For a period, four pieces of news came to me that were startling and alarming, and you are aware of what they were. Foremost among them was the fact that Hartford County would have and host its first gay pride celebration. And such an interjection of wickedness into our community seemed to be something that we could not simply bypass as if nothing were happening. And the fact that after receiving that news in a rapid-fire sequence, three more reports of similar things came to my ear, those things confirmed to me we needed to do something. And so by Thursday of that week, a plan was in place, and in God's mercy, He moved 20 men of this congregation and two other congregations, two other churches, each had one man and 18 of us. And we met here on a Saturday afternoon for a time of orientation and prayer and then went to Haverdy Grace. with signs bearing scripture passages and the determination not to say a word unless someone meaningfully engaged us. I have to tell you that throughout the week as the date approached, it was with dread and trepidation that I contemplated it. After we had met here and prayed together, there was none of that. And our brethren went into those circumstances It is almost amusing to contemplate the observations of those who were at this celebration. They obviously did not expect us to be there. But we were, with five texts of scriptures on two sides of poster boards, and some men carrying two boards apiece walked through the crowd around the sidewalk and stood in their midst holding forth the warnings of scripture in a protest that was necessary, and we pray, effectual. effectual in bearing the truth to the hearts of those who were there. My wife and I were happy to be away for a week of vacation in the cool Canadian temperatures where there is no First Amendment such as we have in this nation that protected our protest. And as I observed what was happening there, I recognize that an entire country called the Dominion of Canada, which had a Christian founding more distinct and precise than our own, is given over entirely to the misnamed gay agenda. And as I observe these things around us, it has dawned upon me in the past week like never before that indeed the spiritual warfare is closing in around us. And the land which by contrast when I was a child might have been yet considered a Christian nation is far, far removed from any semblance of Christianity. for the aggressive secularists who, during my childhood, were doing their best to remove God from public life, have succeeded in having their way. And with the blessing of our Supreme Court, and our public school system have now produced generations who have no idea at all concerning what true morality is, what true ethics are, and are wholly given over to the acceptance of a diabolical and destructive way of thinking. And as I've pondered these things, Psalm 2 and Romans 1 have repeatedly come back to my consciousness. And so I want us to spend a brief time in Psalm 2, for it tells us what is happening. Then we will go to Romans 1, which explains for us the dynamic by which these things are advancing and the heedless pawns of the satanic who are being given over unto their own destruction. Look with me at Psalm number two. It begins with the question, why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Just for the sake of exposition, there are two groups of people that are named here. The heathen would be to the people of Israel, the Gentiles. And the people, imagining a vain thing, would be the people of Israel. And the point is that all were given over to raging and imagining a vain, empty, hollow thing. What is the nature of their raging? What is the emptiness unto which they give themselves and their imagination? It is the unbridled zeal to cast off any restraint upon their wickedness. They rage. They rage, saying, let us break their bands asunder, let us cast away their cords from us. They are saying, remove from us any restraints to our lusts, and let us have our way. Against whom do they rage? Well, they rage against verse two, the Lord Jehovah, and against his anointed, that is Jesus Christ, for the entire psalm is prophetic concerning Christ's ultimate and absolute triumph. And this is what we see in the misnamed gay pride movement of our day. We see a raging against God and against Christ. It would appear to the casual observer, no doubt, that the scene upon which our 20 men arrived two Saturdays ago in Heavenly Grace was a nice afternoon frolic out by the water in the sun. But suddenly, there was a rage that arose from that group. at the mere sight of scripture on a poster board. We didn't have to say a thing. All that we did was hold up the scripture. Texts which told them, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. Another which told them, The Lord God rained fire and brimstone upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah out of heaven. Another which said, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The rage arose. Our men were cursed profanely. repeatedly by many people consigned to hell. One was spat upon and all of them for nothing more than simply holding forth the word of God. It was a fulfillment again of the very text we see in the second Psalm. The kings of the earth set themselves and their rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder. Let us cast away their cords from us. Anything which would restrain my lusts must go. And the forces within our society that are influential, education, Harford Community College was one of the major sponsors of the event. Religion. Amazing how many women I saw there wearing clergy collars. The media. If you've read the Aegis Report on what took place there, you would think it was akin to a Sunday school picnic, when in fact, The aegis itself delved into the realm of what might be called pornographic in the pictures it published and the descriptions that it gave. And the only problem of the day was a bunch from Dublin and Reformation Bible Church. This is the way it is. As they rage against God and Christ, trying, let us break their bands asunder, let us cast away their cords from us. What is God's response? I know what my response is. How many times I have prayed, O Lord, wilt thou arise and vindicate thy truth? Wilt thou show thy mighty arm? Wilt thou exhibit thy holy sovereign rule? But the text tells us that he that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh. He looks at them in their folly and rebellion and laughs. It says the Lord shall have them in derision. Derision is a mocking laughter. And I cannot read that without recalling the warning in the Proverbs to the foolish young men who will not turn and will not report when, repent, when in fact God tells them, I will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh. Unmoved, unthreatened, unchallenged, almighty God, enthroned in heaven, yet rules in sovereign might. And rather than hurling fire bolts from heaven to consume these wicked, as was once done at Sodom and Gomorrah, he tarries. He would give them therein time to repent, if they would repent. He sends a group of men among them with scripture placards for them to see the living word of God of which they might partake and partake thus of the very life of God. But they will not have it. And so the day will come, as the psalmist writes, when he shall speak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. And it is established that they shall perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. And if when it is kindled but a little, they perish from the way, what shall be when the full bore of divine wrath is released upon the wicked? the whole time. These souls have lived in a country where their agenda expands and grows, getting more power, getting more triumph, until it is at the point that it would be everywhere throughout our culture. In the public school system, children are to be taught that it is acceptable and right to live this way if you so desire. There's nothing wrong with it. And thus, already, at least two generations have come through the public school system having no mechanism by which to judge the rightness or wrongness of this behavior. And as That element of our culture appears to be triumphing and overtaking. We resort to the first chapter of the book of Romans, which explains exactly what is happening. In Romans chapter one, as we begin our reading at the 18th verse, We find that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Wrath revealed from heaven not in the form of the lightning bolt that zaps the wicked unto death, not in the form of the earth that opens wide to swallow them down to hell, but rather it appears in a form which unto the enemies of Christ would appear to be God's approval of what they're doing. That's how they construe it. How many of the howling protesters who came against us decried what we were doing by saying, God loves everybody, you hate. God made me this way, and this is the way he would have me to be. And there appears to be a genuine assumption that that is the case. And again, it follows the script, if you will, of Romans chapter one. For in Romans chapter one, we find three things that we will focus on. First of all, those engaging in these things do know better. They know better. We find in verse number 14 that they are in fact holding the truth in unrighteousness. And that word hold really literally means to hold down the truth. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down and suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The next verse tells us that that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shown it unto them. God has created every human being with an instinct to eat. He has created every human being with an understanding that when something is perceived to be dangerous, he should back away, hence there is the immediate fear reflex. And he has created every human being with an understanding that the homosexual activity is wrong. And the first time anyone engages in it, he sins against his own conscience and he knows it. And this is why there is the secrecy. There is the trying to hide it and get away with it. And it is against that innate, natural response that the whole movement is campaigning, trying to throw off the law of God, to cast away those cords, those restraints. No, there's nothing wrong with it. It's not something innate within you that tells you it's wrong. It is these puritanical religionists who come with their placards to our events. They're the ones who have induced upon innocent man their own code of morals and made a guilt that drives us crazy in many respects. But deep down inside, upon the authority of the word of God, we know that that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it unto them. Even his eternal power and Godhead are known, and the conscience God has given lets them know that it is wrong. No matter how much a man may wish to defend the act of lying, there is in everyone an innate understanding that lying shouldn't be, which is why they try to hide and cover their lies. It doesn't keep them from doing it because the heathen rage against the Lord and against his anointed, wanting to break the bands that would restrain. the matter of stealing. It is innately, naturally known that it is wrong to steal. One doesn't have to be taught to do so. And so the reason one tries to hide his thieving is because he knows in his heart it is wrong, but he violates his conscience anyway. And the same is true with the sin that now so rampantly affects our culture. And so as we look through this chapter, we find that by way of creation and the conscience they know. In fact, chapter two in verse 15 tells us that the heathens show the works of God's law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts, the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another. And there you have it. And so in chapter 1 and verse 32, these who know 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. The message of Romans 1 is they know, they know, they know. And it is they're suppressing, they're holding down what they know, which brings divine wrath upon them. But what is the nature of this divine wrath? Well, we find that because they hold down divine truth that is given to them, they refuse to hear it. God responds in a way we might not expect. Notice how it describes them in verse number 21, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination, their foolish heart was darkened. Notice as well, verse 25, where it says that they changed the truth of God into a lie, literally means they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Verse 28 tells us they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Their whole orientation is to reject the God who has revealed himself to them in creation in Scripture and in their own conscience. And so God responds essentially by saying, okay, have it your way. I will remove the restraints as you desire them to be removed. The cords that bind you, I will unbind. And we find God responding in simply giving them over to their unbridled lusts. to go ahead expanding in their sinfulness without even a thought that that liberty is the manifestation of God's wrath, giving them up to their own ways. And so we notice in verse 21, where it says, that because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. You see the passive sound of that. Their heart was dark and someone else darkened it. God sent a darkness to them. He had given them light. He had given them enough light to see and to know and to believe, but they would not. They refused. They're going to exercise their controlling lusts no matter what. And so away with any restraint. And so God removes the restraint. He sends them instead darkness. Their foolish heart was darkened. We come to verse number 24. where we read, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own heart to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Here you have God giving them as individuals and as a culture over to absolute moral profligacy. Immorality unbridled. And as they thereby, verse 25, exchange the truth of God for a lie, as they thereby worship the creature themselves more than the creator, verse 26, for this cause, God gave them up to vile affections. And then he goes on to describe the phenomenon of lesbianism and homosexuality that is so prominent and defended in our culture today. It is, in fact, the judgment of God. Yes, the judgment of God will come upon this. Ultimately, thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. But the fact that there is a gay pride celebration anywhere is a manifestation of the reality that the wrath of God is now upon them. And we needn't talk simply of a wrath of God to come. That wrath has already come. The wrath of God is now revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. For their rejection of the truth, he has sent them darkness. And as they in that darkness have gone further in their rejection of the truth, he has given them up to uncleanness. And as they in that uncleanness have gone further into their rebellion, he has now given them over to vile affections. And that vile affection there is homosexuality. And as much as I loathe speaking about such things from a pulpit, yet the word of God is clear. The advance of the gay agenda within our country is the evidence of the wrath of God upon our country. And it is not a matter that judgment will come, oh, it will, but judgment has already come and begun. And this is why the people of God more than ever must stand forth as the salt of the earth and must be willing to speak and to stand the truth of God's word. The salt is the only thing that will slow the decay And thus, salt is put in as a preservative. And as we read further in the passage, we come then to verse number 28. 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. You have the repeated God giving them over to uncleanness, to vile affections, to a reprobate mind. That is the wrath of God. And I repeat again, the advance of the falsely called gay agenda in this land is the wrath of God upon this land, Romans 1. It is merciful. that before the judgment of fire would fall on Sodom and Gomorrah, God would appear to remove Lot and his family, even though Lot's soul was vexed by his compromise and his presence among the Sodomites. God will deliver his people by his own means. And we look unto him. But for an understanding of what is happening, we find this description in his word. The raging of the heathen that want to cast aside his restraints and thus suppress his truth is met by the wrath of God, which gives them over to the very corruptions they long for. and without realizing that it is the wrath of God upon them, they go as far as they can in that which will be met with eternal damnation. Every man judged eternally on the basis of what he has done with the truth that was committed to him. Now we look in the 27th verse and it says that 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. You have the strange phenomenon here. Strange it is to good thinking and reasonable common sense. That while they are receiving in their bodies the recompense of their error, they are only pursuing that error more aggressively. And this is what we observe in our land today. Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, an estimated 77.3 million people worldwide have become infected with HIV, and 35.4 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. Has this slowed them down at all? Not at all. It is almost as if this has fueled them more so to pursue such an agenda, receiving in their bodies the recompense of their error. The fact is that the culture is not at all gay. When any belief system must change the meaning of well-established terms, that in itself is a symptom of its falseness. Most of us in our 60s, 50s, 40s grew up in a land where gay meant happy. Cheerful. Things are great. It's a gay time. More recent generations perhaps have never heard the term used in that manner. For the homosexual activists adopted that term to describe themselves. And I can only wonder if it is not an example of what they call whistling in the dark. For in fact, of all of the people groups that might be identified, they would be near the top in the category of unhappiness, sadness. It almost seems like the cruel joke of their mockers to call them gay because they are not. But in the all-out effort to legitimize the illegitimate way they must live, to cast their cords asunder and break them away from us, the meaning of language must be changed. And so gay and then pride are the terms used. Pride. We grew up understanding that pride was something that you had when you had done well and accomplished something worthy of accomplishment. But they used the word pride as a description of their mindset with regard to the most shameful and destructive of behavior. We cannot but recall the scriptures where we find that in fact their shame is their glory. They glory in their shame. Consider these realities of the sorrows that are a part of that culture. There was a study done several years ago examining the obituary notices in 18 homosexual journals, which are published here in the States. It included the studying of 6,737 obituaries, comparing those with the obituaries from the general population that would appear in city newspapers, and the comparisons set forth some notable realities. The median age of death for a man married, never divorced, was 75. And 80% of those men lived to be 65 years old or older. For unmarried or divorced men, the median age of death was 57. And 32% of them, as opposed to 80 of the other group, lived to be 65 or older. Likewise, for married, never divorced women, the average Age at death was 79, and 85% of them lived beyond the age of 65. And for unmarried or divorced women, the average age of death was 71. And 60% of them lived to be 65 or older. But the median age of death for homosexuals had only about 2% surviving to age 65 or older. Now what does that tell us? It tells us that there is a people group within our culture that is not enjoying great health or long life. as is enjoyed by those who are living according to biblical precepts. In that study, if AIDS was the cause of death, the median age of death was 39 years old. 829 gays were listed as dying of something other than AIDS, but the median age of death for them was 42. and only 9% reached the age of 65. 163 lesbians had a median age of death of 44 and only 20% of them reached the age of 65. And what you find as well is in many cases the deaths were violent deaths. They were 116 times more apt to be either murdered or commit suicide or die in a traffic accident. Indeed, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. Heart attacks, cancer, liver failure were exceptionally common. It is not a gay way of living. And then there's the matter of violence, in which the homicide detectives of our country and investigators have observed a pattern where often a homosexual perhaps in jealous rage over the unfaithfulness of his partner, has murdered. And there is a concept that they call overkill, which is not simply murdering, but going far beyond what would be required to kill the person. Mutilation. Raged murder. And this all has a significantly higher occurrence in the homosexual community than in the straight community. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. Now we cite these things, not in any sense from the perch of superiority. For I will say to you, as I said to the men before we went to Heavenly Grace that Saturday, there is in every one of us a homosexual. simply awaiting the provocation and temptation. If we do not recognize our own sinfulness and the fact that our abstinence is only because God has put his cords upon us, and bound us. If we do not recognize that, then we've failed to perceive the whole matter. Indeed, I hear the apostle and must say with him, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? It is beyond our ability to conceive the extent of our own wickedness and rebellion against God. And thus the events we've witnessed around us and against which we have raised a voice should first of all humble us every one. Because as we went to the Gay Pride event, there was not a righteous man among us. We were all sinners, whose only hope is the righteousness of Christ, and with it alone We must be clothed, and he who is clothed with the righteousness of Christ will, above all other things, be clothed with humility. And recognize, I am no better than one who may be set before us as the worst of sinners. The Apostle Paul wrote and said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. We are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we do all fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We need to understand what prompts this movement in our nation. They rage against God and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder. We need to understand the dynamic by which they enjoy such success. Their resistance of divine grace and rebellion against God has resulted in them being given over to uncleanness and vile affections, yea, unto their ultimate destruction. And it should prompt us to an honest recognition of what we are as sinners and to a zeal to reach them with the gospel. For God is able to change that thinking which refuses to think and responds only in rage. What kind of a man do you think it would take to approach the dying thief and to reason with him, don't you see that this man on the middle cross being crucified with you is a king and is your only hope for heaven? Don't you see how you need to believe in him? What kind of man would it take to convince that thief? that the criminal beside him was in the same boat he was, but was God. I couldn't, you couldn't, no man could, but God could and did. What kind of man would it take? to grab hold of Saul of Tarsus as he heads toward Damascus to persecute Christians and to shake him a little bit and say, don't you understand who Jesus is? I'm gonna tell you and persuade that great logician Saul to believe in Christ. Not a man on earth could do it. But God did it. We will never with our logic or arguments or imagined good sense prevail in seeing someone saved from that lifestyle, but God is able and he has done it before. And thus we read from the scripture where the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, there they are, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate homosexuals, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, another reference to the same, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. There you have it. There's a list of those who will be in hell. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. But Paul continues and says, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified. but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Indeed, heaven will be filled with thieves and liars and murderers and homosexuals and adulterers who have been saved and washed by the blood of Christ. And it is for us as the salt of the earth to take that message to them. I am amazed that God could ever love me so full of sin, so covered o'er with shame. Make me to walk with Him who is above me, cleansed by the power of His redeeming grace. I am amazed that God should grant salvation to such as I and all who heed his word. Eternal life to every land and nation. This is the wondrous message we've heard. I am amazed that God would ever save me. Not but the cross could take away my sin. Through faith in Christ, eternal life he gave me, and now he abides forevermore within. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch such as I. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Many of you can testify the same. Perhaps some of you cannot. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let us stand together as we pray. Lord, our God and father in heaven, we thank thee for sovereign effectual grace and love which subdues the resistance of the most determined sinner. We thank Thee that such grace has found souls in this room and saved them from their sin. We thank Thee that Thou art able to save to the uttermost all of those who come unto God by Thee. We pray for those that despised our presence in Heavenly Grace a few weeks ago and ask that divine mercy might be brought unto them and that through the word of God that they saw, so little of it put before them was 75. And 80% bring them to life and save their souls. Grant that every phenomenon that we face in this life and this world be analyzed in the light of scripture as we've endeavored to do today. And we thank thee that when we do so, we will see that no matter what the circumstance around us is, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, working all things after the counsel of his own will. And we thank thee that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord. And we thank thee that we can be steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord, for we know that our labor is not in vain. Our captain, whom they slew, rose from the grave and lives forever. And so in the confidence and power of the resurrection and in the power and guidance of thy word and thy spirit, may we be steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in the work of the Lord. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.