Instead of talking about somebody's struggles behind their back, how about praying to God on their behalf? It's very difficult to vilify a person you're praying for. It's very difficult to be against the one who you're bringing up before God as an intercessor.
Now, of course, a lot of things can be faked. It all comes down to integrity. But if you have a problem with gossiping, try intercessory prayer and see if that helps to hear more information about Cross Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Today, Pastor Rick will conclude his study called The Ugly Planet as he teaches in Romans Chapter 1. He says, in receiving in themselves the penalty of the error which was due. Sin is a killer. The wages of sin is death. The voice of God's condemnation cannot be silenced. You can't just say, you know what, I'm going to kill all the Christians and stop all the Bibles. And then I'll be free from the condemnation of God.
It ain't going to happen. Once it's out there, it's out there forever. It's in their head and they know it. And it is unnecessary to play roulette with one's soul. To somehow suppose that you're going to get lucky at death.
That's going to work out. You're a success in this life? Well, clearly you're going to be a success in the next life, right? What do you base that on? And while you're going ahead and making up stories, let me make up some stories. Rather than that, I'd rather just tell you the truth.
Hearing people say, I have a good idea. Let's pretend that what God has condemned is really something he enjoys. That is the voice of the devil in your head if you behave that way or think that way. Verse 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. So here's the third time that God says, I'm giving up on this group. And we don't know when God does that, but we know he does do it.
Therefore, the severity of the entire matter is heightened. There's a play on words in the Greek, and remember the New Testament was originally written in the Greek language. And the play on words really is, they gave up God, so God gave them up.
I'd say that was fair. Christ is distasteful to those under the sway of Satan. But those who are under the power of the Holy Spirit love everything about God. You know, I love the word of God. It's just life that gives me a problem. But I love God's word, and I know the Christians just love the scriptures because it's the voice of God.
In it is life. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and the faith that Paul is talking about in that Romans 10th chapter is saving faith, the faith that saves me from the wrath of God. God gave them over to a debased mind. He doesn't, again, you're not going to take hostages. If you want to believe these things, he's going to allow it to run its course.
It's just going to get worse for you. He allows people to choose their alliances. But the consequences, they cannot choose.
That belongs to him. They're at war with God. Romans chapter 8, Paul will get to this.
He says, because, there's another because, right? The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. A mind that is at war with God.
What do you expect to gain from that? He continues to do those things which are not fitting. Well, basically, wickedness is the hatred for God's way.
That's wickedness. It hates the God of the Bible. I find this is the only God, the God of the Bible is the only one that backs himself up in a sense of proof. Where's the proof for Islam?
Its insistence. How about Mormonism? How about Jehovah's Witnesses? Charles Russell just comes along and says, do this.
Too bad his name wasn't Simon. That would really make for good preaching. And so it is with the other, Confucianism.
I mean all the others. What's the basis? Where did you get this from? Is there an unbroken witness that I can see? Do I have to just accept it?
Or do you have facts? We talk about, look at the chip. The chip is here. The cashless society.
John the apostle called that from the Isle of Patmos 2,000 years ago. The time is coming. You can't buy and you can't sell unless you have this mark. It's going to be in your head or your hand. But that's what's coming. And here we are. You would think, you would think, an unbeliever would look at that and say, is there more?
You would think that would serve as an alarm. And then dig and find out, huh, there's a whole lot more. I better change teams. I better repent. Verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness.
They are whisperers. Man, this is the damage report that we started last week. Now we're saying, here's what has uglified Earth. You know, people who think they're going to save the planet.
That's pretty ambitious, is it not? Here I am to save the day. And they glue themselves. Some of them have glued themselves to the streets so cars can't. You will know them by their fruit. Fruits.
Fruits and nuts. And they're no longer just in California. But anyway, he's going to list 23 trespasses.
It's not an exhaustive list. Here's what he'll say when he writes the letter to the Hebrews. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
He says, being filled. See, this is depravity. This is not filled with the Holy Spirit. This is being filled by Satan, who saturates the mind with his ways. Depravity thrives in environments without the Holy Spirit.
It just grows and we were seeing microcosms of this on the Earth, little patches of the Earth, evil ones wanting to come out. You know, but Satan wants to hide that, edit that, suppress the truth and righteousness. And that's why he loves so much mainstream media. The journalists and the editors are as vile as they can be. You know, 9-11 was avoidable if the news just told the truth about who these people are. But they suppressed it and lulled everybody into thinking, oh, it's okay. Don't worry about it.
You just want to know how to fly a plane, not land it? Sure. All the warning signs were there. Anyway, I could go on about that one. Being filled, he says, with all unrighteousness. They're now unrestrained. You can't stop them. Sexually immoral. Well, today it's unprecedented. It's always been a problem.
You know, men with harems, molestation, sex has always been a problem, but now it's supersized. Wickedness, that's just being destructive. Victims of wickedness should understand why God condemns sins.
Wickedness is always the child of sin. Covetedness. Now, the first nine commandments, thou should not have any false gods before me, thou should not steal murder.
The first nine, they deal with the outside result on the surface because all of it goes into the heart, but the ninth commandment deals primarily with the hidden desires. Covetedness. You don't have to tell anybody you're doing it.
You can do that without ever being detected. However, it doesn't stop there. It moves into envy and then envy into bitterness and bitterness into hatred and hatred into action.
No sin is harmless. Naboth, the story in 1 Kings 21, he lost his life because someone coveted his vineyard. And when they couldn't get his vineyard legally, they became bitter. They coveted, they envied, they were bitter, and then they conspired and they killed him. James says this, when desire has conceived, this is sinful desire, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. Why I love the Bible so much, it covers everything.
Everything about man that I need to know is in here. He says maliciousness. Is it okay to be mean to mean people?
Do you know what I mean? I mean, where do mean people come from? Why are some people just mean? They just do things to others for no reason than to cause the other one discomfort, pain, or suffering, or something. And there's all sorts of levels to go with that. And there are Christians that are mean Christians. Sometimes you have to wait for them to leave the church to find out how mean they were. Believe it or not.
Are you serious? Man, this sin is some nasty stuff. You ever see when they talk about the snakes on the vipers? This one bite can kill 50 men. Well, I don't dispute that.
But sin can kill a lot more. Just a little bite. Well, full of envy. Not a little bit of envy.
These guys are full of it. That flames out, as I mentioned, into bitterness. Lucifer, we know as the leader of Satan. Satan has a broader meaning. It can be singled down to Lucifer himself, but it expands to all of his kingdom. The demons and all the monsters that he swayed under his authority in the spiritual realm. Lucifer coveted the throne of God. He envied it.
And then he rioted and was kicked out. Murder. Why does this one even have to be on the list, right? Why do people have to be told that this is evil?
To some, other people's lives don't matter. You're just an agent for them to enslave you. The whole kingdoms have behaved this way.
They still are. There are kingdoms in existence. North Korea.
Who would want to live there right now? Strife. These people are always a problem. They're quarrelsome.
They're argumentative just because. They see. Well, how about scammers?
I mentioned them earlier. How about people that are calling you up and trying to get you out of your money? Evil-mindedness. A polluted mind without a fresh water spring, morally speaking. I like this one.
Not. This one has to do with gossiping also. There's a scene in Oliver Twist.
Sometimes the entertainment world can capture a human fact just in passing. And there's a scene where the villain goes to the saloon where all the villains are. But as he's going there, you can see in the background this guy whispering to another guy. You know it's nefarious. That's the idea that the director's giving you. And you look at that and you say, if you've ever been in bad neighborhoods, you've seen that. And you can identify it when it's portrayed. I'm not saying go out and watch the show Oliver. I mean, if you want. But I'm just pointing out that people who are always up to something are always trying to whisper in somebody's ear to pull off what they're up to.
Oftentimes. But this goes also to the gossiper, who has sprayed like a skunk his lies, or her lies, making restoration difficult. So I want to talk about gossip just for a minute.
And this is not hearsay. Especially true, this is mostly for you youth. Because the older ones have been either victim of it enough or you just know now it's no good. But those who gossip will gossip about you. If you think they're only shoving dirt, hauling dirt your way about somebody else, they're doing it about you to someone else too.
It's one of those sins that I would hope that they're struggling to resist. But don't enable the gossiper by, let's say I don't want to hear that. If it can't help and it only hurts, why are you telling me? I don't need to know that. And incidentally the gossiper does not want you to gossip about them. Gossipers are not careful about facts.
They have juicy tidbits. Proverbs 18, 17. The first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes along and examines him. You know you can gossip about somebody and get back to someone and they will administer knuckle botox and you'll have swollen lips because of a knuckle sandwich. One other thing, ditch them.
We don't have time. Proverbs 26, 20 talks about if you take wood away, you won't have a fire. If you take the gossiper away, you won't have strife. To stop being a gossiper, if you hear the antidote that can really help, instead of talking about somebody's struggles behind their back, how about praying to God on their behalf? It's very difficult to vilify a person you're praying for. It's very difficult to be against the one who you're bringing up before God as an intercessor.
Now of course a lot of things can be faked. It all comes down to integrity. But if you have a problem with gossiping, try intercessory prayer and see if that helps you a lot. Verse 30, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Backbiters, there's the news media, they backbite because they live off their victim's blood.
They make money by telling about your suffering and they enjoy the taste of it, I believe. Haters of God. How does one hate the one whom they don't believe in? You come across people that say they're atheists and they're angry at God. I thought you didn't believe in him.
Why are you putting so much effort into proving he doesn't exist? Do you do that with fairies? You don't run around picketing Walt Disney and saying, hey, there's no fairies. Cut it out.
But you want to do it. Incidentally, separation of church and state does not mean keep the church out of society. It means keep the government out of the church.
That's what that means. Well, Deuteronomy 32, 41, for those of you who respect what God has to say. I will render vengeance to my enemies and repay those who hate me. I think that's pretty clear.
Violent, gangsters, proud, self-exaltation, turn the archangel Lucifer into Satan. That's the first recorded sin is self-serving pride. Not the pride of, you know, you made a real nice salad and it looks really good.
Well, I'm real proud of that. That's not self-serving. Well, the salad might even that. You have to prepare it. Salads don't self-serve.
So we wouldn't need knives in the kitchen if they did. Anyway, boasters. Now, a boaster is someone that is self-centered. All about them. And if it's not, they're going to try to make it.
Make it so. In the news media, they're self-centered. It's all about them.
It's not the story. It's them. The custodians of information. Those are the nosiest people on the planet. Anyway, coming back, I know there's some need for them.
I like when they act like, you know, well, I'm with the press. I need access. I wish they would come to my house with that.
Stick my goldfish on them. But anyway, coming back to this. Inventors of evil things. They have to have the evil.
It's just got to be there. We just can't have any fun unless we're doing something that's evil. Proverbs 4 16. You know, he mapped out so much of human behavior in this book of Proverbs. Every Christian should have read it at least once, but not before the New Testament. Verse 16 of Proverbs 4. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil, and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. Well, Paul has got witnesses there.
Let's continue this. Disobedient to parents. This one's likely for those still living in the home. This violates the fifth commandment of the ten commandments to honor your mother and father. Because once you have your own home, you're not under the authority of your parents to do as they say. So if they say, hey, you need to get a red car.
And you say, no, I'm going to get the blue one. You're not disobedient to your parents. Your parent is annoying you.
That's what's going on. Anyway, verse 31. Undecerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful. Undecerning, willfully aloof. Huh? What?
Huh? People who don't use your turn signals? The sin. God's going to get you for that.
Willfully aloof, anyway. And I would suggest cruise control. Use it. Use it.
We're coming back to this. Well, not in the school zone. Well, yeah, anyway. Jude 19. Talk about undecerning people. Jude talks about people who, he says, these are sensual persons who cause divisions, not having the spirit.
They're just all feelings, all feelings. They're not really paying attention to anything else. And they can cruise through life that way.
They just can't necessarily cruise into heaven that way. Untrustworthy. This is worse than being unreliable. This is treacherous.
You are a traitor. Somebody can be unreliable and just a pain, and you can take steps to head them off. But an untrustworthy person, now you have a different kind of a problem. Unloving. Well, I refer you to Cain, to King Saul, and to Jezebel, if you need a class on that. Unforgiving. Well, some cherish a grudge.
They just love being angry at somebody. Unmerciful. Herod the butcher, who had the children murdered there in Bethlehem, is an poster boy for that one. And such are the ingredients for the ugly planet, verse 32, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. Well, I guess, you know, too bad if anybody was watching online and I got to the homosexual part and they don't like it, they probably would have clicked me off, and they're missing this stuff. I hope that's not the case. But the thought just went through my head.
There are people that don't want to hear what God has to say, unless God is supporting what they have decided is right. And this is a form of psychosis. This is insanity. Spiritual insanity.
And it's all over. I was once insane. I can't even tell you why I was so stupid.
I was too stupid to tell you why I was so stupid. And God just reached down and grabbed me through the scripture. Anyway, here, verse 32, who knowing the righteous judgment of God. So Paul is saying, claiming ignorance only adds lying to your sin. Don't play the dumb guy with God.
It doesn't work. This whole section reads like a lab report on the cause of death. It's, you know, what were the levels of toxicity? What was this? What was that? That's what Paul has been reading off.
Let me read you the lab work. And it's awful. Some are unbelievers because churches, again, are suppressing the truth. They're skirting around the things that God has preserved to be preached. That those who practice such things. Now there's a great difference between persistent sin and practicing sin. Persistent sin is one you just can't beat. But practicing sin, that one you've opened a shop.
I guess the illustration I'm going to give you is this one. It's one thing to have a criminal in your house against your will. It's another one to have them there because you want them there. And so the practicing sin, yeah, here, you know, I'm going to make them comfortable, give them a room, feed them, take care of them, hide them. I'll do what I can to keep them safe. But the persistent sin is the one that I want this guy out of my house and I can't get him out. And Jesus gave a parable like that about the strong man coming along and getting him out. He says all worthy of death. Well, did people on this list, did they expect God to reward them?
They're not going to hear, well done, faithful servant. You know, today's sex militants, and they're not just homosexuals. They are heterosexuals also, and asexuals. But they're militant on the subject of sex. Today's militant sex advocates, they could teach Sodom and Gomorrah a few lessons.
It's got to be end times. Not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them. These are the sin advocates that I mentioned earlier. Evil's cheerleading system that applaud the evil.
And we're watching this. They have protests in cities and they walk around and, you know, instead of saying, hey, wait a minute, God is merciful because if he wasn't, the ground would open up right now and swallow me up. God doesn't do that.
He's giving them time to get his people in front of them. A world unashamed of evil. How about those who vote evil into office? Well, let's see, you're pro-homosexuality, you're pro-killing the unborn, and, you know, how about I vote for you? Paul said to Timothy, don't share in other people's sins.
They're flagrant, they are flaunted, they're flagrant, perverted, and they're going to be dealt with. I don't have time to go onto Judges 20 verses 13 and 14. There you read about those advocates of another person's sin. They were not listed as perpetrators in the crime that took place in Gibeah, but they went to their deaths defending it.
They almost got wiped out completely, the tribe of Benjamin. Sin from weakness is bad, but sin from rebellion is catastrophic. Alright, I'll close with this.
He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.
We're currently going through the book of Romans. If you're in need of hearing this message again, or want to listen to others like it, head over to CrossReferenceRadio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. On our website, you'll be able to learn a little more about the ministry of Cross Reference Radio, so make a note of it, CrossReferenceRadio.com. That's all we have time for today, but thanks so much for listening. Pastor Rick will be back next time in the book of Romans here on Cross Reference Radio.
