Expect the World to Act Like the World

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed

Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women,

No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Ebendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies and welcome to Equipping Eve, the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth from God's Word so that we can stand strong and firm on what we know to be true in an age that is filled with deception.

I am your host, Erin Benzinger. You can find us, follow us on Twitter, that's at Equipping Eve, or on Facebook.

You can certainly visit the website EquippingEve .com or .org. You can email me there or just send an email over to EquippingEve at gmail .com

and I will respond to you as soon as I am able. So it is another beautiful day, a wonderful day to talk about the truths of God's Word.

But before we get to the truth, hey, why don't we take a look at some air in one of our favorite segments here at Equipping Eve.

I feel like I need theme music. You're Already Amazing, the Just Be Awesome calendar is what we like to call it here at Equipping Eve, but it's actually a flip calendar based on a book by Holly Girth and it's called

You're Already Amazing because, you know, everybody needs to be affirmed in their amazingness and so that's what we are here for at Equipping Eve.

We just want you to know how awesome you really are. You know, the Bible tells you you're a sinner, the

Bible tells you that you cannot save yourself. You need a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to reconcile you to God.

But here at Equipping Eve, we want you to know that we think you're pretty fantastic. So I was flipping through my

You're Already Amazing flip calendar and came across this entry.

Are you ready? I have to get my hushed, you know, deep, deep thoughts voice.

Ready? Make a habit of asking God to speak to you and then listening for His voice in your life.

As you do, make sure what you hear lines up with God's Word. Anything that's from Him always will.

Yeah, so here we have another instance of a woman, a

Bible teacher, using the term loosely telling other women to listen for the voice of God outside of Scripture.

It's very clear that she is indicating that this would be outside of the Word of God because she's telling you to test it against the

Word of God. Now that in and of itself is a helpful instruction, however, one must wonder if something is affirmed and found in the

Word of God, then why did you have to go outside of the Word of God in the first place for that special word?

There is no indication in Scripture that God is speaking to us personally, privately, giving us special revelation outside of His Word.

And so that is where we go to know what God has to say about a thing. We open the

Bible, the 66 books of the Bible that God has been gracious to give us. They are inerrant. They are infallible.

They are His Word. They are truth. Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth,

John 17, 17, the Lord Jesus prayed to His Father. So why, if it will be found in God's Word, do we need the outside word, the whisper from God in our ear?

Why is that? Why is that? Why are we constantly looking for an experience? You know, it's just another indication of this time in which we live, this postmodern time even, when, you know, what's true for you is true for you, and what's true for me is true for me, and I can't judge it because it's based upon your experience.

And so that gets everybody off the hook, doesn't it? You know, no one can judge me for anything I believe, say, or do, because it's all based on what

I perceive to be right and true. It's a sad thing. We have lost the authority of Scripture.

We have lost all sense of authority here in our lives, and we see the world continually spitting, really, in the face of God, and, you know, we expect that.

We expect that from the world, don't we? But that is why we need to be so strong and so firm in our understanding of God and His Word.

And He is revealed in His Word, and so that is how we grow close to Him, by studying His Word. That is why we need that, ladies, because this world around us is just continuing to fall apart.

That doesn't surprise us. You know, we are not going to create utopia here on earth as Christians, but we have a faithful call to proclaim the gospel and tell sinners that they are sinners and they need to repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation.

That is what we are here to do, and Christ will build His church, and Christ will return to set up His kingdom, ultimately, for all of eternity.

And we can have confidence in that, and we can have confidence that we serve a

God and we serve a Savior who will keep those promises. Isn't that an amazing thing?

Doesn't that just make you want to get on your knees and thank Him? That's what it makes me want to do. I love that we have a gracious, merciful

Savior who saved us in spite of ourselves. I am so thankful for that every single day.

And speaking, ladies, of a world that hates God, that is hostile to the things of God and the people of God, I am recording this not long after a rather significant decision was made here in America, and I think

I've said before that, you know, we don't typically like to discuss current events per se here just because it dates the show, but this is a pretty big deal, and the topic will continue to be relevant for a very long time, probably until Christ returns.

And what I'm speaking about is the decision that was made by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26, 2015, and that decision basically legalized gay marriage in all states here in America.

In fact, CNN reported on that, and the headline reads, was updated on Saturday, June 27, 2015, the headline reads,

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Same -Sex Marriage Nationwide. And headlining that article is a picture of the

White House lit up in rainbow colors, which was celebrating the decision, and that's a whole other topic.

Someday maybe we should talk about what the rainbow actually symbolizes. But CNN reports, in a landmark opinion, a divided

Supreme Court on Friday ruled that same -sex couples can marry nationwide, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a historic victory.

In the 5 -4 ruling, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority with the four liberal justices, each of the four conservative justices wrote their own dissent.

Nearly 46 years to the day after a riot at New York's Stonewall Inn ushered in the modern gay rights movement, the decision could settle one of the major civil rights fights of this era.

The language of Kennedy's opinion spoke eloquently of the most fundamental values of family, love, and liberty.

Quoting Justice Kennedy, it says, no union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,

Kennedy wrote. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than they once were.

And the article goes on, Justice Kennedy is quoted as writing, their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions.

They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law, the Constitution grants them that right. And on and on the article goes.

You know, Justice Kennedy is correct in one thing, marriage is one of the oldest institutions out there.

And it's so interesting that something like that is recognized by a world that does not want to recognize anything else about the

Bible. But were it not for the Bible in the book of Genesis, we would know nothing of marriage.

God instituted marriage. In Genesis 1, verse 26, then

God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule 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.

Verse 27, God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created him male and female, he created them,

God bless them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Be fruitful and multiply. It's interesting that Kennedy is talking about family and here is a right and this and that and we see in the designation of marriage, the creation of marriage here by God that he commands

Adam and Eve, especially as the first two people on the earth to be fruitful and multiply. And you know, homosexual couples can't do that.

So that's rather, rather curious. And you know, again, the world does not want to affirm anything found in scripture or anything that Jesus says.

But since we must be appealing to the Bible in order to recognize marriage as one of society's oldest institutions, why don't we look at the

Bible as well and what Jesus says when he affirms this, this institution of marriage by God as between a man and a woman.

In Matthew 19, verse four, and he, Jesus answered and said, have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female and said, for this reason, the man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.

And that is Jesus quoting Genesis 2, verse 24. So, yes, this is an age old institution, this institution of marriage, and it was instituted by God, God himself.

And yet, on June 26, it was decided that legally, two individuals of the same gender would be able to be married.

Now, in the wake of that, we have seen a very unsurprising response by the world.

The world is affirming this, the world is celebrating. You know, there are rainbows everywhere, which, again, is a rather grievous thing considering how

God intended the, what kind of a symbol God intended the rainbow to be.

But we're seeing a lot of companies coming out celebrating this decision, and I'm receiving questions and even wondered myself when this went down, how many calls

I might see around social media for boycotts of this or that company. You know,

I saw some of that when Tylenol came out with a commercial that affirmed homosexual couples as family or whatnot.

And, you know, if it's a matter of conscience for you that you feel like you can't purchase a certain product because the company, you know, affirms gay marriage or abortion or whatever, pick your, you know, pick your issue.

That's your prerogative, and I would say do not go against your conscience.

But Christian ladies, I do want us to consider the nature of this boycott thing.

It's going to get out of control. You know, you boycott, if you would go through your kitchen cupboards and pull out everything you have that is manufactured by a company that supports something that is contrary to the word of God, you will have empty cupboards.

And now you have to look maybe at who built your house or, you know, who supplied the lumber or the nails or whatever.

And now you probably have to move out of your house because somewhere in there is someone who affirmed something that you disagree with.

And so now you're living in a van down by the river, but uh -oh, who made the van or who supplied the rubber for the tires?

Do you see we're spiraling here? So now we're in a cardboard box down by the river, but who manufactured that cardboard?

What do they affirm? So I would caution us against the boycott thing.

Again, if it's a matter of conscience for you, I would never want you to go against your conscience. But let's think accurately about this and let's think biblically.

Because ladies, these organizations that are affirming gay marriage or abortion, I don't want to,

I'm not intending to single out gay marriage here, it's just the topic that we're talking about today.

But these companies, they are secular companies. We expect this. We expect unregenerate people to march around in gay pride parades and celebrate their sin.

We expect this of the world. The world is going to act like the world, right?

And the world is going to be hostile to the things of God. We expect that.

So when we stand up and say, no, homosexuality is wrong, it's a sin against God, as is heterosexual fornication and adultery.

When we stand up and say that, the world is going to raise up against us.

And we should not be surprised by this. We should expect the world to, one, behave in a way that celebrates sin, because they are the world, and two, then hate the things and the people of God, because the things and the people of God go against the course of the world.

We have been called out of the world. We have been called to be separate. And we should not be surprised by this reaction when the world hates us.

Jesus himself told us this. He said in John 15, verse 18, if the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you are of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me.

He who hates me, verse 23, hates my father also. Jesus told us to expect persecution, which we will begin to see,

I believe, Christians. And that's okay. Jesus told us to expect it. And especially we should expect it from the world.

And he even was gracious to tell us why, or to tell his disciples specifically why he was warning them about this.

But it's an application that we can take today. And in John 16, Jesus says, verse 1, these things

I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

These things they will do because they have not known the Father or me. But these things I have spoken to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

These things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you. And he's bringing them comfort in reminding them, saying, you know, this is going to happen.

And you will remember that I promised you this. And if I promised that this would come, remember my other promises as well.

And he goes on in this passage to promise the Holy Spirit will come. And what a comfort then that must have been to the disciples.

And what a comfort that is to us that we have the Holy Spirit to help us, to aid us in our times of trial.

And we have the promises of Christ that any persecution that we may endure here on earth is just, it's just a snap of the fingers, ladies, because in the grand scheme of eternity, what we have to look forward to is so, so much better.

And so we expect this from the world. This does not mean that we celebrate this sin.

This doesn't mean that we condone it. We must obey God rather than men.

I would wholeheartedly affirm that. But as I'm watching the reactions of professing

Christians in light of this SCOTUS decision, my concern is with the church, ladies, the visible church, because I expect the world to act like the world, but I do not expect the church to act like the world.

And in fact, John MacArthur said something very similar a couple of years ago at the

Strange Fire Conference when he was doing a Q &A session with Phil Johnson.

And Phil asked Pastor MacArthur about the changing landscape of the evangelical movement as it embraces charismaticism, and he says that evangelicalism seems to be losing its historical evangelical distinctives, and then asks

Pastor MacArthur if he thinks there's a connection between the two. And Pastor John says, there is a cause and effect,

I think, he says, we gave up fighting the battles of doctrine under the onslaught of the charismatic movement. We lost the war there.

That's where evangelicalism should have taken its stand. It should have taken its stand against these bizarre unbiblical apparitions, but we refused to do that in the name of love.

So love trumped everything. It's a pseudo love, a kind of undiscerning sentimentality, and anybody who takes issue with that is considered divisive.

So then what happened? So then there was a spiral, and Pastor John says that the push for tolerance won the day.

So watch carefully what happens, he says. He says the evangelical church has become tolerant.

Tolerant of what? You name it, and I will tell you what the next one will be. Homosexuality.

We've been softened up. We have given up the fight. We have basically rolled over in the name of love.

And then MacArthur goes on to talk about, at the time there was a story about, at Liberty University there was an openly homosexual student there who was affirmed in his lifestyle, and he talks about how there are gay groups on Christian college campuses, and et cetera.

As an example of how the professing Christian church is embracing and tolerant of the sin of homosexuality.

And MacArthur goes on and says, this is going to come like a flood. It's going to come in the culture, but we would expect that, wouldn't we?

And then he goes on and he says, there's no standard of morality. What are they going to say?

The Bible says it's a sin, but the Supreme Court isn't going to say that. That's the state. That's the secular world.

All they are going to say in a democracy is whatever the people want. That's going to be very soon. And the courts are going to decide everything that's moral, says

MacArthur. The Congress can make laws and the president can make executive orders, but only courts rule in ethics and morality.

So all moral decision is going to fall to the courts. This is going down fast, he says.

How do I feel about that? I expect the world to act like the world. What I don't expect is the church to act like the world.

I really don't care what the government does. That's the world, says MacArthur. And if it's a democracy, then whatever the people want is what they're going to do.

And if it's a monarchy, whatever the king wants is what they're going to do. But that's the world. Whatever they want to do, they will do.

What I'm concerned about is what the church does, what we do in the name of Jesus Christ. And when we so hurriedly abandon the biblical pattern, and when a

Christian institution with tens of thousands of students says we want to work with the students here who have gender identity issues, the church is caving in.

And it was kind of a prophetic statement by MacArthur there, in light of what has happened since, nearly two years to the day, really, from when he first said that, said those words about the courts judging on morality and ethics, but that is the world.

That is the world. So how is the church reacting in light of this decision?

I think we have seen a variety of responses. We've seen some that are balanced and measured and appropriate, maybe a bit lacking in one area or another.

But we're also going to see some very unbiblical reactions. We are going to see, for one, we're going to see those who are celebrating this decision.

There's actually a pastor of one of the

Willow Creek campuses in Chicago, and he tweeted out a picture from the

Chicago Gay Pride Parade, and it says, Hashtag, I'm sorry 15 at Chicago Pride is in full effect.

Love wins when Christians love no matter what. And so it's a picture of a bunch of people wearing shirts saying,

I'm sorry, presumably apologizing to the gay community for,

I'm not really sure what for, because true Christians have not injured the gay community.

What true Christians have done is proclaimed repentance of sins and forgiveness of sins as found in Jesus Christ alone.

And that's across the board because we are all sinners, heterosexual or homosexual.

We all need the Lord Jesus Christ, but when he saves us, we are regenerated and given a new heart and our mind and our hearts and our wills are transformed to be in accordance with the word of God.

And the word of God condemns these sexually immoral sins, but yet this pastor of Willow Creek Church there in Chicago, he is apparently a homosexual and he was celebrating the decision.

And so we will see that. We will also see things such as I saw here today.

This article was written on July 2nd, I believe from an Alabama newspaper and the headline reads

No Outcasts in God's Church, Alabama Bishop Says as Episcopal Church Approves Gay Marriage.

The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama said today that he is ready and willing to allow same -sex weddings in Episcopal churches after the denomination voted

Wednesday to approve such ceremonies. The church has acted to put into place what we have long believed and held as precious.

The love of God is extended to all people, period, said Bishop Key Sloan. There's no one exempt from God's love.

There should be no outcasts in God's church. So the

Episcopal Church has approved gay marriage. Same -sex weddings in Alabama apparently can begin after November 29th.

But on July 1st, 2015, the Episcopalians approved gay marriage and this

Alabama Bishop says the love of God is extended to all people, period. There is no one exempt from God's love.

There should be no outcasts in God's church. Now, the love of God, the grace of God, you know, it rains on the just and the unjust, does it not?

But just as the love of God and His common grace is extended to all people, so too is

His wrath extended to all who are not covered by the blood of Christ.

You know, this is an issue where God is loved, yes, of course, the

Bible tells us that. God is also holy and righteous and just. And sin must be punished.

And whether it was born by Christ at the cross for those who have been chosen in Him, who have been brought to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone, or whether you will bear your own punishment, the wrath of God also extends to all people.

It just is a matter of whether that sin has been propitiated for by the

Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that all that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me

I will certainly not cast out for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.

This is the will of Him who sent me that of all He has given me I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my

Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life and I myself will raise

Him up on the last day. That's John 6, 37 -40, but it is those who have been brought to a true faith and repentance in Christ who will be saved.

It is not this broad umbrella love and we can sin and do whatever we want because God loves us.

That is a false and damning lie, ladies. But this is one reaction that we are seeing among professing

Christians. They are celebrating this sin. They are affirming this sin and in doing so are sending many down the broad path to destruction.

Another reaction we're bound to see are these patriotic idolaters who think that this nation was founded under Christian principles and the

Supreme Court has just thrown all that aside and now God's wrath is going to come and we need to pray for revival and pray that the nation will be restored to its original

Christian heritage. Well, you know, without getting into a whole other show about that, this nation was not founded on the

Christian principles that people seem to think it was. The Founding Fathers were not all the faithful believers that people seem to think they were and it is not about the nation of America.

God does not save nations as a whole. He saves people and when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will not be standing there as Americans.

We will be standing there as human beings who either repented and confessed to faith in Jesus Christ or did not, who were hostile and hateful and disdainful of the things of God.

That's it. You can't pawn this off as a national thing and, you know, pawn this off on the evil government and we need to overrun all this and rally this and rally that.

No. No. And again, I'm not saying you just roll over and accept it. We obey

God rather than men. Hear me on that. However, do not let this be an excuse for you to fall into this patriotic idolatry where the notion of being an

American is far more important than that of being a Christian. Because you will find that that faith in your country will not get you very far and yet I am certain we will see reactions like that.

We may also see some kind of strange reactions from strange sources and I'm a little hesitant to bring up this example, but I think it,

I think it could cause some confusion. I saw an article by Answers in Genesis, the founder there,

Ken Ham, and the headline reads, we need to build an ark as a sign to the world and this was published on June 29, 2015.

And Ham writes, do you know what we need to do in response to the Supreme Court decision on Friday? And then he puts in parentheses, this is really a symptom of a very sick culture that has shaken its fist at God.

He's right. In a sad reflection of the state of much of the church that has not stood on God's word as it should, he is absolutely right and I wholeheartedly agree with him on that.

But then in true answer to his question that we need to do in response to this decision, he says, for one, we need to build an ark, a life -size ark as a sign to the world that God's word is true and the message of salvation is true.

I thought of that as I visited the ark construction site this afternoon. He says, I have to respectfully disagree with Mr.

Ham on this. Building a theme park demonstrative of God's destruction of the world, while it may prove to be a nice resource for the church,

I don't know, it's not built yet and I have my own opinions on it that are irrelevant to this conversation, but I would respectfully disagree that building this theme park is a vital response to the

Supreme Court decision. And I think it's kind of a bizarre thing to say, to be honest, coming from a ministry that is by and large seen as reputable by many

Christians. And so I worry about certain messages that may be conveyed in statements like that.

And he goes on and says that other than the cross, he believes the ark is the greatest symbol of salvation, a reminder of one door through which one must go to be saved.

And then he quotes John 10, 9, where Jesus says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and we'll go in and out and find pasture.

You know, here's the thing. When Jesus, before he ascended, he gave us the great commission.

We see that in Matthew 28 and we also see it in Luke 24, you know, go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.

And that's Matthew 28. And Luke 24 adds that repentance for forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ should be proclaimed.

And that is what we are called as Christians to do.

It was not go ye therefore and build an ark. To demonstrate that the message of salvation is true because Jesus Christ is the message of salvation.

And I understand what he's saying here about the ark and so I'm not trying to diminish that necessarily.

But I do not think that pouring money into this, this worldly thing that will pass away along with the world,

I don't think that's a necessary response to the Supreme Court decision.

You know, it's pretty obvious that those who hate God will mock the ark the same way they've mocked the

Creation Museum. And so I think that this particular response by Answers in Genesis might be a bit misguided in my opinion.

And I understand what they're saying, however, I think it could cause some confusion among Christians because it may take our focus off of where it should be.

Our focus is on Christ and our focus is on proclaiming his message of salvation.

And we can have confidence, Christian ladies. We can have confidence in this world, in spite of what's going on in this world, in spite of the hostility that we will see and experience, we can have confidence in Christ and in his promises for his church.

And so we faithfully obey Christ in all things and we endure whatever comes our way, knowing what

Christ has told us would come and knowing what he has told us will come in the future.

I mean, think about the trials and the persecutions, whatever form they may be taking or may take of this world, and then think about what

Paul writes in Ephesians 1 verse 7, what we have received in Christ.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished on us.

In all wisdom and insight he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention, which he purposed in him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times.

That is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In him, verse 11, also, we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will.

All things after the counsel of his will, ladies. This did not surprise God. So take heart.

We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory.

Verse 13, in him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the

Holy Spirit of promise who has given us a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory.

We have an inheritance, an eternal inheritance waiting for us.

Oh, ladies, that is so much better than anything this world can give us.

And so we do not celebrate the Supreme Court decision.

We stand against it. We stand against those within the church who would affirm it.

We stand against those who would use this to put their focus on the wrong thing, perhaps

America and this patriotism, this idolatry of the nation that we sometimes see.

We keep our focus and our confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ, ladies.

And it sounds so simple, but it's so easy to lose our focus. And so I pray that you would keep your eyes fixed on Christ in this time.

So what is an appropriate Christian response to this?

In light of the moral aberration that we've seen and in light of all that we know is coming down the pike now because of this,

I'd like to turn to two of my most beloved pastors and their commentary on the

Supreme Court decision. The first is Pastor Don Green of Truth Community Church.

He posted on his Facebook not long after the ruling a commentary on the

Supreme Court decision. He says, first an inerrant analysis, then a personal promise.

Number one, the inerrant analysis, and it isn't pretty. He quotes

Romans 1, 24 to 28, therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen.

For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural.

And in the same way, also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another.

Men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper.

The analysis is simple, he says. This ruling is depraved and improper. Amen and amen,

I agree. But Pastor Green goes on and says a personal promise in complete reliance on God's future grace.

He says, I and thousands of pastors like me, along with countless biblical Christians who have not bowed the knee to Baal, will never, ever affirm this decision or yield to its illegitimate demand on conscience.

I will gladly tell homosexuals that their sins can be forgiven through repentance and faith in Christ. I will show them human kindness and courtesy, but I will never offer them false comfort about the eternal consequences of their lifestyle choices.

Do not be deceived. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 6, 9, and 10.

I will never yield to their threats, he says. I will not be silenced. Do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled, 1

Peter 3, 14. For those who harden their hearts against this biblical truth, I say this, enjoy your legal victory today, but understand how fleeting and empty it is.

A transcendent judge will one day reverse the Supreme Court, and the nakedness society celebrates today will be shown the nakedness

God condemns. Nary a fig leaf will cover you in the searching presence of offended, omniscient holiness.

You will give account for your sin, and a transient 5 -4 verdict from the U .S. Supreme Court will not justify you on that day.

For those who belong to Christ, this world was never our home. Let us look confidently to a rock and refuge.

He will yet have the final say, and he will never forsake or abandon us. Can I get an amen, ladies?

How thankful we can be for pastors like Pastor Green and many others who would heartily affirm his words here.

This is not our home. We expect the world to act like the world, and so we should not be disheartened, but just take our confidence in Christ.

Now another trusted man of God, Pastor John MacArthur, after the ruling, posted a letter to alumni of the

Master's Seminary, where he is president. And he writes, Dear Master's men,

The highest court in the land has passed its judgment. The headlines proclaim that a slim majority of Supreme Court justices consider freedom of sexual orientation a right for all

Americans. This exchange of one set of values in favor of another does not come as a surprise to us who already know that the

God of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. 2 Corinthians 4. June 26, 2015 stands as a significant milestone in the

American demonstration of this ancient reality. In the coming days, you will be expected as a shepherd to provide commentary and comfort to your flock.

This is a critical hour for pastors and stands as another reminder of why proper training is crucial.

I am writing this short message as one pastor to another. I want to help you shepherd your church through this confusing time.

And so, Pastor MacArthur writes this to fellow pastors, that ladies, we can learn from this and take heart in knowing that there are pastors who believe this and who teach this and who will appropriately stand up for God's truth in this time in history.

Number one, writes MacArthur, no human court has the authority to redefine marriage and the verdict yesterday does not change the

God -ordained reality of marriage. God was not defeated in this ruling and every marriage will be judged according to biblical grounds on the last day.

Nothing will prevail against him, Proverbs 21 .30, and nothing will thwart the advance of his kingdom,

Daniel 4 .35. Number two, the word of God has pronounced judgment on any nation that would reclassify evil as good, darkness as light, and bitter as sweet,

Isaiah 5 .20. As a nation, America continues to put herself in the crosshairs of judgment.

As a proclaimer of truth, you are responsible for never compromising on these issues. In every way, you must stand firm.

Number three, this ruling proves that we are clearly in the minority and a people set apart, 1 Peter 2, 9 -11,

Titus 2 .14. The standards that shaped Western culture and American society have given way to practical atheism and moral relativism.

This decision simply accelerated the rate of decline. A country will not rise above the morality of its citizens, and the majority of Americans don't have a biblical worldview.

Number four, this is important ladies, religious liberty is not promised in the Bible. In America, the church of Jesus Christ has enjoyed unprecedented freedom, he writes, but this is changing and the new normal may include persecution that is new to us.

There has never been a more important time for gifted men to help lead the church by capably handling the sword of the spirit,

Ephesians 6 .17, amen to that. Number five, this is so important ladies, hear this, hear this, marriage is not the ultimate battleground, and our enemies are not the men and women who seek to destroy it, 2

Corinthians 10 .4. The battleground is the gospel. Be careful not to replace patience, love, and prayer with bitterness, hatred, and politics.

As you carefully guide your flock around the dangerous pitfalls ahead, remind them of the indomitable power of forgiveness through the cross of Christ.

Number six, Romans 1 clearly identifies the evidence for the wrath of God on the nation. Sexual immorality followed by homosexual immorality culminating in a reparate mind.

This most recent step reminds us that God's wrath has come in full. We now see reparate minds at every level of leadership, the

Supreme Court, the presidency, cabinet, legislature, press, and culture. If our diagnosis is in line with Romans 1, then we must follow the prescription found in Romans 1.

We are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation. In this day, it is our divine duty and calling to strengthen the church, families, and gospel testimony by shedding the pragmatic nonsense that distracts the church from its mission given by God.

Homosexuals, like all other sinners, need to be warned of impending eternal judgment and lovingly offered the forgiveness, grace, and new life through repentance and faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ. In the final analysis, your greatest contribution to your people will be to show patience and a steady confidence in the sovereignty of God, the

Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the authority of Scripture. Turn their eyes toward the Savior and remind them that when

He returns, all will be made right. Ladies, we can be thankful for men like John MacArthur, men like Don Green, who have a right and biblical focus of this issue and of other issues of sin in the culture and in the church.

And we must pay heed to John MacArthur's words, that we must maintain a steady confidence in the sovereignty of God, the

Lordship of Jesus Christ, and the authority of Scripture. That is so important, and you will see

Christians failing on this front all around you, ladies. You will see them compromising.

You will see them rolling over and capitulating to the world, and they're wrong.

So ladies, don't let that be you. Stay in God's Word. Stay grounded in that truth.

No matter what comes in this life, on this earth, Jesus Christ gets the final say.

Confidently proclaim salvation in Him, and keep your eyes fixed on that glorious Savior who is coming again for His own.

Serve Him well. Ladies, until next time, get in your

Bibles, and get on your knees, and get equipped. Thanks for listening.

You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a No Compromise radio production. If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at equippingeve at gmail .com,

or you can check out one of her two websites, donotbesurprised .com or equippingeve .org.