Homosexuality (Part 3)

No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

I grew up in the 60's and in our family, I don't know if it's a generational thing, my father was a

Korean war vet, there's not a whole lot of I love you talk. At best maybe if I go off to college or something

I would hear from my father, love you. That almost takes the edge off instead of looking at someone and saying,

I love you. I know my father loved me because of all the things that he did, but it was hard for me not to hear those words,

I love you. I was thinking about how God loves us. At the pinnacle of God's love for us is

Calvary, where God demonstrates, made conspicuous his love towards us that while we were yet enemies,

Christ died for us. In another very real way God loves us, this is the way, he tells us what he thinks in his revealed words.

Can you imagine to know the mind of God? Sometimes I might think about my wife or my kids or a friend, have you ever said this to a spouse or a friend or a kid, what are you thinking about right now?

After a while maybe you begin to think a little bit like your spouse or you're like your grandpa, oh you know what he's thinking about.

But how would we as finite creatures, fallen creatures, finite and fallen creatures, understand

God? We look at the stars and the moon and the sky and we can get a sense of God's eternal power and his nature, but all the details, what's

God like? What does he like? What does he not like? All these details, how does the father relate to the son?

Is there a trinity? All these kind of things we don't know unless it was the condescending love of God that he would tell us in his word.

Aren't you glad that you have his word to tell you exactly what you need? And of course there are some spots that are a little opaque, remember

Peter said some of Paul's writings are a little difficult, but so much of it is crystal clear, especially when you have the spirit of God as your illuminator, the one who opens your eyes to the words and you think this is just straightforward.

I personally am glad, especially as a preacher, to let you know what

God thinks because otherwise it's just all made up stuff. What if he didn't reveal himself to us in the word?

Remember, false gods, idols, you can see them, but they don't talk, they're dumb.

You go to a Chinese restaurant this afternoon or many other kinds of restaurants and you'll see some little cat god like that, you can put your ear up to that little kitty god all you want but there's going to be no sounds coming out of that thing.

False gods, you can see, but they don't talk. The one

God of the universe, as Paul would say, the living God. He's invisible, but he talks.

How great is that? EF Hutton, when he speaks, people what, listen, some of the kids are like,

EF who? I got asked by one of my children yesterday, when you were growing up was there such a thing as YouTube?

You have a God who speaks, he speaks plainly and he has spoken finally in his

Son and the Son's apostolic messengers. So today we come to a topic that picks up from last week, what has

God said about this timely relevant topic? In 1st Corinthians, Paul has been dealing with sin and immature

Christians and then he says, I want to lay before you a parade of people that you used to be like and he says this so that the people say,

I don't want to be what I used to be. I don't want to be that person anymore. I'm no longer the person

I used to be. By the grace of God, I'm justified, redeemed, reconciled, pardoned, forgiven, acquitted.

I've been given a new nature and I don't want to be like the proverbial dog that goes back to its own, what, vomit, as in 2nd

Peter, or to the cleaned sow, the cleaned pig that wallows right back into its own mire.

I don't want to be that way. And so Paul says, look, you used to be this way, don't be that way anymore.

But he talks about a particular group of people that I think it's important for us as Christians to think through because we can either think too harshly about or we can think too loosely about and that is the topic of homosexuality.

And so I've got a list of questions and answers underneath this banner, Thinking Biblically About Homosexuality.

Maybe the subtitle could be Loving Homosexuals. And we'll see today, if you weren't here last week, that the

Bible is clear, it's obvious and that we can understand this in a way that honors

God and loves our neighbor as ourself. So let me give you the first few in review. Number one, why would we single out this sin when there's lots of other sins to single out?

We learned last week, as I quoted a great reformer, a dog barks when his master is attacked.

I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would be silent.

The point of attack here in America and all across the country, all across the world has been this particular beachhead.

This is the spiritual battle of the bulge, homosexuality. When thieves or swindlers or revilers stand up and say, we can be gay thieves, gay revilers, gay swindlers, gay drunkards, then we're going to have to address that.

But the issue with gay marriage here in the States and in Massachusetts, this is the point of attack. So that's why we're going to talk about it last week and this week.

And we will not call something that is unrighteous in God's clear word, righteous.

God calls ungodly. We won't call godly. And of course it goes for this sin and all the other sins.

The other nine sins listed in first Corinthians chapter six and the other sins listed in Galatians chapter five in the vice list and revelation 21, the list goes on and on.

There's a holy God and he has told us plainly, this is what's right and this is what's wrong.

So that's why we're focusing on this particular sin. Number two in review, are

Bible teachers homophobic? Well maybe some are, but that's just usually a smoke screen.

So we're not allowed to talk about it. If you say something about homosexuals and say that, you know what, this is a forgivable sin.

I encourage you to repent and believe in the gospel for your soul. You will stand before God one day. Then we're homophobic.

When somebody says, you know, I don't like Jesus and his declaration that I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but through me.

I don't say to them, you're Christophobic. There's not some kind of irrational fear of Jesus.

Maybe they have it or not, but that just dulls the argument. That just tries to get this out of the public square.

I don't have an irrational fear. However, I'd actually like to be like Jesus, who in Luke 15 says he receives sinners and eats with them.

Why? He is compassionate. He's generous. He's gracious. And he doesn't receive them to then celebrate their sin.

He doesn't receive them to applaud their sin. He doesn't receive them to say, it's okay for you to be that way.

He receives sinners because he is on a mission to ransom sinners, to seek and to save those who were lost.

He's a great physician to then tell them the truth about forgiveness. Number three, why do people insist that homosexuals are born this way?

Answer, because it tries to alleviate guilt. It tries to alleviate guilt.

Turn with me if you would to Proverbs 28, 13. I want to look at this a little deeper and then we'll move on and get to some new questions.

But to set everything up again, I want to go back to these two verses in Proverbs 28 that talk about mercy from God.

It should be your desire if you're a Christian to want others to receive this mercy. You want others to receive compassion from God, grace from God.

That's a sign of being a Christian, by the way, is when you want your God to do for others what he's done for you.

That's just a sign of love. We're to love God and love our neighbor. And what's the best thing, the most loving thing you could tell someone caught in any sin, enslaved to any sin?

And that is this, you take ownership for your sin, agree with God that it is sin and ask for his mercy.

And look at Proverbs 28, 13. You ought to underline this verse and you ought to also say it's linked to verse 14.

Lots of times you just quote 13 without going to 14. These two

Proverbs, verse 13 and 14, are crucial for any

Christian or for anybody who is not a Christian who would like to be forgiven. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.

But, he who confesses, I agree with you God, confesses and forsakes, turns from them, will obtain mercy, or as some translations say, compassion.

Blessed, don't you want the blessing of God, the commendation of God? Blessed is the one who fears

Yahweh always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Commentator Kidner said, sin buried is sin kept. Sin buried is sin kept.

When we were in 1 Corinthians, did you notice Paul was putting this list together of the people like fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, drunkards.

Did you notice that list? He was not saying, if you've got the orientation to do these things, then they're wrong.

He said the actions in and of themselves are wrong, and so whether a person's orientation because of the fall, or propensity because of the fall, or they're bent because of the fall, is hetero or homo, both are unrighteous.

I looked at gaychurch .org this week, and I could just as easily call it excusechurch .org,

or blameshifting .org, and this is the kind of reasoning that goes on.

Exhibit 1. Could salvation be reserved for a select group of people? It may seem surprising, but this is not a new idea.

The early Christians believed that salvation was only offered to those of Jewish heritage and not to the Gentiles, who were seen as an unclean abomination.

Thankfully, Paul and others wrote extensively on this issue and strongly refuted the notion that salvation is offered to a select few.

Jews considered Gentiles as unclean, polluted, idolatrous, and sinful, the same revulsion many church people feel for homosexuals today.

Unfortunately, the gay and lesbians today are often asked to repent of being homosexual before being accepted.

Like the Gentiles, they do not need to repent of their God -created nature. So you see the rationale.

See how the Jews were ostracizing Gentiles, and so we, homosexuals, are now in the same class as any other minority, whether it's female as a minority in the old days, black, different color, non -white, or Gentile.

Exhibit 2. John described best

God's open invitation in John 3 .16 when he wrote, Whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish.

Whosoever does not exclude anyone, instead it includes everyone. Simply put, it does not matter if you are gay or straight, black or white, male or female.

What matters is whether you believe in Jesus or not and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Really? Now, if you have a kid, and the kid does something, breaks a window, and comes to you, if you're the father or you're the mother, and the kid becomes full of excuses, riddled with all these, you know,

Johnny made me do it, somebody hypnotized me, the list could go on and on and on,

I particularly, when I find that kind of attitude, what I usually don't give is mercy.

What I usually don't give is compassion. What I usually do is try to get to the bottom of it, and then justice is given.

So, same too, as if the kid comes and says, I took the rock, I threw it, the devil didn't make me buy this dress, anybody over 50 can laugh, anybody under 50, it's pop culture,

Satan didn't make me do this, I did it, I accept full responsibility, and whatever way I need discipline,

I'm willing to accept. Thank you for loving me. And then, how do you respond? So what a picture this is between a father and a son, and even though the father's sinfully tainted and not perfect, the son isn't either, and you think about the big picture, what we do when it comes to confession in 1

John chapter 1, Proverbs chapter 28, or any place else is just say, yes, I made myself did it, just like we learned in James last time.

Otherwise, you run into this kind of gobbledygook, Exhibit 3, Jesus never taught for or against homosexuality.

This raises a question, if homosexuality is truly a sin worthy of eternal damnation as some believe it is, then why didn't

Jesus discuss it? He certainly preached at length concerning every other sin listed in 1 Corinthians 6.

Why did he leave this one out? God is not the author of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14, therefore

I cannot see him leaving out such a critical sin from his discussions. So since Jesus didn't talk about it, it's okay to do.

Even though his apostolic messenger, Paul, talked about it often. For us as Christians even, when we're entangled in a sin, the best thing to do is what?

Blame? I've got a syndrome, a disease, I've got some kind of thing wrong with me?

No, I'm wrong with me. I met the enemy and I'm the enemy. God, would you please forgive me?

Your word says that if you look to the son for forgiveness, if you ask for confession, you're faithful.

I mean, if you confess that he's faithful and just to what? Forgive. We want people to be forgiven. Number four, is it easy to be tricked when thinking about this topic?

Is it easy to be deceived? Yes. The incessant barrage of the media, our own hearts, we have friends

I've even talked to this week where we say, you know what? We know some homosexual people that seem more friendly, kind, giving, and outgoing than Christian people.

So if you say, well, this person calls himself a Christian, this person calls himself a homosexual, this doesn't seem to add up and our hearts just don't know what to do with that.

It's easy to be misled. I'll read you the verses again, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, either the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul says when it comes to they know the Christian language, they've had a Christian experience, they've been baptized, they can quote

Bible verses, they go to the gay church, Paul says do not be deceived.

I was born this way. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says there's no need to be deceived.

I'm telling you, these are the facts. This is the issue. Well, as long as I understand that these are two consenting adults in the privacy of their own home that love each other, who am

I to judge? Do not be deceived. Listen to the same word used, why don't you just turn there, we might as well turn, 1

Timothy chapter 1, the same word for homosexual in 1

Corinthians 6 is used in 1 Timothy chapter 1, as Thayer lexicon translates it, a sodomite, one who lies with a male as with a female.

First Timothy chapter 1, and by the way, all this homosexuality stuff was going on back in Paul's day as well, it was a big issue then, it's a big issue now.

Barclay said Socrates was a homosexual, Plato wrote a book, Symposium on Love, that applauded homosexuality,

Nero was a homosexual, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1 .10, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to what?

Sound off. Doesn't this, how could this be a sin if God made me this way, strike back to the very issue of did

God really say, did God really say that? Strike right back to the garden, I call this garden lies.

Number 5, what if the government calls homosexuality a hate crime, what do we do? Answer, we have to be faithful to the gospel and keep preaching the

Bible, don't we? So if the government does something that changes the way we do something,

I don't think so, first they'll take away our tax exemption, then they'll fine us, then they'll put us in jail, but we still have to say

Christ forgives all kinds of sinners, including homosexuality. We must obey

God rather than what did Peter say in Acts 5. Number 6, we're almost done with review, can homosexuals ever change?

Let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, absolutely, by the grace of God, they can be new creatures in Christ Jesus, old has gone.

You know the homosexual community, the aggressive ones at least, will try to ride this issue like no other.

How can they change? In ministries like Exodus and others where you try to think that you can really change, it's impossible. Well, I only can go by what the

Word of God is. I'm not going to base my theology on experience, I'm not going to base my theology on what

I see or what I hear, Peter can be standing at the Mount of Transfiguration, he hears God the Father, he sees

Jesus the Son, and he says we have in Word made what? More sure, and I love this.

Here's Paul saying, look at what God does, these transactions, they're all about grace, they're all about what

God does for you, there's none of this man -centered salvation, three grace passives, and if you're a

Christian, this has happened to you. This is good news for prostitutes, moralists, pastors, kids, homosexuals too.

You are washed, see that in verse 11, there's a whole list of things that you used to be, but in verse 11 it says, and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified.

Cleansed on the inside, set apart for God's work, declared acquitted, declared a righteous, declared pleasing in God's sight.

Number seven, is there such thing as gay

Christian clergy? Is there such a thing as gay clergy? Well, it's a free country, you can call yourself that, but in God's eyes, there's no such thing as a clergyman, or clergywoman, who is practicing homosexual.

Turn your Bibles to Titus chapter one, please. Everywhere you go, you have apostate denominations saying this is okay.

Anglicans, you've got the Church of England, and what do they say in their issue in human sexuality statement?

Same sex partnerships are acceptable for laypersons, but gay clergy are expected to be abstinent.

That's interesting. 2003, right here in New England, in the Episcopalian Church, Gene Robinson is now approved, was approved as the

Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Reformed churches in Europe, many of them, it's okay to have a pastor who's in a same sex relationship as long as he or she is monogamous.

Protestant Church in the Netherlands, United Protestant Church in Belgium, Danish National Church, Church of Sweden, Church of Iceland, Church of Norway, and the list goes on.

I grew up a Lutheran, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2009, August 21st, voted 559 to 451 in favor of allowing non -celibate gays to become ordained ministers.

Friends, mark this by the way, when a denomination asks a question, we better revisit what we think about this.

It's over. The second you ask the question, what do we believe about homosexuality, friends, it's over, because what you believe is what the scriptures clearly teach.

You want to know how this doctrine comes in, what's the Trojan horse that gets this doctrine into the church every single time?

Should women be pastors? That's the Trojan horse, because if you can make 1

Timothy 2, which says, I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, local church, elder pastor, if you can take,

I do not allow, and turn it into, I do allow, you can make the Bible say anything you'd like it to say, at least in your heart.

Presbyterian Church, USA, 2010, July 8th,

General Assembly, 373 to 323, vote to approve the ordination of partnered homosexuals.

Ratification pending. Do you think they'll ratify it? United Church of Christ General Senate, 1985, a resolution entitled, doesn't this sound nice, calling on United Church of Christ congregations to declare themselves open and affirming.

In 2003, it officially added transgender persons to this declaration for full inclusion of life and leadership in the church.

It's sad, it's sick, and it's sinful. This has nothing to do, friends, as I said last week, with being unloving to homosexuals, or uncompassionate, or unneighborly, it has everything to do with, if God says, and we're going to look at first chapter of Titus, if he says, this is what qualifies a person to be a leader in my church that I bought with my own blood, then what's our option?

Well, I don't really like that. As one senate said, we need to engage in serious, respectful, and prayerful discussion of the covenantal relationship of marriage, and equal marriage right for couples regardless of gender.

I don't need to pray about it. I don't need to talk about it. I could certainly be respectful, but the day that the elders of this church get together and we say, you know, could you please pray for us?

We're going to have a major pow wow, and we want to discuss really, should women be pastors and is it okay for us to be practicing homosexuals as pastors?

That is the day what? That is the day you should say, I've changed the sign outside the door, pastor, to Ichabod Bible Church.

The glory of God has departed. Titus chapter 1, the qualifications are crystal clear.

I mean, how easy can this be? For us, we want to submit to the Bible, even if we don't like it.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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