Homosexuality and the Living Word - Brandon Scalf

Now, I don't watch a lot of TV shows, nor do I watch a lot of movies, but over the past week or so,

I've been a bit under the weather and found myself on the couch next to the pup watching a few shows.

And there's one thing that I've learned that is honestly quite surprising, while not all that surprising in the first place.

As I turned on the TV and tried watching newer shows,

I began to notice a very common theme. And that common theme is this, that homosexuality or sexual perversion in all of its forms has so penetrated the culture that it is almost a casual, normal thing.

Now, there are some of us, old enough in the room, who remembers a day where sexual perversion or homosexuality was something not thinkable.

It wasn't uttered, it wasn't talked about. I can remember a time when I was in the

Army and it was don't ask, don't tell, and by the time I got out of the Army, they were trying to give us

PowerPoints. If you don't know what that is, you're lucky.

Teaching us how to interact with same -sex attracted people. Now, in these shows, there were no apologies, in fact, there wasn't even a huge, hey, look over here.

It was just relationships that were sinful in nature, looked upon like it was a normal way of life.

And the reason that has happened is because the sexual revolution is the god of our age.

Now, we're going to look specifically at the set of homosexuality and other things that fall underneath the

LGBTQ plus kind of umbrella, but the reality is we are a sexualized people from top to bottom.

We think that the world and the way that we do things ought to be looked through the lens of sexuality.

This is why people can identify, for example, as homosexuals, because who you are, your identity is, according to our culture, the ultimate reality.

The ultimate reality is what you think about sex and how you perform sex.

But the Bible teaches us and has for us an entirely different approach to both identity and sexual ethics.

And here's the deal. It has so penetrated our culture that we are, as Christians who believe in the word of God, becoming the minority.

And we are being censored. We are being hated because of our stance.

Something that was prized and prioritized in our country has now become something anathema.

But the good news is, try as they might, and they will try, to censor our word -bearers, imprison them, they cannot silence

God's piercing, convicting, and life -reorienting word.

So long as we have this book, we have God's answers for what it means to be human, and what it means to be male, and what it means to be female, and what it looks like to engage in a proper and biblical sexual ethic.

And so, if we are going to be people who live like those who honor God, we need to read

God's word and be exegeted, as it were, by God's word.

That we might walk in a different way, no matter how hard it might be.

And so if you would, please stand with me for the honoring and reading of God's holy, infallible, and all -sufficient word, and I'm going to read for you a passage of scripture from Hebrews, chapter 4, verses 12 and 13.

And this has nothing to do with, and everything to do with, homosexuality, and I hope that will become increasingly clear as we move along.

Hebrews, chapter 4, verses 12 and 13, it says this, For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two -edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we have an account to give.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Amen? Amen. Please have a seat.

Now if we are going to be Christians who love God, love his people, and live in a way that is honoring to him, especially as it relates to our sexuality, we need to be people of the word.

The word is what I have said over and over does the work. It is the word that does the work.

And so if we are to address our culture in any meaningful way, or if we are to address our own heart in any meaningful way, we need to look at this living and active word that pierces to the bone and marrow.

So look with me, starting at verse 12 here, it says, For the word of God is living and active.

Of course we know the word of God to be the very words of God. Everything in 2

Timothy 3, 16 and 17 show us that the word of God here is

God -breathed. Now there is a few ways to take this passage. Some people believe that this is talking about Jesus, the incarnate word, and other people take it to be about the written word, the theanoustos, the

God -breathed word, about the incarnate word. I'm partial to the second interpretation, but that doesn't mean that they can't be bound up together.

But let's look at it through the lens of the written word. It says here that the written word, the word of God is living and it is active.

The question that we must ask if we are going to address this question is, what does it mean that the word is living and active if it is that instrument through which we can address these sorts of questions?

We have to see that it speaks, it pleads, and it conquers. That's what it means to be a living and active word.

It speaks, it pleads, and it conquers. Let me expand upon that a little bit. By saying that the word of God is living and active and saying that it speaks, what we are saying is that essentially it teaches us.

It is words on a page that show us truths, specifically doctrinal and theological truths about things in the world.

Not only are there facts in it, like the facts of creation, the facts of Jesus' resurrection, the facts of his crucifixion, the facts of the apostles and when they lived, how they lived, and so on and so forth.

It also teaches us the truth behind the truth. Why did God create? Why did

God resurrect? Why did the apostles exist and do what they did in their ministries?

But it also teaches us about who God is in his

Trinitarian nature. It teaches us who he is in his goodness and graciousness.

It speaks to us by showing us, we've been walking through Ephesians, so this shouldn't be shocking to you, the nature of mankind.

That we are totally depraved, ill and undeserving sinners, deserving of God's wrath because of the rebellion we have chosen to live in and what he has done, this great

God and Savior in redemptive history to secure salvation for his elect in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is not a textbook, I'm sure you've heard this, but it's not less than that. It teaches us a lot of stuff and it's not open to just anyone's interpretation.

It has to be a point.

There has to be a point rather. There has to be a point to what is being said because there is an author behind what is being said.

And so this is why we take interpretation and hermeneutics and things like this very seriously because we want to get to the heart of the matter of every single text.

However, it's not just a textbook in that God has sent his word to do something.

So it's not just static. It's living and it's active and it's active by speaking, but it's also active by pleading.

We have a pleading Bible. It's more than information. It's more than propositional truth.

It actually begs us to consider some very crucial realities.

It begs us to consider who God is and who we are in light of that reality. It pleads with us to respond to his gospel and faith and repentance.

It admonishes us to take sin seriously, to take the realities of heaven and hell seriously.

It admonishes us to die for our wives as Christ died for the church men.

For women, it admonishes us, commands us to submit to our husbands. But most assuredly and more pointedly today, it takes seriously and pleads with us to take seriously the

Bible's assumed and explicitly taught sexual ethic. So this is not open to how we feel about any given thing, right?

We might have loved ones. We might've even had struggles ourselves. I don't know what your story is.

With same -sex attraction or whatever the case may be, but it's not about loving who you love or feeling what you feel.

Though this is what our culture will tell us, the Bible is not silent on these matters.

Not only is it not silent on these matters, it's living and it's active.

It speaks, it pleads, and thirdly, it conquers. It conquers. Not only does the

Bible teach us information, not only does it plead with us, beg us, and admonish us, it also conquers our seared consciences and it overcomes our objections and it causes us by the power of the spirit to be changed.

In other words, the word of God in being living and active is powerful and effectual.

That is, it actually does work on us. The Holy Spirit, the surgeon of God, if you will, cuts and molds us as this says, right?

The word of God is living and active and it's sharper than any two -edged sword and it's piercing as far as the divisions of the soul and of the spirit affects happen.

When you hear the word of God preached, you will never be the same ever again.

If the word is preached faithfully, you will either walk out of here closer to Jesus, having repented of your sin, having loved him more, or walking out of here hardened and walking further from Jesus.

So the word always is working and it's always conquering. The question is, how is it conquering?

And we know this because the Bible teaches it in Romans chapter 10, verse 17.

It says, faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. And so those who have hard hearts, they become softened when the spirit is at work or they become hardened.

Maybe we see our sin for the first time, whether it's same -sex attraction, whether it's being too harsh and angry, whether it's being vain, whether it's being legalistic, whether it's being antinomian.

The Bible is an equal opportunity offender and it's only desire through the power of the

Holy Spirit, I'm talking about it like it's its own thing. I mean, it is its own thing, but it's not a person.

And so I'm personifying it in a way, but don't take that to be theological assertion.

It is a word of God and when it is preached and when it is read, the spirit of God uses that word to do some things.

And it will always, as I said, do what it was meant to do. Isaiah chapter 55, verse 11.

God makes this irrefutably clear when he says, so will my word be, which goes forth from my mouth.

It will not return to me empty and without accomplishing what pleases me and without succeeding in the matter for which

I sent it. So none of us in this room have to be afraid to open our mouths on behalf of God by reading his word to people.

There's never going to be a time where you offer somebody scripture and it be untrue or unhelpful or ineffectual.

God will always achieve the purpose for which he sends his word.

And so when we submit to its yoke, it conquers our idol worshiping hearts. And that's a beautiful reality.

First, our hearts, and then we can trust it, trust God rather, to use it to crush the idol worshiping hearts in the lives of other people.

This is why we go to the gay pride festivals and preach the gospel. This is why we go onto the streets and we preach the gospel.

Because we believe that the word does the work. Because it is living, because it is active.

And so we have seen here, God's word is in fact living and active. As we look at our passage again,

I want you to see that God's word is sharp and pierces like a sword.

It says in verse 12, for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two -edged sword and piercing as far as the divisions of the soul and of the spirit.

So both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

What's getting at, what is the author of Hebrews getting at here when he says that it is sharp and it pierces like a sword?

Well, he's not saying it speaks, it pleads, and it conquers. He's already said that.

He's saying that it wounds and it exposes. It wounds and it exposes. When the word is proclaimed and it is working, it says here that we get cut.

We get cut. And the question we must ask is, what does that mean?

Obviously, we're not getting physically cut. So what kind of poetic language is being utilized to help us to understand what's going on here?

Well, it's certainly not one where he's speaking of a serial killer, for example.

Our God does not cut us with the word like a cold, lifeless, emotionless person who desires to do someone harm.

How does he cut us? He cuts us like a surgeon.

He cuts us like a surgeon. Both a serial killer, for example, and a surgeon have the exact same utensil.

But one cuts to harm and the other cuts to heal. And we have a

God who cuts to reveal and to expose.

Now, how does it wound us? Well, it wounds us because, first of all, the Bible, if you are paying attention, tells every single one of us that we are not all that awesome.

Now, I say that not to be mean or critical of anyone in this room. I think you're great.

Okay? I love you. But the Bible tells us that even though your pastor loves you and even though he thinks you're great, we are all not great.

We are all dead in our sins and our transgressions, and we all deserve God's wrath.

We all deserve punishment because we are all sinful and rebellious against him.

And that doesn't feel good to come to grips with that reality. Right?

And this is the exact opposite message that the world tries to send. I was just listening to a friend who went out and saw that new

In -N -Out movie or whatever that Disney movie is that just came out about the emotions that live inside a person's body.

I think that's what it's called. But one of the things, one of the critiques that I heard from Christian friends is that over and over, the way that one of the characters got over kind of their insecurities is by repeatedly saying,

I'm a good person. I'm a good person. I'm a good person. The world wants you to think that you're a good person so that you won't think that you have any need for the

Lord Jesus Christ. That you have no need for the Word of God to chisel you and mold you into Christ's image.

So it's a wounding reality when you actually think about it. It's wounding to think that the

Son of God had to come and bear your sins so that you could be saved. Right?

It's a humbling reality that wounds us when we realize that the cross is a gigantic beacon that says not one of us could measure up.

But it's true nonetheless. Not only that, but it exposes our sinful disposition and the particular things that we struggle with.

When we read the Bible, we can't argue because it's God. And when you're arguing with your spouse or children, when you're arguing with your brothers and your sisters, you might go back and forth and you might say, well, no, it's your fault.

Or it's your fault. Or it's your fault. Or it's your fault. But the Bible always looks back at us and says, it's your fault.

And if you have been reading the Bible lately and it hasn't offended you, you haven't been reading it right. Because it is trying to fix you.

The Holy Spirit is trying to use the word to pluck out all that is in you that is left from your influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

It's trying to remove your grip from those things. And it does that by judging.

So God's word not only is living and active, not only is it sharper than any two -edged sword that pierces us, it also judges us.

God's word judges, which is the next thing that I want you to see here. Look with me again at verse 12.

This is that it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

That's right. The word of God judges our thoughts and our heart.

That is, it criticizes the mind and the heart.

It reveals and critiques loves. It reveals and critiques false gods. And it puts it in front of you and tells you to do something about that.

Namely, repent and believe. Believe what it says.

And what you need to understand, friends, is it's important that you get intentions of the heart and thoughts.

Now, it's one thing to be judged for what you think.

And you might even be thinking, okay, with the Holy Spirit's help or with a really good book or with the Bible or with some really good information, we might be able to change the way we think.

Well, yeah, we need the Holy Spirit's help for that.

And you might think that, but what you will certainly have a hard time thinking is the same thing as it relates to the heart.

And this goes or should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway, because all of the alphabet people, the

LGBTQ plus stuff, all of their mantras have to do with, well, it's all about your feelings.

Right? People may think this way, but really it's about you love who you love.

And love is a feeling. And you don't get to dictate that. Well, the Bible gets to. It judges the intentions of the heart.

Maybe you've heard this. Well, just follow your heart. Friends, following your heart has ended more marriages, mutilated more bodies, destroyed more souls, and ended more lives than the devil could have imagined.

Follow your heart is hell's most effective slogan yet. And what happens is when our hearts swell up with these idols, the more the word of God addresses your heart issues.

So it's not enough to say, well, this is how I feel. Well, who cares what you feel? The Bible's trying to fix your feeler.

This is why it's imperative that you keep your nose buried in the word.

And the good news is, friends, the more you read the Bible, the more the Bible reads you. And the more it addresses your sinful disposition, your proclivities.

Show me a person who is not repenting of sin and growing in holiness. I'll show you a person who is not reading their

Bible. The best thing you can do to make sure that you don't grow in grace is to keep your

Bible on the shelf covered in dust. To make sure it's never looking like it's falling apart.

This is why we need the Bible for ourselves, and this is why we must promote the

Bible in the public sphere. Let me ask you all a question, including the children.

So children, look up here, but everyone pay attention. Let me ask you a question. Where do you live with your

Bible? Where is it at? And I'm not speaking, is it on your nightstand?

I'm asking, do you live with your Bible on the ground and you step over it?

Do you live life ignoring what the Scriptures teach?

Ignoring what the Scriptures say? Or do you live with the

Scriptures besides you? That is, you'll pick it up when it's convenient for you.

Or when it helps you win some sort of argument. Or it's intellectually intriguing.

And you'll take some of the truth that sounds good to you, just like you'll take truth from other religions or thought leaders like Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan.

Or do you live with the Word of God above you? Do you live with the

Word of God as the thing that governs your thought life, governs your emotions, governs the way in which you will do what you are called to do?

Are you able to stand underneath the Word of God and live in such a way that if people chuck anything at you, you say, it doesn't matter because this is what the

Word says. But before we can talk about homosexuality, we've got to get to a place where we say,

I'm going to stand on the Word of God. So why did I have a 20 minute introduction about the

Word of God? Because it matters that much. Because I'm going to say some things that if you are not clued into or care about or have allegiance to the

Word, really makes no difference. Because you'll walk out of here and say, well, that's not what the culture says. That's not what my heart says.

That's not what people's hearts say. And they got to be who they are. They're born that way. Well, Jesus says you must be born again.

Jesus says that our hearts are wicked. Jeremiah the prophet says that our hearts are deceitful.

And so we need not be deceived. We need to look in the clear glass. That is, in fact,

Holy Scripture. Well, you might say next then. Okay, I'm following your train of thought here.

In order to address the sin of homosexuality and different sexual perversions, we must, in fact, see what the

Word of God has to say on this. Yes and amen. But what about the people who do not read the Word of God, do not care about the

Word of God? Are they off the hook? No. They are not off the hook for multiplicity of different reasons.

But one is given to us in the next verse, verse 13. Right after addressing the

Word of God and what it does in Hebrews chapter 4, the author says,

And there is no creature hidden from his sight, speaking of God here. But all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of him to whom we have an account to give.

Here's what this is saying. If you do not care about the Word of God, too bad. You are still accountable to the living

God. And even those of you who have the Word of God, it's

God who you sit under as your authority. And by following his

Word, you are doing that because it's his Word. God's opinion is all that matters for every single person sitting in this room.

And the reason for that, as the author of Ecclesiastes has said and so many others in the

Bible, we will come to judgment. And we will not say, well, we didn't hear enough of the

Word of God. First of all, you live in the best time in history to get your hands on the

Word of God. You trip and fall on the Word of God nowadays.

Second of all, the thing that we're going to be talking about at length today is made evident in nature.

And so, as we take somewhat of a sharp left turn, having this understanding that it is the

Word of God that helps us address these problems. Though the Word of God exclusively is not what gets people out of judgment.

I want you to consider three R's. Three R's. Rest, run, and remember.

Rest, run, and remember. And here we're going to step outside of this passage itself, but still staying underneath the umbrella of the

Word of God. And we're going to address the sinfulness of homosexuality.

How to think about it, how to address it, and how to honor

God as we think about it and address it. So the first thing, rest.

What I mean by that is, we must rest in the truthfulness of God's holy, infallible, and all -sufficient

Word regarding sexual ethics.

Regarding sexual ethics. The first thing that the

Bible teaches us, almost from page one, is that homosexuality destroys

God's ordained plan for humanity. So if you're thinking, well, why are we even addressing this?

Well, partly because it's Pride Month and everybody is getting this shoved down their throat if they turn on the

TV or if they look on their phone or if they go out in public anywhere. So there's that.

Secondly, Pastor Corey wanted it. And he gets what he wants.

Thirdly, because it's important, and the Bible addresses it, and we must think about this, especially in our culture.

In Genesis 1 and 2, not very far into the Bible, God starts teaching us about the purpose for the sexes, that is, male and female.

Look with me at Genesis 1, verses 26 and 28.

In Genesis 1, verse 26, God is engaging in the creation of the world, and he begins to create us.

And it says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

And God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them.

Pause right there, and I want you to note something. It says here that he created male and female.

It doesn't say that he created male, female, and then all these other genders that are all over the place.

In other words, when God created, he knew of, ordained of, only two genders.

Only two pronouns existed. He and she. There's no they, there's no it, there's no raccoon, there's no,

I mean, whatever people are doing these days, there's none of that. There's male and female, two genders, but I want you to notice something.

They have the same purpose. Now they don't have the same roles, but they have the same purpose.

Why did he create them? It says, He made them, male and female, according to their likeness, so that they would what?

Have dominion over the fish and the sea. According to Genesis 2, 21 and 24,

God gave the woman to the man as a gift so that they, together, would take dominion.

Here's what this very practically means. If it's not clear, men cannot take dominion holding another man's hand.

Dominion cannot be taken without a woman. Women. Dominion cannot be taken without you.

And women, very important. Dominion cannot be taken without a man.

It's a package deal. Now, of course, the charge is given to both, and yet they do have separate roles that they play.

They're not different in equality, but they are different in roles.

It is the man's job to press this mission forward, and it is the woman's job to come alongside the man and to be his helpmate in this achievement of dominion.

Pushing back the darkness in this world and promoting the lordship and beauty of Jesus Christ, the righteous.

So how does he do that? How do they do that? Well, he goes on in verse 27,

God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.

Now, a lot could be said about this passage, and I would love to get into it. But as you can tell, I'm already talking very fast so that we can get through this.

But one of the things that we can say and need to say about it at this juncture is that at least one thing taking dominion means is to be fruitful and multiply.

Very simply, this means to procreate, to create other humans, to have children, to flood this earth with, as Psalm 126 says, little arrows.

127 rather, I'm sorry. Psalm 127. We need to flood this earth with children armed with the word of God who love the

Lord Jesus and who take the world by holy endeavor.

Let me ask you a very simple question. Can a man and a man fill this earth with arrows?

No. Despite what the channels may say, it seems so silly to even ask such a question.

I'll be honest. Can a woman and a woman make a child?

No. And yet the world is believing not only that, that somehow men can be women and women can be men and that they can have babies when they can't have babies.

I mean, I just hear of high schools that are allowing children to think that they're raccoons. They put litter boxes in the stalls.

If that's a commercial not to send your kids to public school, I don't know what is. I'm not saying if you do that, you're in any sort of sin.

But as Bode Bauckham has often said, if you send your kids to Caesar, don't be surprised when they act like Romans.

That means to be fruitful and multiply. Now, of course, we live in a sin marred world and we're under the curse of the fall.

And that doesn't mean that every single person is going to have children. But that is the way that God has created the world to function as a normative principle.

Okay, pastor or Christian, that is just in the Old Testament, though, in the New Testament. God's really loving and he's accepting of all genders that he didn't bring up in the garden.

And of all sexualities wrong. Jesus in the New Testament himself.

And we'll stick to Jesus because as soon as you start throwing in Paul, which we'll get to in a moment.

But they start saying, well, that's not Jesus. That's not the God man. That's just some dude's opinion.

Some dude's opinion who has been carried along by the Holy Spirit, writing the very words of God. But sure, let's let's let's look at Jesus words here.

In Matthew 19, Jesus is interacting with the Pharisees and they're trying to get him in a gotcha question.

Right. And so they they asked Jesus in verse three, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

For any reason at all. And of course, based on his teaching. They're assuming he's going to say, well, no, you can't get divorced.

And then they're going to go, hey, wait, wait a minute. Didn't Moses, didn't

Moses allow people in the Old Testament get divorced? Now, I'll leave that story and that that entire thing for another sermon.

But I want you to hear the way he answers the question before he even addresses their question about divorce.

He says this, which is actually answering their question about divorce. But he's doing it, of course, in a way that only

Jesus can do it. And he answered and he said in verse four, have you not read?

You should already know the answer. In other words. That he who created them, speaking of God from the beginning, made them male and female and said, for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.

And the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.

What? Therefore, God has joined together. Let no man separate.

You see here, Jesus is saying that this is the creation order. This is how it works.

It works by one man and one woman becoming married, having children, spreading their errors.

It's not rocket science. Jesus is saying. Children, would you look at me for just a second?

I want you to hear this and I want you to remember this. Maybe even write it down if you can.

Right? Because this is very important to remember in our culture. Marriage, according to the Bible, is one man and one woman for life.

One man, one woman for life. What can't

I do or how can't I think about that? Any way outside of that sentence.

And that's not just Pastor Brandon's opinion. That's not Heritage's opinion. That's God's opinion. It's God's opinion.

And it doesn't make us unloving to say that. It makes us truth telling people.

And the worst thing you can do to people you love is to lie to them. That's unloving.

And if you love people, you'll tell them the truth. The second thing that the

Bible teaches us about homosexuality is that it defiles homes, churches, and nations.

So not only does it work against the created order. Not only does homosexuality destroy the family by removing from it the ability to procreate and to honor

God in their taking of dominion. It also defiles homes, churches, and nations.

Now, Leviticus chapter 18, 22 is a common verse that people cite and think through and talk about.

And there's a lot that could be said about this. But if you know it and you've said it, you've likely got in trouble.

And it says, and you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. For it is an abomination.

Well, that seems heavy. Well, yes, it's heavy because it's true.

It's true. And it's true because when you defy

God in anything, regardless of sexuality, you pollute the land and you beg for God's judgment.

But sexual sin, according to especially the Old Testament, but even so in the

New Testament, is a much greater sin because you're sinning against your own body and you're spreading a lot of stuff.

Arguably, the deadliest disease that exists in this world is carried forth because of homosexuals and the way that they engage with one another.

That, of course, being HIV and AIDS. So you can see how it pollutes the land.

Explaining this in Leviticus 18, 28, just a few verses later, it gives a reason why it's an abomination.

It's an abomination because it pollutes the land. And it says specifically to the people of Israel, so that the land will not vomit you out should you defile it.

As it has vomited out the nation which has been before you. Friends, sexual sin is a perversion that defiles homes, churches, and nations.

I mean, since the sexual revolution began, I mean, you can look at what's happening in the world.

Now, I'm an optimistic guy in terms of eschatology, but like, if you look at America right now, it seems like it's doing this and not this.

And it's not just because people are lying, cheating, and stealing. I mean, a lot of people lie, cheat, and steal, and we agree it's horrible.

I'm not trying to make light of that at all. It deserves, all sin is equal before God and deserves God's judgment. However, a lot of the issues that we are in today, down to abortion, are because of people's sexual perversion.

Why is it okay for people to murder their children in the womb in their mind? Because they're allowed to do whatever they want with their body.

Now, I heard the other day, I read this, I don't know how far to take it, but I thought it was a very interesting observation, if you will.

This idea of our bodies, you know, my body, my choice.

That's what people use, you know, on the liberal left to justify their sexual perversion, justify their abortion, so on and so forth.

And, you know, it's interesting that at the

Lord's table we come to it and Jesus reminds us that his body has been destroyed for us.

But our sexual perversion, we're willing to destroy other people's bodies to make ourselves happy.

You see, you can look at the spiritual realities of everything happening.

And you can see that it's the exact opposite, the antithesis of who

God is. Jesus died for us and we're willing for other people to die or for us to die to continue to be selfish.

It's insane. And so what do we do? When we think like that, when we approve of that, we invite

God's judgment. And we can see this in places like Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one is quite honestly one of the most insane passages of scripture to me, right?

Because God gives humanity over in judgment. He doesn't come down and blow anything up.

He doesn't catch a nation on fire. He doesn't instantly start killing everybody because they're in rebellions against him.

The way that God judged the world according to Romans chapter one was by giving them over to a debased mind.

And gave them over to horrible and unbiblical sexual ethics so that they would reap what they sow.

And what a way to think about judgment, right? Because we think judgment as if like, okay, we didn't get the car space that we wanted.

We didn't get the job promotion that we wanted. We didn't get the health, you know, checkup that we wanted.

That must be God's wrath. Well, God's wrath and God's judgment oftentimes looks like you getting exactly what you want here and now.

And that's scary. So what do we do? Well, 1 Timothy 1 .8 tells us, but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully.

So how do we use the law? Lawfully. What is lawfully? Obeying it. Knowing this, in verse nine, that the law is not made for a righteous person.

So here, I want you to think about this. So why am I saying this? Like, you do what you want in your bedroom, they will say, and I'll do what's in mine.

No, the law, according to 1 Timothy chapter one, is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious.

Which, by the way, is all of us. For the ungodly and sinners. For the unholy and godless.

For those who kill their fathers or mothers. For murderers. For sexually immoral persons. For homosexuals.

For kidnappers. For liars. For perjurers. And whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. Now, why in the world do we as a culture, we as a church oftentimes, not necessarily heritage, but at large, why do we think it's totally appropriate to give a pass to anyone who is engaging in a sin that is on the list alongside murderers, kidnappers, perjurers?

It's crazy. LGBTQ +, affirming churches, affirming

Christians, and affirming pastors are disgusting in the sight of God.

Because they're promoting, for the sake of the applause of men, that which stands opposed to God's law word.

And it sets themselves up as creator and judge. It is a dishonoring of God.

It is a de -godding of God, in so many ways, in our own minds and our hearts.

And yet we see on the TV, or read in the newspapers, or journals, or whatever the case may be, people are ordaining

LGBTQ affirming and self -descripting people.

We let them teach in schools, and so on and so forth, and we look the other way in the

TV shows that make it commonplace. God hates sexual perversion.

And we ought to hate it as well. So we rest in the truth of God's word.

Now with that said, we must also understand that we must run.

And when I say run, I don't mean run away from the conversation, obviously.

Or to run away from the culture, that's not the answer. When I say run,

I'm meaning run with the message of the good news of Jesus' wrath absorbing and cleansing death for those who repent and believe in him.

What everybody needs to hear in light of this conversation is not, let's go and walk out of here pretending that we're better than homosexuals.

What we need to be reminded of in a sermon like this is, yes, the truth of what

God says about homosexuality, how we must feel about it, but also this. If there's no hope for the homosexual, then there is no hope for any one of us sitting in these seats.

If there is no hope for the homosexual, there is no hope for any of us sitting in these seats.

Now part of me, because you know me, you know my analytical brain, you know that I like to get in the weeds, you know

I like to get nerdy, wanted to get in here, talk about chromosomes and talk about different quote unquote mental illnesses that come from the

DSM, and I wanted to critique them biblically and I wanted to do all of these things to show, you know, what might be going on in the brain of somebody who has made the profession that they are in fact given over to these sexual perversions and how the

Bible might address that. But I think that that's a colossal waste of our time, at least today, because the

Bible is very clear on what it has to say. Whether or not the brain has certain chemicals going on and causing this, that, or the other is largely irrelevant.

But here's what I will say. I know that temptation is real, and I know that different people struggle with different sins.

And yes, a homosexual struggles with the sin of lusting after someone of their own sex, but we have our own ways of sinning and rebelling against God.

We must understand and never stop hoping that God can and will save those who are in that lifestyle.

This is why we go to the parades, as I said. This is why we go to the streets. This is why we create literature.

This is why we say and do what we do and preach these types of sermons and heritage.

This does not mean, however, that we give everyone a pass and turn our head the other way.

Right? We're running not away from them, but toward them with this message of the gospel.

We don't hate these people. We place the gospel before their eyes and we pray for these people.

Or if we are having these sorts of struggles, we hear the gospel. We believe the gospel.

We trust the gospel to meet us even in what we consider to be our deepest need.

Or if we listen to the culture, buying into the idea that it is our very identity.

I want to read for you a passage of scripture that is very interesting. In 1

Corinthians 6, verses 9 and 11, it tells us not only is the sin of homosexuality or sexual perversion, not only does it destroy the family and keep us from achieving dominion, not only does it defile and pollute our homes, churches, and nation, but if we engage in such acts, we do not inherit the kingdom of God.

But how he ends in saying that is very telling to how we ought to think through some of this stuff.

Paul says, or do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals.

And he goes on, of course, to say nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindles. They will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But let's pause here since we're talking about homosexuality in particular or sexual perversion. We see here it says sexually immoral people, and then it says nor the effeminate, nor the homosexual.

Once again, it is in the Bible, not Pastor Brandon's opinion, in the

Bible that these men and these women, if unrepentant, will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, some of your translations are going to say something different. So this is why I want to pause here because some leave out the word effeminate.

Some just say homosexuals. Some translations even put homosexuals twice because they don't know what to do here.

In the New American Standard, of course, the Legacy Standard Bible continue with effeminate.

Now, here's why this is important. There are two Greek words being used here, and if I told you what they were, you wouldn't care, so I won't do that.

But essentially, it's believed to be, at least on a scholarly level, to be addressing two concepts at the same time.

Paul does this often. As we preach through the book of Ephesians, you've noticed that Paul likes to create words.

This is a word that Paul has kind of created. And he's taken these two Greek words, and he has tried to paint a picture.

The picture here being, and I'm going to talk way up here for you parents, okay? It's speaking of, in some translations that choose to use the word homosexual, and they're just saying, yeah, it's the same thing.

But Paul is trying to help us see something here. The aggressive participant and the passive participant in the homosexual act.

In other words, the one who is the man and the other one who's pretending to be the woman. You see, in different cultures, there's different ways of looking at sexual ethics, for example.

When I went over to Africa when I was in the military, man, there was some weird stuff going on.

Culturally, there's just a much different situation. I got stuck scanning eyeballs for quite a few months.

There were people being interrogated and different things like this being brought in, and we needed to scan their irises and get their fingerprints to make sure they weren't a known terrorist or to catalog them as terrorists.

And they were all locals, and they were all men. And all of them would just sit next to each other, and they would just hold each other's hand and have their hand on the other man's leg or be playing with the man's hair while they're talking.

And I mean, it was everyone. And I just remember being like, what in the literal world is going on here?

And I was talking to a superior at one point, and they were just like, yeah, that's just how it is here.

That's not a sexual thing per se. That's just the way it went. There's not this don't touch people thing here.

But they didn't really act that way towards the women, so the plot thickens. And so then

I learned later on that, yeah, they believed in man, female, but the mantra that they kind of go by is women are for procreating and men are for fun.

Paul's trying to get at a similar idea here when he's saying it's not just the one, because in Roman culture it was that way as well.

And it was actually seen as a good thing if a man took hold of another man and dominated him because he was the winner.

He was the man. He overcame and overpowered. And what

Paul is trying to get at here is it's not just the one who is the aggressor, but it's the one who pretends to be the woman.

And this pairs with other scripture as well. In the Old Testament, it tells us that it is abomination for a man to look like and dress like and act like a woman.

This is why men, for example, look different than women in society. God wants there to be a differentiating between a man and a woman.

He helps us with that. He gives men beards and women don't usually grow them. Now, once again, we live in a world where biology is tainted by different things.

And that's not true. Every single female. It's not true of every male. I know plenty of men who can't grow beards. God help you.

Praying for you. But it's, you know, it's not a gospel necessity. But I'm just saying that God wants his men to look different and act different than women.

Because he has made them for different roles in the same purpose.

So it is sin to be effeminate. It is a sin to be a homosexual. And it is a sin to participate in any of all of this.

But notice what he says next. He says, such were some of you. Such were some of you.

But you were washed. You were sanctified.

You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of our God. In Ephesians chapter 2, 4, it tells us that God woke the deadness up in us.

Though we were spiritually dead. God. But God.

The same thing here. But God. So yes, homosexuality is a defilement.

It is a destroyer of society and everything like that. And yet it is a sin that can be and is often, if the

Lord wills it, something that can be repented of. This is why gay

Christian is a complete and utter piece of nonsense as it relates to nomenclature. There's no such thing as a gay

Christian. There's just Christians who have been washed, who have been sanctified, who have been justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Amen? Such were some of you.

Such were some of you. See, what the homosexual community doesn't need is, especially from the

Christian campus, well, you can have those desires and still call yourself a

Christian. I've removed the power of the gospel. What these people need is hope that they can think differently, act differently and feel differently.

It's the inclination of the heart. It's the sinful heart.

Not just the action. So what does it mean here?

This is even washed. That is that they have been cleansed from their defilement where they once were defiling the homes, the churches and the nation.

They no longer, if they fall on their knees and worship Jesus, are a defilement.

But they're cleansed. Sanctified. That they're set apart as holy. Justified. Declared innocent in the sight of God.

Right? And that's good news because we looked at it. Hebrews chapter 4. That's to whom we have to give an account.

So being declared righteous in front of him is necessary.

So how do they or how do we? And I do mean we. Because if you look at that list, right?

If you're like check the boxes, I agree with everything you're saying. Homosexuality is a sin.

I don't need to think through that part of it. Okay. Well, there's a big list here. And I've read a couple lists.

And there's not one of us who doesn't check something in that list. And so when we think about how to address these people or ourselves, depending on the situation, we must understand that it is something that can be repented of.

And it needs to be repented of. And saying that is in fact loving. Repent of that. Believe in Jesus.

And when those who once cherished their sexual sin repent, we stand with them as brothers and sisters in the

Lord Jesus Christ. We walk alongside them. And we don't pretend like we weren't on that list like I just said.

They have, by the power of the Holy Spirit, denied themselves as we are in community denying ourselves.

And they're not second class Christians. The last thing that I want you to see is remember.

Remember. We must, if we are to think about this, rest in the word of God regarding sexual ethics.

We must run with the message of the good news of the gospel to those who are endangered in sexual perversion.

And we must remember that it is the word that does the work. Now, here's what

I know. When I preach a sermon like this or I think about the different relationships that people might have, including mine in the past and in the present and, you know, we'll see in the future, is, okay,

I see that's what the Bible says and I see what it teaches. But how do

I engage those people? How do I lovingly warn them, right?

Because, yeah, love wins, but love also warns. How do we engage those people?

Like, how do we engage our family members who might struggle with this sin? Or how do we engage the outside world?

Or how do we address our own heart? But we remember that the word does the work.

Here's what this means. You don't have to be the smartest guy or girl in the room.

You don't have to know all the science and combat it to get a gotcha moment in.

You simply open up the word of God and you offer it to the people who are rebellious against God, to the people who love

God, to yourself. When our culture struggles, we run to it with the word.

When your family or your friends are struggling or sinning, you run to them with the word of God.

When you are sinning and struggling, you need the word of God.

And if you have breath in your lungs and the scriptures in your heart, you can arm your tongue with the word of God.

Because as I said in the beginning, you cannot silence God's piercing, convicting, and reorienting word.

Friends, the gospel is more powerful than we give it credit for.

The word of God is more clear than we give it credit for. So yes, we must recognize sexual perversion and homosexuality as the sin that it is.

We must call it as the Bible displays it. We must understand, however, that the gospel is not too weak in God's arm.

It's not too short to save those who struggle with that sin. And friends, hear me today. I don't know every single person's life story sitting in these pews.

I don't know what your secret sins are. I don't know what majority of you struggle with on a daily basis, especially if you're not telling me.

But hear me this day. If this is an area of sin in your life, lay it down.

Your identity is not in the way that you have sex or think about sex.

If you throw down your man -made crown today and you trust in the

Lord Jesus, you will receive his identity. You will be in Christ. That will be your identity.

You will be a new creature in Christ Jesus. And what's true of you in the past does not have to be true of you in the future.

And that same truth, friends, is for your family and for your friends. And so we don't necessarily meet these people with scathing words of hatred, but scathing words of rebuke that point them to Jesus, not away from us.

This is important because churches so often fall down on either side of the ditch, right?

On the one side, you have the churches, which are pretty small in number because people don't love the

Bible as they ought. But you've got the churches over here that are like, homosexuality is a sin.

And then they go to these gay pride festivals with us and they hold up the sign, you know, God hates the

F word. They don't preach the gospel to them, they just say that God hates them.

On the other side, there's a ditch where it's all grace and we're not going to think about the sin.

We're not even going to address it, you know, and sometimes they're even theological, theologically principled in saying that it's not a sin.

Well, let's be biblical people who stand in the middle and say it is a sin and God hates it.

And as Psalm 5 says, God hates all who are unrepentant and who engage in sin.

And yet there is grace and God extends the gospel to cleanse, to wash, to justify, to sanctify, and to transform a person.

Friends, there is hope for the homosexual. And if there is not hope for the homosexual, there's not hope for any of us.

But Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, would you pray with me?