Amen. The message I have tonight is titled, Remembering God's Rainbow. And if you want to open to Genesis chapter 6, I'll go ahead and start reading in verse 1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not only strive with man, for that he also is flesh, yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men of which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them." Father God, Lord, we just thank you, Father, for your word that you preserved for us, God, in these last days. Lord, we know we're in the last days. Father, I just pray that you would open our ears to your word, God, and that you would help us, Lord, to show forth your truth in these last days, God, to people that need to hear it. And Lord, I just pray that you would open our ears to your Holy Spirit as you speak to us through your word, God. I pray that you would keep me from error, Lord, and thank you for this opportunity to preach to these brothers and sisters, God. And Lord, just pray that you would bless our service tonight. In Jesus' name, amen. So I wanted to speak tonight on the subject of God's judgment on the world in Genesis and the modern day movement that has co-opted the sign of God's covenant, the so-called pride movement that exists in every corner of the social sphere, which is the sodomite spirit that has taken possession of so much of our institutions today. They fly a flag that they call the pride flag. It used to be a simple rainbow flag, but they keep adding new colors to represent new perversions and supposed grievances against what I suppose must be seen as white heterosexual tyranny. But God flew the rainbow long before these modern-day sodomites applied it to their disgusting ideology. And I want us to remember what that rainbow represents. God judged the world for the wickedness of man. It said that God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. This was not a little wickedness, it was monstrous wickedness. It says that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, man's heart, was only evil continually. And it repented God that he had made man, and God said he would destroy all the living things on the face of the earth because he was so grieved by their wickedness. But Noah was not like the other men of his day. Genesis 6 verse 8 says, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Noah was obviously living a separated life from the people around him, that the Bible says he walked with God. Noah was not committing wickedness with the people that God was about to judge, and so God had compassion toward Noah and his family. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14 says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." If we want to be judged with the unbelievers and the unrighteous, all we need to do is keep fellowship with them. But if we want to find grace in God's eyes like Noah did, then we're going to have to be separated from the world when the judgment comes. Come out from among them and be separate. I'm not talking about how an unbeliever gets saved in the first place. We know that salvation and eternity is a free gift for all who believe on Jesus and his shed blood for the payment for their sins. But there is a judgment to come even for believers. First Peter chapter four says, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God, and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Back in Genesis 6, verse 10 says, And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. The wickedness of man was so great that God says it corrupted the very earth that they committed their acts upon. I think that's pretty bad when you sin so hard that you ruin the dirt you're standing on. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me. For the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Room shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above. And the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof. With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life from under heaven. And everything that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant. And thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee. They shall be male and female. of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them. Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he." So Noah, in order to be saved from the flood that God told him was coming, decided to obey God. In Hebrews 11, it says, by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. God warned Noah that there was going to be a flood and Noah believed him, even though he had never even seen rain before. By building the ark, he saved his house, but he also condemned the world by his testimony that the judgment was coming and by his separated life. And you can be sure that the people thought he was crazy. I'm sure they had plenty of time as they watched Noah and his family building this enormous boat to mock him and call him names. Noah, the crazy fundamentalist, believes in raindrops and floodwaters. It doesn't specify how long it took for Noah to build the ark, but it could have been as long as 120 years. We saw in Genesis 6, verse 3, the Lord said, I believe that was God saying he was going to give man 120 years before he was going to bring this judgment. And it says Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. So we could have been building that boat for quite some time. But one thing is sure. Nobody was laughing at Noah after the rains came. Verse 8 says, And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying, And I behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you, and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth, sorry this is Genesis 9 verse 8, and I will establish my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood. Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth and it shall come to pass When I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh, and the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, this is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. So here we have God establishing his covenant with Noah and his seed, which we are all descended from, which makes us party to this covenant. God promised that he would never again destroy every living creature with a flood of water. And as a token of this covenant, God placed a rainbow in the clouds. I don't believe God could forget, but he says that when he sees the rainbow, he will remember his covenant. And that's what we should be remembering when we see a rainbow in the clouds. how once God judged the whole world with water because of the wickedness of man. But he had mercy on Noah because Noah was walking with God and God established this covenant with all mankind forever after. Is this what the pride flag is celebrating? God's covenant to never again destroy the earth with water as he did in Genesis? Not at all. Wikipedia tells us that the rainbow flag or the pride flag as a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBT pride began in San Francisco, California. I'm glad John and Jackie got out of there. But eventually became common in LGBT rights events worldwide. You can't get away from it. It's everywhere. Originally devised by the artist Gilbert Baker, then Segerblom, James McNamara, and other activists, the design underwent several revisions after its debut in 1978 and continues to inspire variations. Although Baker's original rainbow flag had eight colors, from 1979 to the present day, the most common variant consists of six stripes, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically displayed horizontally with the red stripe on top as it would be in a natural rainbow. LGBT people and allies currently use rainbow flags and many rainbow-themed items and color schemes as an outward symbol of their identity or support. There are derivations of the rainbow flag that are used to focus attention on specific causes or groups within the community, e.g. transgender people, fighting the AIDS epidemic, inclusion of LGBT people of color. In addition to the rainbow, many other flags and symbols are used to communicate specific identities within the LGBT community. So these LGBT whatevers are using a flag with the colors of God's rainbow to celebrate the kinds of sins that God judges with destruction, and identify themselves as people worthy of such judgment. This type of sin was surely present in the days of Noah, and we have the example of Sodom as well. 2 Peter 2 says, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly. and delivered just lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For the righteous man dwelling among them, and seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds." And Genesis 13 says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis 18 says, and the man rose up from thence and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which has come unto me. And if not, I will know.' And the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Abraham was concerned specifically for Lot, but for anyone who might get caught up in this judgment. And he petitioned God, And God assured Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom for the sake of even 10 righteous men. But we know that there were not 10 righteous men in Sodom. Only Lot was found righteous. And I think if you look at Lot in the Bible, you'll conclude that this was a qualified relative righteousness. In Genesis 19, verse 1 says, And there came two angels to Sodom at Eden, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servants' house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly, and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house, and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, can pass the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and said unto him, Where are the men which came into thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, and said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man. Let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes. Only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. And they said, stand back. And they said again, this one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge. Now will we deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. Lot was not willing to have these men whom he had taken into his home to be abused in such a manner as the people of Sodom were apparently accustomed to. He tries to bargain with them, using his own daughters as collateral, which I would not consider to be righteous. But nevertheless, God called Lot a just man. Thankfully, these men were angels and had been sent to deal with Sodom for these very sins. And verse 10 says, but the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the man said unto Lot, Hast thou hear any besides son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city? Bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxing great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law. Many will try to justify the homosexual lifestyle or say it is acceptable to God. Sadly, there are even churches in these last days that will affirm the Sodomites and their abominations. They say that the sin that the men of Sodom committed was attempted rape, but God doesn't condemn homosexuality. They'll point to Ezekiel 16, verse 49 says, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." But they don't go to verse 50 where it says, and they were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore I took them away as I saw good. What does haughty mean? In the 1828 dictionary, Webster says, proud and disdainful, having a high opinion of oneself with some contempt for others, an abomination, extreme hatred, The object of detestation, a common significance, a signification in scripture, an abomination is something that God detests. Leviticus 18, 22 says, thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is abomination. And Leviticus 20, if a man also lie with mankind as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. I found a couple of articles that had come out recently. This is from May 16th. The Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs. The Episcopal Church unveils new pride shield in celebration of LGBTQ plus inclusion. In affirmation and celebration of the Episcopal Church's LGBTQ plus members, the Office of Communication is pleased to unveil a new pride shield available online for churchwide use. They took their little shield with the little cross and the little field with the little crosses and they slapped some rainbows on it and just put it out and said, use this one for this month. CNN put out an article, May 5th, says, a better church is possible. Methodists celebrate as the church embraces the LGBTQ. Read some of this. On a Sunday morning in 2020, while Reverend Andy Woodworth, welcomed her congregation to the neighborhood church in Atlanta, Georgia. She had an epiphany. For years, Woodworth said she and her wife and co-pastor Angie worked to build a United Methodist Church community that was radically inclusive of everyone, especially its LGBTQIA plus members. Their church flouted the Methodist denomination's official ideology, which in 1972 declared homosexuality was incompatible with Christian teaching, and later banned self-avowed practicing homosexuals from becoming ordained. But that Sunday morning, as she welcomed everyone to church, no matter their race, identity, or sexuality, Woodworth said she realized she was talking to herself. At the very beginning of 2020, I came out to myself as being trans, she said. I thought I was this white, straight guy, and as it turns out, that's not who I am at all. I spent a lot of the quarantine time at home figuring some things out about myself and realized that Angie and I helped to start a church where I could actually be myself. While she was accepted by her own church community, Woodworth said the decision to embrace being a trans woman and a pastor in the United Methodist Church also meant that she could lose her job. her home, and her congregation. I'm trans, and that means if I'm going to be honest with myself and authentic in how I show up in the world, I'm going to have to wade into not just my own congregation, but into my denomination, Woodworth said. I was really not sure how that would go. Says the church at war with itself. But I think this church is at war with the scriptures and with God. The United Methodist Church has been at war with itself for decades over its stance on homosexuality. Until recently, pastors were forbidden from performing same-sex marriages and those who did risk punishment, including being put on trial by the church, suspended or defrocked. One minister was even ousted for officiating his son's wedding. Others told CNN they felt they were blocked from becoming ordained after coming out. For decades, it is speculated that thousands, thousands of clergy and church members hid their sexuality while a chasm grew between the conservative, the closeted, and the challengers who protested the church's anti-LGBTQ stance. There was always the threat for queer clergy that even with a supportive bishop, even with the opportunity to serve in an out or semi-out way, that charges could be brought against because the rules did exist," Rev. Kristen Stoneking told CNN. In 2019, the United Methodist Church's governing body opened a temporary window for congregations to petition to leave over the issue. By 2023, according to church records, more than 7,600 churches voted to disaffiliate, with many conservative-leaning congregations splintering off. But that long-standing schism ended this week when, in a historic move, the Church passed a series of measures to remove anti-LGBTQ policies from its Book of Discipline, which sets out the denomination's bylaws and regulations. The church's governing body marked a new era of LGBTQ inclusion by voting to lift the bans on LGBTQ clergy and on pastors performing same-sex unions. They also removed the language that said homosexuality was incompatible with Christian teaching. These churches, professing to be Christian, are clearly apostate. Webster's defines apostate as one who has forsaken the church, sect, or profession to which he before adhered. In its original sense, applied to one who has abandoned his religion, but correctly applied also to one who abandons a political or other party. It's what the Bible calls falling away. Second Thessalonians 2 says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." So we've been in this falling away for some time now. And it's just getting worse. These churches are abandoning the clear teachings of the scriptures that all Christians have adhered to and affirmed as true for centuries. They reject true love, which would warn these people of the impending judgment for their sins, whether Christian or not, and instead embrace the world's idea of love that says we must accept everyone however they choose to live, and even celebrate their sinful lifestyles for a whole month every year. The truth is, these compromising Christians are going to find themselves swept up in the judgment with these people because they would not separate themselves from them. If there's any question in your mind whether God still considers homosexuality to be a sin, simply turn to Romans chapter 1. Verse 18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat. 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. Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, 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." This is not talking about men forcing themselves on other men. This is consensual reprobation, vile affection that God turns people over to when they turn themselves against God. And there is coming a judgment. No, it will not be a flood because God has made a covenant with us that he will never again kill all living things with a flood of water. No, the coming judgment will be fire this time. Luke 17 verse 26 says, and as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." Just like Noah and Lot were saved from destruction, God will save a remnant of his people who will separate themselves from the wicked and will walk with him. I'm sure that God has called some folks to go into these pride festivals and warn these people of the judgment to come. But if you're a Christian who is celebrating this abominable pride and have rejected God's clear teaching, it's time to repent and get right with the Lord while there is still time to do so. Luke 12, verse 42 says, and the Lord said, who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But, and if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men servants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. Father God, Lord, we just pray, Lord, that you would wake some people up in these last days, God. We know that there are saved people, God, who know your word, Lord, who are willfully embracing these LGBTQ ideologies, God, and allowing it into your church, God. We just pray, Father, that you would cause folks to repent, Lord, that they would look to the coming judgment, God, and move with fear, Lord, to do what's right, to cleanse your house, God. And Lord, we pray, Father, for those who are in the bondage of the LGBTQ lifestyle, the homosexuality, Lord. We know that people can fall into these things for various reasons, God, but you can save them. You can deliver them, Lord. If they would trust you, we thank you for your blood of your son, Jesus, that you shed on the cross for us, Lord. And we know that there's power in that blood, power to break people free from the bondage of sin. No matter what that sin is, God, we thank you for it, Lord. Lord, I just pray that you would just use this message, if in any way, Lord, that it could be used to wake some people up, God, that you would do so. And God, have mercy on us. Help us to be found busy doing your work, doing your will. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.