fleece you and see what I could get out of you? You would say, “Man, you ought to run him out of town. He is a preacher.” Yet you shell it out and shell it out to these folks who are fleecing you. Hey, what is good for the pulpit is good for the pew. They have fallen in the ways in loving the wages of unrighteousness. You cannot buy my mouth. You cannot buy my message. If you get up here with music that has a rock beat, I will stop you. If you do not believe it, try me. Let me give you something else. Do not use that kind of stuff at your wedding either. If you are going to use that stuff at your wedding, do not use the house of God to have it. You go down to the city auditorium to have your wedding where you can live like the world. Do not drag that stuff in here. You come in here and are supposed to have a Christian wedding. All right, then have Christian music. Amen. Let me say something else. When you stand here and sing about the Lord Jesus Christ, do not make love to the microphone. I have seen folks, and I have turned them off. Why? It does not remind me of Jesus. You do not set my heart to want to worship. He is Lord.

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