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As I walked around Rome, they have different statues of emperors, and you would see Nero, Caligula. And I thought, you know, many of the emperors early on were homosexuals, and they promoted that lifestyle, and it was rampant.
And in our day, there have been homosexuals, but it wasn't until 1973, when I think we really had the push downhill for this, when the American Psychology Association removed homosexuality from its list of psychological diseases in the DSM manual.
And then things began to go downhill quickly at an accelerated pace. Yes, of course, if you look in the Bible, a man masculine shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, feminine, and they, the man and the woman, shall become one flesh.
But that didn't seem to stop society. Even though in the Bible you have roles of leader and suitable helper assigned by God at creation, that didn't seem to stop anyone. Even though the very first command ever given by God to Adam and Eve, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, that didn't seem to stop anyone either.
As God gives society over to a reprobate mind, it just seems like it's going faster and faster and faster. And so congregation, you have to think critically. You have to think biblically about this topic.
It's not going to go away. This topic is at our doorstep, and we need to think rightly about this subject. This year, in 2015, the largest Presbyterian denomination announced its change to the Constitution that it has to allow for a more inclusive definition of marriage.
The PCUSA embraces the LGBT inclusive definition of marriage. Amendment 14F of their Book of Order describes marriage as being between two people now. The dominoes faster and faster are falling. The largest evangelical church in San Francisco, called the City Church, no longer, as of 2015, asks LGBT members to be celibate.
Quote, we no longer discriminate based on sexual orientation and demand lifelong celibacy as a precondition for joining, Senior Pastor Fred Harrell Sr. said. In the letter that they sent out to their 1 ,000 attendees that meet in two San Francisco locations, their letter explaining themselves said, imagine feeling this from your family or religious community.
If you stay, you must accept celibacy with no hope that you, too, might one day find enjoyment and the fullness of intellectual, spiritual, emotional, psychological, and physical companionship. If you pursue a lifelong partnership, you are rejected.
Their letter said, this is simply not working and people are being hurt. Grace Point Church in Nashville, Tennessee, did a similar thing as they announced their homosexual marriage stance and the pastor was greeted with a standing ovation.
One writer, she said, it was at one of these churches, churches are slowly coming to recognize that if God is bringing people to them who are LGBT, they have to meet them where they are and not demand that they change.
How do you think through these issues? Is there a biblical response? How do we think? Malcolm Uggeridge said, people do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to. What about you?
How do you think through this issue? Melinda Selmas, a former lesbian, said, a man may lie to himself very prettily, but he cannot escape the reality and the knowledge that it is a lie. Or if you'd like Aristotle, men start revolutionary changes for reasons connected with their private lives.
So we started last time and we'll finish this time or maybe next week. And by the way, you know that means next week, don't you? Before we get in the book of Hebrews, I want you to think critically about this, biblically.
What's the right way a Christian should think about homosexual marriage and homosexuality? Is there a biblical way, a Christian way to think about it? And I think the answer is yes. So let me just give you a quick review where we did leave last time, three weeks ago, I think technically.
Lie number one, these are lies that I don't want you to believe about this topic so that you think biblically and critically. Lie number one was that the rainbow was strictly and originally and primarily a symbol for homosexuality.
Remember we talked about how after the flood, God hung his bow up, the rainbow, the warrior bow, like a bow and arrow in the clouds saying, I'm not going to judge you anymore. It's a sign of mercy and compassion and peace.
Here's the warrior bow and it's hung up. It's not pointed down at anyone anymore. They've hijacked the rainbow. When you are remembering Ezekiel chapter one, around the glory of God there's appearance of a rainbow.
God's faithful in his mercy and he won't judge people with water again. Lie number two in review, that marriage must be redefined as society since society is evolving. Would you just quickly turn to Romans chapter one with me?
We're not going to re-preach each point but just as added emphasis, Romans chapter one, there are consequences given by God for when you worship the creature instead of the creator. And maybe the most awful judgment that could ever be given God is when he hands people over to their own hard hearts.
That's what John Owen said. That's the worst kind of punishment. God punishes people by the very things in which they sin with. He uses that as a punishment. Romans 124, this is a society that is devolving, not evolving.
We're not getting better and better. We're getting worse and worse. Do you notice the punctuation in 24, 26, and 28 with gave up, gave over? It is a terrifying chorus. Wherefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
Verse 26, for this reason God gave them over or gave them up to degrading passions for their women exchange the natural function for the unnatural. And then verse 28, it's getting worse. The consequences are worse.
And just as they did not see fit to retain the full knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, a mind that doesn't work to do the things which are not proper. And the thing is, when it comes to a devolving society, it's not just that they sin these sins.
It's that the society now in a devolving society says, good job when you do those sins. Do you notice in verse 32? There's a condemnation for homosexual and, of course, heterosexual sin. But it's worse in a society that condones behavior even though they don't engage in it.
And that is America today. You better line up and be part of the status quo that if you're not a practicing homosexual, you better celebrate it. Paul condemns that in verse 32. God condemns that though they know God's righteous decree.
People know better. That those who practice such things deserve to die. They not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. How do we know we're in a devolving society is when people applaud sin of any kind.
Lie three, Jesus never mentioned the sin of homosexuality. We looked at Mark chapter 7 last time and it says from Jesus' own words, from within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, porneia.
It's a word that means any kind of sexual sin including homosexuality. Jesus does not say, by the way, when he comes onto the scene after his incarnation. The Old Testament laws against homosexuality, by the way, we've gone way past that now.
That was from an older society, very early in monotheism. He doesn't say that at all. He affirms the Old Testament, of course, as God's law. Lie four, still in review, you might be tempted to believe this lie if you're not careful.
That if you disagree with any mainstream thinking regarding homosexuality, you're homophobic and a bigot. Friends, we just don't defend drunkenness. We don't applaud adultery. We don't commend covetousness.
Why is it so hard for Christians to clearly, lovingly, and boldly state all sexual contact outside of marriage, defined biblically, including homosexuality, is a heinous sin against God, but thankfully it can be forgiven by the Lamb of God and his perfect atonement.
Homophobic means I have a fear of, a dislike of, and a hatred for homosexuals. If we do hate homosexuals, that is sin, but we're not homophobic. We just love righteousness, that's all. And then just a couple more in review.
Lie five, you might be tempted to believe that homosexuality is a thriving lifestyle. In other words, you might think gay is actually gay. But since you're in Romans, go to chapter one, verse twenty-seven.
All sin might be fun for a season, but then there's a payday one day. And the payday eternally is hell, but the payday in Romans one is only temporal. Romans one judgment's temporal, it's not eternal hell.
Even on earth there are consequences to do things the right way or the wrong way. Verse twenty-seven of Romans one, And the men likewise gave up natural relations with women, and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men.
And then notice, is homosexuality a thriving lifestyle even on the earth? Receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Don't be tricked when you see the happiest, smartest, richest people on the planet coming out as homosexuals and their lifestyle is one of gaiety and merity and exuberance.
Number six, the sixth lie. Since homosexuals are born homosexual, they are not responsible for their behavior. We talk about that quite a lot. Each person is tempted, James says, when he's lured and enticed by his own desire.
God's law is holy. God is holy and God requires obedience. And yes, we've fallen in Adam and we cannot obey on our own. But just because we're born fornicators, born homosexuals, or born adulterers, it doesn't mean God's standard of purity in marriage is not there.
It is there. Lie seven, and now we're breaking new ground. Lie seven. It's important to think through this. We can't think with our emotions or our Disneyland theology and following our hearts. This is a key issue, a critical issue.
It's going to affect your pocketbook. It's going to affect your church attendance. It's going to affect your freedom. So we have to think rightly. How would God be honored in this? Lie seven, individual homosexuals are our enemies.
Please turn to Matthew chapter nine. How does Jesus deal with sinful people? Friends, we have to love sinners. And if you're a Christian, you watch Jesus, love sinners, and you think, I need to do that very thing.
It's okay to say, I disagree with you. It's okay to say homosexuality is sinful, and you better love those sinners. Think about what the Bible teaches. I met somebody in Europe recently, and I said, here's the thing.
You don't want to meet a Muslim who reads the Koran like I read the Bible. That's the kind of person you don't want to meet, who thinks it's true, who thinks it's right, who would lay down their life for those truths.
The problem is, for the Muslims, it will be, if you're our enemies and won't bow, we will kill you. And for Christians, if you're our enemies, we want to do just what the Father does, what the Son does, and what the Spirit does, and that's love our enemies.
We have to say to ourselves, homosexuality is wrong, but we love these people. Are they not sinners like ourselves? What I love about this passage, we've gone through this passage before, but it is just like it comes off the page with just this brilliance of, God loved me like this, I ought to love other people.
These people are image bearers, they have souls. I want to love homosexuals, but I'm going to love them enough not to celebrate their sin. No sin deserves celebration. I think as you read Matthew chapter 9, this is where we're going to be most of it today, in 1 Corinthians 6, you're going to say, real hate speech about homosexuality is silence.
When you really want to hate somebody, you won't say anything about their sin. That's hate speech. Matthew chapter 9, this great book of the King, we parachute down into verse 10. How do we deal with sinners?
How would our Lord deal with sinners? It's answered right here. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and His disciples.
I like the way Matthew writes it. This characteristic look, our behold, makes it vivid. It makes it seem like there's a camera outside of a house, and then this behold zooms that camera right into the dining room, and you can just see exactly what's going on there.
It's like you're there. And what are they doing? Well, it's interesting. It says He reclined at table. What was He doing, sleeping? Well, they did not always recline like this for a meal, but for the big meals they did, often they would just sit and they would eat.
But for parties, for feasts, it's like for us. Maybe you just sit normally at the counter and eat, but for Thanksgiving, you have a way of doing your Thanksgiving dinner. And the way they would have their big feast is they would lay down.
They would extend their feet out, and you would lean on your left elbow, and you could eat with your right hand. This is the big feast, the big meal. We should try that this Thursday. How would that work for seating arrangements?
This is a huge feast. Now, I'm asking a question. Why was the feast given? What's the occasion? Why the big party? Luke tells us. Remember, you've got Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the synoptics. They give us different insight into these different occasions Jesus was with sinners.
Levi gave a big reception for Jesus in his house. This is a feast to honor Jesus. And he is going to say to everyone, to his friends, to his cronies, listen, I'm going to tell you who Jesus is. This is an evangelism party, and most likely a farewell party.
I'm no longer going to be the tax collector. I'm leaving all that. I'm following Jesus. By the way, here's some Tupperware that I want you to buy. Did I just say that? I don't think I said that. It's funny.
I think I have jet lag now. This is real hospitality ministry. You get saved, and you invite all your friends over who used to run with you. And Mark says two times, many tax collectors, many of them, they're dining with Jesus.
Matthew was a tax collector. And sinners were there. Now, when we think of the word sinner, we say, yes, we're sinners. But sinner back in the Gospels especially means that somebody says, I know Mosaic law, but I don't care.
I'll do what I want. It means I'm a Gentile, and I don't even know about Moses. I do what I want. I don't care about anything. I don't even know there's a law. I don't care if there is a law. I just do whatever I want.
My entire life is summarized by, what do you do for a living? Well, I'm a sales rep. No, they would say, I'm a sinner. That's just what I do. Very, very low. This is like India would have caste system.
And this is not upper caste. This is not higher caste. This is as low as you can get. The lowest caste system you can get, tax collectors and sinners. And now Jesus is eating with them. And you can imagine what the Pharisees would do.
They don't want to be around tax collectors. They don't want to be around sinners. And Jesus is, and I'll tell you one thing, birds of a feather. This is guilt by association. Tax collectors. And the thing is, eating back in those days, eating with them shows real intimacy.
This is a big deal. What do you think the Pharisees would do? And when the Pharisees saw this, referring to eating with sinners, they said to his disciples, you know, they can't even talk to Jesus, of course, so they say to the disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?
And even there, again, reminded how bad these people are. Tax collectors and sinners. These Jewish tax collectors even take taxes from Jews to give to Romans. Man, they're awful. And they're grumbling, these Pharisees are.
I don't even think they're inside. What does the text say? When they saw this, maybe they're just outside. They don't even want to get enclosed. I don't want to be contaminated by these awful people. After all, Pharisee means separated one.
We want to stay away from these kind of people. This is unthinkable that he would do this. Now, here's my question. When the Elder Board of City Church in San Francisco earlier this year sent out a letter justifying their homosexual stance, they said, you know, we have to ask this question.
If Jesus were the pastor of our church, how would we act? And I think this passage here helps us understand what would Jesus actually do. How would he respond? What would Jesus say? What would he do? The letter from City Church says this.
In all this, we're looking to Scripture to understand how Jesus would counsel us to care for the LGBT members of our community. If Jesus were the pastor of City Church, what would he say to the people who are asking if they can belong?
As we consider the life of Christ, his example of love, his call to embrace the outsider and cast out, and his patience with those who are earnestly seeking him, what is the Christlike response? Well, let's find out.
Matthew 9, 12. And when Jesus heard it, he's going to embarrass them, by the way, right here. It's a well-known proverb. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go learn what this means.
And here comes the embarrassment. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark this. When Jesus is around self-righteous people, he gives them a blistering.
I can still hear my mom saying, if you do that one more time, Mike, you're going to get a what? A blistering. I don't know why she said that, but man, I was afraid. A blistering. You can hear Jesus later in Matthew, can't you?
But woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. You fools and blind men. You serpents. You brood of vipers. They, the Pharisees, go to the disciples and ask a question, but now Jesus won't let his disciples answer.
He answers. He knew what they said. Disciples, you don't even need to think up an answer. Let me answer this. Does not Jesus come to help the sick, the sinners, like a doctor would? Doesn't Jesus come into the world to save sinners?
And so what does he do? He uses a little analogy. Those who are well have no need of a physician. We understand that. But those who are sick, doctors go to the physically sick. Spiritual doctors go to the spiritually sick.
And then he uses scripture from Hosea in verse 13. But go and learn what this means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. He quotes Hosea chapter 6.
I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, Hosea 6, 6 says. Gomer is unfaithful to Hosea. You're being unfaithful to God. You have sacrifices and rituals, and they're all meaningless without compassion.
Now, we can't miss this right here. At the end of verse 13, read your Bible slowly is the best way to read your Bible with understanding, for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. What's Jesus saying?
Jesus exists in eternity past. This is language of I existed before time. And then I had a mission to go someplace. I haven't come from heaven, cloaked myself with my human body, that I have now to be the eternal God-man, to come to you Pharisees and say, way to go.
That's not what I came to do. Notice the text. I didn't come to congratulate you. You're so self-righteous, so satisfied with yourself, so ready to let these other people die in their sins. I didn't come to congratulate you for that at all.
I came for a different reason. And what's the reason? To call not the righteous, i .e. self-righteous, but sinners. The people that Hosea condemned, you are condemned because I'm condemning you. You're ready to let these people die.
You have no compassion. These sinners are going to die, and they're going to go to hell. And what do you care? Just think about that for a second. What kind of stripe and shape and size and brand of sinner are we talking about here?
Tax collectors and sinners. But how about any sinner? What about any sinner? Jesus' mission is to come and seek and save those that are lost. He's the one that took on human flesh. A body was needed, Hebrews 10 talked about, in the eternal covenant that God made with His Son, God the Father, God the Son.
Luke 2, 22, verse 22, The Son of Man is going as it has been determined. The Father decides to send the Son into the world on a mission to save sinners, not congratulate self-righteous people. Jesus had to be born.
Now keep your finger at Matthew and just turn to Luke. This is the same account, and the question was asked by the people in San Francisco, what would Jesus do? And here's what He would do. He would say, I love you enough to tell you you've got to repent.
Wouldn't He? Wouldn't He just say, just die in your sins? Of course He wouldn't say that. He would say, you need to repent. Luke 5, verse 31. Isn't this amazing? We call sinners to repentance. In light of the finished work of Calvary, in light of the Savior who's going to return, you focus on calling people to repentance just like Jesus did.
Jesus answered and said to them, It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to what? Repentance. It is intolerant, it is unloving, and it is hate speech not to call people to repentance.
God comes to call the ungodly, the sinners, the helpless. God saves sinners not because something good is in them, but because He loves them. And so to make this very specific, when you meet homosexuals, how do you love them?
Are you kind to them? Do you speak the truth to them? Do you just let them stay in their sin? Do you celebrate their sin? C .T. Studd said, Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell.
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of what? Hell. How do we love homosexuals? In many ways, in terms of you could be a good neighbor, but the real enemy you have is not the individual homosexual.
You're to love them. You're to want what's best for them, and what's best for them is heaven and reconciliation and forgiveness, and that comes through preaching the gospel. It is just like Jesus to hang out with these sinners, and it is just like a Christian who's mature to hang out with people who are sinful to tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lie number eight. It's very difficult to be deceived regarding homosexuality. It's very difficult to be deceived. Well, let's find out what the answer is. Is that a lie or the truth? 1 Corinthians 6, please.
Here's my goal in the last couple weeks and then maybe next week. I want to make sure we examine every key passage that the Bible talks about this topic so that you are armed and ready so that you can not only defend the truth, but also appeal to people in love to be reconciled to God.
You can imagine how much ink is being spilt by so-called scholars to revise biblical history, and it's only going to increase. Just watch what's happening at Princeton, and that's not even at the theological school.
It's easy to be deceived when it comes to this. 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is writing to these Corinthians, and they were know-it-alls. Ever meet a know-it-all? You all just raise your head right up. Everybody has.
Everybody's met a know-it-all. The Corinthians thought they knew it all. Those are the easiest people to bamboozle, by the way, is know-it-alls. And so they kept saying to Paul, we know all this, we know all this stuff, we know all this stuff, and what does Paul say in chapter 6?
Do you not know? I mean, you should have known you know-it-alls. That the unrighteous, 1 Corinthians 6, 9, will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Why is that written? Because it is what?
Easy to be deceived. She's my sister. She's my father. She's my co-worker. She's my neighbor. She's my friend. They're nice. They seem to be wonderful. They're altruistic. They were born that way, and therefore not accountable.
It's easy to be deceived. That's why we need revelation, words from God outside of us. Outside of us. Do not be deceived. That's a command, by the way, and it is a command that says don't ever go astray.
It's a present passive. Something is trying to deceive you, so push back. Don't be deceived. That's where we get the word planet. Planets seem to go awry when you look at their orbits. Don't be deceived.
Well, what shouldn't we be deceived about, Paul? Verse 9 goes on. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers.
These are all things that are unrighteous. People who are unrighteous. Nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. The people that are guilty of unrighteousness, if you go back to the verse in verse 9, unrighteousness, it means guilty of open rebellion against God, focusing on their character with the article in Greek, the definite article.
People that are guilty of open rebellion against God, they're not going to go to heaven. Can you imagine the loss? Not going to heaven. Can you imagine the torment? Going to hell. And the thing is, we as Christians don't have to be deceived.
We can understand, and it's very clear right there in the text. As politically incorrect as you can get. And what does the text say right there? Nor effeminate, nor homosexual. Sadly, the ESV combines those two words.
I like the ESV for lots of reasons, but it's awful here because it gives a list of 9, not 10 in the Greek. There should be two words, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals. The word effeminate is the one who is passive in the act of homosexuality.
And you could imagine that the one that says homosexual is the one who's active in the act, who is the sodomite, who is the initiator, who is the active one. This is the same word used in 1 Timothy 1 verse 10, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, same language, passive and active.
Sadly, when I read the NIV, they say nor male prostitutes, nor homosexual offenders, meaning there's some homosexuality that's not offensive, so stay away from the offensive kind. Just don't do the deviant homosexuality.
But the text is clear, neither homosexuals nor sodomites, as the new King James would read. If you have friends, if you have loved ones, and they are practicing homosexual, don't be deceived. Number nine, this one might be the last one, number nine, homosexuals can never change.
Lie number nine, homosexuals can never change. Well, staying right here in 1 Corinthians 6, I have good news for you. Maybe you're here today and you're a homosexual. Don't fall for the lie that says you cannot be helped, you cannot change.
Dr. Bergler said in his book, Homosexuality, Disease, or Way of Life, said, quote, the homosexual's real enemy is his ignorance of the possibility that he can be helped. Many, many people are saying today, homosexuals cannot be changed, and if you change them or try to change them, it will hurt them.
They will have issues. They might commit murder, that is, suicide. I'm not saying it is easy to change. I'm not saying that there's not pain that goes along with it. I'm not even saying that the government's going to try to hurt us in our appeal to homosexuals.
2012, of course, California, passed a law banning reparative therapy for homosexuals. State Senator Ted Lieu said, an entire house of medicine has rejected gay conversion therapy. Not only does it not work, but it's harmful.
Patients who go through this have gone through guilt, shame, some have committed suicide. State of New Jersey, they've got their own law, and even the White House denounced, quote, any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity.
What they're not telling you is this. Homosexuality is dangerous. It's dangerous eternally. It's dangerous on Earth when it comes to cancer and other things, and HIV, and it's dangerous because when you try to get yourself out of the snare, it causes problems.
Michael Bailey, quote, these studies contain, arguably, the best published data on the association between homosexuality and psychopathology, and both converge on the same unhappy conclusion. Homosexual people are at substantially higher risk for some forms of emotional problems including suicidality, major depression, anxiety disorder, and conduct disorder.
So the world is saying reparative therapy, you can't do it. And you know what? I don't think reparative therapy is any good either, because reparative therapy will say something like, if you're a young man and you're homosexual, it's because you've got a bad relationship with your dad or a bad relationship with your mom, and let's try to fix that.
That doesn't help me in any way, shape, or form from the gospel. There are lots of homosexual men who've had great relationships with their dad. We need to call sin, sin, and my goal of therapy is not so the dad and the son can kind of get back together again and do the right thing and the guy can leave homosexuality.
My goal is repentance and forgiveness. Let's take a look in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. It is ludicrous to say you cannot change if you're homosexual. You personally can't change, but change can happen to you.
The gospel changes people. And such... What does verse 11 say? And such were what? Some of you. You used to be fornicators. You used to be adulterers. You used to be greedy. You used to be homosexuals, but you are changed.
My all-time favorite story, because it reminds me, sadly, of my grandfather. My grandfather was a drunk. He'd go to work, and Friday night he would get paid, and Grandma had to go intercept Grandfather on Friday night to get the paycheck, otherwise he would drink it all at the bar.
I thought to myself, that makes the S. Lewis Johnson story all so more apropos, so much more apropos. There was a guy, he wasn't educated very well, and people were complaining about his newfound faith in Christ Jesus.
You can never change. You're going to be the same old drunk you used to be. This is only temporary. It's only a phase. And how do you know you change anyway? What's the change in your life? If you think you've changed, what's the change?
He said, well, I don't know about all reconciliation, redemption, propitiation, and all that stuff, but I do know this. Because of what God did in my life, He can change alcohol into furniture. Just think a little bit.
How could God change alcohol into furniture? I'm not talking about John chapter 2 at Cana. I'm talking about, He used to waste His money on alcohol, and now He uses it to provide for His family. Okay, now we're okay?
Okay. So much easier preaching to the Russians than Ukrainians, I'll tell you. That's right. That is right. Friends, when the eternal God of the universe changes you, you're changed. When the eternal God of the universe, the third person of the Trinity, dwells in you, you're different.
This is the same God that can just make the world, and He uses the same language of creation in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 where He just makes new people. Take a look at it. What does it say? And such were some of you.
By the way, if you're enslaved to homosexuality or any kind of heterosexual sin today, you can be changed. Not only you can be changed, but your position before God can be changed. Look at these wonderful three words that should just make the Christians sing.
Even those of us who are already saved and we just realize what an awful sinful life we used to live. The worst sins we've ever committed can be taken care of by the grace of God highlighted by these three mountain peak words.
Washed. Sanctified. Justified. If you don't love Greek grammar, let me help you love Greek grammar. They're divine passives. God does it to you. And you can even think about people and the filth of sexual sin.
No shower can take care of anything. No bath. No labor. No baptism. But what can help the person who's dirty with sexual sin? How would you like to have God wash you? That's exactly what He did to sinners.
He uses another word. Sanctified. Now sometimes sanctified is we grow in Christ Jesus, progressive sanctification. This just means God washes you is the first one and He sets you apart. You're set apart for holy purposes.
You're sanctified. He called the Corinthians this earlier in chapter 1. So this isn't progressive. He first washes you and cleanses you from all the filth of your past sins. Regenerates you, if you will.
And then He sanctifies you. He sets you apart. Chapter 1, verse 2, He said, You're set apart, people, and now you're specially used by Me for My purposes. And then the last word. I mean, washing is great, sanctification is great, or sanctified.
And then justified. What's justification mean? Can you imagine every sin you've ever committed, including the sexual sins? And if you're homosexual, including homosexual sins. God takes those sins. You should have been punished for them.
It would have been right and just. But He says, I'm going to punish my sinless son instead. He'll take your punishment. Because I love to save sinners. And the only way I can uphold My law and remain righteous, someone has to pay.
And so My Son will pay for you. My Son loves to pay for sinners' sins. That's why I sent Him to rescue people. And My Son, He will take care of all your sins, including sexual sins, and pay for them. And then He will give you His perfect righteousness.
Jesus never had a homosexual thought. He never lusted at a woman. He never did anything impure sexually. I mean, can you imagine? And He was fully human. He was fully a man. And so now, because of justification confirmed by the resurrection, here's how God sees a sinner.
Here's how God sees a homosexual, a prostitute, a fornicator. He looks at them as if they've never ever sinned one time. You've never sinned one time. Because I'm looking at you judicially, and I'm looking at you through the lens of Christ's perfection.
I see not you, I see Christ because you're in Christ. And all the regrets, and all the skeletons in the closet, and all the things that you just say, I wish I could go back and undo. You say, you know, how does God see me?
Jesus has paid for those. It's finished. It's gone. It's dead. And I'm united with Christ, and God sees me like I'm a virgin. God sees me like I've only been with a spouse in marriage. God sees me that I've never seen someone with a wrong look.
I've never let my eyes go where they're not supposed to go. Can you imagine what kind of news that is for people in Corinth? Jesus takes your sin. Jesus gives you His righteousness. And now, it's not just washing, you're cleansed.
It's not just you're set apart for God, but you stand before God as blameless through the eyes of Christ Jesus and His righteousness. And then for people to say, homosexuals can't change. I just think you're trying to tell them they can never be washed.
They can never be sanctified, and they can never be justified. That's a lie I'm glad to contradict. And do you notice the passage? In the name of the Lord Jesus. He's the sovereign. Sexual sin isn't sovereign.
And by the power of the Spirit of God, by the Spirit of God, renewed by the agency of the Spirit of God. Reparative therapy, if you want to say it doesn't work, doesn't need to work. The Gospel works.
I have homosexual friends. I just can't wait. I know God's sovereign. I don't want to presume anything. But I can't wait for the day, if in fact it ever happens, by the sovereignty of God, that they bow their knee and say, Jesus Christ is the Savior.
And you know what I'm going to say to them? You know what? I loved you before, I love you now. And just imagine, you're washed. Cleansed all that. Not a spot missed. You're sanctified. And God sees you like you never sinned once.
And they will just cry together, and we'll baptize them. It's a lie to say homosexuals can't change, because 1 Corinthians 6 says they can. Father, I thank You for Your Word today. I thank You that no matter what we've done, we're not just talking about homosexual people, we're talking about us.
We know that it's sinful, and therefore we stand accountable as well. So we have to tuck ourselves underneath the righteousness of Christ. Truth be told, we're not better than homosexuals, we're actually worse, because we know better, and we still sin.
Yet we too have no condemnation, because we're in Christ Jesus. We, because of what Your Son has done, we have been set free from the law of sin and death. Only You, Father, could come up with such a plan of salvation by sending Your own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and that He would condemn sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.
We're thankful for that. I pray that if there's anyone here today enslaved in sexual sin, that You would mightily through the preaching of the Gospel, change them, grant them repentance. Even Christians can struggle with it.
And so, Father, we ask for Your forgiveness. And those who are unbelievers, who are enslaved, I pray, Father, You would just grant them a washing, sanctification, and justification. And, Father, for our friends, for our co-workers who are enslaved to homosexuality, would You help us to be kind to them, love them?
Would You protect us from self-righteousness? We don't know anything except You've given us the truth. We're not better or anything like that. So, Father, may we carry ourselves before them in such a way.
We want to be like Jesus when He dined with sinners. He dined with them, and He loved them, and then He told them the truth. May it be so for Bethlehem Bible Church. In Jesus' name, Amen.