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Sermon Notes - Reprobate Mind

Feb 7, 2021

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CAN A CHRISTIAN BE TURNED OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND?  

ONE THING THAT SEEMS TO TROUBLE MANY BELIEVERS IS THE THOUGHT OF FINALLY FALLING AWAY FROM GOD – BEING “TURNED OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND”.  

IT ALSO SEEMS THE POTENTIAL IS VERY GREAT WHEN SOMEONE WHO PROFESSES TO BE SAVED FALLS AWAY FROM THE FAITH.  

IT IS AT THIS POINT WE REALIZE HOW WEAK AND SINFUL WE ARE.  

BUT WE ALSO NEED TO REALIZE HOW GREAT THE GRACE OF GOD IS. 

LET’S LOOK AT THE WORD REPROBATE FOR JUST A MOMENT.  

A PRIMARY MEANING OF REPROBATE IS {REJECTED.}  

WEBSTER’S 1828 DICTIONARY DEFINES IT AS {NOT ENDURING PROOF OR TRIAL; NOT OF STANDARD PURITY OR FINENESS; DISALLOWED; REJECTED.}  

THE BIBLE DEFINITIONOF REPROBATE: REPROBATE SILVER SHALL MEN CALL THEM, BECAUSE THE LORD HATH REJECTED THEM.  

JEREMIAH 6:27-30 (MSG)  

27 GOD GAVE ME THIS TASK: "I HAVE MADE YOU THE EXAMINER OF MY PEOPLE, TO EXAMINE AND WEIGH THEIR LIVES.  

28 THEY'RE A THICKHEADED, HARD-NOSED BUNCH, ROTTEN TO THE CORE, THE LOT OF THEM.  

29 REFINING FIRES ARE CRANKED UP TO WHITE HEAT, BUT THE ORE STAYS A LUMP, UNCHANGED. IT'S USELESS TO KEEP TRYING ANY LONGER. NOTHING CAN REFINE EVIL OUT OF THEM..  

30 MEN WILL CALL THEM REPROBATE AND REJECTED SILVER [ONLY DROSS, WITHOUT GOOD METAL], BECAUSE THE LORD HAS REJECTED THEM. 

SILVER THAT WAS UNABLE TO BE REFINED WAS CONSIDERED WORTHLESS, I.E., REPROBATE, AND WAS TO BE REJECTED. BECAUSE OF ISRAEL’S REFUSAL TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD, THEY ARE COMPARED TO REPROBATE SILVER BECAUSE GOD HAD REJECTED THEM. 

BUT REJECTION IS ONLY PART OF THE DEFINITION.  

IN ROMANS 1:28 

WE READ OF THOSE WHO “GOD GAVE …OVER TO A REPROBATE MIND, TO DO THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE NOT CONVENIENT.”  

HERE, THE MEANING IS NOT ONLY OF REJECTION BUT ALSO ABANDONMENT.  

THESE PEOPLE HAD GONE SO FAR IN SIN, “THEY DID NOT LIKE TO RETAIN GOD IN THEIR KNOWLEDGE,” AND SO GOD GAVE THEM WHAT THEY WANTED. THEY DID NOT WANT GOD, RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS, CLEANNESS, OR PURITY, SO GOD “GAVE THEM OVER.”  

THESE PEOPLE ARE REPROBATE BECAUSE OF THEIR HATRED TOWARD GOD. 

NOW, THE QUESTION IS, WERE THESE PEOPLE REALLY SAVED? WE NEED TO COMPARE THE TRAITS OF SAVED PEOPLE WITH THOSE OF THE REPROBATE.  

II CORINTHIANS 5:17 SAVED PEOPLE ARE NEW CREATURES  

1 THESSALONIANS 1:9 WHO HAVE REPENTED OF THEIR SINFUL LIFE  

GALATIANS 5:22 AND WHO BRING FORTH THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT  

GALATIANS 5:23 THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD GOD, CHRIST, THE BIBLE, AND SIN HAVE CHANGED, AND THIS IS MANIFESTED IN THEIR DAILY LIVES.  

EPHESIANS 2:10 THEY DESIRE TO DO GOOD WORKS  

1 JOHN 3:14 LOVE THE BRETHREN  

JAMES 1:27 AND TO KEEP THEMSELVES UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD  

OH SURE, SAVED PEOPLE FALL SHORT, BUT THEY WILL CONFESS THEIR SINS 

1 JOHN 1:9 TO MAINTAIN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. 

ROMANS 1:28 ON THE OTHER HAND THE REPROBATE WANTS NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD - INSTEAD OF LIVING HOLY AND BRINGING FORTH GOOD WORKS, THEIR LIFESTYLE IS MANIFESTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE SAINT.  

PAUL SAYS THEY ARE  

ROMANS 1:21-32 (MSG)  

21 WHAT HAPPENED WAS THIS: PEOPLE KNEW GOD PERFECTLY WELL, BUT WHEN THEY DIDN'T TREAT HIM LIKE GOD, REFUSING TO WORSHIP HIM, THEY TRIVIALIZED THEMSELVES INTO SILLINESS AND CONFUSION SO THAT THERE WAS NEITHER SENSE NOR DIRECTION LEFT IN THEIR LIVES.  

22 THEY PRETENDED TO KNOW IT ALL, BUT WERE ILLITERATE REGARDING LIFE.  

23 THEY TRADED THE GLORY OF GOD WHO HOLDS THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS FOR CHEAP FIGURINES YOU CAN BUY AT ANY ROADSIDE STAND.  

24 SO GOD SAID, IN EFFECT, "IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT, THAT'S WHAT YOU GET." IT WASN'T LONG BEFORE THEY WERE LIVING IN A PIGPEN, SMEARED WITH FILTH, FILTHY INSIDE AND OUT.  

25 AND ALL THIS BECAUSE THEY TRADED THE TRUE GOD FOR A FAKE GOD, AND WORSHIPED THE GOD THEY MADE INSTEAD OF THE GOD WHO MADE THEM—THE GOD WE BLESS, THE GOD WHO BLESSES US. OH, YES!  

26 WORSE FOLLOWED. REFUSING TO KNOW GOD, THEY SOON DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BE HUMAN EITHER—WOMEN DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BE WOMEN, MEN DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BE MEN.  

27 SEXUALLY CONFUSED, THEY ABUSED AND DEFILED ONE ANOTHER, WOMEN WITH WOMEN, MEN WITH MEN—ALL LUST, NO LOVE. AND THEN THEY PAID FOR IT, OH, HOW THEY PAID FOR IT—EMPTIED OF GOD AND LOVE, GODLESS AND LOVELESS WRETCHES.  

28 SINCE THEY DIDN'T BOTHER TO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD, GOD QUIT BOTHERING THEM AND LET THEM RUN LOOSE.  

29 AND THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE: RAMPANT EVIL, GRABBING AND GRASPING, VICIOUS BACKSTABBING. THEY MADE LIFE HELL ON EARTH WITH THEIR ENVY, WANTON KILLING, BICKERING, AND CHEATING. LOOK AT THEM: MEAN-SPIRITED, VENOMOUS,  

30 FORK-TONGUED GOD-BASHERS. BULLIES, SWAGGERERS, INSUFFERABLE WINDBAGS! THEY KEEP INVENTING NEW WAYS OF WRECKING LIVES. THEY DITCH THEIR PARENTS WHEN THEY GET IN THE WAY.  

31 STUPID, SLIMY, CRUEL, COLD-BLOODED.  

32 AND IT'S NOT AS IF THEY DON'T KNOW BETTER. THEY KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THEY'RE SPITTING IN GOD'S FACE. AND THEY DON'T CARE—WORSE, THEY HAND OUT PRIZES TO THOSE WHO DO THE WORST THINGS BEST!  

COULD IT BE SAID THAT A SAVED PERSON, WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WAS A HATER OF GOD?  

DO THE SAINTS INVENT EVIL THINGS?  

REPROBATES ARE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING, YET JOHN TELLS THE SAINTS CONCERNING FALSE PROPHETS,  

1 JOHN 2:27 (MSG)  

27 BUT THEY'RE NO MATCH FOR WHAT IS EMBEDDED DEEPLY WITHIN YOU—CHRIST'S ANOINTING, NO LESS! YOU DON'T NEED ANY OF THEIR SO-CALLED TEACHING. CHRIST'S ANOINTING TEACHES YOU THE TRUTH ON EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOURSELF AND HIM, UNCONTAMINATED BY A SINGLE LIE. LIVE DEEPLY IN WHAT YOU WERE TAUGHT. 

PAUL GOES ON TO SAY: VERSE 32 AND IT'S NOT AS IF THEY DON'T KNOW BETTER. THEY KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THEY'RE SPITTING IN GOD'S FACE. AND THEY DON'T CARE—WORSE, THEY HAND OUT PRIZES TO THOSE WHO DO THE WORST THINGS BEST!  

NO, THERE IS A GREAT GULF FIXED BETWEEN THE REPROBATE AND THE CHILD OF GOD. 

BUT TO GET TO THE HEART OF OUR QUESTION, WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO PROFESS SALVATION YET TURN AWAY?  

AFTER ALL, THE PEOPLE WE JUST DESCRIBED HATE GOD AND HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT OPENLY SHOWING THEIR HATRED FOR HIM.  

THE MORE WE READ THE BIBLE, THE MORE WE SEE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRUE BELIEVERS AND THOSE WHO ONLY PROFESS TO BE. LET’S LOOK AT A FEW SCRIPTURES: 

TITUS 15:16 THEY PROFESS THAT THEY KNOW GOD; BUT IN WORKS THEY DENY HIM, BEING ABOMINABLE, AND DISOBEDIENT, AND UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK REPROBATE. 

PAUL SAYS THESE PEOPLE, WHO PROFESSED THEY KNEW GOD, WERE REPROBATE. HOW CAN THIS BE? THE ANSWER IS FOUND IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PRECEDING VERSE: 

TITUS 1:15 NKJV UNTO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARE PURE: BUT UNTO THEM THAT ARE DEFILED AND UNBELIEVING IS NOTHING PURE; BUT EVEN THEIR MIND AND CONSCIENCE IS DEFILED.  

THE {THEY} OF VERSE 16 ARE PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED IN THIS VERSE AS {UNBELIEVING.}  

YES, THEY PROFESSED TO KNOW GOD, BUT THEY WERE REPROBATE.  

WHY WERE THEY REPROBATED?  

BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE. THESE PEOPLE WERE NEVER SAVED.  

THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR THOSE DESCRIBED IN 1 JOHN 2:19 

THEY WENT OUT FROM US, BUT THEY WERE NOT OF US; FOR IF THEY HAD BEEN OF US, THEY WOULD NO DOUBT HAVE CONTINUED WITH US: BUT THEY WENT OUT, THAT THEY MIGHT BE MADE MANIFEST THAT THEY WERE NOT ALL OF US.  

THOSE WHO LEFT THE FAITH WERE {NOT OF US.} THEY WERE NEVER SAVED.  

NOW THIS TEACHING LINES UP WITH THE WORDS OF OUR LORD HIMSELF. CONSIDER THIS TEXT: 

JOHN 8:31 

THEN SAID JESUS TO THOSE JEWS WHICH BELIEVED ON HIM, {IF} YE CONTINUE IN MY WORD, THEN ARE YE MY DISCIPLES INDEED; 

NOTICE THE IMPLICATION.  

THOSE WHO CONTINUE IN THE WORD OF CHRIST {I.E., THOSE WHO ARE TRULY CONVERTED TO GOD THROUGH REPENTANCE AND FAITH} ARE CHRIST’S DISCIPLES INDEED; THEREFORE, THOSE WHO DO NOT CONTINUE IN HIS WORD ARE NOT HIS DISCIPLES.  

THIS MEANS THAT A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE AN INTELLECTUAL OR EMOTIONAL {DECISION} AND FINALLY FALL AWAY WERE NEVER TRULY BORN AGAIN. 

A BELIEVER MAY GET TO THE POINT WHERE HIS FAITH IS WEAK OR FALL INTO SIN AND, CONSEQUENTLY, GO SO FAR AS TO FORGET:  

II PETER 1:9 THAT HE WAS PURGED FROM HIS OLD SINS 

2 TIMOTHY 2:11-13 (MSG)  

11 THIS IS A SURE THING: IF WE DIE WITH HIM, WE'LL LIVE WITH HIM;  

12 IF WE STICK IT OUT WITH HIM, WE'LL RULE WITH HIM; IF WE TURN OUR BACKS ON HIM, HE'LL TURN HIS BACK ON US;  

13 IF WE GIVE UP ON HIM, HE DOES NOT GIVE UP— FOR THERE'S NO WAY HE CAN BE FALSE TO HIMSELF. 

2 TIMOTHY 2:19 (MSG)  

19 MEANWHILE, GOD'S FIRM FOUNDATION IS AS FIRM AS EVER, THESE SENTENCES ENGRAVED ON THE STONES: GOD KNOWS WHO BELONGS TO HIM. SPURN EVIL, ALL YOU WHO NAME GOD AS GOD. 

IN JOHN 6:37 WE READ THESE COMFORTING WORDS,  

ALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH ME SHALL COME TO ME; AND HIM THAT COMETH TO ME I WILL IN NO WISE CAST OUT.  

HEBREWS 13:5-6 (MSG)  

5 DON'T BE OBSESSED WITH GETTING MORE MATERIAL THINGS. BE RELAXED WITH WHAT YOU HAVE. SINCE GOD ASSURED US, "I'LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN, NEVER WALK OFF AND LEAVE YOU,"  

6 WE CAN BOLDLY QUOTE, GOD IS THERE, READY TO HELP; I'M FEARLESS NO MATTER WHAT. WHO OR WHAT CAN GET TO ME? 

HEBREWS 6:4-6 IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ONCE BEEN ENLIGHTENED, WHO HAVE TASTED THE HEAVENLY GIFT, WHO HAVE SHARED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, 5 WHO HAVE TASTED THE GOODNESS OF THE WORD OF GOD AND THE POWERS OF THE COMING AGE 6 AND WHO HAVE FALLEN AWAY, TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO REPENTANCE. TO THEIR LOSS THEY ARE CRUCIFYING THE SON OF GOD ALL OVER AGAIN AND SUBJECTING HIM TO PUBLIC DISGRACE. 

IT SHOULD BE A GREAT BLESSING TO KNOW THAT THE TRUE BELIEVER WILL NEVER BE  

REJECTED OR ABANDONED BY GOD. 

THE LORD {KNOWETH THEM THAT TRUST IN HIM,}