Pastor Voddie T. Baucham warned that the pervasive sexual sins of the prevailing culture are signs of divine judgment, but that the Gospel still offers hope and that American Christians should plead with God for revival while preparing for persecution.

Baucham, who is on leave in the U.S. from his position as Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, preached from Romans 1 during an event last Saturday at Lamar Baptist Church outside Dallas.

Reiterating some of the points in his new book, It’s Not Like Being Black: How Sexual Activists Hijacked the Civil Rights Movement, which was released Tuesday, Baucham noted the irony that he was making his remarks on the first day of pride month, which he referred to as “pride goes before destruction month.”

Noting that the Apostle Paul ultimately spends much of the first chapter of Romans explaining how the wrath of God manifests in the world by giving mankind over to sexual depravity and “a debased mind,” Baucham also observed that Paul lays the foundation of his difficult arguments on the hope and reality of the Gospel.

Starting at Romans 1:16, Baucham read: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.'”

“That’s the foundation for all of this,” Baucham said. “That’s our foundation for thinking about all of these issues. We start there. We start with the reality of the Gospel and our need for the Gospel. We start with the reality that the righteous shall live by faith.”

“We are living in a time, in an era when there are people who are desperately wicked, and in desperate need of repentance and faith, in desperate need of the Gospel. And we’re being told that the wickedness is, in fact, the Gospel,” Baucham said.

Baucham noted that such a worldview is destructive because it not only calls good evil and evil good but also “alienates people from the only hope they have.”

Despite the culture’s clarion call for people to embrace the supposed freedom of sexual liberation, he said the evidence suggests that such behavior is enslaving even children at this point.

Lifting up his phone, Baucham added, “We’re giving them to 9- and 10-year-olds. Number one use of the internet is still pornography, and we’re giving unlimited, unfettered access to it to 9- and 10-year-olds in the palm of their hands.”

“So we’ve got a generation of people who’ve been raised with sexual material, who have been raised with libertine views towards sex, who are engaging in sex younger and younger, and we’ve got young people entering into marriage who can’t even enjoy sex anymore, because their ability to enjoy it has nearly been destroyed.”

Baucham further explained that a deeper layer of the destruction includes “willing Christians” who attempt to accommodate the idea of sexual sin as an identity by claiming the Bible failed to understand the complexity of sexual orientation and that dishonorable passions are not actually dishonorable.

Baucham said rampant transgenderism is another consequence of such depravity and went on to warn that the push for pedophilia “is just a matter of time.” He also urged Christians to steel themselves for the last stage of a culture under judgment, which involves the wicked attempting to suppress the truth of God by approving of those who are evil while condemning and trying to silence those who resist.

Baucham concluded his remarks by urging his listeners to pray for revival, but conceded that he cannot personally see any way out of the spiritual darkness into which the culture has plunged itself.

“We’re going to have to pray that God would send revival, because He’s already sent judgment,” Baucham concluded. The wrath of God is here; the judgment of God is here. Plead with Him for His mercy. Plead with Him that all would not be lost.”

Baucham failed to say that God has told us in advance that what is playing out in the world precedes Jesus’ return to restore righteousness. Incredible detail is given by the Old Testament prophets, Jesus in the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation of the events that precede Jesus’ return. The good news is our redemption is close so we need to make sure we like Jesus are saying to God not my will but yours be done each day. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, He has work for you to do if you are in prayer and attentive.