Rabbi Schneider - True Judgement
Now I want to say this before we go on today: homosexuality is a huge problem, that's an understatement, in our society today, and it's getting worse and worse and worse. But I want to make these comments, because I know that there are some that are watching this broadcast today, and you would have never chosen to get involved in the sin of homosexuality, and yet you found yourself from as long back as you can remember faking homosexual thoughts. Others of you were abused as a child by an adult of the same sex, and since that time you have found yourself having homosexual tendencies, or have gotten involved in a homosexual lifestyle. I want you to hear today, beloved, that God loves you. And that's why he sent his son Jesus for you. Not only to forgive you, but to save you, beloved, and to make you whole and to make you complete.
I want you to know: God loves you today. He loves you this morning. He loves you this afternoon. He loves you tonight. Whatever it is, whatever time it is that you're watching, I want you to know: there's an answer for you in Jesus. If you are trapped in the sin of homosexuality, I want you to know that there is a way of escape for you. It may be long, it may be difficult, but I want you to know, beloved, if by the grace of God you can take a hold of Jesus and say "I'm not going to let go of you", if you will not, beloved, surrender, if you will keep on crying to him, if you will keep on crying to him day and night, I'm telling you, he will save you. It may take some time, it will take some years of pain, but I'm telling you: you could be free. Jesus said, "Who the son sets free is free indeed".
I covered all that on my last week's broadcast. Now, I'm pressing on today, beloved, as we continue in Romans chapter one, I'm pressing on today to verse number 29. It says, "Because men have rejected the Lord, they've refused to live for the Lord and to obey him, the Lord gave him over to depraved appetites", we saw that last week in verse number 28, but also we're looking at verse number 29, hear the Word of God in 29, "Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossip, slanders, haters of God insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful: and although they knew the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Beloved, we're living in this culture. It existed in Paul's day, and it exists today a lot more. You know, the Bible tells us in the book of Daniel, that before the anti-Messiah, before the antichrist arises, that sin must run its course, that sin must become exceedingly sinful. You see, the plan of the ages is is that this world is going to become so corrupt, it's going to become so morally bankrupt, that men are going to lose all sense of discernment. Notice what he's saying here, in this verse he says that these people that deny God, it just gets worse, and worse, and worse, and he says: not only did they begin to practice all these things: malice, deceit, gossip, haters of good, disobedient to parents, all the things that we're seeing in today's society just rampant, that Paul goes on to say in this section that we just read that not only will men do these things, but they'll give hearty approval to those that do them.
Listen once again to what he says, "And although they know the ordinance of God", verse number 32, "That those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them". And beloved, what is happening here is such an escalation of darkness, such an escalation of sin. That we're cheering on those that are sinning, and we're elevating those that are living like this, and we do this today in the business world even, where we've lost our moral compass in the business world, and we no longer care how people do business, all we care about is if they win and then we cheer them on if they win. We make them movie stars, and we we honor them as as successful business people if they've got a lot of money. It doesn't matter how they got there, it just matters that they have fame. This is all connected here.
And what the Lord is doing, beloved, is he's letting sin run its course. And when sin has run its course, when this world has become so corrupt, Jesus compared it to the days of Noah, in the book of Luke, and the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. And speaking of the end times, Jesus said, "As it was in the days of Noah, and in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, so will be in the days of the Son of Man's coming". Remember the days of Noah's violence, people denying, you know, the voice of the Lord. Sodom and Gomorrah: homosexuality had become so perverse, it was common in the land, there was no shame in it anymore. When the world degenerates into this form of moral darkness, that man is so depraved that he can't even see the light anymore, and he can't even distinguish between good and evil anymore, the Bible tells us in the book of Daniel, that in this spiritual climate of darkness the anti-Messiah will emerge, and men will be so morally bankrupt, that they're not even going to be able to discern what's going on. And beloved the stage is being set even presently for this action.
I was listening to a secular newscast. I said in one of my earlier broadcasts in this series where, were a well-known news commentator on a secular station was putting down a respected evangelical Christian leader for standing for truth, and the way that the secular commentator was putting him down was by saying that this evangelical Christian was not being Christian, and he wasn't a Christian because he was being unloving. See, this is a type of moral shame and darkness, that Satan is going to try to bring accusation against the church, and it's just going to cloud everybody's thinking. So that what's going to rain is political correctness, that you won't be able to say that something's wrong, because it won't be politically correct.
And in this type of environment where there's no boundary, where there's no distinction between right and wrong, the anti-Messiah will emerge and set the stage for the King of kings, and the Lord of lords to return. As Satan gathers his forces together to make an assault against the Prince of Peace, and the Son of God, and at the last minute, beloved, when it looks like he's going to win, the Lord is going to stand upon the earth and extinguish him and throw him in beloved to the bottomless pit, hallelujah, and amen, and amen. Come Lord Jesus.
Well we're picking up now in the second chapter of the book of Romans 2:1, "Therefore", Paul says, "You're without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another you condemn yourself: for you who judge practice the same things". You see, Paul just got done listing all the sins. He didn't just list homosexuality, listen what else he listened: wickedness, greed, evil, unrighteousness, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping, slanders, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. He went through the all together. And he says to you and i, whenever we judge another about these things, we judge ourself, he said, because we're all guilty of these things.
We're all guilty of being in rebellion against God. We're all guilty of walking in the darkness rather than the light. We're all guilty of sinning against God in some way. You might not sin the same exact way as somebody else, but you're sitting in your own way. So, the Lord says that when we point our finger at somebody else, what is it? There's three fingers, right, pointing back at us. That's why Yeshua said, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged".
Let's continue on. "Therefore", verse 1 again, "You're without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself: for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things". And so, we need to be very careful in the way we talk about other people. We need to be very careful in passing judgment on other people. Because it's a sure recipe, beloved, to end up falling ourselves. That's why Yeshua said, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged". Paul continues on the same theme in the next verse, listen what he says in verse 3, "But do you suppose this, o man, when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God".
And so, what he's saying is: people, he says, when you pass judgment upon another person, and don't repent yourself, you're storing up wrath for yourself, because you do the same types of things that these people do. And I also like this phrase here in verse number four that he says, "It's his kindness and forbearance and patience that leads us to repentance" do you know beloved, that the only reason that you've turned to God, if you've turned to him, is because of his kindness towards you, his love towards you? It's the goodness of God beloved that leads us to repent. Beloved, repentance is a very biblical word, and it's as applicable today as it was when it was written in the Bible 2000 years ago. It simply means, beloved, to turn our lives over to God, to change directions, to say "Lord Jesus, I want to follow you now".
Let's continue on. "Because of your stubbornness", in verse number five, "Those that will not repent", those that hear this message, and they have a choice while they're hearing it, you have a choice right now while you're hearing this, some of you, you have a choice. You can allow the Holy Spirit to soften your heart, and agree with truth, or you can suppress the truth, deny the truth, not allow the truth in, push it in the background, put it behind you, and the Lord said, "When you do that and you have a stubborn heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself".
So I want to invite you now. If the Lord's been speaking to you through this broadcast, I want to invite you now to let go of your pride, and release yourself and say "Yes" to the truth, say "Yes, Lord, I agree with you. Save me, cleanse me, fill me. Help me to overcome this sin. I want to love you Lord", and God, beloved, will honor that prayer. Say it from your heart.
Let's continue on. "But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance and doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life". So the Lord is saying there's two classes of people: there's the stubborn, that won't repent, that hear but are just closing their heart to it, even though there's a witness that it's truth, they won't let the truth in, they deny it, they put it in the background, he says they're storing up for themselves wrath on the Day of Judgment. But to others of us that are saying, "Yes, God, I need your help, God. Help me, God. I'm not condemning them, I know I'm just as much of a sinner as they are." whether it's homosexuality, thievery, idolatry, adult, whatever it is, we're sinners just like everybody, "Help me to overcome".
And the Lord said, "If you'll keep on clinging to me, if you keep on praying to me, if you'll keep on putting one foot in front of the other foot to ascend and to overcome, you are preparing for yourself honor and glory and eternal life". Let's listen once again, "To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life". So I want to encourage you today, especially those of you that are trapped in sin, I'm especially talking to those that may be trapped in homosexuality today: don't give up. You can overcome this thing through the blood of Jesus, through the name of Jesus, and by the Spirit of God. God bless you today. Yevarechecha Adonai, V'Yishmerecha. Ya'er Adonai Panav Eleycha, ViChoneka. Yisa Adonai Panav Eleycha, V'Yasem Lecha, in Jesus name, and shalom to you.